Morning arrived and I woke up to an empty room. The memories from last night almost felt like a dream, until I noticed the marks on my neck.

Surprisingly, I took a bath and got ready in a very good mood. It felt like I was walking on air.

I didn't quite understand what I was excited about. I just knew that it had something to do with that one utterly handsome man...

I was happy and at ease after seeing him last night. I had been very worried about his health but thankfully he had recovered pretty well.

Shaking away the thought, I looked in the mirror at my reflection. The spark in my eyes made me chuckle at myself before shaking my head at my silliness.

My eyes wandered down to my neck. I had covered the marks with a bit of makeup, but to be on the safe side I had put on my high neck top, which covered my neck and any trace he had left behind.

I put down my long hair, the lengths falling down my back. I stared at the few make up products placed on my dressing table. I picked up the mascara and started applying a few coats to my lashes. Once I was satisfied with how it looked, I used my favorite lip gloss to apply to my lips.

I looked at myself one last time in the mirror before taking my phone and putting it in the back pocket of my jeans. I tidied my room and finally left it to go downstairs.

It was around 9 in the morning and I assumed my father had left for work and my little brother Sammy for school. My mother was probably waiting for me to have breakfast together. Like we always had. It was our routine during the days I didn't go to work at the salon.

As for the salon....

"Good morning." My mother interrupted the thought that almost caused me to panic. "Did you sleep well?" She asked, giving me a smile as I approached her in the kitchen.

My face started heating up and I tried to hide it by hastily walking to the fridge to look for something to drink. "Good morning mom, yes I did." I pulled out a bottle of juice and then proceeded to close the door to the fridge.

"Good. Ruba was here earlier. Since it's such beautiful weather she suggested we eat breakfast together. She has prepared a table in their front yard. Everyone will be there." She said, answering my silent question about why she was preparing so much breakfast for.

"Sounds fun." I said, opening the cupboard to look for a cup.

"You don't sound happy." She said, her words making me look at her as I placed the cup I had picked out, on the counter.

"What do you mean?" I asked, turning my attention back to the cup in front of me as I poured some juice for me. I took a sip and turned to her, her expression making me furrow my eyebrows in confusion.

"I mean what I said, nowadays it feels like you enjoy the company of a stranger more than your own family's." Her words surprised me, even though I had heard worse from her the past few days.

"What makes you think that? I'm going through a stressful period in my life so I'm sorry if I don't dance in joy every time you see me." I said, earning me a look.

I had felt very alone lately. I didn't understand what was going on in my mother's mind. She was so distant. I needed her most these days, but she was just pushing me away with her words. The irritation had slowly started to rise in me, even thought I had tried to keep calm.

"What's with the attitude? You're really talking to me that way now?" She asked, her brown eyes sending me a warning and her eyebrows raising. "It just proves my point, you're not happy here."

"I don't have an attitude. I'm just tired of you constantly reminding me of when I should be happy and when I shouldn't. I'm happy, very happy. The reason to my happiness doesn't matter, right? As long as I'm happy." I said, my words making her slam the knife she was holding roughly on the counter.

The sound made me flinch and I knew I should've had just stayed quiet.

"That man is not coming back in your life. I won't allow you to be with a man who treats you like a choice. Have you even looked at what he's done? He forced you into a marriage, took you away for a week. Came back and left you here. Bought the house across from us just to torture you. And now, the whole neighborhood found out that he's the one living there. What will people say when they find out you two are married?" She repeated the same sentences she had been saying for the past days.

"I don't care about what people say. I was the one who asked him to bring me back here. He listened to my request. I came back for you, for my family. If I'm still standing here in this house it's because of you, dad and Sammy." I replied, keeping my voice as low as possible. The last thing I wanted was to raise my voice on my mother.

"Really? So, if it wasn't for us, you would go with him?" She asked, her voice holding another type of anger.

"I didn't mean it like that-"

"You know what? I'm tired of constantly trying to make you understand that Walid is the biggest mistake you can make. Help me take the breakfast outside." She interrupted ruthlessly, her face holding no emotions.

Dropping it, I took the tray which was now ready and walked outside. I walked up to my neighbors front yard and sighed as I put down the tray on the long table.

~~~~~Walid~~~~~

The line went off and I put the phone down on the table. It had taken a lot of time trying to explain to my father about why I was out of reach these past days.

I couldn't blame him for being worried. We were talking about our city's safety being at risk. I had to get up on my feet and get back to work as soon as possible.

Although I was ready to do that, I was waiting for the plaster on my neck to be removed. Another thing I couldn't risk was for my father to find out about how the bastard had opened fired on us in broad daylight, in our own city.

I had waited too long to rip Mikael's heart out with my own hands and I wouldn't let anyone take that pleasure away from me. Even though my father was out of country, he would still have his birds deliver the message to him.

If he found out, I would be forced to explain about Jasmin. If I did that, everyone would find out about her.

That's the last thing I needed right now...I would fail to protect her.

"I took care of most of the errands, you just have some meetings with the Arab suppliers next week." Pasha said, stepping inside with Isak beside him. I nodded, watching them take a seat across from me.

"Good. I'm going hospital tomorrow to get this shit removed. I just talked to Baba, people are eager to know where I am. I have to visit the neighborhood tomorrow." I said, my eyes wandering to the big window on my right.

"In that case, what's the plan?" Isak asked the question I didn't have an answer to.

"There is no plan. Just....in case I stay there and don't come back, one of you have to be here 24/7. I can't leave Jasmin alone." I informed, my eyes fixed on the person walking down the front steps of her house with a tray in her hands.

"I would love that. I mean, who wouldn't love watching over an extremely beautiful angel who can set up a whole room on fire with just a smile of hers." Isak started, his words making me drift my attention away from her to stare at him.

I stared at him for a while, a hidden warning behind my blank face.

I turned to Pasha, giving him a look. He smiled widely as he got to his feet and pulled out his suit jacket.

"I was just joking." Isak warned, standing up, getting ready to escape his cousin.

"Now my brother. I will beat you endlessly, unconditionally, tirelessly, passionately, truly and deeply." Pasha informed, making his way towards Isak who had already gotten himself to his safe spot behind the couch.

"You got one of the words wrong. You were meant to say love, right? Wallah (I swear to God) I will love you too." He tried to correct as he dodged Pasha and found another safe spot behind the armchair placed in the corner. "And, I was just trying to share my new poetry with you guys. No offense to my beautiful sister-in-law."

"That's not poetry." I interrupted, making both of them stop and turn to me.

"Yes it is. I tried it on a beautiful lady and it worked." Isak stated proudly.

"It did?" Pasha asked, sounding interested suddenly.

"Trust me, try it yourself and you'll see. In fact, I think Walid should definitely try it." Isak spoke, walking towards me and taking a seat beside me. I knew he was trying to change the topic, just to avoid walking out of here with bruises on his handsome face - as he would put it.

"Sure. Me out of all people would tell her she sets up a whole room on fire with just a smile of hers." Just repeating those cringy words made me feel sick.

"Actually, he's right, you should." Pasha agreed, sitting down on the other side of me. "I feel bad for our sister-in-law. Knowing you, you've probably not even gifted her something as small as flowers."

"She doesn't want flowers." I assured them. "And why should I? What's the occasion?"

"How do you know? What if she does? And who said you need an occasion to gift your wife some flowers?" Pasha continued.

"If she would want flowers, she would ask for it. She would simply mention that she wants flowers and I would buy her some." I tried to make them understand, but my words just made both of them sigh audibly.

"You're a lost case. That's not how it works." Isak finally said, shaking his head in disapproval.

"Yeah, I give up." Pasha added.

I stood up and walked towards the table to pick up my phone, not having time for their nonsense. "Some romantic advice from you two is the last thing I would ever need." I informed as they remained seated on the couch and just watched me lazily.

"Your loss then. Only that one line I said made her fall head over heels for me. Just saying." Isak stated, sounding overly confident.

"Who did you use it on though?" Pasha asked, turning to face his cousin.

"You would never guess." Isak said smugly. "The nurse." He quickly added.

The look on Pasha's face upon hearing Isak's answer made me cross my arms and restrain myself from laughing, understanding exactly what was happening.

"The what?" Pasha let out, his eyes wide open. "You dirty treacherous, faithless, dishonest, false, untrue, deceitful dog."

There was a long silence before Isak finally spoke up. "I told your dad he made a mistake in not letting you finish school twenty years ago. You could've just say, disloyal. That's the word, disloyal."

"Aren't you ashamed? I'm like your older brother. Why would you try moving to her? She agreed to go out with me." Pasha complained.

"I didn't know until now. And guess what, she agreed to go out with me as well." Isak rubbed it on his face.

"Well, guess what? She gave me her address. She wants me to come over on Sunday. She said she will make dinner for me." Pasha shoot back, picking up his suit jacket and looking through the pockets. "See, in case you don't believe me." He pulled out a piece of paper and slammed it on the table in front of him.

"She wants me to come over on Sunday too. She said she will make breakfast for me." Isak said, pulling out a matching piece of paper and slamming it on the table beside the other.

Both of them suddenly stilled, as if finally realizing what was happening. They moved abruptly and checked the address on the pieces in front of them.

"She really did that..." Pasha let out, leaning back in his seat.

"What a b*tch...." Isak trailed off, following Pasha's movement and leaning back in his seat.

"I have to give her that one, she played both of you." I finally said, not being able to hold back my smile. "So, which one of you is going on Sunday?"

Both of them cursed at the same time.

"I should've known why you walked in through that door with the youngest nurse from the hospital." I added, turning to Pasha.

"She was the only one available. The others were busy at the hospital." He tried to cover it up.

"I'm sure they were." I ignored his response and left the living room before striding up the stairs. Walking through the door, I entered my room and my steps automatically moved to the cupboard.

My hand reached the pile of papers and looked through them until the photograph I had hidden from everyone's eyes finally came in sight.

The blue eyes in the photograph stared back at me as I dozed off, thinking about the secrets the person had left behind. Secrets that had a possibility in them to ruin the only thing I was looking forward to in life.

I knew I still had a long way to go until the truth I was looking for would be revealed to me. Everything that had occurred was just the beginning. A new beginning to an old story...

~~~~~Jasmin~~~~~

The sun was bright and the weather was hot and humid, informing us about the afternoon that had arrived. The whole neighborhood was silent, like it usually was early in the afternoon.

I was seated in the terrace, looking through the sheets scattered in front of me. It was lists and preparation that Jalil had emailed me earlier. I had printed them out and finally gotten the time to go through them.

I had also talked to my mother about the fashion week and she had agreed instantly to send me away. I knew the reason behind her instant consent but to avoid another quarrel, I had stayed silent.

The only thing my mother was worried about was me. She was doing all of it for me. She looked at Walid as a threat and I couldn't blame her. He had given her enough reasons to be like that.

What I needed to do right now was to be patient. I was sure she would come around.

The major problem was my own self though. I didn't even know what I wanted from Walid. There were times I wanted him far away from me while there were other times I didn't want him out of my sight.

I was very unfamiliar with all the feelings bottling up inside of me. The feelings were very mixed, which confused me even more. One second I could feel like the happiest girl on earth while the next second I could feel scared just thinking about my future.

The biggest question was - did he even feel anything for me?

My thoughts were interrupted by my phone ringing. I pulled it out and checked the screen.

A brief flashback of what happened last time I talked on the phone with him appeared in my mind, making me glance around the terrace before answering the call.

"Hello." I answered as I picked up the sheets in front of me, getting ready to stand up, not bearing to sit outside in the hot weather anymore.

"I'm not disturbing, am I?" Jalil said from the other line as I made my way inside and towards my room.

"No, actually I was going through the emails you sent me. Just preparing for Monday." I replied.

"That's why I called, to check if you've received the emails. Anyways, how are you - you good?" He asked.

"I'm good thank you." I continued the conversation as I sat down on the bed.

"So, how's the preparations going?"

"It's going good. I looked through everything and made my own list as well. Most of it makes sense." I said, making him chuckle. "I'm so nervous. I hope everything goes as planned."

"I'm sure you'll kill it out there. I'll see you on Monday then. I'll pick you up if you don't mind." He spoke, making me raise my eyebrows in confusion.

"Pick me up?"

"Yeah. Did you forget? We talked about meeting up before you leave so I figured I can pick you up and we'll go through everything one last time. I'll also give you the keys to the studio and all that. I'll drop you off at the salon where the cars will be waiting for everyone on time so don't worry." He explained.

"No I remember, I just thought we would meet at the salon. But alright, I'll see you on Monday." I spoke. We shared some more words before I cut the call.

I just hoped Walid recovered until Monday. My heart wouldn't rest if I left him in the state he was in. Not to forget, I would be gone for five days.

"Jasmin." My attention turned to the door as my mother walked in. "I'm going to the mall with Ruba, to do some shopping for Eid. Your father finishes early so he'll pick up Sammy on the way home." She informed.

"Isn't it a little early for that? Eid is in like six weeks." I couldn't hide my amusement.

"Six weeks? I thought I had two months." She let out stressfully. "Do you need anything from the store?"

"No thank you." My reply made her nod and leave my room in a hurry. I smiled at her stressful self.

August was coming to an end and Eid al-adha, the Muslim festival was indeed on it's way to blossom it's blessing on us.

I couldn't help but think about the fact that it was my first Eid as a married woman. Even though I knew the day of the festival wouldn't be the same for me as it would be for another newly married woman.

I lived at my parents house, my so called husband was my neighbor. My mother disliked my husband. Eid was all about families getting together, praying together, celebrating together and simply having fun together. Majority of my husband's family didn't even know my husband was married to me....

Sighing, I shook away the stressful thoughts and stood up. I looked around the house and noticed my mother had left already.

I moved to the front door and stayed still for a moment before taking a deep breath and stepping outside. I closed the door behind me and looked around.

The streets were empty, which made me move quickly to the house across from me. I could see some men sitting around a round table in his front yard, playing card games. I also noticed his front door wide open.

As I stepped into his property, I greeted the guards seated around the table and continued my way to the the house. I jogged up the stairs and stopped by the entrance.

The door was open, but I still hesitated a moment before stepping inside. I heard voices coming from the living room and took a left but stopped just at the entrance of the living room.

My eyes landed on Walid who was seated on the couch with his upper body leaning back and eyes closed.

However, what caught my instant attention was the nurse sitting beside him.

I watched as she worked on cleaning his wound by the neck. "So, you never told me what you're doing tomorrow." She spoke, her words making me raise my eyebrows.

"Nothing special." Walid announced, his eyes still closed and posture calm.

"That's great. I thought maybe I could come over after you come back from the hospital. You don't have to drink the fluids from tomorrow onwards. I can cook you something, I'm sure you've missed having a scrumptious home cooked meal." The meaning behind her words made my heart rate go up instantly.

What made my heart beat even faster was the thought that he had spent the last couple of days with her....

"Yeah, I actually have." His reply made my blood boil even more. How could he just sit there calmly while she was straight up flirting with him? Oh who am I kidding, he was probably enjoying himself.

"It's decided then. I'll come by tomorrow." I couldn't see her face but I knew she was smiling widely.

"I just remembered I'm busy tomorrow." Walid said. From the spot I was standing on, I could clearly see the nurse's shoulders slump. I smiled and crossed my arms. "Let's make it Sunday."

My smile dropped and my eyes widened. He was inviting her over, on Sunday - for dinner....?

The room went silent and I tried to calm down but just that small task felt impossible. "What happened, are you busy on Sunday?" Walid asked again, his calm and collected self making my anger grow even more.

I couldn't take what was happening in front of me anymore and raised my hand. I knocked loudly on the already open door of the living room.

The sound made Walid open his eyes and the nurse retreat her hands from Walid's wound and turning around to look at who had disturbed the precious moment she was having.

Walid straightened immediately when he noticed it was me, his actions causing the nurse backing away as well.

"I hope I'm not disturbing an important conversation." I spoke as I walked in, taking my time with each step.

"Of course not, I just finished changing Mr Aydin's plaster." The nurse spoke up as she packed her things and stood up.

"Oh, I thought he was going to the hospital tomorrow to get it checked anyway. Was it necessary to change it just a day before?" I asked, stopping in front of her with my arms still crossed.

"Yeah about that, I didn't get to check or clean it yesterday. Better safe than sorry." She replied, giving me a look.

I stared at her for a moment before forcing a smile. "Of course, you're doing such an excellent job." The sarcasm was clear in my voice.

She stared at me for a moment, as if trying to figure out where I was going with this, before letting out a humorless laugh. "Thank you, you should've had let me do a check up on your ankle two days ago. Falls like that often cause a sprained ankle." Oh she did not just go there.

I knew she looked familiar and I just remembered I had seen her briefly that day my mother had seen Walid push me away, causing me to fall. She had also been there that day...

"Enough." Walid said, making me turn to him. The last thing I needed at the moment was him backing me up.

"You stay silent." I pointed at him before turning to the nurse again. "Thank you for your concern, but the last thing that's twisted in this room is my ankle. Do you have a car to drop you off at the hospital?" I asked calmly.

"I'm not going to the hospital. If you've not realized yet, I'm Mr Aydin's personal nurse. I'm supposed to stay here until he's recovered completely." The nurse was testing my patience and I was sure she was aware of it when she gave me that sly smirk.

"We'll, he's perfectly fine now. You can go back to your job as a nurse at the hospital, or did you work as a cook now again? I'm sorry I'm confused about your profession since you keep offering to cook scrumptious home cooked meals for your patients. Anyone would be confused." I said, my words affecting her mood as she went from being smug to narrowing her eyes at me. "Anyways, we'll arrange a car for your leave." I added.

"You don't have to." She said before turning to Walid. "Aren't you gonna say something?"

I turned to look at him and our eyes finally met. I raised my eyebrow and stared at him. He stared back at me for a moment before shifting his attention to the nurse. "No." He replied curtly.

The nurse gasped and Walid leaned back in his seat, in a way that made it clear he made himself comfortable to watch some drama unfold.

Cheeky bastard.

"Really? I can't believe this. Here I am working, staying as professional as possible, and what do I get in return? Disrespect? Who are you even to decide anything?" She ranted, her last question directed at me.

"You should ask Mr Aydin that question." I said purposely, making her turn to Walid with raised eyebrows. I knew he wouldn't tell her about us being married. He was keen on keeping our relationship private and nothing would make him tell a stranger about me being his wife.

"She's my wife." The simple words made my heartbeat quicken as I turned to him alarmingly.

"What?" The nurse let out shocked.

"Yeah, but the question is not who she is. The question is, who the f*ck do you think you are to stand under my roof and ask me any questions?" I already knew he had officially lost his temper as he got on his feet. "You heard what she said the first time, take your shit and get out of here. I thought I made it clear it was your last day here anyway when I mentioned Sunday."

His last words confused me but I let it slide at the moment as I looked at the nurse who was glaring daggers at me. "I can't believe this." She muttered, picking up her bags. I crossed my arms and forced a smile as I waved goodbye. She gave me one last glare before disappearing out of our sight.

The room fell silent and the anger I was feeling earlier suddenly returned as I swung around. Walid stood still for a short period of time before he tried to speak up but I beat him to it and raised my hand in warning.

"I just have one question." I started.

"Yeah?"

"Who brought that woman here?" I queried.

Walid's posture changed to a relieved one and a faint smile appeared on his lips, as if he was more than happy to answer my question.

~

"No one else was available. What did you want me to do abla (sister)." Pasha cried out from the other end of the garden as he dodged the one piece of glass marble I threw at him.

Isak had handed me those glass marbles just before I had reached Walid's backyard. I had no idea where he had gotten them from but I wasn't complaining since they were coming handy.

"You're calling me your sister yet you brought that shameless woman home to take care of Walid. Out of all the staff in the hospital, you bring a young nurse who flirted with him in front of me. God knows what those two were getting up to these past days." I cried back, aiming another glass marble at him.

"If he flirted with her, how is it my fault? He's the one you should be throwing these at." He said, dodging the object again as he ran to the other end of the tree.

I followed him and tried to catch up with him. "See, that's the thing. You put me in such difficult position. I can't even say anything to him because then he'll assume I'm jealous and I care. All this just because you wanted something pretty to look at." I let out, keeping my voice low so only he could hear.

"We are circling a tree, with you trying to take out my eyes with those things. Don't you think he already knows that you're jealous?" Pasha asked, his words making me stop.

"I'm not jealous." I let out, trying to look at Pasha but the big tree between us blocked him from me as he kept circling the tree to hide from me. "Don't try to change the topic. You're not getting away with this." I informed as I moved again trying to spot him so I could aim at him.

"If it makes you feel any better, the nurse tried to move to me as well." His announcement shocked me. "And Isak as well." He added, making my eyes widen.

"I'm confused. Explain please." I halted.

After some moments of Pasha explaining everything to me, it all finally made sense. Walid didn't flirt with her. In fact, he was trying to make her leave him alone by informing her that he knew about her little stunt regarding Isak and Pasha.

That explained the Sunday....

A huge smile formed on my lips and I let out a heavy breath as I rushed back towards the house. I stopped in front of Isak who was leaning against the back door. "Here." I held out the few glass marbles left in my hand and dropped them in Isak's open palm.

"But you missed all of them. We need to practice on your aims." He said in disappointment and moved from the door. I just laughed at him and continued inside the house.

I entered the living room and found Walid where I had last seen him.

Earlier, when he had announced it was Pasha who had brought that woman, I had found an excuse to leave and informed him I would be back in a minute.

"Did everything go well?" He asked innocently, leaning back on the couch.

"Yes, everything went perfect." I informed and sat down on the other end of the couch. I couldn't stop smiling as I watched him and he stared at me like I was a mad woman.

I finally realized what I was doing and straightened as I cleared my throat. "So, how are you feeling? How's your wound?" I asked.

"Good." He replied shortly, his eyes fixed on me. He finally looked away and his eyes moved to the tv in front of him which was on but missing volume. "How's your neck?"

His question confused me until I remembered last night. I felt my face heat up as I picked up the cushion and threw it at him. He caught the cushion before it hit one side of his face, not even looking at it. "Are you not done throwing things at people?"

His words made my face heat up even more. "I'm leaving." I announced and stood up.

"Wait." His quick protest made me stop and turn around. I watched as he turned the tv off and stood up. I couldn't help but notice his fresh haircut and his short beard trimmed perfectly.

I quickly composed myself right in time as he looked at me. "You just fired my nurse. Who's gonna take care of me now?" He asked, sounding completely serious but I knew where he was going with it.

"First of all, I didn't fire anyone. Second, you look completely fine to me. I'm sure you'll get through it just fine." I stated, making him shake his head in disagreement.

"That's not how it's gonna be. Sit down." He ordered.

I hesitated for a moment before giving in and returning back to my seat. Walid took a seat on top of the coffee table in front of me, his legs touching mine.

I tried to stay calm and collected as I stared at him. He was leaning forward, his elbows resting on his thighs.

"The Jalil guy, how long have you known him for?" His question startled me. I had noticed he had wanted to talk, but I hadn't predicted it would be about Jalil.

I was about to protest but decided against it. He had asked me a normal question and the right thing for me to do was to just simply answer the question.

"Almost a year." I answered shortly.

"Did you know him before you started working at the salon?"

"Kinda. We had a common friend who introduced us, not long before I started working though." I explained.

"How come you started working there? It's not the profession you're studying for and you never needed the money." He continued.

"I just got a job offer and took it as it came. I wanted to do something during holidays when I didn't have studies." I shrugged. "Why are you interrogating me now again?"

"You got the job offer before even applying? From the Jalil guy?" He ignored my last question completely as he looked at me like I had grown two heads.

"His name is Jalil not the Jalil guy. And yes, he offered me the job. What's the big deal?" I let out, starting to get annoyed with his questions.

"I did a background check on him. I didn't find anything on him. He's definitely hiding something." He said, his words confusing me.

"Why is he hiding something if you just said you didn't find anything. Also, how dare you! You had no right to do that. Jalil is harmless." He was making me loose my temper with the lack of trust he had in me. I knew the people I had around me, he didn't have to go around doing background checks on everyone just to convince himself.

"I didn't find anything at all. No family, no school or job records nothing. The only thing that was out there was that he's the salon owner. Something's not right." He let out, rubbing his forehead as he spoke.

"Stop overreacting. What are you even suspicious about?" I asked, crossing my arms.

"You don't have to know that, the only thing you should know is to stay away from him, and I'm not playing around I'm serious." He looked up at me dead in the eyes.

I stared at him for a moment before shaking my head in disbelief. "Nice try, but I know that background check of yours didn't exist. You're saying all this just to make me stay behind and not attend the fashion week. I'll tell you one thing, Jalil won't be at the fashion week. The whole reason of me going there is to replace him. So stop worrying." I said, not having the energy to discuss Jalil anymore.

I had explained to him several times that Jalil was nothing else than my Boss. If Walid didn't see it that way, I seriously couldn't do anything about.

"Fashion week? What the f*ck is that?"

I sighed and leaned back in my seat. I stared at him for a moment before speaking up. "Why are you doing this?" I asked tiredly.

"Answer my question. What do you mean fashion week?" He asked, his posture changing. "Explain!" He demanded.

My attention turned to his legs which were rubbing against mine. He was so close...

"I'm going out of town for five days. The salon is sponsored to participate in runway fashion shows. That day when you saw me with Jalil at the mall, he had asked me to take his place because he couldn't attend himself. I promised him I would. I'm leaving on Monday and I'll be back by Friday hopefully." I said.

Walid was still for a moment before he let out a humorless laugh. "This just keeps getting funnier." He mused.

"I don't care what you think. I've made a promise and I'll keep that promise. I'm leaving on Monday, whether you like it or not." I informed.

"You should definitely go." He nodded, his words making me watch him suspiciously.

"Yeah....?" I trailed off. I couldn't make out if he was secretly planning anything or not since his face was blank.

However, maybe he had realized how wrong he actually was. It probably also cleared his suspicious about Jalil. I should've told him about the fashion week earlier. That way he would at least know the reason behind Jalil showing up at my house and the phone calls.

"Yeah." He repeated.

"If you're done with your questions, can I leave now?" I asked sarcastically as I stood up.

"One last thing." He interrupted, his eyes meeting mine. "Help me take off my shirt."

"What?" I let out, feeling my face heat up.

"I can't lift my arm properly, you know that." He reminded. I gave him a look as he stared at me blankly.

I had a quick look around the room and noticed the curtains were closed and no one seemed to be around. "Fine." I breathed out and stepped closer.

My fingers reached one side of his arm. I tried to avoid any skin contact as I lifted the shirt to make it easier for him to pull out his arm.

"So you mean to say, that nurse was doing this for the past two days?" I asked, sounding surprisingly calm as one side of the arm came off. I pulled the shirt over his head, being careful not to hurt his wound before pulling it out from his other arm.

With the shirt in my hand, I couldn't help but stare at his perfect chest and broad shoulders.

"Yes." He answered, his voice making me come back to reality as I mentally shook my head and swung around hastily to put down the shirt on the couch.

I felt my shoulders slump when I finally realized his reply but I tried not to show any kind of reaction. I had already made him think I was a jealous freak earlier, no need for more embarrassment. "But she didn't get to do this."

His words confused me until his arms wrapped around my waist and he pulled me backwards towards him, making me gasp in surprise. I landed on his lap, with my back against his bare chest and his arms wrapped around my waist.

"W-what are you doing? Your friends are nearby." I managed to say, feeling my face heat up even more. I felt my heavy heartbeats in my chest, making me feel like my chest would burst any second.

"So if they weren't here, you would let me do this?" He asked and I felt him pull my hair back with his fingers tracing my skin. The right side of my neck got exposed to him and he leaned closer, the warmth of him breathing against my skin making my neck tingle and body tremble.

"N-no." I stuttered out. I tried to move away from him but his arms were holding me tightly in place. I stopped myself from gasping when his lips met my skin, the blissful feeling making me unwillingly lean back against him. "Walid." I breathed out in warning.

"Shh." He let out against the skin on my neck, making me struggle to breath properly.

"Stop it or I'm gonna have to think you're doing this because you'll miss me when I'll be away next week." I said playfully. His lack of words made a small smile appear on my lips. "So....you will miss me?" I asked, feeling my heart do a flip at just the thought.

My question made him bite the skin on my neck softly, just on the brink of it being hurtful. "You shameless man." I couldn't help but smile as I tried to get away from him but failed miserably. "Walid I need to be home, let me go." I tried to reason but he continued his assault on my neck.

"No." He said unapologetically. I tried to detach his arms from around my waist.

I needed to get away from him, he was making me feel certain ways. He was making my heart wanting to explode.

To my luck, I didn't have to do much as the sound of a door opening and closing in a distance was heard. Walid's arms disappeared from around my waist and I quickly jumped to my feet.

My eyes met his as I stood up and his dark orbs were twinkling with mischievousness. I patted down my hair in place and cleared my throat in nervousness.

Giving him one final look, I rushed out of the living room and towards the front door. I could hear Isak and Pasha getting closer, and I knew I had to leave before they noticed I was still at the house.

Walid was shirtless and I knew looked like a hot mess, it wouldn't be wise for them to see us together like that...it would lead to a misunderstanding.

I walked out of the already open front door and took a quick look around. The neighborhood was still pretty empty and silent, which made me take it as my cue and hurry back to my house.

~

My fingers clasped around the sides of my cardigan as I wrapped my arms around myself. I made my way towards the railing and took a deep breath as I inhaled the fresh air.

It was a bit windy at the terrace, making me shiver. I would never get used to how normal it actually was for the weather to drastically change in just a couple of hours. Just this morning, it had been the hottest day we've had since summer had started. Hours later, just before midnight, it was chilly and windy.

It reminded me of my life. How it had drastically changed the past months. From the first day I had laid my eyes on Walid, two months ago. Even though no words were exchanged, there was something. The way he had looked at me, I was sure there was something I wasn't aware of.

I had looked back many times at that moment. Especially during those sleepless nights he had caused me, just like tonight.

I was being reminded of how he had reacted when our eyes had met. Almost like he was thinking about something....but what?

There was no doubt he was holding many secrets. Just the fact that I didn't even know the real reason behind Walid's first visit to my house and his disagreement with my uncle, showed how lost and clueless I was.

However, sometimes I thought it was better for it to be that way.

I looked at the house across, at the reason I had actually walked out to the terrace. My eyes landed on the figure leaning against the railing. The light of the terrace gave me enough lighting to see him clearly.

My arms unknowingly wrapped tighter around myself when I noticed one of his hands resting on the railing of the terrace while the other was holding a piece of paper.

If it was a letter or picture I didn't know, but all I could see was that the piece of paper had his attention.

I stood still for a moment before turning around to walk back inside, to the comfort of my house.

Maybe it was better for me to just not know...