Accepting You

Chapter Forty Six

Despite her efforts, Yusuf noticed something was off with Asiya. The musical tone she had used to converse with his mother had sounded false and flat to him.

Something is very wrong, he thought as they drove back to their hotel.

Asiya's smile couldn't convince him otherwise. It was too precise and constructed like someone had painfully pulled back the strings that controlled her cheeks.

It wasn't her usual carefree grin that expanded and shrunk as conversation dipped and peaked. Asiya held her smile the entire night like she was waiting for permission to stop smiling.

When they were inside their hotel room, Yusuf's eyes followed Asiya's slightly lowered shoulders into the bathroom as she prepared for bed.

She hadn't spoken since they had checked in.

Yusuf knocked on the bathroom door before gently pushing down the handle and frowned. It was locked. The couple didn't usually lock the bathroom door when they used it.

"Asiya," Yusuf called out softly. "Are you okay?" He felt like he had been asking Asiya those three words a lot lately, and that scared him.

There was a short sniff in response before Asiya croaked out a yes.

Unconvinced, Yusuf wiggled the door handle up and down. "Asiya. Open the door."

Yusuf pressed himself against the door and braced his body, but his preparation for a fall was pointless because the door didn't open.

"Asiya." Yusuf knocked on the door with increased urgency. "Why are you avoiding me? Please, open the door."

Yusuf pressed his hands on either side of the door frame and leaned his forehead against the door. After a few painful minutes, Yusuf heard Asiya sigh, and she reluctantly unlocked the door.

Asiya gave Yusuf a smile.

It's false, he thought. Something was peeking through her pretence. "Asiya, please. What's going on? What's wrong?"

Asiya's smile slackened, unveiling some of her feelings. She looked scared, almost like she knew that once she opened her mouth, her voice would crack and give away the truth.

Yusuf knew that look because he had mastered a million different ways to mask it.

"Nothing is wrong. I'm fine." Asiya's sentence was short, but Yusuf could hear the spikes in her voice as she struggled to control it.

"How did you find tonight?" Yusuf purposely kept his palms pressed against the door frame so Asiya couldn't avoid his questions.

"It was okay."

"Just okay?" he pressed.

Asiya nodded while Yusuf shook his head.

Asiya exhaled defeatedly. "Your mum was sweet, but...your aunt...wasn't."

Yusuf's face darkened as Asiya told him everything that had happened. She spared no detail; eventually, he was swimming alongside Asiya in a sea of sorrow that her foes had thrown her into.

"She called me something too...I don't know what it means, though. Sounded like she said a bazar ant? Badtea ant?"

"A baazaari aurat?" Yusuf clarified.

"That's it," Asiya nodded. "I'm guessing it isn't nice by the look on your face. Shock."

"It doesn't matter, and it isn't true."

Yusuf lowered his arms, and Asiya quickly scurried out of his line of scrutiny. She walked over to the bed, threw back the sheets and swept a pillow over the covered mattress, dusting it.