The woman behind the large desk was dark. She had dark African hair that reminded me of mine. The corners of her lips were curved up into a smile I knew she had used for many of her patients. She was chubby. Stethoscope dangled from her neck and the lab coat she wore over the blue hospital wear sparkled. I returned her smile walking further into the office.

“Good afternoon doctor” I greeted fiddling with the handle of my bag.

“Afternoon” she replied in a friendly tone. “Please have a seat” she pointed at one of the seats opposite her table. My insides were jittering. Amir must not know I was in the hospital. I did not tell him I was coming here instead I told him I was having a day out with my friends. It was partially the truth.

She began to talk but I cut her short “I will tell you why I am here” I moved closer to the table not able to keep my legs steady. “I am here for fertility test” I replied. My hands were becoming clammy.

“Why?” she questioned her smile still on her face. “You seem tensed” she noticed my discomfort.

“I am” I nodded releasing a heavy breath.

“You have to calm down” I tried to do that and it did not work. Maybe by the time we talk, I will relax.

“I want to have the test because some years ago, I had an abortion” the words rolled out like a shot. She furrowed her curly eyebrows. That was when I allowed the tension in me to evaporate by breathing out.

“How did you have the abortion Mrs Hussein?”

“Just call me Noorie. I took pills. They were not prescribed and I got them the wrong way”

“How many months was the pregnancy?”

“Four months. I had no choice. I am married now and I want kids” I placed my bag on the empty seat beside me.

“For how long have you been married?”

“Almost seven months. My husband and I thought it is time to start having kids” Those words did not flow out well. “We began to try our luck for almost three months now. I am not worried that I am not pregnant. I just want to know how fertile I am and if those pills back then had not affected my womb. My doctor back then said nothing is wrong with my womb. I just want to know the condition of my womb” I rested my joined hands over the table.

She went on asking me questions and started talking about different tests. She talked about transvaginal (pelvic) ultrasound exam, hysteroscopy and laparoscopy. I had to stay back for tests and that had lasted few hours and it was exhausting. The test result with be sent to me by email.

I was not in the mood to shop but when you have friends like Mi Jin and Feyi you have no choice. Mi Jin, Liza, Feyi, Simran and Aisha, my Lebanon friend waited for me at Westfield Stratford mall. I introduced Feyi to them as my Nigerian friend. Feyi being herself had interacted with them not fully but was still able to get along with them. For hours, we walk around the busy mall. I was grateful I was not putting on heels. I hardly bought something for myself. I was the one who gave opinions about their clothes. At the food court, we had our lunch and Amir had called to check on me.

After that night, he was not really himself. No phone call came from Giang again. But I knew Giang was doing further research. Instead of Amir to stop him, Amir said nothing. It had taken so much pestering and doings to have my husband back.

“That was delicious” Feyi nearly screeched as we walked out of the food court.

“Their food has always been nice. I love their food” Simran replied struggling with her five shopping bags. I had only one and it contained a shirt I got for Amir. I have gotten it without the ladies knowing.

“It is my first time in London after two years and I am having a great time. Where are we going next?”

“I saw this store somewhere around here. I saw a skirt that caught my eyes”

“Please Mi Jin not clothes again” I pleaded.

“Just one last time” she begged with puppy eyes. It did not work on me. I wanted to refuse until Aisha said we should check it out.

The store had new stocks. Women, ladies and men that had escorted their friends, lovers, wives or sisters walked around the store. We split to different ways. I decided to check for a dress or something. Few racks away from me, Feyi was checking out dresses. Autumn was approaching so what they had in stock was for the season. A woollen top got my attention and I checked it out. It was big and when I put it on, it would be over size but still cute. The hands will be long for me and it should reach almost my knee but I liked it. It was something I could wear on a rainy day or night when I am at home. I felt a presence beside me and had not bothered to look up. It might be someone who wants to get something.

The person whose figure did not hide she was a lady took a step closer. I glanced up to see a woman beside me then turned back to picking the clothes out.

“You have to leave here” she said in a voice that was barely a whisper. I lifted my head up and looked around to see if she was talking to me. There was no one beside us.

“Me?” I questioned. Her brown eyes locked with mine.

“Ma’am we have to leave” her accent was something I have never heard. She had chin length wavy brown hair.

“Sorry I don’t know you” I looked away.

“I am Ines, your bodyguard” she replied. There was something impatient about her move.

“I have no bodyguard. You must have mistaken me for someone” I turned back to what I was doing.

“You are Mrs Noorie Hussein Mashood” she replied. I tried to speak but word did not come out.

“I…you…how did you know me?”

“It is a long story. I am agent Ines working for the Interpol” she showed me her ID card. “We have to leave now”

“Why?” she moved closer. I looked around for my friends but they were all engrossed in what they were doing.

“You see that red dot on your chest” I looked down at my chest and there was a red dot. “There is a sniper around who will pull the trigger soon and…” What happened next was fast. She pushed me down. I wanted to shriek but her hand was over my mouth. There was no noise but why did she do that? My heart stomped in my chest and what soaked my bones was terror. My breathing stopped as I tried to protect my head from the floor.

I felt sudden anger. What was that for? I felt like just pulling her hair. My heart was in my mouth because of what she had done. Like she knew what I was going to say next or maybe because of the questions in my eyes, she said “You were shot at” she crouched beside me not helping me up.

“I don’t believe you” I gulped trying to get up.

“See this” she picked something from the floor pulling me back. I knew it not to recognise it. It was ammo like those ammos in rifles. I had used that ammo a lot of times at the shooting range for me not to know it.

Have you ever been so scared at a sudden situation? You know the way you feel hot even though you have the air conditioner on blast. My pore excreted hot liquid as fast as they could. I was even scared to breathe feeling like the sniper or whoever was after my life will hear me.

“We have to leave” she pulled me up.

“My friends” I looked around the shop. Seriously, they do not even know I have someone with me. How engrossed are they? Feyi and Simran were laughing while checking a shirt together.

“I am sorry ma’am but we have to forget them” she tugged me towards the door. “It is best you don’t shout or say anything. Raising an alarm will not help”

I could not do anything. She was very vigilant. The way her eyes were moving tells me she was trying to look around our surrounding. She stayed closed to me. I felt foolish at the same time. I was following a stranger.

“I still don’t believe you” I said amidst my fear.

“I have been following you for months since you were shot at in your home” That reminded me of the scars on my back “I know you went to the hospital today and had a test. Your husband is Amir Hussein Mashood present CEO of HM incorporation” She guided me to the escalator “After you refused to have a bodyguard, I was hired to follow your moves and know if you are alright. You have people like Santino after you. Your safety means a lot to your husband” we got down from the escalator. “We are being followed by three men. They are here to abduct you. They followed you from home to the hospital and now here. They followed you to the food court and the store I just picked you from” we were out of the mall and walking to the parking lot.

“That ID you showed me could be fake. You might be the one who want to abduct me”

“I understand how you feel. It is not easy to find out everything” she looked at my face that was void of any colour. I saw truth in her eyes “Your car key” she demanded. I was took shaken to get my key out. She collected my bag and took out my key. “The action begins when we drive out” she unlocked my car walking to the driver’s side and I walked to the passenger’s side. When she opened the door to walk in, she paused and looked at me with her lips curled up. “Get in” She moved her head. There was a glint in her eyes like she was ready for whatever is coming next. I got in.

She drove like she was a race champion. She manoeuvred between cars like it was a normal thing to do on a highway at a speed I found deadly. My heart thumped with fear. I was following someone I knew nothing about. She might be kidnapping me. Noor do something and say something. When she went past a car at a speed that made me very scared, I shrieked.

“Reduce your speed” I shouted over my fear.

“Sorry ma’am” she apologised. Why is she apologising?

“I am scared and I feel like I just entered my death hole. I don’t know why I believe you and trust you despite I am trying to tell myself you are lying. Can you just tell me what is going on?"

“We are being followed” was her reply.

Instead of reducing my pounding nerves and cure my apprehension, her words worsened my situation. She dialled a number on her phone while trying to give the road her attention. That was dangerous.

“This is agent Ines Dias speaking” she said in her very unfamiliar accent. Her next words were in a language I had never heard. Ya Allah, what’s going on? There was urgency in her voice. She swept the car into her another street throwing me to the side. I slammed my head on the window with a little yelp. “Check the car’s plate number” she said.

“Which car’s plate number?” I ran my shaking hand over damp forehead. My hijab became something that added nothing but suffocation to me.

“Right behind the blue Honda civic” she looked at the rear mirror. “The silver Ford”

I unhooked the seat belt holding me back. I know she was also scared, maybe a bit but at the same time, anticipation was in her eyes. I sat up to look at the Honda civic. To get a better view of the car’s so called plate number. I had to slip in between the seats to go to the back seat. It was no easy when my head kept touching the hood of the car and Ines was driving like she wanted to win a race.

I grunted trying to put one leg into the back seat before sliding in. As I dropped my second leg, I shot forward like I had been pushed by some sort of force landing at the floor of the back seat, my head making contact again with the door’s handle. This time, the pain was painful as if some sharp item had been dived into my head. My eyes grew wet at the pain. Not even a single sorry left my so called bodyguard’s lips after she smashed the brake like that.

“What is the number?” she turned into another street sending me to one side of the car that was not free for my body.

“Drive slower” I screamed frustrated.

“I can’t sorry” she continued driving at the same speed.

The space was tight so coming out was not easy. I groaned and cursed at the brim of tears. When frustrated, I cry a lot. I came out after struggling, kneeled on the seat and looked at the car. It was right behind us and the Honda civic had disappeared. “BG” I began but stopped when I saw something. “Oh no! No! No! No! No!” I shouted.

“What’s wrong?”

“They are going to shoot at us?” I screamed.

“Sons of a….” she grinded.

When I looked around, I realised I was out of London. I was in a part of London I have never been. It was so terrifying. Where was she driving to? Why are these people after us? The familiar sound cracked through the tensed air and I knew what was coming, a bullet. She swung the car in a way I can never drive.

“What are we going to do?” My pore emitted more sweat.

“You can drive right?”

“Of course”

“Then you take over the steering. Oh sorry, they are going to shoot at us” I don’t know if she said that to me.

“How will we do that?”

During our conversation, none of us had seen the black Toyota. It rammed straight into my side sending the car in a roller coaster ride. The car swirled over and over, the tyres hissing against the road. The sound of glass shattering followed next. In the heat of things, there was no way Ines would make the car steady. It danced to its own tunes, fearful screams emitting my lips. The gunshots did not stop either. They came one after another. Ines got hold of the steering and she did the unthinkable that could have sent either one of us or both of us to a hospital or heaven. She changed the gear to reverse, stepped the accelerator and drove right into the Ford.

Amir was surely not going to spare me. His car had turned to nothing but a compressed metal. I had begged him to allow me drive his favourite car promising nothing will happen to it. Now with bullet flying toward us and the aftermath of a car slamming into ours, there was no way the car was going back to its normal position.

“We have to change” it was so quick that I just found myself at the steering. Two sleek black metals appeared from her pocket. She was going to shoot at them. “Now drive”

I altered the gear to drive and stepped the accelerator. The car’s tyres screeched before darting forward. I glanced at the rear mirror to see that the Nissan had gained its balance and there are two bikes coming along with it. The bikers were cladded in black. While my heart stomped with fear, I knew we had to survive.

Ines had half of her body out of the window. The guns she had in hand were into action. Two men appeared from the Ford’s window, one from the right and the other from the left. The first bullet from the guy on my side smashed the side mirror. I don’t know how much time we whiled away, manoeuvring into streets, trying to dodge the bullets and save our lives. At one point, both the Ford and our car had a head to head collision. When I thought we had lost them, they appear from nowhere. The bullets in the gun were wasted, nothing to protect our lives. My gun was the last thing we could resort to. It was licensed and something I had to take everywhere with me but it did not last long.

“Can I do something?” Ines asked.

“What?” I drove through a wooden fence. Wood shattered, the car shook to the unlevelled ground.

“Brake” she commanded and I slammed the brake just to see the door at her side flying and a biker slamming into a pole. She did not do that?

“Why will you do that?” I screamed, the car shaking.

“It was the only thing I can do. If we have to miss this people, you have to forget the condition of the car. Bend down!” she pushed my head down. Tiny pieces of glasses danced around the car. I heard the sound of glass shattering. When I looked up again, I realised the rear window and wind scream had disappeared.

The second biker wanted to crash into us but I pushed the brake. The car came to an absolute stop. He flew back at the force, clashing on the bonnet of the Ford. The Ford lost its control twisting and turning. It rushed to us pushing away my car. Amir’s car swayed to one side then another. It twirled again and again on a certain spot, a bursted sound bellowed in the air. Another noise followed like metal scrapping the floor before coming to an abrupt stop.

Then there was no noise. It was complete silence. I had my head over the steering, my foot on the brake and trembling clammy hands around the steering. My heart beat had increased. There was no pain but the silence scared me more. Why is no one speaking?

“You…you” I heard Ines’ voice which made me raise my head up. Her hair had fallen to her forehead. “You did not do that?” she said in a low voice. Steam rose from the bonnet, the smell was so intense for me to explain.

Then the sound of sirens could be heard from a distance. Instead of worrying about the situation on ground, one question lingered in my mind. How will I explain what happened to the car to Amir?

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