CH008

"You have pretty eyes, sister"

Zara wasn't sure if she was to talk or to keep calm at what she had witnessed as she watched Ayman who was still standing with his hands on his waist, face flushed with utter embarrassment.

Then she had heard the voice but she was skeptical if it wasn't something she had, from her head.

She turned towards the direction where she had heard it from, and she saw the tiny eyes peering at her.

It was Leila. She wasn't dreaming. Someone had said that to her after the scene she had just witnessed.

Was the little girl trying to calm her down after the turmoil of her family she had just witnessed? Or was she merely complimenting her eyes for being pretty like she had said. Whichever one it was, Zara couldn't tell. She looked so little anyway to be able to talk her out of what she had seen.

"Thank you" Zara managed to come up despite the surprise.

"No,you don't have to thank me,I am merely pointing out the truth" Leila corrected, her eyes screaming a genuineness and purity Zara couldn't deny.

Ayman sat back down at where he stood when he noticed Leila trying to calm Zara down.

It must have been embarrassing for her too, having to witness this everyday since she had stayed at the house.

Zara felt awkward, letting out a shy laughter and not knowing what to do nor say.

"Do I lie, Majid?" Leila asked her brother, seeking for confirmation to what she had said.

"No. She has the eyes of an eagle. Very sharp and noticeable" Majid muttered as he munched food he has taken from the table and gulped the drinks down his throat as if they were running away.

Zara didn't know whether it was her intuition but he had scooped more food and proteins into his plate when the commotion seemed to have died out and the others left, compared to how emotu and scanty his plate had been when she had first looked in their direction.

She wondered if he had done that because of a certain authority and the absence of a mediating figure in their lives but quickly dismissed her thoughts when she thought them offensive. She was just coming here newly. She had no idea about the family and needed to keep quiet and stop jumping to conclusions.

"Oh shut it. Have you seen an eagle before to know how their eyes look like" Leila said pissed off at her brother.

"I have watched movies to know" Majid defended while still churning down food.

Ayman felt lighthearted watching the scene that was unfolding before him. He couldn't hide the smile that pecked at the corner of his lips til he had heard his name and called back from his trance.

"How about you Ayman brother? Isn't Zara sister's eyes pretty?" She questioned while turning towards him.

Ayman's smile crept out his face immediately he heard his name and turned towards Leila's direction to answer what he had been asked.

Ayman cleared his throat while trying to compose himself. "Ah, yes... Zara's eyes are... very beautiful," he stuttered.

Leila beamed with satisfaction. "See, I told you!" she exclaimed happily and then resumed eating.

Majid chuckled, nearly choking on his food. "Ayman brother is embarrassed!" he teased.

Zara's face flushed with embarrassment. "It's okay, really," she said, trying to downplay the situation.

Leila turned to Zara as her eyes sparkling with curiosity. "Do you like it here?" she asked.

Zara hesitated, unsure of how to respond to the out of no where question. "It's... different," she said finally, after a while.

Leila nodded thoughtfully. "I know what you mean. It can be overwhelming at first, but we're nice once you get to know us. Me,my brother and Ayman brother. Especially me, I am the nicest of them all" she chatted happily.

Ayman smiled, feeling a sense of gratitude towards Leila. She was so kind and welcoming and had helped him out with the difficult situation they had encountered.

Majid, on the other hand, was busy stuffing his face with food. "Can someone pass the rice?" he asked with his mouth full.

The scene was chaotic, but somehow it felt... normal. Like this was what family was supposed to be like.

Zara watched, fascinated as the family interacted with each other. She was starting to feel like she was getting a glimpse of what life was like behind the closed doors of this eccentric family.

And she had to admit, it was... intriguing, farther than she had imagined it to be.

*****************************

"Once Baba dies, I'll make sure no other person gets a share of his properties! I will make sure Jamila suffers and make sure she never sees a good man that will marry her"

Tariq fumed as he walked up and down his large bedroom. His wife was sutted uprightly on the bed, waiting for anytime he would have a change of mood to apologize to him on behalf of what others had done, unless she wanted to be at the receiving end of his anger.

"Who does she think she is? Because she managed to grow two oranges on her chest and she thinks she is an adult and can talk to me however she wants?" Tariq kept questioning as he kept walking up and down.

"And who does that lady think that she is for her to be so loose mouthed and disrespectful at the table"

He paused, seeing that no one was giving him an answer.

"Why aren't you talking? Do you want to make it seem as if I am a mad man,Nada? I have been talking to you since but yet, you're not providing any response to my talks" he charged at Nada who was seated on the bed.

Nada was surprised he was referring to her given his nature of asking her to keep quiet and stay silent whenever he spoke. She found it weird that he would want her to discuss people with him now when they seemed to have crossed the line with the disrespect he had been given.

"Yes, she is very disrespectful,I noticed it too" she muttered as a response to him even though she didn't see anything wrong with what the lady had done.

She was the opposite of her. Quiet and submissive Nada who always said yes to whatever she was asked to do even though she hated doing them. Keeping quiet and not speaking up or talking even when something bad was being done to her. Not being able to make any decisions for herself even if she needed to.

Perhaps that was what her husband hated in the woman. She didn't conform.

"She is so stubborn. You know how I hate stubborn women. Did you see the expression on her face when she had stood up with her fake gesture of an apology? I already hate this lady more than anything. Why is she always acting as if she's big and replying and causing issues on her first day of being at the house. She couldn't even keep quiet. She couldn't respect the male figures she saw at the table. She couldn't...."

If Nada could recall, the lady Zara hadn't spoken to her husband even once at the table. She hadn't even had any heated exchange of words with him, nor had shebsaid something to crush his fragile ego. She hadn't disagreed with him. And neither had she answered back with a question to him.

Why was he so worked up this way for someone who did neither of all these? Why was he hating on her? And most importantly, had he been watching her the entire time at the dinner figuring out the expressions on her face and which of them were fakes? Had he been that observant of her the whole time at the dinner?

She raised her head as trains of thoughts seemed to threaten to blow her head apart. Her husband was still talking and rattling about the woman who had been influenced by "western media to reject authority in her life…"

How had he known that? How had he taken such a short time at dinner to study her to come up with such conclusions about her. Had he even done that for her who was his wife and mother of his two sons even for once?

What manner of hate was it that could have caused her husband this manner of obsession with her behavior?