She had been ignoring him for almost a week.

Not that she hadn't ignored him in the past. But it was as if it was natural to ignore him. She ignored him because she couldn't be bothered by his presence. But this time- This time she ignored him deliberately. As if his very existence was a bother to her and she wished to block him out entirely.

He supposed she was justified. He understood why she was pissed off. He did act like a jackass but she couldn't deny the fact that she was very, very, very turned on that night. She was probably more embarrassed than anything else and being with him only reminded her of it all.

But still, it grated at him.

Who the hell did she think she was anyways?

He had never noticed the pattern until he had read that scene. He knew that scene like he knew the back of his fucking hand. He lived that fucking scene and what peeved him was the fact that she was so damned intent on wishing him to be this fucking angel. She wrote him as if she wished he was someone else and she wrote that scene as if it didn't happen the way it did. What she wrote was actually the furthest fucking thing from happened that night.

He called Ihsaan as soon as he walked out the front door.

They went to some club or the other. He didn't even remembered the name of it. He only entered the streetname into his GPS and followed the directions.

 He had just walked in when he saw her. She was one of the sexiest women he had ever seen in his entire life. High heeled boots led him to believe she had legs that ran on forever encased in skin-tight light blue denim jeans that showed just enough to have men drooling after her.

She knew she was fucking sexy with those lips of hers that begged to be kissed and dark grey eyes that almost glowed under the strobe lights above her. Her skin was tanned and light brown and her hair only paid homage to her Asian descent.

And she liked being with men. She wasn't shy to move as close to him, grinding against him and ghosting her lips against the skin of his neck as she teased him. She leaned up, brushing her lips lightly against his before she leaned back, her lips crooking up into a smile that had him hot for her almost instantaneously.

Until...

She turned into a God damned parasite that latched herself onto his neck.

What in the absolute fuck?

Who the hell wanted to dance with a woman that slobbered all over his neck?

Then she had the nerve to klap him when he moved back.

Bitch.

He was aware of Hoori's reaction the next morning. He was awake when she leaned closer to him, prodding gently at the red mark on his neck before she practically bolted out of bed. He had only barely crawled into bed an hour before and had just about lost his mind to sleep when he heard her gasp. It wasn't the first time she had ever caught a sign of another woman on him but it was the first time she had reacted as strongly to it. He knew she saw the lipstick stains that sometimes dotted his collars or caught the whiff of perfume that seemed to linger onto him as he passed her and for some reason she had never said anything. She hadn't even batted an eyelid at it.

She didn't love him.

She didn't even like him

She didn't even hate him.

It was as if she was indifferent to him and she always seemed indifferent to the things he got up to. But he felt a twinge of guilt knowing what he did to her. She had been trying to get his mind off things in the only way she knew how and he left her hanging to find another girl.

He felt like an asshole but he couldn't take it back.

It was done already and no amount of apologising would ever make a difference. She was still as indifferent to him as he was to her and it wouldn't change a thing.

Mikaeel shook his head as he walked into the house considering whether or not he should just apologise to her. He did embarrass her... again and the look she gave him before she hit him still had him feeling uneasy.

"Hey Hoor-" The words seemed to get stuck in his throat as he looked at the guests before him...

...

"How's work?"

She tapped her fingertips against her knees, still not quite believing the fact that her parents were actually sitting in her kitchen. She knew they weren't particularly impressed with the current set-up. Her mother regarded the couches in the kitchen quite disdainfully- but what could she do? They had texted her only an hour before informing her of their visit and in that time, she just managed to look presentable.

To look as they liked her to look.

"Good." Her mother replied stiffly, looking around her kitchen as she did so. "John's daughter got married last week."

"Oh," who the hell was John? "That's lovely. To who?"

"Some American guy."

"Sounds nice." She licked her lips, tasting the lipstick she had hurriedly applied before answering the door.

"What about you, Hooriya?" Her father asked, looking up from his cellphone.

"What about me?" She asked, politely.

"You working?"

"No," She said softly. "I'm just at home."

"Mikaeel doesn't mind?" He asked sounding annoyed at her answer.

"No. It's not like we need the money or anything..." She drummed her fingers incessantly against her thigh as her parents stared at her, sighing at her answer.

"It's not about the money." Her mother shook her head, talking to her as if she were a toddler. "It's about knowing you have a purpose. Knowing you have something to do with your life."

How could she reply to them?

She didn't share their huge dreams. She didn't dream of being an executive of some company or building an empire or taking the business world by storm.

She had a simple dream.

She only ever wanted to get married and be a mother. That was her dream and they never understood it.

"I-"

"Hey Hoor-"

She didn't even hear him walk in till he stood in front of them, dumbstruck.

What the fuck were they doing here?

"Mikaeel?" Her father's voice forced him out of his shock.

"Uncle Ahmed." He shook the older man's hand firmly. "It's good to see you."

The fuck.

The look he gave Mikaeel as he regarded his work clothes made him feel as if he was some poor bastard from the side of the road. He dressed well. He dressed very well as in the salesmen at Cavallo and Gerani knew his name but these people...

Her father probably wiped his fucking nose with Armani and polished his shoes with Ralph Lauren.

"Nice to see you Mikaeel?" Her mother smiled at him politely.

"You too." His gaze flickered to Hoori, who looked as if she would rather be anywhere else in the world than right there at that moment.

"You'll sit down, right?" Her father looked pointedly at the chair beside him and Mikaeel knew he wasn't just asking.

"Sure." He sat down cautiously beside his father-in-law. "I didn't know you were coming."

"We weren't." Aunty Saarah replied. "But we have a meeting in Cape Town and the flight is delayed."

Seriously, who the fuck were these people?

"So, we thought we would visit you to see how you're doing." Uncle Ahmed smiled at Hooriya as if it would soften the blow somehow.

"Thanks Dad." Her smile was so tight, Mikaeel was sure her mouth would fall right off her face as she looked at him.

"When did you cut your hair?" Her mother asked, pushing Hoori's fringe out of her face.

"A few weeks ago..." She hesitantly tied her hair up into a bun, knowing her mother disapproved of her shorter hair. How did she not remember her mother's reaction to her haircut when Jannat started her chemo?

"To make things easier?"

"Uhm hmm." Hoori caught Mikaeel's eye watching him smile in wry amusement knowing he had been the one to chop it off.

"Ya I don't see why you would get it cut for any other reason. It doesn't really suit your face."

 She rubbed the back of her neck nervously. "You think so?"

"Hmm. You and Jannat were never meant to pull off short hair."

Hoori's eyes widened at the mere mention of her sister's name. "I see..." She said quietly. "It'll grow out again."

"Good." Aunty Saarah looked down at her watch before tilting her head towards the door. "Let's go Ahmed."

"What's the time?"

"Almost 5." She replied as she stood up and straightened out her cream jacket. "Uhm," She looked at Mikaeel hesitantly. "Do you mind dropping us off at the airport? They organised a car to bring us but..."

Did he mind driving them to the airport during peak hour?

Yes, he minded.

He minded fucking plenty.

Why the fuck couldn't they have organised a God-damned lift to take them back?

"It's fine. I don't mind." He picked up his car keys from where he dropped it on the table and walked out the door. "I'll wait for you by the car."

"It was lovely to see you Hooriya." Her mother kissed her softly on her cheek.

"You too, Mum. I'm sorry I couldn't offer you more." She looked down, somewhat shy at the sweet selection before her.

"It's fine.You didn't know we were coming." She smiled down at her. "I'm really happy to know that you're doing better. We were worried about you." She said, pushing Hoori's stubborn fringe behind her ear one last time before she turned around.

"Thanks Mum." She said, watching her mother's retreating back.

"Yes we're really happy to know you're well." Her father ruffled her hair before he pulled out a slab of chocolate from his inner pocket. "It's your favourite, right?"

She looked down, smiling softly at the gold wrapper in her hands. "Yes, you still remember?"

"Of course I do." The crow's feet at the corner of his eyes seemed even more prominent as he smiled at her. "Oh, before I forget."

"Uhm hmm."

"The excess on your Medical Aid is paid out already."

"Thanks Dad." Her voice barely pushed through the massive lump in her throat.

"We'll see you again."

"Okay." She waited for him to leave the kitchen before she pushed the detestable chocolate away from her.

She hated hazelnuts...

...

Mikaeel stormed into the front door almost 3 and a half hours later...

Those fuckers had to hold a fucking blitz during peak hour traffic. The fucking shit bastards!

He was halfway tempted to dropping off his in-laws at the Gautrain and telling them to make do. But the idea of them taking a train from Sandton to the airport was ridiculously laughable.

Would have saved him 3 hours though...

What pissed him off even more was the fact that they both sat in the back seat as if he was their fucking boy. He almost protested out loud when her father climbed into the backseat instead of the front but the old man was already talking on his phone and would hear nothing of the matter.

He wasn't anybody's fucking chauffer.

"Hoori your parents are..." He stopped at the entrance of the passageway, words lodged in his throat as he took in her state.

She didn't even know how it was that she landed on the floor.

All she knew was that her parents had just walked in and walked out as they always had. They breezed in, not realising what a damned tornado they really were before they breezed back out as if their duty to her was done. As if they had relinquished all responsibility to her the day she had gotten married except the odd phonecall or message.

They visited her for 15 minutes, saw that she was able to walk and that she lived in a decent home and they went away and left her to deal with the after-effects of it all. She felt him sit down beside her and for some inexplicable reason, Mikaeel just being there next to her was what made it all seem real.

He watched as her shoulders shook even more. Her sniffles had transformed into what seemed like painful sobs that seemed to have been wrenched from right out of her heart. She cried into her hand, never once leaning against him or asking him to comfort her but she just cried and he just watched her...

He watched as her breaths came out in short, painful gasps and he carried on watching as her breathing evened out and her sobs became tears and he waited till her tears became silent sniffles as if her body was tired of all the abuse she had just put it through.

"Are you done crying?" He asked, when her shoulders had stopped quivering and her body seemed to relax.

She didn't reply. She only nodded her head, still resting her forehead in the palm of her hands.

"Sure?"

"Yes." Her reply was muffled by her hands.

She almost squeaked when she felt his one hand curl around the bottom of her knees and the other wind around her back before she felt herself being lifted up into the air as he walked them into the room.

Mikaeel sat her down on the bed before he turned towards her drawers, scratching through them till he pulled out one of her nighties and tossed it on her lap. "You should get dressed."

"I suppose I should." She stood up slowly yet her mind was miles away as she began unbuttoning her shirt. It was one of her more expensive shirts. Her mother bought it for her before she got married and she knew it would receive her approval if she wore it. She was certain her mother could smell if she dare dress in something from a department store and she rather not chance it.

How could they do that to her?

Visit her because it was convenient? Because their plane was delayed so they had a few hours to spare? They barely even acknowledged the fact that it took her forever just to fill a God damned sweet bowl.

But that's who they were? They would never change. If they didn't change for Jannat, how would they ever change for her? She had learnt not to expect anything from them.

"What are you doing?" She shouted when she felt his cold hands on the buttons of her shirt.

"By the time you're done changing, you'll be old." He swatted her hand away before he unbuttoned her shirt and pushed it softly off her shoulders.

"I can dress myself, Mikaeel." She said, mortified when he unbuckled the thin belt around her jeans and began to unzip it slowly.

"Will you just let me help you?" He ignored her protests as he unbuttoned the silver button on her jeans and began rolling it slowly down her legs as he knelt before her. "Your shoes." He looked down at her pair of heels. They were low, black suede heels embossed with tiny flowers over the side. He didn't like her wearing heels. It put her a few centimetres taller than him and he didn't like the idea at all.

She caught his look as she toed off her shoes and almost laughed at his obvious disdain. "My mum never liked us in flats."

He just nodded as he wrenched her jeans from over each foot before he stood up, taking her nightie from the bed. He stood just a little closer and lifted it over her head. "You're really making me do this?" She smiled up at him, embarrassed at his attention.

"Sleep in your underwear or sleep in a nightie. Choose."

She shook her head but lifted her arms up all the same, allowing him to roll the soft silk slowly down her arms, then over her head before he smoothed it over her hips, allowing his hands to linger there for just a moment longer than necessary.

"Done." He turned around ignoring her apparent gratitude.

"Wait..." She caught his hand in her own.

"What?" He turned his head to look at her.

"Will you do me a favour?" She looked down at their enjoined hands, surprised that he hadn't moved his hand away just yet.

"What now?"

"Just..." Did she really want to ask him?

She thought of the way her parents walked into the house without so much as a kiss or a hug.

She thought of the way they had barely even spoken to her but rather at her or the way they glossed over the fact that she was sick and they had sent her only 2 messages the entire time. She thought about the way her mother berated her hair and the way her father hardly even glanced at her throughout the short while they had been there. She remembered that their intention for coming to South Africa was never to see her but rather that she was just an added stop that they managed to fit into their schedules.

She thought about that night in the hospital when she begged her mother to come because she was terrified of what was happening and her mother never came. She thought about every call of hers they had ignored and every single time her Uncle and Aunty looked down at her, knowing they couldn't tell her that her parents were coming.

They never came.

Ever.

"What?" Mikaeel asked.

"Just for five minutes," She looked up at him, ignoring her reservations."Let's pretend that I love you and that you love me." She squeezed his hand just a little tighter, unwilling to let him walk away. "Please."