Chance: Chapter Ten: Same destination
Alaya could not believe what
she was hearing. Layaan’s father fought against Raphael’s business? Because
Raphael apparently ‘stole’ to grow his business?!
“Is this all true?” Alaya asked, out
of the blue as the men were shaking their heads as though to ‘sympathize’ the
business they were talking about.
“Well yes Alaya. All of it happened
just a week ago. The hotelier who managed all hotels of the company was badly
coning another company to eventually take over it. But thankfully the small
company’s manager had a talk with me and we fought against them. The CEO of the
Lightspeed businesses wouldn’t take the blame on himself and put the blame on
the manager of the department. Nonetheless, he was fined handsomely despite the
great mind tricks he attempted to play….” Ahmed explained.
“Pfftt…...do you call them great
mind tricks dad? He almost got himself in jail. And you would know him Alaya.
He studied with us in the same school. Remember the guy who was called the
spouse of the cow? Well that’s the guy. How in the world do you think a guy
like that could build such a huge business all on his own except by coning? I’d
say, we better watch out for him dad. God knows how many more people he has
cheated.” Layaan said.
“Oh!” Alaya said and could not help
but look down. When she did, she didn’t realize that Layaan exchanged sly
smiles with his father.
She thought about what Layaan was
saying though. But found it so hard to believe. How could Raphael, whom she saw
to be the most responsible and honest of people, be accused of such treachery?
He used to be one who used to feed the boys in the neighborhood, though he was
starving. He used to be the one who refused to take the extra coin that a
shopkeeper had given by mistake. He used to be kind to even the stray animals
he found on the road. He literally wouldn’t even hurt a fly!
“This is a misunderstanding!” Alaya
said out loud subconsciously. When she realized she just said it, she looked up
and saw the smiles on everyone’s faces fading.
“What do you mean Alaya?” Mahmood
asked.
“Dad, I’ve known Raphael….the owner
of that business. He could not have done such a thing.” Alaya said with
confidence.
“How can you be so sure Alaya?”
Layaan asked, with his eyes narrowed.
“I just know it!” Alaya said in her
firm voice.
“Does this mean that you are
accusing us of lying, Alaya?” asked Ahmed in a serious tone. As Mahmood was
about to speak nervously in defense, Alaya spoke.
“No I did not mean that. But I am
saying that you may be mistaken. Maybe it wasn’t Raphael’s fault at all. Maybe
he did not know what that manager was up to.” Alaya said. She surprised herself
by how much she defended someone she’d love so long ago. It kind of scared her
too.
Alaya saw disturbed looks on
Layaan’s and his dad’s faces. As she was just about to think about why, Ahmed
stood up.
“Mahmood….I think we better get
going as we do feel that we are not so welcome here.” Ahmed said and Mahmood
stood up with a desperate look.
“No please don’t say that. Forgive
Alaya….she just gets curious sometimes. She didn’t mean to say that you were
lying. Please do come back!” Mahmood followed the father son pair towards the
door. Alaya felt a rage inside her when she heard her father begging them. Why
in the world was he doing that? He didn’t have to beg to anyone! For anything!
Especially not in one of her cases!!!
“We will come back once you have
taught your daughter some manners. Right now we have to go. See you later.”
Ahmed said and closed the door as he stepped out with his son.
Alaya stood up with her teeth
gritted. She got even madder when her father kept staring at the door in
despair. Why was he behaving the way he is? She never saw him like this before.
“Dad what are you doing? If they say
they don’t want us then so be it! You don’t need to plead to them. I don’t like
them anyway!” Alaya said.
“Watch your mouth Alaya. You don’t
know what you are talking about!” said Waleeda who came into the scene along
with Asma.
“All I know is we don’t have to fall
to anyone’s feet for anything. They are not doing us a favour in anyway.” Alaya
said.
“You don’t know what they are doing
for us and besides…..why were you talking about some other boy in front of your
fiancée, that too defending him against your father-in-law?” Waleeda asked.
“Well….I was just defending someone
who could be innocent.”
“Could be? Since when did you start
trusting strangers over the people who are here with you?”
“Th…that’s not the point. The point
is you are trying to impress the wrong kind of people and that’s simply not
right!!!” Alaya’s voice rose and her mother called her out at the top of her
lungs. At that Mahmood called Waleeda and Alaya could not stand to be there.
She just walked past her mother and her sister who stood there without saying
anything.
It was quite in the house for the
rest of the day. Alaya did not even come out for dinner. Mahmood did tell
Waleeda to call her but she didn’t attempt to do it. After a late dinner,
Waleeda sat on a sofa in the living room, lost in thoughts. Mahmood joined her
and sat next to her while later. Waleeda took a look at his sad face.
“Is Ahmed going to come back to us
with Layaan?” Waleeda asked.
“I think he will. He is a man of his
word and won’t stop until Layaan and Alaya got married.” Mahmood said. Waleeda
let out a sigh.
“Do you think Layaan is the right
person for Alaya?” Waleeda said. Mahmood looked at her with a start.
“I did fight with Alaya for talking
back to Ahmed today. But I do agree with what she said. They are a real show
off.” Waleeda said.
“But we can’t afford to lose contact
with Ahmed’s family Waleeda and you know it. There is a mortgage that we are
not able to pay off for years. The interest is only building up. We could end
up on a street if we don’t pay them in the next 3 months. If only……if only I
listened to Asma when she told me not to buy a house on an interest-based loan.
She told me to obey Allah, save a little along with Liam to buy a house. And I
refused. And now we don’t have any choice but to marry Alaya off with Layaan.
Ahmed agreed to help us on that condition.” Mahmood said, covering his face. He
didn’t realize that Alaya was standing right behind them, listening to the
conversation. She’d come to talk to them about how she felt about Layaan but
now she wouldn’t be able to. She was disgusted like never before as she thought
of how her parents were thinking of her like an object they could sell and earn
money from.
“What’s happened cannot be changed.
Allah will show us a way out. Maybe what I’m thinking is wrong. First
impressions aren’t always right. Perhaps Layaan is a good match for Alaya and
she will start liking him the more they meet up.” Waleeda said and Alaya just
could not stay there. She turned her back to them and walked back into their
room. She didn’t know that by doing that, she missed an important part of the
conversation.
“But if she doesn’t like him, we mustn’t
force her to marry him either. If I do that I will be a terrible father. I
would rather live on street delivering a newspaper rather than living my whole
life in regret of marrying my daughter to the wrong man.” Mahmood said.
“You are right Mahmood. We must do
what’s right for Alaya.” Waleeda said and kept a hand on Mahmood’s shoulder to
show her support on that decision.
Meanwhile Alaya went to her room and
immediately picked up her phone to call Lilly. It took her only around a minute
to explain it to her friend.
“This outrageous Lilly I seriously
can’t believe my parents are doing this to me!” Alaya said grabbing a part of
her bed sheet with her clenched fist as
she sat on her bed.
“Well it’s not hard for me to
believe. This is what I’ve been warning you of, Ally. Now there is no doubt
that you have to go according to the other plan.” Lilly said and it calmed
Alaya down as she thought of that ‘fear factor’ plan. She wanted to say yes on
impulse but something stopped her.
“But…..Lilly. I cant leave my family
like that in debt.”
“Tsk tsk….C’mon Alaya not again!
Don’t you see what those people are doing to you?”
“I do…..but I don’t have the heart
to hurt them on intention. I want to help them somehow.”
“Well then get married to a guy you
hate just to pay off their debts. No need to think of the plan I told you
about.” Lilly said and all of a sudden, Alaya’s face lit up.
“Or…..we can do both!” Alaya
exclaimed.
“How?”
“I could get Layaan’s father to pay
off my father’s debts and then runaway on the day of our marriage!” Alaya
almost squeaked with the last words.
“Whoa! That’s my genius buddy right
there! And it’d be a total pleasure for me and Neil to help you sneak out. OMG
I’m so excited Alaya. Where do you wanna go?”
“Let’s see. Mhmm….” Alaya closed her
eyes and got off her bed. She thought of all the amazing places she wanted to
go to as she walked towards the window of her room with the help of the narrow
vision she saw from in-between her eyelashes.
“Hello? You there Alaya?” Lilly asked
and Alaya opened her eyes. Just as she was about to say she cant decide, she
saw a page of a magazine from the corner of her eyes. It was an ad of Malaysian
Airlines.
“Malaysia! I wanna go to Malaysia.”
Alaya said calmly, quite pleased with the decision she made all of sudden for
some unknown reason.
“Really Alaya? I thought you’d say
something like Hollywood or Las Vegas or something. Think about it while you
still have time ok?” Lilly said.
“No Lilly. I think I really wanna
go. I kind of saw a sign that I should be going there.” Alaya said, taking the
magazine in her hand.
Alaya didn’t realize that she made
the decision subconsciously. Somewhere in her mind, she knew someone she wanted
to see was going to that destination soon, though it did not occur to her at
that moment.
**
Passengers filled a Malaysian
Airlines plane at around 10:30 that night. A man in a suit who quickly walked
through everyone, sat in an economy class seat near a window. As soon as he
sat, he dialed a number. After a few rings he began to talk
“Hello Hafiz! Raphael here. I’m
coming back to Malay, as I said in the interview. No matter how many people try
to cheat and trap us, we are only going to go forward. It’s Allah we put our
trust in. And when we truly do, there is nothing that can stop us except by His
Will. Make that clear to all the employees there. I’ll be there soon In Sha
Allah.” Raphael said in a firm voice.
Next chapter will be uploaded on monday In Sha Allah :) Much love <3 <3 <3
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