Salman's POV
It has been twenty minutes since Jala went into the washroom and I was getting uneasy. Uneasy enough to enter the ladies washroom.
In the meantime, I roamed around the airport building, venturing out into the cool, night air that felt good against my skin. The night sky was clear, the half moon out shining the twinkling light of the stars tonight. I stared at the vast unknown before me wondering where fate would lead us from here and why we were doing this at all. Leaving our loved ones behind, all for the sake of a dream that we had no explanation and leads of, only that we shared the same dream and knew each other even before we were introduced to one another in this world, we called real.
We never really talked about it, in the open it was more of a self confession for at least the three of us, since we hadn't spoken to Amira but, somehow it felt right. Then there was Jala, a stubborn young girl who didn't know better than to follow where her heart would lead her. She seemed to be the most sure out of us all about this venture we were going to take, so sure that we could change the world for the better because that is what it seemed to be about at the moment and I could see that my so called logic was already taking a toll on her, breaking her resolve.
Maybe it was my trait of toxicity that I had developed over time and used it as a defense mechanism against my parents to hide my hurt.
Even though all my success is self made the world will always give the credit to my parents, since a kid of rich parents is bound to be rich. It made my blood boil when the so-called friends came to me at our lavish parties which were nothing but a display of wealth and actually tried to point out similarities between me and my parents, low key reminding me I would never be where I was without the help of my parents. They were clearly blind, because there is literally nothing similar between me and my parents, save for my looks. And maybe, their toxic behavior.
I guess, I'm not so different from them after all.
As a woman, I know she must have had it harder than me, judging by the fiasco her brothers created on Ali's rooftop but instead of destroying like me, she heals. A fire in her soul that arouses hope in those around her, and for a moment it feels like everything will be fine.
But the world is a dark and dangerous web, meant to ensnare your hopes and dreams if you dare to fly too high. And so are the people.
Why did God create us, anyway?
I went back in, my hands tucked in the pockets of my trench coat, too lazy to observe the idiots around me. Standing outside the lady's washroom I was contemplating whether or not to break down the door and see for myself, what is taking Jala so long. After a few minutes of bated breaths, running a few rounds here and there, and cursing myself for leaving her when those creepy dudes were still around, she appeared looking a bit frazzled, with her coat draped over her forearm, showing her delicate body frame. A few wisps lay on her damp forehead as she looked around, probably searching for me.
"What took you so long? Jala, I told you we were being followed and the our flight's due in twenty minutes–"
"Yeah, no shit. Let's get out of here."
The guys who I had been seeing since we got into the airport were also with us on the flight. I would have accepted Jala's conclusion of me being paranoid, if she hadn't agreed with me a little while ago. Hopefully, we'll land safely in Cairo without the plane getting hijacked.
I had tried asking Jala about what made her change her mind, but she wasn't responding properly and for the right reasons too. It was an eight hour long flight and with only two hours in, I felt like sleeping was the most sensible option then.
My ears were muted and my head felt light as I closed my eyes, and drifted into a series of dreams too quick to remember.
Jala shook me awake and asked me to have some food, since I had been dead for the past four hours.
Airplane food hadn't really fared me well on any occasion so the parcel in front of me went untouched. Jala only had half of her's, which didn't really come as a surprise with the nasty upturn of stomach where your gut feels "lost" especially on a first flight.
The wheels hit the tarmac and rolled down to a stop, and we stepped out of the plane looking among the crowd for Ali.
"You told him about our arrival, didn't you?" Jala asks in agitation. It seems our roles had been switched, ever since we got on the plane where she seemed constantly on edge, and I had become more relaxed.
"He booked our flights, remember?" I replied, as we got on the escalator.
"Okay, okay!" She held her head in her small hand and handled the luggage as I took my phone out of my pocket to call Ali and ask him where he was.
We got our IDs checked once again at the counters, before making our way out in the lounge where family and friends were waiting to take their loved ones home.
There he was standing next to the travelator, with a ghost of smile on his lips, as his eyes lit up in recognition upon seeing us.
"Took you guys long enough," he said softly, giving me and Jala a side hug.
"Yeah well we had a couple of stalkers behind our back-"
Sure enough, the two men were now making their way here and had the audacity to come straight towards us. They each spared a glance towards us both, before shaking hands with Ali.
"You know these guys?"
"Yep. Hired them to look over you during travel," He said, taking Jala's bag from her as we turned towards the exit.
"Yea well you could have atleast informed us about your vigilantes… could have spared me the headache I had to deal with, caused by constant bugging." Jala said with a meaningful glance towards me.
"It was literally the other way round, Jala."
"Of course it was," she scoffed sarcastically.
"By the way, aren't you being too paranoid?" I asked turning towards Ali. " I mean, we were literally on the other side of the world and you hired bodyguards for us. And nobody practically knows us. Alteast, no one important."
"They know me," he replied, as we stepped out into the sun.
Amira's pov
The only thing I had from the bowl of fruit in front of me was an apple. My empty stomach couldn't handle any more alcohol that it had been surviving on for the past 30 hours.
The world spins closer as we come near our destination. I've had a few drinks since I sat in the plane, enough to make me drowsy but the anticipation felt like it was sobering me up. Deli Demir and his men told me nothing about what they wanted from me, except that they worked for Khan and he wanted to meet me.
"Who is this Khan, anyway?"
I only heard his name in politics as a rumor and the things I heard about him told me that this man was nothing but danger.
"Your grandfather," he replied.