If I Take a Chance [Unpublished]

|5| Frazzled

Noor smiled as she slipped into the warm bubbly waters of her bath, piling her long locks at the top of her head, inhaling the scented bath beads as they fizzled and foamed into a turquoise blue lather.

Hearing the commotion outside her bedroom door, she smiled and picked up the remote, increasing the volume of the TV as she soaked and relaxed, ignoring her aunt who was at the other side of the door.

She closed her eyes and leaned into the tub, allowing the water to sooth the ache in her muscles but instead of the darkness that she sorted, whiskey brown eyes stared back at her. She gasped, her eyes flying open as a tingle ran down her spine when she remembered the man from the night before.

She remembered what it felt like as he stared into her eyes with his bottomless, rich tawny wood-like and expressive eyes before he had retched on the floor, missing her foot by mere inches.

Of course, the inappropriateness hadn't stopped her from noticing his fine features; slightly crooked nose, squared jaw which seemed to have been carved out of stone and too full lips she felt jealous of.

The moment his eyes had clashed with hers, she felt him peeling off the barriers she had erected. He hadn't just looked at her, it felt like he had seen right through her soul and that tid bit part had made all of her insecurities rush back in.

Sighing, she stepped out of the water which had gone cold and shrugged on the robe she had discarded by the side, switched off the TV then waltzed into her room, refreshed and a little bit happy until she wasn't as she stilled, staring at the figure who sat on her bed, eyes fixed on the monogrammed name on her black sheets.

"Baba?" she whispered softly, her heart rate skyrocketing as the man who had sired her raised his dull brown eyes to meet hers in an endless battle of will.

She was the first to look away, bending her neck unknowingly in a motion of submission.

"You have returned from your tantrum exile and caused quiet a ruckus today biꝺꝺo*, my wife is not happy about it. What do you have to say about your actions?"

"I apologize Baba," she replied, wincing inwardly at how docile she had become. "It wasn't my intention."

"Very well," he nodded, taking his gaze away from her as he rose from the bed. "It will not repeat itself again, do I make myself clear?"

"Yes Baba."

"Now dress up and come down, there is something I would like to discuss with you and your brother," he stated, moving towards her.

Noor flinched, expecting to get a smack on the face but instead, she was rewarded with a kiss on the forehead. Frozen, she stood still wondering if he had been possessed or if it was another ploy of his to get her to warm up to him and then crush her again.

"Is that clear Noorul-Huda?" he smiled fondly, tracing his calloused finger across her cheek.

"Ay Baba," she nodded, watching as he made his way out of her room.

{••}

Her Mama had named her after the one thing she craved the most in her life; light. Every day, she would tell her that she would grow into someone special, into something she could never begin to imagine. She would spin her around in her arms and call her her world, her life...her Noor.