Scarred For Life

Chapter 61

*
As suspected, Afrah had returned to the hotel. Relief swept over Adnan when he called the front desk and found out that she had arrived just over an hour after she left him - abandoned, rather - on the street.

Before heading back, he googled 'How to appease an angry wife'. One can never be too sure, especially when it came to women. If indeed Afrah had spoken to Chris about what he thought they had spoken about, then he was definitely in deep trouble.

As the cab took him back to the hotel, Adnan stared out the window solemnly, wondering if he wasn't re-enacting a scene from a sloppy romance movie Afrah had made him watch. Any minute now, the background noise would fade out, to be replaced by a sad and slow tune, most likely Alan Walker. The subtitles would probably show '(Sombre music playing)' at this point, and he'd be forced to lean his head against the glass and watch the streets of New York zipping past, random strangers hurrying about their business without paying any attention to the man watching them.

The unwanted intruder into their lives.

He felt like crap; in every sense of the word. Why he even left Afrah with Chris for a single moment still baffled him. He should have guessed that he wouldn't be able to keep him mouth shut.

The cab pulled up in front of the hotel finally, and Adnan eagerly hopped out, grabbing the multitude of bags he'd bought with him.

He found Afrah on the terrace, her back turned towards him. She'd changed into a plush white bathrobe, and a cup of coffee sat idly beside her on the table.

Her head was bowed, buried inside a book he didn't know she'd brought along.

"Assalamu alaikum," he said, standing awkwardly at the doorway.

"Wa alaikum as salam," Afrah mumbled back a reply.

"Before you say anything," he hurried over to her side, "I just want to say I'm sorry. I admit that I was wrong, and you're absolutely justified in your anger."

Step 1: Admit that you are wrong (even if you aren't).

Check.

Afrah turned to look at him lazily, placing her finger in the middle of the page.

"I was an idiot, and whatever it is you think I did, I'm sorry. I'm a stupid little peasant who doesn't deserve a second glance from you, or even a minute in your holy presence. I am a mere mortal, which is why I've faltered and failed to meet your expectations. Punish me however you want, but please do not keep up this passive-aggressive behavior. I'd rather you beat me up black and blue right here than have you giving me the cold shoulder."

Step 2: Humble yourself before her. Make her realize that she is superior to you, and your mistake was a byproduct of you being inferior to her.

Check.

"Here," he said, placing the bags in front of her. "I have realized the error in my ways, and I bring this humble offering in the hope that it might appease you even a little bit."

Afrah merely raised an eyebrow as he lifted the first bag.

"I went to the Apple store," he said, avoiding her gaze. "I know you wanted a new laptop, so I got you the new MacBook Pro. It's the latest generation, with a core i9, a 16 inch Retina display, 2.6 GHz, a terabyte of storage and a touchbar; just like you wanted."

He placed the laptop on her lap and reached for the next bag. "I went to the Gucci store next," he said. "I'm not sure what you would have wanted, so I got you these two belts. I even had them engrave your name on each one. See?"