DECE-P-TION

DNIX

Alya's point of view.

I sit by the mirror with my phone placed on my ear. "Hey." I say to Jaffar who's at the other end. "Alya, how are you? Im sorry I didn't call, I have no excuse."

"It's fine, I didn't call as well so it's fair. How's my nieces and nephews? My sister in-law?" I smile, standing to my feet. "They're fine, Alhamdulillah. They've been wondering when you'll visit again. When will that be?"

Jaffar is my eldest brother and people look up to him, myself included. He is just and compassionate, he has always been my favorite sibling. If I tell him I got forcefully married to someone, he'll not take it   lightly.

He'll will make matters worse which won't be good for anyone so I'll handle the situation myself.

"Soon Insha Allah, I've been busy with work but I promise to make time to come see my princesses." I gain a chuckle from him. "Okay. I want to also thank you for the gift you sent for my family. They loved it, Rukayya is not putting it down anytime soon."

"That's great to hear, if you need anything, you can call."

"Okay, I'm expecting the same from you. You're sure you're okay?" I walk to the door, leaving the room to stroll around. "I'm fine, I came back from work. Highly exhausting."

"It must've been, I'll let you rest then we'll talk later."

"Till then. Bye."

"Bye." I hang up, hitting the phone on my palm after I take the phone away from my ear. I look at the stairs and the rooms, finding the architectural design very impressive. I saunter back to my room to get ready for tomorrow's meeting.

Tomorrow is going to be a good day, very good day.

**********

I rush downstairs with my heels in my hands and my bag in the other. I keep them on the sofa opposite the long length mirror before heading to the kitchen. I see Falah taking his coffee with a plate in front of him.  "Morning."

"Morning."

I walk to the coffee maker to prepare my coffee. I hear his chair scrape the floor as I pour my sugarless black coffee into a cup and sit at the table. I close my eyes, trying to recall all my lines. I hear a clatter in front of me when I opened my eyes to see a plate of burrito. I raise my head to look at him.

"Thank you for yesterday, the meal was great." He smiles weakly at me before walking out of the kitchen with a cup in his hand. I take the plate, packing the burrito.

I was the cup before getting my things and leaving the house.

*********

"Miss Khadijah, kindly calm down." I hand her box of tissues and she takes it. "Thank you." I nod, flipping through the pages. "You're infamous for harassment and neglecting your workers. This is not making you and you family look good, especially your father considering he's running for governor."

She raise her head, her embarrassment vanishing. "It's your job to make all the lawsuits go away, that's why my father donates to your firm a lot so I expect the cases to disappear. I don't care how you do it."

"If so, your father should donate more. If that's all, you can go. I have other important matters to attend to." I open my drawer, pulling out the evidence folder I have against lawal. I hear the girl scoff. "You're ridiculous, you'll hear from my father soon for your incompetence."

I ignore her, flipping through the pages. She snatches my papers and throws it on the floor. I take a deep break, taking my landline.

"Hello, security, i need you to come get a non-compliant client out of my office. Hurry." I hang up as she stands thinking I'm joking. "You're pathetic, c-"

"Watch what you say carefully. I've tolerated enough of your nonsense. You're an adult but you act like a child that's why you haven't progressed in life. You yap because that's the only thing you do. Now get out of my office before I do something that infringes my work ethics."

She storms out of the office as I let out a sigh. I stand up, pacing to and fro. Nothing is making sense to me. I'm tired of work and home? I don't have that. I don't know where to run to.

I halt, placing my hands on my waist. My face raised towards the ceiling with my eyes closed. It will get better, it will soon be a memory to forget.

The landline rings as I walk to the table, picking up the phone. "You do know time is going, right?" I sigh, pulling the rope so I can pace around. "Yes, I know. I don't know how to get to her. She's not one you just meet."

"We have to have her before any firm gets to her first, she's an assets we can't possibly lose." I nod, standing by the canvas. "I'm on it,you shouldn't worry about it. I trying to listen closely to the whispers."

"I got one for you, Zulaika's getting married. I don't know where, when and to whom. That's all I know."

"That's a start, A very good one. May I ask where you heard it?" I saunter back to my table. "A friend of a friend's sister's husband, long strong but he heard."

"Okay, thanks. I owe you."

"I'll hold you up to that."

"Bye." I hang up smiling. How am I supposed to get to her? Let me finish my homework first.

***********

I walk into the house, expecting anything from Falah who has come back before I did. I walk towards the stairs when I see Falah walking into the sitting room looking at me. I act like I didn't see him because I don't have the energy for anything. Silence seems to be a great companion.

Immediately I take enter my room, I shut the door and take off my clothes. I enter the bathroom to take a shower.

The minute I turn the shower, the hot water relaxing my tense muscles. I stand, letting the water hit me while I think. What are my plans? I can't think of one. I take my bath, stepped out and applied all my lotions and went ahead to put on my night gown.

I open the door, stepping out of my room and heading downstairs to get something to eat before going to sleep. I walk towards the kitchen, scratching my head. "Alya. A word." I hear Falah say from a distance.

I sigh, heading to the sitting room. I walk in finding him with a bowl on the table as he sits on the chair, with his hands clasped. "You called." My voice making him look at me. "Please sit."

"I prefer to stand."

"Sit." He says assertively. I sit in the sofa beside his, crossing my legs. "You came back late, what's your explanation?" He looks at me. "Work took longer than expected."

"Is it going to be a routine?"

"I'm not sure, may be." I say getting annoyed by how he's being controlling. I glance at him as he closes his eyes, letting out a sigh. "Alya, your father left me to protect and take care of you. I mean to do that, even if I don't want to. My parents also trust me to do the same. Don't make it harder than it needs to be."

I put my legs down. "I didn't ask for all of this, you know. I was living in peace and I made sure to plead with you to let me be but you didn't. Just like how you get busy sometimes, I do too. Since I can't have an opinion, let me have my freedom."

"You can have your freedom when you stop acting like a teenager." He says before keeping quiet for a few seconds. "I'm the man of the house and just like I agreed to come back after maghrib, you agreed to come back before maghrib. You didn't protest then, don't protest now. You'll come back before maghrib, it's not negotiable. I don't care what you do there, wrap it up the minute it's six. Whatever you do when you come back is up to you, I don't care. I intend to keep my word."

He keeps eye contact with my eyes that are welling up with tears. I stand up, walking away. "Are we clear?" His question makes me stop walking. A stray tear runs down my cheek. "Sure." I walk up the stairs, heading to my room. I take off my robe, getting in bed. I place my head on the pillow as the tears start wetting the pillow. I close my eyes, clearing my throat. I need to wake up early.

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