When Skies Are Exposed

Chapter 1

3 months later.

It had been 3 months already since that day and Naima still remembered everything that happened.
She still had nightmares of it.
It seemed like it was just yesterday.

One particularly recurring nightmare was having Tawfiq being crowned as King and him watching on as she was dragged down to the dungeons.

The funny thing which made her mad was the fact that she was still in love with him. And she couldn't even deny it.

~
3 months ago.

Naima was wiping her eyes with the back of her hand. Her eyes were getting blurry and she was driving with Karim in the car. She had to concentrate and clear her eyes before they got into an accident.

"Mama, why are you crying? Is it because of daddy? Don't worry, when he comes, we will all go to Legoland." Karim consoled his mother.

He had no idea what was going on and he wasn't about to have any idea yet.

"Sure, baby, sure." She was making a promise she wasn't sure would ever happen.

Wyoming wasn't that far from California but she wasn't about to drive with Karim to Wyoming.

She checked her purse and realized she had left her credit card back home. Why was everything going wrong for her today? Without her card, she could not cash money to take a flight or get a place to stay for the night at least.

Just then her phone went off. It rang several times. Naima didn't bother to check who it was. From the Ring tone "for the rest of my life" she knew it was him.

She was trying to think and he was just confusing her with his interruptions.
She had no money at the moment and she was confused on what to do. All the banks would be closed by now so withdrawing money was a no. She wasn't also going back. That was not an option to begin with. She wasn't going to see him again. At least for now.

Her phone beeped, signaling a message.
She couldn't tell if it was from him so she checked it.

"You left your credit card. Is everything alright? Please call me, I need to know if you guys are safe at least. Please." The message read.

Naima didn't want to reply but she put herself in his shoes and how she would feel if she didn't know about the whereabouts of Karim. She'd go crazy.

" We are fine. " She texted vaguely.

" ALHAMDULILAH. Habiba, I'm so sorry and I understand if you need time and space to process things. I have booked a ticket to Wyoming for you and Karim. It leaves in 2 hours." Tawfiq texted back.

At least he had done something right.

Naima didn't reply and turned off her phone.

**
Presently.

Naima hadn't seen Tawfiq in those 3 months. Karim had. Aunt Faiza had. Literally everyone had. Every time he came to see Karim, she'd lock herself in the room and just cry. She'd cry so much that her heart would ache.

Karim would come back home hours later all happy from spending time with his father. Naima couldn't stop Tawfiq from seeing Karim. For one thing, Karim would make a fuss all day about not seeing his dad and it just wasn't right to deprive a child of his father.

The sad aspect of it was having to lie to Karim and Aunt Faiza about why she and Karim couldn't go back home yet or why she couldn't go out with them.