Healing Her Broken Heart

She woke up with a start, panting for air, sweating profusely. This was the third time in five days Aleyna was woken up by the same nightmare. Nearby, she could hear the steady breathing of her Nana who was sleeping on the bed next to hers. She tried to calm herself down and quietly slipped out of bed her feet touching the plush grey carpet. There was a bottle of water on her side table which she instantly gulped down. Tucking a strand of hair behind her ear, she carefully trudged towards the window enjoying the feel of the plush carpet on her cold feet. She drew the heavy drapes on the window back and gazed outside as the snow continued to fall softly on the grass covering it with a crystal white blanket. It was December after all and once this used to be the favourite time of the year for her but now it felt depressing. No cars on the road just the neighbour’s festive lights for Christmas could be seen in the dark, after all it was almost 3:45 am. She would have spent more time watching the mesmerizing view from her window but she felt a little chilly and also had work to go to in the morning so she went to bed. Her Nana turned in her sleep mumbling incoherently. She quickly went to her bed pulling the comforter over her and thinking why had she started having these nightmares again? She decided to pay a visit to her psychiatrist otherwise she could never be calm. With these thoughts in mind she finally drifted off to a peaceful sleep. “Rise and shine Aleyna”, said Mrs.Brown entering the room with a tray of breakfast for Nana. ”Good morning to you too Mrs.Brown”, stretching her arms on the bed with her waist long Gazelle brown hair covering her face. ”Its been snowing all night, make sure you wear some extra warm clothes to work today”. “Yes Mrs.Brown I’ll keep that in mind” she called back as she rushed into her own bathroom to take a hot shower.  She dressed in a black corduroy pants, matching jacket and a crisp white shirt. She liked to look serious on her job. Lining her inner parts of eyes with a black kohl pencil, she applied mascara on her already thick and long lashes and dabbed a lip balm on her already plump red lips. No matter how much she accentuated her beautiful green eyes they always looked sad. With one last look at herself in the mirror she grabbed her bag and headed back to her Nana’s room where Mrs.Brown was feeding her breakfast. “Did she sleep well last night Aleyna?” asked Mrs.Brown. “Yes, she did, just a bit of incoherent mumbling in the middle of the night.” “Oh, how many times I have told you to sleep in your room and let me sleep with your Nana but you never listen”. Mrs.Brown sounded worried while wiping her face with her hand towel. “It’s ok Mrs Brown, I like to stay close to her this way I can also monitor her condition. Being her nurse you know it better than anyone how her Alzheimer’s is progressing. I just like to keep an eye on her.” Aleyna said while stroking her Nana’s hair which once used to be the same colour as hers. She gave her a quick kiss on the forehead saying goodbye to Mrs.Brown and ran down to the kitchen. As always, her mom had already made her breakfast which was her routine since she was a kid. She grabbed the Turkey sandwich and headed out the door where Defne was waiting for her in the car. Defne was her best friend and fortunately for them, they both worked in the same Telecom Company, QuickLink Telco and also in the same Human Resource department. ”Good morning Ley, you look sharp today. All set for the meeting?” “Oh yes, as ready as I could be.”  They reached the huge office building rushing to catch the elevator to fifth floor. The two friends stepped out and figured that everyone was already in the conference room. They entered the room soundlessly where Mr.Mark Harris, the CEO was explaining to everyone regarding the new project their firm had contracted. “Rapid Tech wants us to help set up their new HR department, as we all know they are diversifying their business from an IT Company to a Telecom Company. Being the best in the business, they have asked for our help. We’ll be making two groups, one headed by Aleyna and the other by Karen. Whoever makes the best presentation gets to head the project.” Mr.Harris said matter of factly. “I hear this is an international project.” Karen chipped in. “Wait, did I forget to mention, the winner gets to travel to Dubai and work with Rapid Tech’s new venture. First hand experience folks!!” Mr.Harris announced excitedly “Omg omg, did u hear that Ley? We can be travelling all the way to the other side of the globe. Warm weather, beautiful sparkling beaches, tanned boys.” Defne winked, her excitement obvious. “Umm remember, you’re already engaged.” Aleyna said as they walked outside of the conference room together. “Yeah and I totally love Adam but doesn’t hurt to have some fun.”  Aleyna couldn’t help but smile at her friend’s excitement. Of course the thought of travelling across the globe was definitely alluring. “And by the way, I have started having the same nightmares again.”Aleyna told her friend as she entered her office. Defne looked at Aleyna concern showing in her eyes, “have you told your mom about this?” “Nope, not yet. Don’t want to worry her, her job is already tough. With dad gone the sole responsibility of running the clinic is on her so for time being I’m going to manage this myself. I plan to visit David today during lunch hour.” “Oh babe” and both hugged. Aleyna reached David’s clinic who was her childhood friend plus her psychiatrist. As she waited outside she kept looking at the fishes in the aquarium and couldn’t help but wonder if they also felt helpless in there like she felt in her dreams. When a patient left David’s room Aleyna went in, “Hey David, busy minting money?” “Leyyy, not as much as I will now.” He shot back winking and they both laughed. “how have you been? You haven’t showed up since the past seven months.” He asked while giving her a warm hug. “Yeah, you know how work is. It never seizes, I hardly get any break and besides I think keeping myself busy is the best thing for me.” “I hope you’re here just for a random chitchat?” “Well, actually I have started having the nightmares again.” “Have you stopped taking your relaxants?” David enquired “I might have” Aleyna replied sheepishly. “Since how long you haven’t been taking your medications?” “Three months and I was doing just fine till this week.” “Ley, you got to understand this you just cant stop your medications so abruptly. You tend to face withdrawal symptoms which I believe you are.” “I am tired of using these unnatural methods to solve my problems”,Aleyna confessed to David with whom she always felt comfortable talking. “Were the nightmares the same?” David asked concerned. “Yeah, pretty much except…” “Except what?”, “Except I wasn’t screaming” she answered faking a smile. How was she supposed to explain to him that her nightmares were different this time? “Well, I am going to prescribe you some new medicine you certainly can’t keep up like this” David got up from behind his oak desk and sat on the couch opposite Aleyna holding her hand he said, “and Ley, you do know I’m not just your doctor but also your friend. You can confide in me, you don’t have to go through this alone.” Back in office, Aleyna took charge of her responsibilities and tried staying focus to her job. She was given a huge responsibility and she certainly didn’t wanted to mess it up. She was a team lead and her managers certainly depended on her for this project. For the next four hours, she was completely engrossed jotting down ideas of her team mates and chipping in hers. When finally Defne asked her to end the session did she realize what time it was. Everyone thought they had had a good start considering it was their first day. She was packing her stuff when Karen, her competitor for this project walked up to her. “Looks like you guys came up with some good ideas.” “Well, we tried to get to something but you know this is just a start.” “All the best to you sweetheart, you do know you’ll have to think out of the box to beat me.” Karen replied confidently, flipping her jet black shoulder length hair to one side and striding off towards the lift. The sound of her heels could be heard from a distant. Aleyna was good natured and kind but she was definitely not naïve enough to spill the beans. Karen was pretty good with her job and knew her work well. She was famous for being fierce and didn’t care who came in her way, she was used to winning and Aleyna knew that well. “What was that all about”? Defne enquired. “Oh nothing, just Karen being you know, Karen.” “Yeah, I know what you mean. She sure is a tough fight and a sore loser. Anyways, we are not going home.” “Then where are we going?” Aleyna certainly not liking her best friend’s intentions. “We are going to my place where we will dress up sexily for the dinner Adam has so graciously invited us to.” Aleyna groaned as she felt dead tired and not at all in the mood to dress up forget looking sexy. “I know that look Aleyna Morris but theres no way you’re getting out of this one.” There were only three people in the world who would call her by her full name, her mom, Defne and her dad who was not there anymore. Aleyna complied knowing theres no use trying to get her way while Defne had her mind set to it. So the two girls set out to getting ready for the dinner. Both the girls had shared each other’s stuff since they were roommates back in college in Philadelphia.  Defne took out a beautiful black turtleneck for Aleyna with a shimmery silver mini skirt. She wore black Gucci tights, black high heels leaving her long hair open. The skirt matching her eyes she was a vision of beauty. Defne looked equally pretty in a bottle green top and black shimmery skirt with knee length high boots, the two girls were all set to go. Adam was waiting for them at Butcher and Singer whose steaks all three of them loved. They were seated by the window where they could see the snow lining the streets beautifully. Adam was a successful businessman who had inherited his father’s business and made it thriving. He loved Defne dearly and Aleyna was the happiest for them. Their constant struggle to set up a date for Aleyna used to put her off and today was no different. A friend of Adam’s had also joined their table introducing himself as Justin. “So Justin, you’ve recently moved to Pennsylvania?”,Defne asked starting the conversation. “Yes, I moved here a couple of days back and kinda like this. Thank you so much for inviting me here, haven’t had the time to discover new restaurants.” “So which is your favourite steak here?” Justin asked turning towards Aleyna “Umm I’m really into Barbeque so I always order that one.” “I will take that too as you’re vouching for it.” Aleyna smiled and excused herself to use the restroom. She really appreciated their efforts but wasn’t yet ready to date anyone. She almost reached the restroom when someone bumped into her. “I’m so sorry, lemme pick this up for you”. The stranger bent down to pick up her clutch. When he handed it back to Aleyna, she found herself staring at a pair of deep blue eyes with jet black hair, broad shoulders and a tanned complexion. The guy looked like a model. “I’m so sorry for bumping into you like this I was actually in a hurry.” “It’s ok, nothings broken anyway”, She replied with a smile and walked towards the restroom. While having dinner, Aleyna continuously had the eerie feeling of being watched. She craned her neck to see if she could find anyone familiar but didn’t. Maybe my mind is overthinking due to lack of sleep, she thought to herself. She and Justin continued to have small talks and frankly she felt sorry for him for being setup with a boring person like her. When the dinner ended, the four friends headed towards their cars. “I can give you a ride home if that’s ok with you Aleyna”, Justin asked. “Of course its ok with her, why wouldn’t it be? Right Aleyna” Defne chipped in excitedly , while patting Aleyna on the shoulder “Go Go, its so cold outside and we’re definitely getting my coffee from Dunkin’s tomorrow morning.” Aleyna had no choice so she sat in the car with Justin while someone was watching the whole scene hiding in the dark corner of the restaurant. After a couple of minutes’ driving back home, Aleyna turned towards Justin, “I’m sorry if I seemed rude or uninterested to you. You do know what they both are trying to do?”” “haha yeah, I do and trust me I don’t think any of those things for you coz I know you’re anything but that. So you don’t like being set up on a blind date right, me neither. When Adam told me he wanted me to meet someone I wasn’t too thrilled but I couldn’t say no to him either. H'es been a great help to me throughout the start of my business. Although, I’m amazed you even need to be set up.” “Well, it’s a long story but to cut it short I was dumped after we had gotten engaged.” “Ouch” “Yeah, you can say that again and the worst part is that because of him I have trust issues.” “Aleyna, I think he was a real ass hole to have left a beautiful girl like you and I’m saying that as a friend. You do know It’s not worth wasting your life over a jerk. The New Year is around the corner and there are lots of guys out there waiting for an amazing girl like you, you need to give them a chance.” “Thanks for the pep talk and the confidence boost, you sound like Defne.” “Hey no problem, its one of my many talents”. Justin winked “Oh, self assured are we?” Aleyna laughed. “Well I’m glad I made a friend like you in Philly, Aleyna.” Justin said as he stopped in front of her house extending his hand towards her, “Me too and I hope we meet again on a lighter note and a tensionless atmosphere.” She said goodbye and unlocked her front door and went inside. There were no cars on the road except a black Range Rover which was stationed in the dark right outside her house, engine running and windows tinted.