Trust Me (An Islamic Love Story)

Chapter 61

I drift off to sleep and wake up early in the morning, my head aching with all the strain of understanding last night. I get distracted, however, as today is the last day of the court hearing. My heart keeps racing at the thought of it ending, for once and for all, and its beats are louder than my mind's spells of pain.

I manage to avoid the media until Abbas's sentence of eight months in prison. After that, the media surrounds me as their minds are stuck to Azar like glue. How can they stoop so low that all they can think about is how to sell their story using my heartbreak?

Raheesh knew that media is the one outlet that can break me the most, and he wanted to use it to defame me and label me as his killer, but even if his plan didn't go exactly the way he wanted, it still works.

I go home quite disheartened, the words of the journalists ringing in my ears.

"Where is Azar? Do you still talk to him? Does he know now what has happened? Has he tried contacting you? Do you still love him? Do you want to get back together, or do you want a divorce, or are you two already divorced?"

Madam Sabira sits down in the lounge as we reach, and I head to the room to get her medicine. When I return back, I hear a familiar voice from the speakers of the television.

"Get away from him! I will call the police if you didn't leave! This is just so obnoxious, God!" I stand across the room, paralyzed, as I watch Ahmed yell at the reporters. Standing behind his protective arms is none other than Azar himself.

"How do you feel about your behavior now, Mr. Hussain? Have you tried winning her back or do you find her past unacceptable and don't want to be associated with a victim of abuse—"

The sentence is left incomplete as Madam Sabira has switched off the TV.

I wish to hide forever, but I can't move. I stand still for a few seconds, unable to take in what I just witnessed.

"Come here, dear." Madam Sabira says after a moment, sensing I'm there, and I obey mutely.

I sit down on the floor, and she holds my hand and gently squeezes it. I close my eyes at the gesture and place my forehead on her knee, and tears start streaming down my face. She caresses my hair, and we stay like this for I don't know how much time. In the end, I suddenly feel worried about Madam Sabira, as I don't want to lay my burdens on her, so I stand up to leave.

"The world is very cruel," she says, patting the sofa beside her, and I hesitantly sit back down.

"The world isn't cruel, Madam Sabira," I find myself arguing. "The people are. Life is beautiful. The principle of marriage is beautiful. But humans... oh, we humans... what have we done to this world and ourselves?"

"Don't include yourself among those cruel people," she begs.

"Why not? I did this to Azar," my voice trembles as I confess, "The reason why his life and reputation have become a joke in the media is because of me. I promised to part ways, but then why can't our problems part ways? What is the difference between Raheesh and me? Just like him, I am ruining someone else's life even after I am gone."

"You aren't like him, and you can never be like him," she says rather sternly. "He had no conscience, no remorse, no heart. You have feelings. You have a heart. You have a conscience. You have a spirit. And you haven't done anything wrong, Abeer," Madam insists. "This isn't your fault. Don't compare yourself to that man, and as far as Azar is concerned, he has earned for what he did to you, for the way he accused you and left you."

"I don't want him to be punished," I say weakly. "How can I want someone I love to be punished? You know when we were in school, and he used to annoy me and follow me around, I wasn't in a state to stand up for myself. Yet Azar's existence was not unbearable. Whenever he was around, I felt safer from Raheesh. He helped me forget the problems of my past, by creating distractions in my present. Mom created such a situation that I had to choose between doing what is right and breaking the hearts of the family that took me from the ashes and gave me a new life."