Meant To Be Yours!

Chapter XXVIII

I am still processing what happened. Inaya attacked me, just after leaving Abdul's office. She was sitting in the reception area waiting for her mother to put Abdul in his place. She called me a whore and if it's not embarrassing enough Abdul took their side. He said that his sister would never hurt anyone and yet Leo was there and saw the whole thing but didn't say anything. I was currently in the bathroom trying to clean the blood on my face. 

"I've been calling you the whole day... Oh my god! Nikki? what happened to you?", Zahra entered the bathroom before I could cover myself. "It's nothing", I tried to remove the t-shirt that Leo gave me to cover myself when Abdul left with his mother and sister. It made me feel like a whore and even though Leo tried to apologise for not helping me, I remained calm. I couldn't allow him to see me so broken. "Nikki, you better start talking. Did... did Abdul hit you?", she was getting the wrong idea. "No, it wasn't him. Look it was an accident, just let it go", I tried looking away but she removed the t-shirt all the way and I had a purple bruise on my shoulder. 

She inspected the marks on my neck and then the blood on my face. "Did the kids see you?", she asked gathering the clothes and putting them in the laundry basket. "No, they were not back yet", I said wiping the tears from my eyes even though it was pointless because they kept coming. "Tell me what happened please", she asked calmer than usual. "Well, I went to his office just like we planned and he loved the surprise but your mother stopped by and I was still in the robe", sniff, "It was fucking embarrassing so I decided to leave. Inaya was in the waiting area, I tried to avoid her and rush to the restrooms so that I could go and change when I was tackled to the ground. She kept on hitting me then", sniff, "She started choking me... Zahra, I couldn't move. I begged her to let me go but she kept squeezing harder. She had so much hatred. I-", we heard the bedroom door open and I stopped talking. 

Abdul entered the bathroom, he was shocked to see Zahra with me. "Zahra can you give us a minute please", he asked looking at me. "No", Zahra said blocking me from him. "Zahra it's ok. Can you take the kids with you please, they can't see me like this. Please", I told her squeezing her hand lightly. She looked at Abdul and then at me, she nodded her head and then left. I turned to face the mirror, I cleaned the scratch then went to put on my pajamas struggling to put my hand in the shirt because the pain from my shoulder was too much. I walked past him going to sit on the edge of the bed. "You picked their side. Even after seeing I was the one bleeding you still picked their side", I said not stopping the tears. "Nikki, what did you tell her? I've never seen Inaya that angry all my life, she wouldn't hurt anyone unless provoked", he said sitting on one of the chairs not even bothering to ask how I felt. I know he saw the bruises, he was looking at me the whole time I was cleaning myself in the bathroom. 

"And I have? Have you ever seen me raise my voice at your sister? or your mother? The fact that you are asking me clearly shows that you don't trust me so let me save you the trouble", I stood up and grabbed my phone. I tried to think of someone I could call to come and pick me up but I realised, I had no one. My whole life was built around Abdul, his friends were my friends. "Fuck!", I screamed. I took my purse ready to leave when I was pulled back. "Nikki, I'm just trying to understand what happened. Why won't you talk to me?", he said slowly. He was feeling guilty but that did not change the facts. I came second to him. "Look, Abdul, we got caught up in the moment and made rushed decisions, we can still fix this before it's too late", I removed the engagement ring. "Nikki, what are you saying?", he said with a shaky breath. "I'm saying that your mother was right. She told me when I became a mother, I will know what it feels like and right now I know what she's feeling. She feels hurt and betrayed by her own son. I can't be part of it. I don't know what I ever did to deserve this. If I did maybe I could fix it or ask for their forgiveness", I was crying at this point. He just looked at me. "Nikki, please. Let's talk about this. I need you", he begged. "No, you don't. You need someone that your whole family will accept. I can't stay here while it's clear that your family is ready to resort to violence just to chase me away and what's worse, you'll always pick their side. Look, you will be ok", I said kissing his forehead as I left. When I reached the door heading out, I bumped into Khaled. "Who did this to you?", he asked and I ignored him. I got in an Uber and then went to a motel. I needed to find a place to live before collecting my kids from Zahra. I called her just to check on them and told them I travelled for work.

A few days later...

I was able to find an apartment. Despite my efforts to walk away, I found out that the adoption was successful and I knew with the endless calls that I was ignoring from Abdul, he was not going to let me take the kids away. Co-parenting was the only way. I willed myself to accept the idea. My phone rang for what seemed like the hundredth time. "Hello", "Babe, where are you? Zahra said you got an apartment. Can I come to see you? Please. At least let me see the kids", his voice sounded broken. "They're at Zahra's and I won't take them away from you so, I'll be dropping them at her place on Saturday you can take them from there", "Fuck Nikki... I just want to see you. Let's talk about this, please. Leo told me what really happened and I feel like crap right now, I'm sorry I didn't protect you. I'm sorry just please, let me see you", "No Abdul", I said shortly then hung up.