Suspicion and Love couldn't dwell together. One would have to leave as soon as the other enters.
***
After a lot of thought, Maha finally told Tristan, despite her apprehension that Tristan might not believe what she would initially disclose. She had to say something to dispel any suspicions he may have. That evening, as soon as she and Tristan finished their quiet dinner and given him his glass of wine on the balcony, she took a seat on that long wooden sofa. Tristan sat on the single-seat beside the small table.
Without prelude, she told Tristan about that day. Starting from the moment Ibrahim pushed him into the vehicle, the rough ride, her call to Taher, the moment she fired at Ibrahim, and her excruciating escape to Farah's house. She added the recount of Farah to what she can remember at the time of the baby's delivery. The difference between her recount from the actual event was that the baby was not alive when she delivered him. The rest of the story covered the cremation of the remains and the dispersal of the ashes into the sea. Maha bowed her head and covered her eyes with both her hands while retelling the latter part, afraid Tristan could see that she's not telling the truth. When she had finished, Tristan remained quiet.
Maha couldn't stop her tears, as she was missing Amir. Thinking back, he could have died that day if it hadn't been for Farah. Tristan joined Maha on the long sofa and locked her in a tight embrace; while he was cuddling her head. Indeed, that was a painful memory for her to reminisce, he said to himself, and they stayed that way until Tristan asked her if she would like to rest on the bed. She nodded, saying she would love to. With his hands on her shoulders, he led her inside and made her lie down on the bed. Now she could no longer stop her tears. It hurt that she couldn't take care of her baby; that she had to give him up to Jamil for fear that Tristan would not care about him if he would come to know that the baby was not his. Tristan soon joined her after finishing his drink.
"I'm sorry if I had to force you to tell me. But I had wanted to know what had happened on that day," he said.
Maha kept her eyes closed while her tears flowed. He turned her to face him; hugged her and caressed her head with his other hand. Tristan could feel her pain. He affectionately hushed her when she sobbed again. They talked no more and stayed in that embrace until they slept the night off.
***
Taher sat quietly, thinking about where he should start with his digging. He can't risk doing it in the camp. He and Maha work closely, and she will surely know that Tristan had Taher investigate her. Maha was very intuitive; quick to sense if something is odd. He would have to use a computer in the city to know more about Jamil, the woman's fiance. If he could clear Jamil out of the equation, then there was no need to suspect Maha of anything. The only reason Maha wouldn't talk was that it was still too painful for her to talk about the day she lost the baby. Tristan should have nothing to worry about.
He also would want to clear Maha from his long-formed suspicion during that mission. He had never doubted her until at that point when she took the fiance. Much as he had wanted to understand why she did that, he couldn't. Isn't Jamil, if not the family of Yasmin, the ones who would pay the demanded ransom? So why did Maha held Jamil captive? He mentioned nothing to Tristan about his thoughts, wondering if the two could have planned it, and Tristan forgot to mention it to him.
But when Tristan himself wondered why Maha could not bring home the ransom money, he couldn't help but wonder, too. How could he help Tristan? But how will the truth affect the relationship of the couple later on, if it was true? For his peace of mind, he would like to know the truth. One day, he'll go to the city, he decided.
***
Zainab joined the group that morning with her surly attitude and grumpy demeanor. It had been days since she told Tristan about the midwife, but she couldn't see any change in how he's treating Maha. He must have asked Maha by now unless he truly loves Maha and did not believe her.
"Oh, well!" she thought. What more could she do now? Perhaps she could find something else next time. She could only continue to observe Maha's movements.
***
It's Friday. Jamil woke up early, showered, and changed. He went down to see Amir all set too for a day outside. The night before, Jamil had asked Daisy to have Amir ready early that morning in his casual outdoor wear. He wanted to take the baby with him for breakfast outside, and a walk by the beachside.
After his father intervened with the press, things were quiet and relaxed. Maybe he could now take Amir outside for a walk. The baby's been cooped up inside the house for a long time now. Fresh air and sunlight would do him good.
At a distance, one journalist who took Amir's photo with his grandparents was having breakfast a few tables away from father and son. It delighted him to see them. It would be nice to take a few photos, he thought. He promised he won't publish, as the grandfather had also made them sign on that document. But he would keep the photos on hold with him until the right time to show them will come. He may need them someday, who knows.
It would have been great if he could have it on tomorrow's paper, he said, but he couldn't risk it. But these moments were rare, and he had better take advantage of the chance to take some great photos. The young man's wedding to his fiancee would soon happen. He was already engaged before the baby was born. It must have devastated the fiancee, but nothing's heard of the engagement being canceled. He was a lucky guy that his fiancee had truly loved and forgiven him. Should he take a close-up photo of the baby? Maybe he could release the photos days after the wedding, he thought. He and his colleagues were wondering who the mother was. Who knows, someone would come forward and tell them who the mother was should they see the photo of the baby. There had been no woman linked with the guy despite being single and being heir to the Al Abdallah group; so how could he have had a son suddenly? What if he would post an anonymous article on the net and a photo of the child? Just to stir them up, he thought. But he couldn't post that now; it shouldn't be before the wedding.
***
It's Saturday morning. Taher left camp early for the city, hoping to find an internet shop that would open early. He wanted to be back before the morning would be over, in case Maha would look for him. He would park in the marketplace, the best place to lose oneself; it is scarier to leave a single vehicle parked in an empty parking space. He will have to wait. Business hours hadn't started yet. Meantime, he could have a cup of coffee and home-baked bread in one of those roadside cafes.
It was before 8:00 a.m. when he saw the shop owner parked in front of that small internet cafe shop. Immediately, he moved towards the shop. When the shop owner told him to wait for a few minutes, he claimed he was in a rush to go back to his duty; and would leave in no time.
Satisfied, he paid the shop owner and soon left. The last articles on the Al Abdallah company website were photos of Jamil, his father, mother, and the event in the company auditorium. In the other papers, there were some photos and articles about the couple and their families and saw Yasmin's photo again. Even when he carried her from the warehouse into Maha's car, he had admired her beauty. He couldn't blame Ibrahim for going loco over the woman, although he was nuts to have gone too far as to kidnap her. Lucky man, he thought of Jamil.
But the headline in one paper in the country, with a photo of the parents of Jamil with a baby boy, mentioning Jamil as the father struck Taher. Has Yasmin given birth? But she hadn't changed at all, comparing her old and latest photos. Is she the boy's mother? He took a while staring at the boy's only photo with the grandparents. The baby looked more like Jamil, but then the boy was still young. You couldn't say for sure who he took after until he has grown a little older.
What had he known about Jamil except for a forthcoming wedding between her and Yasmin and his baby? Anyway, he had to return to the camp now. He wished Maha didn't look for him.
***
Tristan seemed to be in a better mood these days, as opposed to that day they went for breakfast, Taher thought. And he is back to being openly sweet to Maha again. Could Maha have opened up about that day? Taher wondered. Maha and he were back as work buddies, partners-in-crime if he could say that. After several missions together, they had become comfortable with each other's company and had always been that way. Maha gave him a strong pat on the arm.
"You're a hundred miles away. What seems to bother you?" She asked.
"Huh, am I?" Taher replied.
"Taher, you need a woman. Has no one caught your fancy from anyone in the camp?" Maha teased.
"No one at all," Taher said as he looked away from Maha.
Maha promised to find one for him.
It was lunchtime and as soon as Maha had her quick meal, her pastime was to gaze at Amir's photo she took from her phone at the other villa's garden. Only this time, she lost focus. Maha was sitting with Taher when she looked at their photo. She had been used to Taher's company that she forgot. The instant she had displayed hers and Amir's photo on her phone, Taher saw it. And he couldn't help but stare at the photo. He tried to control himself from reacting. But he couldn't be wrong.
"Nephew?" Taher asked Maha casually while looking at it.
Only then did Maha realize she had company. She switched off her phone.
"A friend's baby," she said, smiling nervously.
"When was that taken?" Taher asked.
"Ow! When I went home for a few days," Maha said.
She busied herself trying to put the phone into one of her pants' pockets while looking down.
"Oh, yes, you went home for three days," Taher said.
"Yap, that time," she said. Wanting to stop the conversation, she waved at Taher to excuse herself and walked away.
Taher couldn't be wrong. The baby with Maha looked like Jamil's son in the newspaper. He could look at the photo again on the net to verify it. How he wished his phone could browse the internet, but he didn't have the latest model; he never thought he would need one.
And now, he's worried that his suspicions of her and Jamil could be true. Could something had happened between them? Could Maha be the child's mother? It couldn't be, but how could she hold the same baby? She went home on those days; she said. The baby was with Jamil in Dubai, so how could Maha be holding the same baby? He was positive that the babies in those two photos were the same. It is impossible!
Taher didn't rejoin Maha and his colleagues after lunch. He wanted to disprove his suspicions and left the camp to see that same photo once again. He returned in the early evening with a firm decision to follow this through in Dubai. Anyway, he made Tristan promised earlier not to question how he would proceed with his investigation on the matter. He will plan his trip to Dubai in the days to come.