When Love Lasts.

XVII

"A facade? What's that supposed to mean?"

"She was dating someone else and begged me to pretend to be him to you and your brother because she knows you two will never agree to it"

"Who is she dating?"
He kept quiet. His silence made things worse, it made me feel so uneasy.

"So?"
"I don't really know him, all I know is that they call him Massey"

Hearing that name Akbar sits up, resting his arms on his thighs. He looked bothered. Does he know who this Massey guy is?

"Akbar? Do you know him?"
He sighs "Yeah"

"Who is he? You're freaking me out"
He rests his hands on my arm reassuringly "Don't worry, everything will be okay. You don't need to worry"

"How can I when you're not being forthcoming with what you know?"

"Well—"
"—we can report him"I cut him off

He shakes his head "He's not just someone we can report and expect results, he's a powerful man".

I think I have an idea where this is going and I'm not liking it.
"I think that man should be nothing less than 78"

I gasp.
I felt it coming but I wanted to be wrong.
So bad.

"So you're telling me my sister is—dating an old man?"
"I doubt he considers it dating" Awwal adds.

I look at him "So all the gifts and calls was never you?"
He shakes his head "She begged me but at first I didn't know who she was dating—I only found out afterwards"

At this point I was already crying, heavily.
Akbar puts his arms around me, to console me.
"Don't worry everything will be alright. She's going to be okay"

Awwal gets up and exits the living room, probably so I'd cry freely.
My sister is out there, God knows where and this powerful man might be the reason for her disappearance.

I raise my head "What do you know about him"
He takes a deep breath "Hanifa and her dad have talked about him a few times. He goes for younger girls in their first years, particularly those who need—I mean want his financial support. It went awry once when she ended up being his daughter's friend. He asked Alhaji Hamed with help, shutting her parents up"

"And he did it? So that's the kind of man he is?"
"This country pushes you into being a kind of man you don't want to be, one you're not remotely proud of but he didn't do it. He said it was unfair for their daughter to be taken advantage of and then they're sealed shut. Of course that didn't stop him from getting someone else to do it"

"No, his daughter wasn't taken advantage of and neither is Noor. She was doing this for us"

Akbar's phone starts ringing.
It made me on edge.

"Yes?"

"Yeah I do"

"Really? Which hotel?"

"Please, I would really appreciate that. She's a young girl and we've been searching for her for hours"

"Yes, I'll send you the address"

"That her family is waiting for her"
He ends the call and smiles.

"They've found her"
I sigh "Thank God she's okay but where did they find her exactly?"

"At a hotel, that was her last known location and when they went there and asked, apparently she's lodged there with someone"

I groan.
"Oh Allah, I've really proven to be useless. How did I let my sister take responsibility for us by sleeping with a man older than her father?"

"That's not your fault, you never asked her to do any of this. Did you?"
I shake my head wiping away my tears.

"Good, then don't blame yourself"

Awwal comes in moments later.
"Any news?"
"Yes, they found her in a hotel"

He scoffs.
"How often does she go to these hotels with him? Because I know he definitely won't risk his public image by showing up here"

He sits.
"All I know is, he calls her and tells her where to meet him. They go separately so as not to be associated and they'd spend a while there. And they're planning a vacation"

"How did you know she was missing?"
"Well—she and I had an argument and I cut ties with her. I archived her on my WhatsApp and then three days back I decided to check up on her, that was when I saw her last message, that they would be traveling out of the country and that they were processing her VISA. I called but it wasn't going through. I know Noor and no matter what she was doing her calls always go through. But all of a sudden her phone was switched off? I thought maybe they had left already but she mentioned that the trip was booked for next month. I asked around and even came by but nothing so I got worried and decided maybe she had contacted you, so I called"

It made me feel so bad.
Did I push my sister into it?

He smiles "I would tell you not to blame yourself though—" he starts "When Noor gets here she's going to tell you she did it for you and for Nura but that's not the case. Noor did this only for Noor. People in school said she was beautiful but in this modern age even men are attracted to girls with a rich father so her looks were practically ignored. But she had friends and other guys approach her, just not the ones she wanted, the ones with heavy pockets—I know hearing someone talk about your sister that way is hurtful but I just want to do the right thing"

I shake my head "It's fine, I understand. Please carry on"
"Anyway—she's going to try to guilt trip you, make you think everything she was doing was selfless but that's far from it. She is very well aware of her actions and she did it for no one else but herself. I've told her this and telling her was what ended our relationship".

I turn to Akbar who seems to agree with Awwal. I think that was what he meant earlier when he said 'You didn't ask her to do any of this'.

::

I waited impatiently.
Akbar and Awwal went out to talk to the men that brought her back, I was here trying my best to contain my anger.

A few moments later Akbar comes in with my sister hiding behind him.
"What do you think you're doing?!"

"I'm sorry Yaya, I'm sorry" she says crying.
I wanted to beat the hell out of her.
Badly.

Akbar walks over and rests his hands on my shoulder.
"Don't get angry—"
"—how can I not get—" I stay quiet when I notice the weird way he was staring at me, it kinda made my body tingle and this is not the time for it.

"Why are you looking at me like that?"
"Because I don't want you to hurt your sister, not when you're angry. Just take a deep breath and try to settle it with words, okay?" He says smiling.

Even in this angry, tired, annoyed and hungry state I was in he made me feel good, like we're the only two people in the world.

I smile back "I will, I promise"
"Good, that's my girl".

::