Opposites Attract.

Chapter 33 - Who is he?

Daniel's POV:

"What's wrong?" I asked Mariam eyeing her trembling hands sceptically as the car peeled out of the drive way and into the hazy distance of the cool winter night.

"S-s-Scarlett." she whimpered her voice cracking and eyes dangerously flashing towards the rear view mirror and then back down to her hands again.The tone of Mariam's voice made my breathing stop. Mariam was rarely scared of anything so whatever she had seen in that room must have completely and utterly creeped her out. "Mariam, what did you see?" I asked again worriedly yet more firmly hoping to get a more coherent reply this time. 

"Daniel!" she snapped clenching her jaw "We'll talk about it later, okay? I'm having trouble getting the hang of what I had just seen without you and your pressing questions."

I held my hands up in surrender scoffing slightly "God, I'm sorry." She finally turned to face me while I kept my eyes steadily focused on the road ahead. Her voice was soft and shaken as she spoke "I'm sorry, Daniel." she nibbled on her lower lip nervously "It's just I hoped to go into that room and get some kind of closure but I just freaked myself out more."

I peered at her reflection in the mirror -- observing her  sad sullen expression as i licked my lips and I could tell that she was feeling guilty "It's okay." I added quickly hoping to reassure her that I wasn't mad at her. Mariam turned around in response and gazed out of the window while I studied the empty, dark and secluded streets of London that were only filled with a handful of late night shoppers and drunks.

"You don't hate me, do you?" she asked cheekily her head dipped low. I peeled my eyes away from the road slightly,  I could barely make out her figure in the dark, glimmering moonlight as I changed the gears and accelerated the car faster, a quicker and swifter arrival back home hopefully meant a more clear and concise explanation of what Mariam saw specifically. Mariam blushed slightly, unsure of what my hearty laugh in response signified as I gave her a lopsided smile which made Mariam blink repeatedly, confused, in response. "Mariam, I could never hate you." I replied cooly.

The silence in the car was eerily quiet but for Mariam and I it was strangely comfortable. We were comfortable in complete quiet as long as we were right next to each other -- where we were supposed to be.

Mariam's POV:

The next day I woke at precisely 10:30AM. I kicked off my duvet covers, widened the dark and gloomy curtains and threw on my slippers. I brushed my teeth while listening to the radio with my headphones neatly tucked in either side of my ears. I observed the girl who stared back at me in the mirror who gave me a disapproving look due to her messy and dishevelled hair. I attempted to return a weak smile but sighed when I realised that I wasn't fooling anyone -- not even my mirror reflection. 

Last night after Daniel had dropped me off, he turned off the engine and faced towards me hoping for some kind of answer of what I'd seen but I wasn't ready to spill the beans just yet. It wasn't that I didn't trust Daniel because I did. That was a certainty. The trouble was, I felt as though as soon as I had left that room that I wanted to forget everything I had seen. I wanted to forget that Scarlett was mentally unstable and I sure as hell wanted to forget that I had stolen a dead girl's diary. Telling Daniel what I had seen also made everything more real and I wanted to pretend like it was all just an illusion and a dream. What kind of person was I? Stealing a dead woman's diary? Oh Allah forgive me, I begged silently in my brain over and over again. The guilt was like a hot sharp knife that was being driven in and out of my limp and lifeless body.