All For What!

39

"Where do I go from here?" Nafisa asked herself as soon as she stepped a foot out of the gate. She didn't have any family in the city to turn to and going back to her village was a total no for her. Her mother would not allow her in due to disappointment - she knew. And even if she would allow her, she had no plans or desire to go back to her lifestyle in the village. Her dream of becoming very rich no matter what she had to do, good or bad, overclouded her rational thinking.

The sound of her phone beeping in her handbag pulled her out of her reverie. Her lips tugged into a duchenne smile as she stared at the caller ID - Mukthar. Why didn't she think of him earlier? He was the only person she could turn to.

"Hello, babe." Nafisa replied in a very low voice.

"Hey! What's wrong, sweetheart? Your- you sound sad. Are you sure you're alright?" He asked.

Nafisa didn't fail to notice the worry in his voice. "To be honest, I'm not."

"Why? What happened to you, sweetheart. Please don't hide anything for me. You know how worried I always get about you." He rambled on.

"I ran away from home." She blurted the first thing that came to her mind.

"What! You ran away from home? Why would you even do that?"

"I can't bear staying in that house anymore. My aunt wants to send me back to Cyprus, but I don't wanna go and leave you. My life will be worthless without you in it."

"Your aunt? Wait... What! Cyprus? I thought you lived with your parents."

Nafisa puffed out air from her mouth and heaved a sigh. She mentally cringed. How could she had made the mistake of mentioning 'aunt' Instead of 'mum'! Now she would have to rectify that mistake. "I don't live here with my parents. Haven't I told you before?"

"No."

"It must have slipped my mind. Yeah, I don't live with them here. My parents live overseas and they practically shoved me into the plane to come stay with my aunt and her family for a year or so."

"Wow! I didn't know that."

"That's because I didn't tell you." Nafisa rolled her eyes.

"Oops!"

"My mum phoned my aunt yesterday and insisted I go back to them, because she misses me a lot. I overheard them talking over the phone and decided to run away from home today. I don't want to go back anymore." Nafisa finished. She mentally patted herself on the back for her well cooked up story - a job well done. She had no idea she could come up with such a perfect lie.

"I'm sorry to ask, but don't you miss your parents?"

"What kind of a question are you even asking me? Of course I do. I'm doing all these because of the love-"

"Don't get me wrong, sugarplum, I'm glad you stayed back for me and that's why your love keeps increasing in my heart daily. I also can't imagine my life without you. As we speak, where are you?"

"I'm on my to you."

"Just stay right where you are. I will come pick you up, okay?"

"Alright and please be quick. I'm so exhausted standing under this sun for so long."

"Your wish is my command, babe. See you in a jiffy."

"Alright." Not waiting for his reply, she ended the call and gnashed her teeth, as the memory of how Maryam threw her out of the house moments ago invaded her mind once more. "You all will pay for the way you threw me out of your house like some piece of trash, especially that brat, Manal." She swore.