The next day arrived quicker than Tahra wanted. The sun rays streaming through her small window a reminder that she had to leave and continue the new and horrid routine she now had.
Quickly, she wore the black uniform that had been handed to her, rushing out with a small lunch bag in her hands having learnt from her mistakes from the day before.
Unlike before Tahr arrived right on time, with only a minute to spare, hoping that Gavni would do the same, happy to see him do so, dismissing them to their posts.
"You remember the way right?" Gavni asked Tahra as she turned to leave, to which Tahra nodded.
"Yes sir, I do!" Knowing that she had to speak a certain way to him when they were with other people.
Gavni dismissed her and Tahra immediately followed the path Gavni had shown her, doing her best not to lose her way.
She walked slowly but soon, she got to the post she had spent 8 agonizing hours in, a memory she found hard to forget. Surprised to find a border personnel waiting for her there, one she didn't recognize.
"Good morning. As far as I know, I'm the only one assigned to this place," Tahra opened her mouth to speak, slightly taken aback by the rude expression that was on the face of the woman that approached her.
"I only take night shifts, something you would have known if you had stayed behind yesterday like you were supposed to!" She barked at her, making her annoyance known.
"You stay behind until I join--" she continued in a loud tone, one that irritated Tahra's ears enough for her not to see a reason to allow her to finish.
"I read the rule book. I only have to wait for ten minutes before leaving for you to show up, which you didn't"
"Territory A isn't like that of Z! We have hidden rules that you have to abide with here," She spat back, shaking her brown curly ponytail that made her recall her sister, something that brought a huge frown to her face.
"You're supposed to wait here for me until I show up!" she continued to speak in a raised tone but instead of continuing to converse with someone that made it clear that they had no intention of listening, Tahra simply turned to the side and walked past her.
Heading to a good spot beside the wall, where she sat on the ground and leaned against the wall, wondering what the woman in front of her had done all night.
It was obvious that she looked like she had tousled in the grass with the leaves and small pieces of twigs in her hair. But something about her clothes made her feel like she did more than that.
Tahra was still thinking about it when she heard her hiss loudly.
"I won't warn you again! Stay here until I return! You're a foreigner! You should know your place!" she snapped for the last time before she finally turned around to leave.
Tahra had a calm look on her face but inwardly she felt the opposite. She had been insulted and as much as she wanted to yell and fight back, Tahra knew that it would only make things worse.
Unlike her, she had no friends and it was only a matter of time before another rumor began spreading about her.
'People really do step on the weak, don't they,' Tahra thought to herself as she sat down and waited for another 8 hours to pass.
Completely scrubbing the previous thought she had of leaving her post and joining the Border personnel in their rendezvous, realizing that she would simply become the butt of their jokes.
'Sitting here alone by myself isn't so bad!' Tahra thought to herself as she began fiddling with her phone reading articles about the business world, something she had studied but was unable to practice.
With her degree, she had the qualification to work in a company but unless she got permission from the Alpha, Luna or his people with authority, she would continue to remain at the border.
For a second, tears filled Tahra's eyes, one she quickly tried to erase as quickly as she could.
Slowly but surely time went by and Tahra only had 4 hours left. Starving, she had just opened the lunch bag she brought with her when she heard loud footsteps approaching her.
'Please be Gavni! Anyone else is welcome to die!' Tahra internally thought knowing that the chances of any of them treating her well was exceedingly slim.
It didn't help when Tahra looked up and saw an unfamiliar man, followed by another and another, whom she finally seemed to have a mild recollection of.
The third man was huge with an average face. Moreover it was hard to forget someone she would have kicked in the balls if Gavni hadn't stepped in.
The moment Tahra saw them, she immediately closed the bag she had opened, glaring at them confident that they hadn't just appeared to say 'hi'
"Sandra was right! This is your post," one of them spoke , indirectly revealing the name of the blond woman she just had an argument with.
"MHer face is okay, but that white dyed part in her hair looks weird!" The other spoke, as the first two continued to move closer to her with a mischievous look on their face.
Normally, Tahra would have snapped back but while the other two spoke, she instinctively realized that they weren't the ones in charge and it was the buffed up man behind them who was yet to speak.
His eyes fixed on Tahra who continued to sit on the ground, his cold eyes meeting Tahra's vastly annoyed ones.
"I might as well not beat around the bush! We've not seen the video but it's obvious that you're a whore. How much for each person for a night!" Munak the big guy opened his mouth to speak as he slowly closed the distance between him and Tahra.
Tahra had been waiting to hear what he would say, only for her eyes to widen in shock, right before she fixed a mocking look at him when she heard him refer to her as a whore.
"What? You can't get a woman to sleep with you without offering her money? I get it though. You're nothing to look at!" Tahra responded, slowly enunciating each of her words.