Measure Success [Hakim Ziyech]

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter 13

Success: Part Two

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Berkane, Morocco

Thursday 26th May 2016

In the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, most commonly known as "NATO", there's this special procedure called "silent procedure" that Souhaila could remember having read about.

As usual, representatives of different countries would come together to decide on something and be ultimately tasked with voting for or against a proposition. And as always representatives could also abstain from giving their vote.

However, what was special about this abstention was that it didn't mean no. Your vote wasn't counted as one against the proposition in question. Politically, representatives used this to not vote in favour of something that the country's citizens might not approve of.

When Souhaila had learned this, she'd found this intricate detail that held so much importance fascinating. And she couldn't help but notice how this might very well be an example of how "silence" was an answer in and of itself. Or, how it could be.

It was an option for the representatives to indirectly approve of something while not directly doing so and therefore, not risking public backlashes by their people. After all, by this, they didn't directly vote for something but indirectly supported it all the same. Simply by not opposing it.

It was a very diplomatic solution.

And while Souhaila hailed the pure genius behind all this, she could perfectly understand why so many people hated politicians. They had methods that could be called out as being cowardly.

Furthermore, Souhaila didn't have to think long about why she thought of this now. It described her situation perfectly.

Souhaila was laying atop her bed, it was the evening of that dooming match and she'd retired early to the room she now shared with Hanan (and more often than not Yousef too) ever since their grandmother, Rashid's mother, had come to live with them a couple of years back.

She was staring at her phone. Or more precisely, the only picture she'd ever dared to take of herself and Hakim taking up the entire screen.

She had wanted to take a picture of the sunset when Hakim had promptly ripped the phone out of her hands to make a, in Souhaila's opinion unnecessary and incriminating, picture of them. Hence why Souhaila still looked slightly annoyed in the picture. But Hakim was smiling widely, his tongue poking out and his cap-wearing head resting atop Souhaila's which had Souhaila looking up at him with a semi-glare but not really one? There was a smile playing at the corners of her lips regardless.

They'd taken this picture in the summer of 2009.

Only this morning, this moment had felt closer. Now, Souhaila felt like she was looking at strangers. It didn't spare her the comfort or hope it used to.

Only sadness. 

Because Hakim's silence was him avoiding the repercussions of his choice while still making it painfully clear to Souhaila what it was that he'd chosen.

It had been all along.

She'd been just too blind to see it.

Now, it had only taken one minute of seeing him out and about kicking a stupid ball for Souhaila to finally open her eyes.