Scarred For Life

Chapter 63

*
Silence had always been Afrah's companion. Even now, after surrendering half of her soul to be replaced by someone else's, it still hovered around her like a second shadow. It wasn't so bad though. Silence was multifaceted after all, sometimes bearable and sometimes appalling. Silence in the presence of Adnan however was neither.

It was blissful.

She didn't have to worry about filling it; part of her knew instinctively that he was just as unbothered by it as she was. Ever since he'd returned to the hotel room, she'd studied his face, anxiously looking for a sign that he was uncomfortable with the muted air in the room. He seemed cheerful however, silently nodding his head as he worked on his laptop. They were scheduled for dinner in less than two hours, but neither one of them was in a hurry.

Briefly, Afrah glanced over at the clothes she'd laid out for the evening. It was nothing fancy, a pair of dark, slim-fit jeans, a white, long sleeve shirt which her mother had bought for her before the wedding and a pair of black pumps which Amina had returned with earlier. Afrah didn't bother to ask how he knew her shoe size.

While he worked, Afrah engrossed herself in her book. While her body remained in the hotel suite, her mind was riding a horse through the hills of Scotland with Micheal Stirling - Kilmartin, rather - and Francesca Bridgerton-Stirling. Though she was dry, the rain which was beating on their backs felt like it was trickling down her own back as well. That was the beauty of reading; it was like watching a movie in one's head. When He Was Wicked was the first book Afrah had fallen in love with, and she read it nearly twice every year. Julia Quinn held a dear spot in her heart, though Danielle Steel and J.K. Rowling held their own special spots as well.

"Afrah?" Adnan's voice suddenly broke through the magic of the book.

"Hm?" she replied without looking up.

"Could you please fetch the file labeled ABW/11/S29?" he asked. "It's right beside you on the bedside table."

Afrah folded the corner of the page she was reading and pulled the stack of files towards her. There were seven of them, each so thick and heavy that she had to grunt before lifting them onto her lap.

"Why do you need all these files, Adnan?" she asked.

"They're from work," he said simply.

"Well you're not supposed to be working, are you?"

"Says who?" he frowned.

"Your wife," she said, finally locating the file. "We're meant to be on holiday."

"I know that," he said. "But I'm merely utilizing a lapse in the festivities of the holiday to get some work done. You know I can't abandon my work for two whole months."

"Of course you can," she said, handing him the file. "You just choose not to."

"Let's agree to disagree," he chuckled. "Thank you."

Afrah glanced at the laptop, where a very complex three-dimensional diagram was being displayed.

"What are you working on?" she asked, sitting beside him.

"Just some plans for some apartment buildings somewhere in Karsana," he said, flipping open the file.

"Can't you delegate the responsibility over to someone else?" she asked. "We're on our honeymoon. Bringing your work along was not part of the agreement."

"I'll be done in a minute," he said. "I just need to be sure that the original draft I have here matches the models I'm seeing here."

He turned his attention fully to the laptop, while Afrah watched him curiously. It fascinated her how deeply he got absorbed in his work; the way his eyes flitted this way and that; the way he tapped the edge of his lips while he scrolled downwards, pausing briefly to jot something down before he resumed his scrolling.