Echoes of Agony

Chapter Fourteen

Zaytun woke up the next day, only to find that the other side of the bed where AbdulJalal usually slept was empty. She could tell from the wrinkles on the sheets that he had recently woken up.

The company's yearly party, which took place two weeks ago, had impacted her relationship with him. As she exhaled calmly, the events flooded back to her. The night with Bilkisu and AbdulJalal was as fresh in her mind as the air she was breathing that morning. She wondered what kind of relationship he had with Bilkisu. Was it the type of haram relationship she had read about? Was this the kind of relationship he always had? This thought consumed her, and she knew that he had a very large circle of friends and knew many people, particularly women. She didn't feel at ease without knowing the exact relationships AbdulJalal had with some of them, especially the person he had gone to that night when he left abruptly.

Nothing had changed much from before when he used to ignore her. Even though he kept his distance and wasn't as bubbly with her as he had been before, Zaytun was working hard to improve their relationship and make him like her more.

"Are the vegetables fresh? Because I just picked them up from the market?"

"Yes, they are, Hajiya. Even though sometimes at the market, vegetables tend to be less fresh as they are stored for days, but these are actually good." The maid scanned the baskets of vegetables bought by Zaytun.

"Okay, I'll cut the carrots, and you do the onions. I have to be fast because I have to go back to my meeting in like..." she looked at the clock across from her, "one hour."

Zaytun planned to prepare lunch for AbdulJalal and herself, as they always did since they got married, and she needed to be back at work soon. She arrived home at lunchtime and started preparing his lunchbox, which she still enjoyed doing despite him not eating it most of the time. She found joy in creating healthy and delicious food, and some of her husband’s coworkers even praised her for it.

She had also been contracted as Senior Design Manager at the company after her successful participation in the project. She was proud of her achievement, as it was the result of her hard work and dedication. However, things were not smooth sailing at first, as her father and father-in-law wanted her to work for their respective companies instead. AbdulJalal, on the other hand, did not say anything, and she took this as a sign that he supported her decision.

After several meetings and arguments, Zaytun finally got her brother's support, who threatened to leave the company if they did not let her pursue her dream. This was a significant victory for her, and she was now happy to be working in a company that appreciated her talent and innovation.

Later in the evening, Zaytun reached home, took a quick shower, and changed into comfortable clothes. It was already 5 PM, and AbdulJalal had not yet returned home. She decided to prepare dinner and took out some meat from the freezer to start cooking. As she was cooking, she suddenly realized that his birthday was coming up in a month's time. She knew she had to prepare something special and decided to note down some ideas. She smiled to herself, thinking that she would tell the other members of their group, and they would all work together to make his birthday a memorable one.

She took the initiative to set up the table and eagerly waited for her husband's arrival. However, she was uncertain whether AbdulJalal would come home or not. For the past week, he had only been home for two days, and she suspected that he had someone else he was seeing. She didn't have any concrete evidence to support her suspicion, so she decided to pass the time by watching some cat videos on Instagram.

After about thirty minutes, Zaytun heard the sound of the front door opening and quickly stood up to see if it was AbdulJalal. A small smile reached her lips when she saw him walking in through the door.