Miss me?

Chapter 47

"You're here too?"

"Grandmother needed help with some of the ploughings, her workers are off to prepare for Eid."

"Oh," she said before grabbing her hat, " I'll help you."

"No need, been doing it on my own for years.

"I'm sorry I failed as an older sister Elizah. You don't know what I had to go through alone."

"You made that choice, and you knew you had a sister back home…your parents, childhood friends, your first love who waited years for you to come back…but those didn't matter when you were making headlines and sipping cocktails, all of sudden did the farm not matter or the people who tried every day to reach out to you just so they can find out if your okay, do tell me why now?

"Why does it only matter now when you no longer have all your luxury, where you no longer have all your money and fame?"

"I'm genuinely sorry, I do admit to being all of that…for years did I want to pick up your phone calls, I wanted to hug you when Zamin spoke to me about you...but I couldn't, I made mistakes that haunted me for years; all I'm asking is for a chance to prove my sincerity… it's already enough for me that I've grown too old for tennis and lost the father of my children, I understand that I was never there for you but I need you right now. I understand the pain of being abandoned…I won't do it again."

"I need time," I said, turning away.

"I missed you, and I'm sorry, Elizah…I may feel like a stranger to you right now, but after a while, I won't anymore."

I knew that the hurt would take a while to leave, but since she was not forcing or imposing but rather asking for a chance, who was I to say no? I was, after all, extremely forgiving…I carried no hate.

I dwelled in the good, the beautiful memories…the comfort. Whatever was there for me at that moment with that person meant a lot more than us falling out. We spent the afternoon making savouries and preparing decorations for the next day. Eid, here we come….

"You look warned out today."

"I'm just worried. My father has fallen sick again," he said, turning to his phone, "my sister is taking care of him I just have to drop off his medication."

"Okay, we'll stop by before we reach home. Does it mean we are spending Eid separately?"

"I guess," he said, a little disappointed.

" I understand…we'll have a mini celebration when we get home then," I replied smiling.

"I`d like that."

Our biggest fears were slowly starting to gain life. He slept over at his father's place so I woke up to a cold empty bed and a quiet house…what a nice way to start one's day.

"Do you think I'm being petty if I say that I miss Zamin and Saleema?"

"You're not," Owais said, "I miss them too…why isn't Omar coming?"

"He has to go be with his family, I bet his sister would recognise me so we should avoid it."

"Oh, Zakira is coming over with her mother and Zamin."

"Speak about awkward days 101…I don't know if I want to go anymore."

"You know your grandmother. She wants everyone there. This year even your sister is back, so things won't be too depressing."

"Positivity!" I said, closing my eyes

We started with the slaughtering after the men got back from the prayer. After dealing with my father's loudness, we made the fire, and he began cooking. Everyone was seated beside each other laughing and joking and praising Allah.

I called Omar to check up on him, but he didn't respond.

"Where is your handsome husband?" my grandmother asked, placing another dish beside me.

"He got something urgent to attend to. We'll come and visit tomorrow," I said

After greeting Auntie's after aunties and cousins over cousins, I left the event earlier to get to Omar. He was already home. I pulled him onto my chest, holding onto his head, as I felt my heartbeat on his face.

"I had a bad Eid," he said

"Same here, I spent the entire day running away from everyone."

"cuddling solves everything," he said, picking me up and placing me onto our couch and sliding in next to me, and then we fell asleep together, listening to a few podcasts.

"We have to leave, after the interview, I promised my grandmother that we'd pop by."

He yawned, covering me with our blanket, "5 more minutes."

I tickled him rushing to get ready. Magazine cover invitation, knowing him…he would never accept something of this sort, no wonder the envelope was still wrapped. After making our coffee, I rushed out with him to the dojo,

"We started to think that you guys ditched us?" Owais said, handing us our uniform

After a quick change, we arrived, "recruits for next year are officially open," Zakira said after introducing the new folder section in our city. Speak about ambitions, as long as I don't get sent over.

"You guys did well, by the way. Omar, why didn't you get back to Wow magazine when they sent over the invitation," Zakira asked, pissed off

"You expect me to model shirtless for your dojo?"

"You fight shirtless all the time, and with you, in-demand, it's a great opportunity for everyone, including you."

"I may be a competitor, but I am a coach above everything. I don't want fame."

"If there's a woman, shoot I'll go," I said before getting a stare for him, "we not doing it," I quickly said trying to save myself,

"Fine, Owais, send over Jamal."

She left with Owais while we trained. Speak about anger issues, "You've broken enough boards for one day. Let's go home, please."

" I'm not done yet," he said, accidentally knocking me over.

"If I wasn't this dizzy, I would've ended you by now," I said, bouncing back up.

"I'm sorry, I…"

"I'm going home, stay for as long as you want to."

I felt like shoving his face into a trash can.