Chapter 26

Laila's POV...

As soon as the car came to a halt, I stepped out of the car and made my way inside the house.Fortunately, today Jason couldn't come to pick up Joanne which meant he couldn't come to pick me. That was a relief after our last meeting.

The whole thing made Kareem so mad, but at least he calmed down and apologized for shouting.

I sighed before pushing open the door and once inside, closing it behind me. I pulled off my shoes and placed my handbag on the dining table.

The house seemed quite but I knew Kareem was at home. I made my way to the kitchen to make myself a cup of tea when the sound of a phone ringing caught my attention. I knew the sound wasn't coming from my phone so who's phone was ringing? I knew it wasn't Kareem's phone either but the closer I got to the living room, I realized it was coming from the landline.

Now that was strange. I'd never seen Kareem use the landline, neither had I used it myself. Who could this call be for and who could possibly be the person at the other end? I pushed those questions aside before making my way towards the couch. I sat down before pulling the phone closer to my ear and pushing the answer button.

"Hello?" I asked, waiting patiently for the caller to reply.

"Laila...It's grandma, something happened to her". Layan? Why would she be calling through the landline? And why did her voice sound so horse? Grandma...

"Layan. What happened? Is everything okay there?" I asked. My voice probably sounding really desperate. I just prayed that nothing bad happened.

I heard her sniffle at the other end. Was she crying?

"It's grandma...she..." I could feel my heart pounding in my chest, waiting for her to finish her sentence. But another part of me didn't want to know what happened. Another part of me was too scared to face the truth. The truth that whatever happened, wasn't a good thing.

"What happened to her? Just tell me". I was scared. I was holding on to my last ray of hope that this was all just a prank and that Layan would start laughing anytime soon...right?

"Laila... she's gone", I heard her say before she finally broke into tears. "She's no more". I heard her say again, her voice cracking . I closed my eyes and rested my head on my palm. I could feel the tears start to sting my eyes but I still didn't open them. I could feel my heart tighten in my chest and the oxygen struggle to reach my lungs, but most of all, I could feel the tears start to stain my cheeks.

"No", I said softly as I shook my head. "No, no, no, no, no". I said as I opened my eyes and used my free hand to cover my ear.

"Laila, I know it's hard to believe but grandma is really... gone". I knew it was just as hard for her to believe and face the truth. I sighed, I didn't want to believe it either. I wanted this all to just be some cruel prank. Grandma couldn't really be gone...right?

"I'd call you back". I said through sniffles as I placed the receiver back on the landline. I picked one of the throw pillows hugged it tight. Everything around me grew quite . My eyes grew heavy, wanting to release the surge of tears that weighed down on my eyes, but I didn't want to let them go.

Memories of all the happy moments I spent with her flashed through my eyes. How could it be possible? She was perfectly fine the last time I visited her, what could have gone wrong?

I felt someone touch my shoulder and flinched as I turned to look at the person. Kareem? How didn't I hear his footsteps and noticed when he sat down.

"What's wrong? Why are you crying?" He asked, worry evident in his eyes. I threw my arms over his shoulder, all the tears I'd tried to hold back finally streaming down my cheeks as I whimpered. My throat feeling like it was on fire, but one thing that calmed me down was the warmth of his arms and how they comforted me in a way I'd never felt before, leaving me with the strong desire to never let go.

"What happened?" I heard Kareem asked. I could feel his heartbeat sync with mine as I slowly pulled away, meeting his dark green eyes.

I suddenly realised what was going on and how I probably looked like a mess in front of him. I took a deep breath before finally wiping my tear stained cheeks. "My grandma", I said as I looked away for a second before diverting my attention back to Kareem." She's dead". The words felt heavy on my tongue as I said them. I watched as his expression slowly changed. It almost looked like he was sad for a moment, something I'd never expected to see on his face. Without any words being said, I went back to his embrace. I could feel his muscular arms, slowly but surely make their way to my back as he too relaxed under my embrace.

I closed my eyes as the tears began welling up in my eyes again. The one person who raised me throughout my childhood and taught me everything I know...is no more...

I slowly pulled away once I began to feel the tears slipping down my cheeks. I excused myself and made my way up to my room and as soon as I reached there, I slowly opened the door and made my way to my bed.

I sat on the floor and buried my face in my hands. I could already feel the headache pounding on my head and my throat was beginning to run dry, but I still felt the urge to cry. To let all my feelings out. I felt the need to scream and cry at the same time but I couldn't . I felt numb instead. I felt tired and weak.

All I wanted was to see my grandma standing right in front of me and not believe all what Layan told me. But I knew it wasn't possible, it was too late for that now.

I buried my head in my knees as I wrapped them tightly with my arms and then the tears began to stream down again...