Chapter 2
"We're here," I said, pulling the iron door open.
"Perfect."
"You needed to do something?" I asked, making my way through the lounge.
He took a seat on the leather chair, and I peered through the fridge, searching for something to fill the abyss within my belly. He smiled and asked his driver to leave with the rest of the men before reaching for his phone. After a few phone calls, he switched his phone off and watched me place a cup of tea in front of him.
"Is that a yes to my proposal?"
"Don't be ridiculous. I'll take it that you only asked that because you were in immense shock from the explosion?"
"Not really. It's our norm, is it not? I'd be more shocked if it didn't happen."
"That statement hit a bit too close to home," I replied, rolling my sleeves up. "My answer is no, by the way. I have no romantic feelings for you."
"Marriage isn't all about romance. Matter of fact, that's the last thing it's about."
"But it plays a major role, doesn't it?"
He smiled, placing his emptied cup onto the half-standing coffee table.
"Salama…"
"Ara…"
"Whatever you want… You have to marry me," he said with pleading eyes.
"Why?"
"I… I can't reveal that to you yet. Not until your grandmother is back."
"But what if—"
"Sir," one of his men yelled, kicking the door open. "They attacked the hospital she's staying at and took her captive."
"Excuse me?" I replied.
Adam stood anxiously, grabbing the coat he had on earlier before rushing out of the room. He left without saying anything, not even a look. I stood there for a moment, watching him and his men prepare for whatever mission they were on. Since when did he own a hospital, and who were they saving?
I closed the door after they left and walked toward my room, where I fell asleep to the sounds of the radio. Moments after they had left, their condition was announced on the radio. It was an older woman who had been kidnapped. "Mrs. Kapper," the radio woman announced before switching to another topic. Mrs. Kapper… I hoped it wasn't my Mrs. Kapper. I picked up my coat, got onto my bicycle, and rushed to the train station.
I was far, far away from where they were. If only I knew earlier. Matter of fact, when do I ever mind my own business? I rushed through the tracked road and dilapidated buildings in hopes that they had found her.
Tears flew off my cheeks as I rode. I felt stupid and useless. Incredibly pathetic of me not to know that it was my own family at stake.
I arrived at the bus stop and waited for hours. Finally, once it arrived, I received a phone call from Aliyan asking me to rush over immediately. Adam had gotten injured near the scene.
I arrived an hour later due to a delay in a taxi. My grandmother was said to be safe and guarded by a few mafias. She had always been one, meaning a spy kidnapped her. Adam, however, was in critical condition.
"Shot in the chest," Aliyan handed me a water bottle. "Caught between the spies and mafias."
This has got to be the most confusing day ever.
"What was he doing there?"
"Can't say, but when both of them recover, hopefully, we'll get the answers we're looking for."
After a few minutes, he took off, explaining how he needed to be with my grandmother.
I smiled, watching the rise and fall of Adam's chest. He looked so peaceful, so human. So human that I almost forgot about how absurd he could be. He was a beautiful man indeed. He was a man filled with mystery and soul, and every part of him was inching me closer and closer, and I felt myself yearning for the first time.
I had never yearned for a man the way I was yearning for him. I wanted to feel his soft-looking lips against mine, I wanted to hold his hand and count the scars on his arm. Here I was again, dreaming of things I should not even consider as a thought.
How dare I yearn for a man so out of my league, so handsome? I left the room when the nurse arrived and made my way to my grandmother's ward. She looked beaten to beat for my liking. Almost like she would never survive. I couldn't bring myself to watch her in that state any longer. I had to leave.
Aliyan arrived an hour later after he had dashed out and left me in the office. I was stuck waiting for his arrival because it was too unsafe for me to go home. There was a raid in the village my grandmother and I stayed in. The village I had just come from.
Gunshots filled the streets, screams echoed through the windows, and every dilapidated building was now empty. Completely empty. The spies had killed every single person found in the village.
The elderly, the young, the working. Not a single soul was spared. The streets were filled with the blood of these people. My home had become a graveyard of not only dreams but of people, too. Yet here I was, a coward, afraid to stand up for myself, scared to rebel.
Afraid to live up to my destiny. I hated that my grandmother named me Salama. I had no hope that I'd contribute to the peace of our land in any way. I was no peace. I was the opposite.
A week had gone by, and neither of them had woken up yet. Matter of fact, both of their health was declining by the day, and bits of me were attaching themselves to Adam. That's why I was always in his ward again, waiting for some sign of life.
Wake up, please.Chapter 2
"We're here," I said, pulling the iron door open.
"Perfect."
"You needed to do something?" I asked, making my way through the lounge.
He took a seat on the leather chair, and I peered through the fridge, searching for something to fill the abyss within my belly. He smiled and asked his driver to leave with the rest of the men before reaching for his phone. After a few phone calls, he switched his phone off and watched me place a cup of tea in front of him.
"Is that a yes to my proposal?"
"Don't be ridiculous. I'll take it that you only asked that because you were in immense shock from the explosion?"
"Not really. It's our norm, is it not? I'd be more shocked if it didn't happen."
"That statement hit a bit too close to home," I replied, rolling my sleeves up. "My answer is no, by the way. I have no romantic feelings for you."
"Marriage isn't all about romance. Matter of fact, that's the last thing it's about."
"But it plays a major role, doesn't it?"
He smiled, placing his emptied cup onto the half-standing coffee table.
"Salama…"
"Ara…"
"Whatever you want… You have to marry me," he said with pleading eyes.
"Why?"
"I… I can't reveal that to you yet. Not until your grandmother is back."
"But what if—"
"Sir," one of his men yelled, kicking the door open. "They attacked the hospital she's staying at and took her captive."
"Excuse me?" I replied.
Adam stood anxiously, grabbing the coat he had on earlier before rushing out of the room. He left without saying anything, not even a look. I stood there for a moment, watching him and his men prepare for whatever mission they were on. Since when did he own a hospital, and who were they saving?
I closed the door after they left and walked toward my room, where I fell asleep to the sounds of the radio. Moments after they had left, their condition was announced on the radio. It was an older woman who had been kidnapped. "Mrs. Kapper," the radio woman announced before switching to another topic. Mrs. Kapper… I hoped it wasn't my Mrs. Kapper. I picked up my coat, got onto my bicycle, and rushed to the train station.
I was far, far away from where they were. If only I knew earlier. Matter of fact, when do I ever mind my own business? I rushed through the tracked road and dilapidated buildings in hopes that they had found her.
Tears flew off my cheeks as I rode. I felt stupid and useless. Incredibly pathetic of me not to know that it was my own family at stake.
I arrived at the bus stop and waited for hours. Finally, once it arrived, I received a phone call from Aliyan asking me to rush over immediately. Adam had gotten injured near the scene.
I arrived an hour later due to a delay in a taxi. My grandmother was said to be safe and guarded by a few mafias. She had always been one, meaning a spy kidnapped her. Adam, however, was in critical condition.
"Shot in the chest," Aliyan handed me a water bottle. "Caught between the spies and mafias."
This has got to be the most confusing day ever.
"What was he doing there?"
"Can't say, but when both of them recover, hopefully, we'll get the answers we're looking for."
After a few minutes, he took off, explaining how he needed to be with my grandmother.
I smiled, watching the rise and fall of Adam's chest. He looked so peaceful, so human. So human that I almost forgot about how absurd he could be. He was a beautiful man indeed. He was a man filled with mystery and soul, and every part of him was inching me closer and closer, and I felt myself yearning for the first time.
I had never yearned for a man the way I was yearning for him. I wanted to feel his soft-looking lips against mine, I wanted to hold his hand and count the scars on his arm. Here I was again, dreaming of things I should not even consider as a thought.
How dare I yearn for a man so out of my league, so handsome? I left the room when the nurse arrived and made my way to my grandmother's ward. She looked beaten to beat for my liking. Almost like she would never survive. I couldn't bring myself to watch her in that state any longer. I had to leave.
Aliyan arrived an hour later after he had dashed out and left me in the office. I was stuck waiting for his arrival because it was too unsafe for me to go home. There was a raid in the village my grandmother and I stayed in. The village I had just come from.
Gunshots filled the streets, screams echoed through the windows, and every dilapidated building was now empty. Completely empty. The spies had killed every single person found in the village.
The elderly, the young, the working. Not a single soul was spared. The streets were filled with the blood of these people. My home had become a graveyard of not only dreams but of people, too. Yet here I was, a coward, afraid to stand up for myself, scared to rebel.
Afraid to live up to my destiny. I hated that my grandmother named me Salama. I had no hope that I'd contribute to the peace of our land in any way. I was no peace. I was the opposite.
A week had gone by, and neither of them had woken up yet. Matter of fact, both of their health was declining by the day, and bits of me were attaching themselves to Adam. That's why I was always in his ward again, waiting for some sign of life.
Wake up, please.