All For What!

59

Inline comments are very much appreciated.

Dedicated to my sister, Eshaal_sid

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"Abi! Abi!! Abi!!!" Sa'eed could hear his daughter's voice calling out for him from outside her room. He sat upright and heaved a sigh - due to how much he missed them, he had started hallucinating. He chuckled and went back to want he was doing on his cellphone.

"Abi!" He heard again. This time, louder.

Lifting his gaze, Sa'eed's jaw dropped - it was Manal standing right in front of him. He couldn't believe his eyes. Perhaps they were deceiving her. He blinked once, then twice to make sure he wasn't indeed hallucinating. "Manal?"

She smiled and ran into his waiting arms.

Sa'eed couldn't contain his happiness, relief and most of all, surprise. He wasn't expecting them to return today. He kissed her on both cheeks. It had only been a day, yet he missed the both of them terribly. "Where is ummi?" He questioned, his gaze trailing to the door.

"She's not here." Manal replied nonchalantly.

"She's not here?" Sa'eed asked disappointedly. He sincerely wished she had return with Manal instead, but apparently, that wasn't the case. Perhaps Maryam had sent Manal back home with someone else. "Who are you here with?"

"Ummi." She shrugged.

Sa'eed's eyes lit up. "Where is she?" He questioned solicitously.

"She's standing outside the room." She replied.

The side of his lip curled up into a lopsided side. "And you told me she isn't here." He remarked, poking her nose.

"Yes, because she's not here in the room." She whined.

"Right." He agreed, hugging her tighter to his body. "I missed you so much. Do you know that?"

"Yes." She giggled.

"How's grandpa, grandma and aunty Sumaiya?" He inquired. "I hope you were obedient and nice to them."

"Yes."

"Good." He caressed her cheeks and handed his cellphone to her. "I have downloaded new games for you. Take it."

"Really, abi?" She exclaimed. "Thank you." She collected the cellphone and clicked on My talking Angela.

While Manal was engrossed with the game, Sa'eed sauntered out of the room in search of his wife. She wasn't outside the room as Manal had told him.

Walking along the hallway, Sa'eed spotted Maryam by the door to their room. Immediately their gazes met, Maryam hurriedly walked inside.

Sa'eed chuckled - it seemed she was in the mood to play hide and seek. Apparently, she was nervous of meeting him again after what transpired between them yesterday, but what she didn't know was that, he wasn't mad at all. In fact, he was delighted to have them back. The building was a house yesterday, but today, it had turned back into a home due to her presence. He followed her.

Stepping a foot into the room, he met her by the window side, staring lovingly at nature - the blue sky and the chirping birds that flew about. His presence was not even noticed by her.

He walked closer to her in taciturnity and wrapped his arm around her from behind. She tensed up immediately, but relaxed after a minute or so. The sent of her hair surged into his nostrils and he felt intoxicated by her love. How much he missed her. In just a day, he missed everything about her. He missed her beautiful, mesmerising smile, her immense love for him. He missed her reminding him of his salat. Surprisingly, he missed their little arguments as well. He was not used to her being nervous around him - he did not like her silence at all. His gut feeling told him something wasn't right, but he spurned the thought - what could possibly be wrong? She was back and between his arms. "Game over, habibty." He kissed her temple. "I have finally got a hold of you."