MY KILLER

CHAPTER 40

             A WEEK BEFORE THE STABBING

That night, sleep did not dare pay me a visit.
I sat on my chair and stared into the darkness and watched as the sun rose slowly from the east.

As I watched the darkness fade away to the brightness of the sun, I wondered what really kept me awake. What was I really thinking about that kept me awake all through the night.

Z'ev.
Was I really thinking about him, about the good times we had spent together. About the first day I had set my eyes on him at the stables when he tried to kiss me. About the same afternoon he had come to my rescue when I was almost beaten to death. About the times he stayed with me at the hospital, and the time he took me back, watched out for me even when Muizzat had tried to torture me. About the Sibaq Khuyul and how he came over to talk to me in the presence of so many people, about how he saved me over and over again from Sahib's rage, how he came over and stayed with me at the hospital when I was close to my death, how he took me in his arms and kissed me.

He really had been there through thick and thin. It's no wonder I had fallen for him.
I sighed.

Almost immediately, my phone rang.
It had been ages since Sahib had called my phone, sometimes, I even forget I had one.
I answered the phone.

"Come out," He said before I could say a word.

"Why?" I asked weakly. I had stayed up all night and was still exhausted from the party of the night before.

"You're not to ask your Lord why he needs your presence. You're just to follow command."

"As you wish," I said standing from the chair with difficulty and heading to the bathroom. "I'll be there in ten minutes." I wasn't in the mood for arguments neither did I have the strength for it.

"Wait. What's wrong. Why are you agreeing so fast and why is your voice so weak?"

"Sahib, please hang up."

"I knew it. You're starving right? That must be it. You barely ate anything yesterday. Just come out when you're done. And don't faint before I see you."

"Bastard," I said, hung up and dropped the phone before taking off my clothes and getting in the bathtub.

It was exactly thirty minutes before I was done. When I took up my phone, I had missed Sahib's call fifteen times. Immediately, the door forcefully opened and he rushed in like something big had happened.

"I told you not to faint before..." he stopped as he saw me standing, holding my phone and staring angrily at him. "What the...did you have no sleep last night. Your eye bags are the size of a water melon."
I turned away from him in embarrassment. I didn't want him to see me like this.

"Can a girl not have her privacy anymore. I thought Arabia had strict rules regarding men and women."

"I'm the law,Sahiba. Besides, you're not a woman to me."

I shot a grimacing glance at him. "Then am I a man?"

"You're none of the above. You're more like uh-more like a statue. And trust me, that's good. At least that way, I can sleep peacefully at night without having stupid thoughts."

I squinted at him. "What thoughts are you talking about?" I asked confused.

"Exactly," He said blushing stupidly, acting like he had done something wrong. "What thoughts am I talking about?" He asked rhetorically.

I shook my head and asked, "what was it you wanted to see me for?"

"It's a surprise," he replied excitedly. I was beginning to suspect him.