DECE-P-TION

DXXXI

Falah's point of view.

"No! Please!" I hear Alya shouting which jerked me out of bed. I run to see whether someone is hurting her but the minute I enter, I see her shouting in her sleep. "I'm sorry!" She whimpers as I sit beside her, trying to wake her up.

She abruptly sits up with her eyes open and her hands holding my arm. The fear in her eyes vanished when she started sobbing. She hugs me, feeling her body tremble.  "What happened?"

"I-I d-dreamt of h-him. Anas." I feel her tears wetting my shirt. "Who's that?"

"The v-valet. H-he said I killed him and h-his blood...I-insides were all over the place, again." She gasps for air, crying. "It wasn't your fault." I tell her. "I know but I'm the one having the nightmares. I saw you in there too. I don't want to be having it again."

I pull away from her to see her face. Her eyes red and her dark eye-bags. The stress she went through yesterday and the day before truly hit her.

"It's just a nightmare, it's not real. You being here is real. Just recite your du'a and go back to sleep." I feel a sharp pain in my head as I look away. "What?"

"Nothing, sleep. I'll be on the sofa if you need anything." I stand up. "Don't sleep there, it's uncomfortable. Sleep in your room, I'll be fine." She says but i shake my head, having my reservations.

"I insist, I'm sleeping here." I sit on the sofa. I realized that it was a terrible idea to came back here after the attack. "Then come sleep on the bed. You need to rest your head and you can't do that there."

"I-"

"I insist. Come on." I sigh, standing up and getting on the bed. Her sheets smelling like oud and floral fragrance.  She gets out of the bed, walking to the closet with her shorts and vest.

I look at the ceiling, hearing a light ring in my ear. Alya walks out of the closet wearing a pyjamas and a duvet. She hands it to me, getting on the same bed. "Thank you." I unfold it as she lies down.

I lie down, facing the door while Alya faces me. She closes her eyes, tucking her hand under her head. How competent you are, making a woman that is under your care suffer. Your pride got you here. All talk. Irresponsible man. No planning. Worthless...

***********

"Take off your shirt." I hear faintly. "You're burning up." Alya points out, feeling something wet on my forehead. "What's going on?"

"Can you hear me?"

"What am I going to do?"

I hear her sobbing and sniffling. "I don't know what to do. It seems like it's still not going down and the doctor is caught in the traffic so just hold on."

I open my eyes, seeing Alya sleeping beside me. I attempt to rub my eyes when I feel something on my forehead. I raise it to see a towel and I'm shirtless. I sit up, placing the towel on the chiffonnier. "You're awake." Alya chuckles, waking up.

"Yes. What happened?" She places her hand on my forehead. "When I woke up, you had a high fever. I called the doctor but he got caught up in traffic. Still is but with the towel technique and prayers, your fever went down."

I nod. "Thank you for everything." I hold her hand. "You're welcome. You need extra rest, that fever is a sign. No phones and no news. Just rest." She advises. I have no choice but to heed that advice. She's gone through enough for me. I don't need to make it worse.

"Okay." I stand up, searching my pocket for my phone and hand it over to her. "What calls are the exceptions?"

"Our parents." I respond walking towards the bathroom. I take off my clothes after brushing my teeth, stepping into the shower as the hot water hit my skin. I close my eyes, letting the water wash my exhaustion away.

"What are you doing here?"

"Let's go, the smoke is too much. Crawl so we don't inhale much."

I snap my eyes open, my head hurting again. I stay in the shower for about ten to fifteen more minutes before stepping out of it.  I notice how she carefully folded the towels and I take one to wrap around my waist.

I open the door to find her taking off her shirt. Her vitiligo very prominent on her back. The majority of it being white than chocolate. I hang my head, clearing my throat as I walk into the room to let her know if ny presence. "I forgot you're here." She chuckles nervously. "I'm dressed now."

I glance at to see that she picked out my sweats for me. "I thought you'd be more comfortable in these." I glance at her, putting on her cap.

"You're right." I stand looking at it. "Sometimes i insist on you telling me things to make it better for you. It seems like I'm pushing it and it makes me feel like I'm being nosy." She crosses her arms across her chest.

"You're never nosy, you're just caring."

"Doesn't seem or feel like it. It's something new to me." She shrugs, sauntering to the chiffonnier beside me to get a thermometer. "Well, I appreciate it." She holds my hand, making me sit on the bed.

"Don't stand for long, I think. The doctor should be here at any minute so he should know your temperature. Your meal in over there. Eat before he comes. If there's anything you need tell me."

"When you get out of the shower, you need to rest too." She opens her mouth to protest. "I insist." She nods, walking towards the bathroom. I notice the vitiligo on her legs and feet too.

Alya. We started off on the wrong foot but I respect her deeply. I don't know how to repay her. I get dressed and ate my food then took the tray to the kitchen to rinse it. I rinse it, walking out of the kitchen. I sigh, turning to look at my study. I glance at the stairwell knowing fully well Alya won't approve it.

I stroll in there to check my mails and how much I've lost since the explosion. I sit, turning on my desktop to check on it. Emails, 225. I scroll seeing some from news outlets asking for an interview, some from my investors, some workers sending their resignation letters and the least, checking up on me.

I sigh, estimating how much I lost which seems much. You've been warned but you didn't listen. What did you think was going to happen? It's going to be a walk in the park? What a disappointment. You overestimated yourself. Alya was right when she said you're a ticking time bomb. Your death will be like a burden off their shoulders.

"We agreed on no screen time, remember?" Alya reminds me while leaning on the door frame. I sigh, leaning back on the chair. "I had to check something."

"What did you check?" She walks to my side, looking at the computer. "Just the firm's current state and how much this has negatively impacted us." She nods, turning to look into my eyes. "It's going down, huh?" She stands up straight, leaning on the stable. "Not that bad."

She crosses her arms, staring up. "So we're the number one now." I furrow my brows wondering why she thought of that now. "What?"

"Is the joke too soon?" I nod making her hang her head. I chuckle at how hard she's trying as I hang my head. "What are you doing?"

"You were trying too hard."

"I did what?" I raise my head to see Alya by the door. "Made a joke too soon. When did you get there?"

"I just arrived here, Falah. Who were you talking to?" My smile disappears, noticing the difference in clothing. Was I hallucinating?

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