Chapter 37- Making plans

For the next couple of days, Aslan and Najmah frequented their visit at their uncompleted building. Najmah continued painting the walls of her room even though she complained about being tired at the end of the day. Aslan would help her too and by the end of the week, she was done painting her room.

And in those days, she hadn't received any texts from her pretentious ex-fiancé. Life was going on well for her or so she thought.

{••}

Najmah sat by the fireplace, her legs tucked underneath a blanket as her slender fingers glided through the soft pages of the book she was reading. A smile tugged at her lips with each word she read before her face contorted into confusion and then anger before stretching into a smile again.

Aslan leaned into the door frame, watching her expressions with amusement. Watching her read had become one of his latest past times. She was at peace and comfortable in her skin, totally absorbed in the world her mind took her to while reading.

She tore her gaze away from the book when she caught a whiff of his perfume, her smile intact. Najmah placed a mark on the page then shut it, sitting upright on the sofa.

"Hey," he spoke softly, striding towards her.

"Hey you," she replied, scooting over so he could sit.

"Flowers for me?" she grinned, accepting the bouquet he approached her with.

He nodded, settling down on the sofa, his gaze falling on the fire crackling in the hearth.

"Are you cold?" he questioned, placing a hand on her forehead to feel her temperature.

"I'm good," she shook her head. "Just needed the warmth."

She buried her nose in the bouquet, closing her eyes as she absorbed its scent.

"They're lovely," she cracked open her eyes. "Thank you."

"I have a surprise for you," he spoke, lacing their fingers together as she placed her head on his shoulder.

"Another one?" her lips twitched into a smile.

"Yes, another one," he nodded. "And I promise you'd love this more."

"Oh yeah?" she cocked her eyebrow. "You sure about that?"

"Very," he conceded.

"Okay Mr.Sadek, what's your surprise, hmm?"

"I was thinking about the two of us leaving Istanbul for a while, maybe for a month or so."

"What about your work? Wouldn't they need you there?"

"They can manage without me. I'm just the COO, Baba is still the CEO so the company can still run for a month without me besides he's got an assistant and Anne would be there to help."

"Okay. Where are we going?"

"I thought maybe we could go to Nigeria first, I know you miss your family and..."

"Shut up!" she gasped, cutting him off mid-sentence.

"Shut up!" she exclaimed, sitting upright.

Aslan stared at her quizzically, wondering what she meant. Was he to shut up or continue speaking. But why would she tell him to shut up?

"You're not joking, right?" she covered her mouth before throwing her arms over him. "You're serious right?"

"I am," he nodded, wrapping his arms around her.

"As I was saying, we will visit Nigeria so you could be with your family and so I will get to meet the most important people in your life."

"Thank you," she whispered, her eyes rimmed with tears. "This is the most amazing surprise I could ever get."

"That's not all," he smiled, kissing her hairline.

"More?" she raised her head so she could stare into his orbs.

"Mm-hmm," he nodded. "I thought about going to Puerto Rico and the Maldives or Mauritius. Any country of your choice."

Words failed her. She tried to speak but they got stuck in her throat. She opened her mouth, shut it, opened it again then closed it.

"Don't you like the idea?" his brows furrowed as he searched her face for an answer.

"I love it Aslan," she shook her head, recovering from her shock. "When do we leave?"

"Three days from now," he responded, standing up.

"I look forward to our trip."

"So do I," he released a breath he didn't know he was holding. "Now let's go get some sleep. We have a busy day ahead of us tomorrow."

"Oh yeah?" she teased, slipping out of his hold.

"We have to pack and also I need to drop some documents in the office and then get our passports."

"What role do I get to play?" she pouted, crossing her arms over her chest.

"All roles sevgilim," he flicked her nose. "All roles."

She glared at him playfully, rubbing at the spot he flicked her. "It hurts you know," she mumbled, following behind him.

"Does it?" he threw over his shoulder, chuckling.

She huffed, climbing onto the bed while he went into the bathroom to change. She switched off the lights by her side, staring at the ceiling as she thought about their trip.

"You never told me what happened to Hilal's parents," she whispered into the night as Aslan climbed into the bed.

He stilled, letting the duvet fall over him. Najmah turned to face him, surprised to see the conflicting expressions on his face.

"What's wrong?" she placed her head on his chest. "We don't have to talk about it if it hurts you. I was just curious."

"It's okay," he spoke after a beat, raking his hand through her hair.

"They had an accident two years ago. It was my Anne and Baba's, Lale had organized a small luncheon here. Though the night was stormy, Muhan had insisted on coming with his family. Anne told him to stay at home but he was relentless, saying that he couldn't miss his their anniversary. We got a call at 9pm..." he paused, taking a deep breath. "An incoming truck had hit their car at an intersection and Muhan had died on the spot. Hilal and her mother were rushed to the hospital, and by the time we arrived, she had already passed away. Hilal was the only survivor."

She was only four when it happened. She woke up a few days later after the burial and kept asking for her parents. We were all devastated and then..."

She squeezed his shoulder, telling him that she was there for him. He shut his eyes then opened them, recalling the moments that had changed their family as if it were happening then. He fixed his gaze on the ceiling as her hand moved back and forth on his arm soothingly.

"She went into shock due to her condition. The doctors had to perform an emergency transplant for her because her heart had failed. We could have lost her too but she pulled through. Our family has never been the same again after that."

"I'm so sorry," she whispered, hugging his side.

"It's okay."

"May Allah have mercy on their souls."

"Ameen."

The silence stretched out between them and Najmah marvelled at the thought of how much pain he was hiding. It was the most he had opened up with her. Throughout the months they'd spent together, he had only revealed tidbit pieces about himself; the rest she had found out by chance.

Aslan was one of the most understanding people she had ever had the pleasure of meeting. He knew what she wanted before she even knew she wanted it.

Najmah had always thought about her family since the day she set foot in Istanbul but she never dared to voice out how badly she wanted to see them. It was the first time she had spent more than half a year without seeing them. The longest she had been away from them was for a month or two.

The conversation she had with his grandma came rushing and she bit her lip to refrain herself from crying out loud. She was contented with her relationship with her husband. He wasn't bothered with her on that level, and she was okay with it.

She could fool everyone with her act, but there was one person she couldn't fool; herself. She knew that Aslan was all shades of wrong for her and so was she but for how long would she be able to keep up the act? For how long would she keep on pretending?

Najmah knew that she felt something special for him but was that enough for her to stay? Was that enough for her to stay in a loveless marriage? He said that he liked her but liking her wasn't enough. She needed something fierce, something more, something that could thwart the feelings she had shared with her ex.

What would he do if he found out that she was just using him? Just testing the waters to see if it was good enough for her to jump in? That she was still unsure of what she felt for him?

But mayhap, this one month trip would be enough time to decide what was best for her; to determine whether she was ready to go all in with him or not and she hoped to unravel all the secrets he kept hidden behind his façade of an ideal husband.

Najmah was the one with the disorder that made her pretend a lot and being a pretender herself and a master of keeping things to herself, she knew that he was hiding something but what was it?

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