Chapter 40

Layan's POV...

Upon hearing that Laila was coming home and planning to stay for a few days, my mood instantly became better. We hadn't seen each other for so long. Maybe seeing her after so long would make this house feel less lonely.

I got everything ready for her arrival. Though I wondered why she would needed to stay for a few days. She didn't tell me why she was coming over and I didn't think much of it, but then again, what would Kareem think? He probably didn't object her coming over, but then again...she never really mentioned Kareem during our calls. Or maybe she wanted to get away from Kareem. Maybe this whole visit was just an excuse for her to escape him. Maybe Kareem is the reason why she wants to leave that house.

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath before slowly opening them. Maybe I'm just overthinking this. I'm probably just overthinking this. I mean, I haven't heard from Laila and Imran much in the past couple weeks and now a sudden visit? Something's definitely wrong. Or at least let's hope it has nothing to do with Kareem.

' Ding, Ding !'

I heard the doorbell ring and snapped back to reality. I glanced at the wall clock, it was probably Laila. I made my way towards the door and took a deep breath before opening it. And just as I thought, it was Laila who stood before with her luggage, but something was off.

She smiled at me as she made her way inside. "Wow, everything still looks the same way it did before..."

"She died", I said, completing her sentence." I know, I made sure not to change anything ". I said as I closed the door and began walking further inside the house. She walked further into the kitchen and looked around the place like it was the first time of her being there before she paused by the sink.

"I know, not much has changed". I said as I looked around while I walked closer to her. Something was seriously wrong. She didn't say anything, instead just looked down at the sink.

I grabbed her arm and turned her around to face me, there were tears streaming down her face..

"Why did you come here? What happened? Did Kareem do something?" I asked in a low voice as my grip on her arm tightened.

"Ouch! You're hurting me!" She said as she tried to wriggle out of my grasp.

"Something did happen!" I said as I let go of her arm. "A visit? Seriously? What happened? What did Kareem do? Why did you come here?" I asked as I observed her closely when I saw small tear drop streaming down her face and falling off her chin. I grabbed both her arms , not caring how tight my grip was.

" What happened to you?" I asked as I tried to catch a glimpse of her face as she looked away, more tears streaming down her face. She whimpered as she wiped the tears of her face.

"So you figured it out then". She said as a small smile formed on her lips, though her eyes didn't reveal a single shred of happiness. They seemed more to reflect some sort of pain hidden in her words.

"What happened? Just tell me. You're really scaring me now", she didn't say anything but just looked up at me. She was hiding something, something I needed to know." You know what", I said as I made her face me. "You must tell me, come on". I said as I dragged her to the living room and made her sit down on the couch as I sat next to her. She looked down at her knees, almost lifeless.

I watched her carefully as the tear drops slowly began streaming down her face as I patted her back softly.

"My friend, at college", she started softly. "She has an older brother. He was constantly trying to start conversations with me, and was a bit, too friendly. I noticed this, even Kareem noticed and at some point started suspecting that there was something going on between the two of us. I got annoyed that he didn't trust me and one day, I went out to meet Natasha at the café, we talked for a while, and by that time, it was already late . And that's when I met 'him' again. I tried to distance myself from him but he was intoxicated so maybe that's the reason why he used that opportunity to take advantage of me, by an alleyway.

"No one was around at that time and no matter how loud I screamed, no one heard me. Once he was satisfied, he just got up and walked away like nothing happened, and I was just left there motionless and unable to do anything, trying to accept the reality I'd just come face to face with", she paused and looked up to meet my piercing gaze. "You wanted to know what happened, didn't you?" She asked softly, the tears still streaming down her face but she didn't bother to wipe them away.

I hugged her lightly, her arms still at her sides. I didn't know how to react to what I'd just heard. Laila was raped? And she didn't tell me anything about it until now? Does Kareem know? Those thoughts raced through my mind but the one that stood out the most was, was she okay? What were the thoughts running through her mind at this moment?

I used my thought to raise her chin and wiped the tears from her face. How could someone have the heart to do such a thing to a girl as kindhearted as my dear, loving sister. She went through so much and didn't tell me? I had so many questions that I wanted to ask her, her face hadn't given way for any emotions to be seen, she just looked back at me with blank eyes.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Was the only question I could bring myself to ask.

She looked away. "That's why I came here, to tell you. I couldn't bring myself to do anything the past week".

"It happened a week ago?"

"Yeah". She said, her voice becoming lower.

"Did you inform the police?"

"No. I haven't even told Kareem".

I observed her as I ran my fingers through her hair. She looked so calm, like as if she'd already accepted everything that had happened to her. "My little sister went through so much and I didn't even know". I said softly, still playing with her hair.

A small smile played on her lips as she rested her head on my lap.

...

I saw Imran's name written boldly as the caller ID. I didn't know whether to answer the call or just wait for the call to end. Why was he calling me? Was it because of work? Or was it because of something else, but what else could it be?

After much thought, I answered the call.

"Uhm, hello?" I asked.

"Uhm, Layan, how are you?" How was I? We haven't spoken in almost three weeks and he just calls to say 'how are you?'

"I'm fine, uhm, sorry I didn't tell you that I just couldn't make it to work today, actually, Laila, she just-"

"I know. Actually, I called to ask about that". About Laila? Does he know? Obviously not, but how does he know something's wrong? Probably from Kareem.

"About Laila?"

"No, no, well actually, yes. You see, Laila left Kareem a bit distressed and didn't tell Kareem what was wrong so I just called to ask how she's doing".

"Oh, so you called to know how my sister's doing but you didn't call to ask how I'm doing". I said in a low voice, a sly smile forming on my lips.

"I was actually planning on calling you before all this, but please tell me what happened. Is she okay? If you don't want to tell me then it's fine". He said as my smile grew wider. He's so fun to joke around with.

"I'm sorry but I can't tell you". I said softly. If Kareem wants to know what happened, it's better if he finds out from Laila herself.

"It's okay if you don't want to tell me. Uhm, can we meet?" I could feel my heartbeat rise from his words.

"What if we go to that café that we used to go to, before I heard the news".

"How about nine am on Saturday?" He asked.

""That would be great". I said as I smiled to myself.