DECE-P-TION

DXLVIII

Omniscient point of view.

The car driven by falah comes to a stop in their premises. Alya lets out a heavy sigh before turning to look at falah who kept on replaying the trial over and over in his head. She notices him being absentminded, placing her hand over his. He turns his head to look at her. "Yeah?" She smiles warmly at him, holding his hand tighter.

"We're here." He nods, raising her hand to his lips. She leans in closer to place a kiss on his lips which he indulged in. He passionately kisses her, exploring her mouth while his hand caresses her thigh. Alya noticing how tense he is, she decides to pull away, knowing Falah's pattern.

Immediately she pulls away, he lets out a soft chuckle. "I was getting into it, huh?" She chuckles, taking out her lipgloss from her bag to reapply. "Yes and it's not good for us now." She slips her hand into his hand , looking at him. He's still not himself, there's something wrong somewhere, she thought. "Hey." Her statement makes him focus back on her.

"You're not satisfied with trial today?" The worry in his eyes appearing for a millisecond before he decides to hide it from her so her growing concern subsides. "I have been over analyzing it but now, it's fine." She raises her brow, knowing well that he's withholding something from her.

"When will you realize that I can read you, Falah?" He laughs, looking away as she joins him. Read me? I can't even read nor understand myself, a thought crosses his mind. "Stop laughing." She nudges him a little, feeling better that he can even laugh for now. She pulls down the mirror to reapply her lipgloss.

"Hey, hey, hey." He gently pulls her closer to him, both of them trying to ignore the existence of the console between them. "Uhuh?" Their faces inches apart. "Don't apply it just yet." Falah flashes a smile at her after she brushed his lips with her thumb. "Give me a reason not to." Her words making him smile maliciously. "I'll give you a couple." A knock on the window distracts them and notice that it's Lateefa outside.

Alya readjusts herself before falah winds down the window. "We're waiting for you inside, you know." Lateefa looking at them keenly. "Apologies for the delay, we'll be in now." Falah adds with a smile and she nods, smiling back. Alya lets out a sigh, applying her lip balm. "Now she's going to say that we might be doing something in the car." Alya rolls her eyes as falah turns off the car. "We were."

She pauses to look at him then lets out a chuckle. "That's true."

Falah's point of view.

"No!" Alya laughs, closing her face with her hands as we collective laugh at her. Her father, Jabir, Lateefa, Alya and I. "Alya was so annoying. She'd go in and ruin my makeup, chat with my friends by pretending she's the one, pranking me-it's surprising she's still here today. Alive and well." Jabir scoffs. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Lateefa rolls her eyes. "What? You were a handful-sorry, did I say 'were'. You still are." We laugh at her facial reaction. "I'm not." She defends herself then joins to laugh. I stare at them sitting together happily, specifically Alya who wholeheartedly laughed at the smallest thing.

"I'm happy right now." Khaldoun admits with a contented smile on his face. "I am happy to have my family around me in my final moments which means a lot." Their smiles vanishes. "You have a lot more time." Lateefa puts out and khaldoun nods dismissively. "Regardless, I'm thankful. I'm grateful that I'm able to meet my kids and get to talk to my grandchildren even though it's through the phone. It's more than I ever expected."

He raises his hands up to see them shaking profusely. "Whatever the case is, I consider myself the happiest man. This is all i prayed for." He turns to look at me. "And i have two sons now." The corner of his mouth curls up to a smile. "Normally, i wouldn't like this but he's an exception." Everyone chuckles at jabir's statement as my phone rings. "Excuse me." I see the estate calling me.