TURN OF FATE, cl16

40.

CHAPTER FORTY.
ABU DHABI.

Dariyah sat on Layla's car and soon the car was ready to be driven.

"So, Ferrari loverboy coming tomorrow?" Layla smirked, amused at the annoyed glare she received from Dariyah.

"Why do you keep bringing him up?" Dariyah seethed.

"What? My girl's finally got her knight in shining armour after a long time. Talking about long time, did your ex try to contact you again?" Layla scrunched up her eyebrows in curiosity, eyes glued to the road but the ears were attentive for Dariyah.

"Like every day." Dariyah rolled her eyes. "It's so funny that when we were together he'd text me once in two days! And I used to beg him to text me. Now? He's doing the thing I begged him almost 8 years ago."

"Ah, men." Layla scoffed, Dariyah nodding her head in agreement. "What about the lover boy?"

"Oh! He texts me like every hour— except for when he's on the circuit. It's adorable, really. He sends me a selfie of him doing the most random things. He once sent me a video of him having a burping competition with his trainer." Layla laughed in disbelief and a bit disgusted.

"No way!"

"Way!"

"Oh, I so can't wait to meet this Ferrari loverboy." Dariyah laughed at her boss' comment.

Soon, they reached Dariyah's apartment. Dariyah stepped out of the car and bid her farewell.

•••

Dariyah unlocked her door and stepped in, closing her door behind her. She removed her shoes and turned on the lights, only to shout in fright when she noticed a figure sitting on her couch.

"Ahhh—"

"It's just me!" The person laughed, Dariyah's eyes widened in surprise after realising who the person was. "You're mumma."

"Mumma? What're you doing here?" Dariyah felt weird, it's been a while since she talked in her language.

"Surprising my youngest daughter, of course." Alisha Hamza smiled softly, looking at her daughter in her work clothes, looking so grown up. She remembered as if it was yesterday when she was teaching a year old Dariyah how to walk, and now, here she was standing on her own feet and became an independent woman. She was proud of her daughter becoming into someone she couldn't become herself.

Dariyah wanted to ask a lot of questions but after seeing her mother standing infront of her after so long, the inner child in her woke up. The one who always found comfort in her mom's embrace. She didn't waste time into running to her mother's embrace, vision blurring a bit.

"I missed you too, baba." Alisha hugged her youngest just as tight as her daughter, placing a tender kiss on her head.

After gossiping as usual for a while, both the girls' stomachs growled in hunger. They shared a laugh. "Do you want me to make you something?" The softness in her mother's eyes never left as she continued gazing at her daughter with immense love.

She was proud of how both her daughters having grown into strong and beautiful women after all the hardships they faced because of her mistakes. Sure, she may be still suffering for it but she was glad her daughters weren't a part of it anymore.