A Prayer Heeded

by Samreen Ahsan

  I walk toward the edge of the terrace, holding the railings tightly, and watching the dark sky thundering with animosity, as it starts to shed its own tears. I feel like angels are mourning over her too.

  “Listen to me one last time, God. If you can’t do anything to help her, or if you don’t know how to take care of her, then leave her alone. Stay out of her life and stop giving her misery. She is mine and I can take care of her. You hear me? I can very well take care of her, dammit.” I don’t know why I’m even shouting at Him, when He has nothing to do with her pain. I provoked Khaldun for vengeance. If I never went to his chamber and challenged him, things wouldn’t have gone so far. What he had done was the repayment for my past act. Should I blame myself for her pain? Will I really be able to protect her forever? Am I really her soul mate? Am I really the right person for her, who promised to love, protect and cherish her, as long as I live? Even with all my power and riches, I failed to protect her from that ferocious Jinni, and now when Jibran is shoving his nose in our lives, will I be able to hold on to the secret that he is alive, or shall I kill him silently, so no one knows he was ever here?

  ***

  A week has passed, but she is still the same—quiet, speechless and depressed. She has stopped eating, and is turning into skin and bones. I can’t even take her to a therapist—what would I tell the doctor? That my wife has been assaulted by someone who doesn’t even exist in our world? After that incident, I haven’t left her for a single second, as being lonely would suffocate her with bitter memories. I want to touch her, make love to her, but she was so torn apart that it’s taking all my time to pick up the broken pieces of her soul. I’ve only been accepting Mike’s and Ali’s phone calls, and have completely cut both of us off from the rest of the world.

  Mike has been keeping me well-informed; Jibran has dropped his complaints and already left the country. I’m glad that prick, at least, is where he can’t trace even her shadow. I had already silently registered her divorce, and hoped she might not even find out that Jibran ever came to me. If there’s a price to buy her mental peace, I’m ready to spend all my wealth for her. She is my love, my honor, my fate and my lifeline—like blood streaming through my body, which lets me live in this world. Without her, I’m nothing. But seeing her in this moment of silence, where she only looks at me with pleading eyes, hoping for me to end her pain: it kills me deep inside. We didn’t even speak the entire week, and my heart craves her body. But she is too vulnerable to touch, and I’m not sure if she would like it or not.

  The very next morning after the incident, I brought her to her old apartment, because our place—especially our washroom—was haunting her. I have asked a designer to completely revamp the en-suite, making sure nothing should look the way it had before. I brought her back to that one-bedroom apartment to remind her of our old memories, of our innocent friendship. I tried to distract her mind with other things, reading books to her, but she remained silent the whole time. There was nothing I could do to make her speak to me. All her emotions were washed out in that cruel shower.

  The night has already fallen on us. I hold out the pill to make her sleep, but she doesn’t extend her hand to take it.

  “You don’t love me anymore?” she asks me innocently.

  “What made you think that?” I put the glass and pill on the nightstand.

  “You don’t touch me, Adam. Am I so infected now?” A tear drops from the corner of her eye. What? Is she thinking I’m not touching her because I don’t love her anymore?

  “No, my love.” I cup her face in my hands. “Don’t ever think that. If you think I wasn’t touching you because of that, then take it out of your mind immediately. I was holding back because I thought you wouldn’t want it at the moment.” I give her a kiss on her forehead. God! It feels so good to taste Heaven again.

  “Then make love to me, Adam.” Her eyes are begging. “Show me with your touch how much you love me. Show me you still accept me.”

  “Oh, baby!” I pull her close to me and we both lie down on the bed, her body resting on my chest. I give her a long passionate kiss, feeling like it’s the very first, my mouth savoring every longing inside her, making her surrender to me completely. I flip her in an instant and peel off her top in no time, along with mine. “You are mine, Rania. And there is no one between us. I promise you, no one will ever hurt you again.”

  She gives me her innocent smile, her face flushing with my touch. “Then kiss me everywhere, Adam. Make sure you don’t leave a single spot on my body. I want you to mark your presence on my body, on my mind and my soul. Mark me everywhere, and I don’t want it to be gentle. I want it all raw.”

  “Fuck, baby. I am so turned on right now.” It’s the very first time that she has demanded anything like this from me. Before, it used to be me that demanded and consumed everything from her, but today, she has turned my world upside down, driving me to the height of impulse, charging every single cell of my body. “I will make love to you so many times tonight, that your body crumbles into fragments of desire. I will be so rough on you that you won’t get a chance to breathe, my love. Are you ready for it?”

  She pulls me close to her, devouring me completely in her kiss. We both dive into the valley of our desire, where our souls make love pleasurably, as if we are one soul divided in two bodies.

  MY WORLD – UPSIDE DOWN

  ♀

  It takes only a second to flip your world upside down. If I hadn’t asked Adam to touch me last night, he might not have taken the step. I know he loves me deeply, but the pain and silence between us, our bodies having no contact, our souls not mingling, was haunting me to death.

  I open my eyes and smile; the moments of pleasure in my life are back again. I wake up with his sweet baby kisses all over me, his love and desire consuming me thoroughly. My body is floating amorously on the river of sexuality—his wild kisses are an aphrodisiac.

  “You ready for round two, baby?” His passionate words are making me walk on the brink of arousal.

  “Round two? Last night was only round one?” I blush with rapture.

  “Yeah, baby. We are so not done yet.” A passionate, hungry voice, yearning to consume me, infuses in my blood. “Or are you hungry?” he asks with concern. “You haven’t eaten anything in a week.”

  Yeah, back to the same old concerned husband!

  “Yes, I’m hungry.” I give him an absolutely sexual look.

  “What do you want to eat? Shall we go out for breakfast?”

  “You.” My answer is simple. “I’m hungry for you.”

  “Oh, baby, I love you so much.”

  After our one-hour trip to the world of ecstasy, we lie down again, breathless, snuggled in each other, our naked bodies entwined as one, his fingers caressing me gently on my arm. We are completely limp after our wild excursion. I never thought my body was capable of taking something like this, so raw, yet it completely consumed me, and I loved every bit of it.

  “You aren’t going to work?” I lift my head from his chest and observe his intense green eyes. How I fell in love with those eyes the first time I saw him outside his office. They still hold the same power over my soul.

  “I want to stay with you today. Nothing is more important to me than this moment.” He removes hair strands from my face, tugging them behind my ear and watching me ardently.

  “You should. It’s been a week. I’ll go back home. I’m missing it.”

  His smile is visible in his expression, in the way he looks at me. “Are you sure?”

  “Yes. But before that, I want to go out shopping.”

  “I will take you.” Again, the controlling tone!

  “I can go by myself, Adam.” I snort. “You have work to do. Anyhow, I’m planning some senseless shopping.”

  “Then I will ask Ali to go with you.” He doesn’t ask me. It’s a command. I stay quiet, not willing to argue about it. I know how fussy he is when it comes to my safety. But I wonder, what will Ali do while I’m sho
pping? “What is senseless shopping, by the way?” he asks me innocently.

  I give him a quick, gentle kiss on the lips. “I want to do some retail therapy, buying crappy stuff which is of NO use to me, emptying my husband’s wallet.” I wink at him mischievously.

  “Really?” He chuckles in pleasure. “I would love to spoil my beautiful wife. If that makes you feel better, my love, then, go ahead and buy the whole damn mall. I want to see this smile again when you come home.” Oh my! What a priceless offer. I give him a flashing smile. “Between us, what is it exactly my wife wants to buy?”

  “Umm.” I look down, toying with his chest hair. “Some fuck-me high heels, sexy lingerie…”

  “Oh!” His grip tightens on me. “So you’re buying a treat for your husband.”

  “Hmm.” I blush in excitement. He locks his lips with mine at an instant.

  “I would love to see them this evening.” His eyes are pouring joy and passion. His hand touches my bare shoulder—a touch that leaves me reeling and wanting more.

  I hope I find everything that I want, surprising him to the fullest.

  ***

  After dropping Adam at work, I head out for my shopping excursion with Ali. It’s fun to breathe after a week of suffocation. And I thank Adam for his tremendous love. I don’t know what I would have done without him, if his moral support and understanding weren’t there. His love brings life to me; it is as necessary as oxygen to me. He never questioned me once in this past week, never accused me of giving away my body to Khaldun—he just understood my pain, how that bastard tricked me with Adam’s handwriting and his voice.

  Never in my wildest dreams had I imagined that he has the power to change voices, would come to me in the form of Adam—but then, I didn’t see his physical appearance. It was the voice that had fooled me. Still, Adam held me in his arms, he understood my fear of going back into that washroom, without me telling him. He just reads my eyes, sneaks into my heart without even letting me know. That’s what he did before, stepping inside me silently, and it was much later that I realized how much I’m in love with him. How he took me back to my old apartment, kept reminding me of our innocent days of friendship, how he tried to crowd my mind with other things, reading me bedtime stories, treating me like a baby. I’m sure he would be a great father. I saw all the traits of a caring man in him. I can’t thank God enough for giving me this blessing, in the form of a loving and understanding husband who trusts me completely. I know whatever he does in his life, he would never betray me. If there is anything he would ever hide from me, it would be certainly for my benefit. I know this man will never hurt my feelings.

  “How is life treating you, Mrs. Gibson?” Ali’s voice breaks into my thoughts. His eyes are focused on the road ahead. Even though the roads are crowded, I still enjoy the morning hustle and bustle, riding pleasantly in my husband’s Bentley, a new experience for me. I always traveled on public transportation to work, so I’d never experienced early-morning traffic. A multimillionaire, who is capable of moving heaven and earth for his wife’s safety and well-being, who is always happily willing to spend hideous amounts of money just to see a glimpse of a smile on the face of the woman he is in love with—what else could a woman want? And I’m so lucky to be the only woman in his life, the center of his universe.

  “I’m good. Thanks. And when have you started being so formal, Ali?” I look at him, smirking at his formal gesture. “I’m still Rania.”

  “Yes, but you are Mrs. Gibson too.” He returns my smile. “You are a very lucky woman, Rania. People in this era don’t really fall madly in love like Adam has. I thought it was very medieval.” He meets my eyes briefly in the rearview mirror. I am blushing over his remark. “Never thought he would go this far. I have seen him changing from night to day. He was such a dark and serious man. You bring warm sunlight into his life, a reason for his inner smile. Thank you for doing that.”

  I smile from my heart. “I’m very glad that you care for him like your younger brother. Thank you for being like family to us.”

  We drive for almost twenty minutes, till we reach my destination. Ali follows me from shop to shop, the poor guy holding my useless heavy bags. He stays outside every store, waiting patiently for me to come out with my hands full so he can help me carry them. It feels so different, yet so exciting to shop on a man’s credit card, one who has a limitless amount of wealth—who is completely mine forever. It is also very unusual for me to buy an item without even thinking about its price. Just ignore the price tag. That’s what he said before leaving. I smile at his command, as I pick up a jade Fendi evening clutch from Holt Renfrew. No price tag, no price tag! I recite the mantra in my mind. I’m here to shop for whatever my heart desires. He wants me to smile and be happy for him. He likes me spending his money, which I never have done since we’ve known each other.

  I come out of the store, Ali still waiting for me patiently. “I’m so sorry to keep you waiting like this. This is such a new experience for me, Ali. Shopping from someone else’s pocket, without looking at a price tag.”

  He laughs at my comment. “Don’t worry. You will get used to it. He was very excited that you finally decided to use his money. And it’s all yours, Rania. He never treated you as separate from him.”

  “I know.” I hand him more bags. “It’s just that it’s very new to me that someone is waiting for me outside the store, to carry my senseless shopping bags. I’m not used to the royal treatment.”

  “Don’t worry. It’s my job.”

  “No, Ali. I don’t think you were hired to do this.” I grin at him, gesturing toward my bags.

  “Taking care of both of you is my job. Anyhow, have you met Zachery, your new security officer?”

  “Yes.” I roll my eyes at him. “Why this security, all of a sudden?”

  “Not all of a sudden. Adam’s been keeping an eye on you since he met you.” He smiles at me, but his words are full of concern. “Now that you are his wife and his complete responsibility, and the whole world knows about it, he doesn’t want to take chances.”

  “Does he have enemies?”

  Ali’s face pales in an instant. He stays quiet for a while. Does Adam really have enemies? “A rich, powerful and dominant man like Adam Gibson, you think he wouldn’t have enemies? He moves this city with his fingertips. I’m sure there are many hidden rivals.”

  I gulp at this bitter information. Of course there would be many people who would want to rule like him, take his place. With the position and honor that he has achieved at such a young age, I’m sure many businessmen are insanely jealous of him.

  I’m passing by Victoria’s Secret when something tickles inside me, deep down. I think for a moment, wondering what Ali will think if I step inside. But he is a mature adult. Why am I flushing hard over a lingerie shop?

  He observes my expression as I say, “I will take some time here.” God! I am still blushing. Could it be more embarrassing?

  “Sure, no problem.” He is embarrassed too. I should have come alone. Damn, Adam! You are always so commanding.

  “Why don’t you put all these bags in the car while I visit the store? I’ll call you once I’m done.” I look at him pleadingly. I know he’s not supposed to leave me alone, but I don’t see any point in him waiting outside for me while I shop for things to seduce my husband. And he’s only leaving me for a few minutes. What difference is it going to make? If I encounter any problems, I can give him a call.

  “Sure, I will be back in five minutes. Let me know when you are done.” He leaves instantly and I head to the store.

  I enter the store and pick up all the sexiest, full turn-on lingerie from the racks and head to the changing room. As I lock the door behind me, I receive a text from my loving husband.

  Enjoying yourself so far, baby?

  I smile at his concern.

  Yes, truly. It’s a wonderful feeling to fuck your pocket and make you poor ;)

  He texts back:

  I’ll still
be the richest man in the world as long as you are with me.

  My heart swells with contentment. I can never win when it comes to expressing my feelings.

  Don’t you have work to do, Mr. Gibson?

  He replies:

  I can’t concentrate. Round three is still due.

  My face blushes completely. I look around, hoping nobody is noticing me, though I know I am alone in my changing room. God! This man knows how to charge up my body even over the wireless. That is so damn unfair!

  Another message tempts me.

  How about lunch together? We will go to a fancy restaurant and head home to continue where we left off ;)

  Okay, Rania, your husband is in a really naughty phase right now. Time to play, and hit him back.

  How about lunch and round three at your office, Mr. Gibson? I haven’t tested your desk; wanna see how hard and sturdy it is ;) let’s check its durability.

  He takes a moment to respond.

  Fuck, baby! You are making me hard right now. I’m in the middle of the meeting.