The Daughter In the Corner

Send Me Home

Amara was deeply engrossed in her task, ignoring her vibrating cell phone. It wasn’t until someone tapped her shoulder that she looked away from her screen.

“Hi, Amara.”

Amara looked up and saw her father’s secretary staring down at her.

“Yes?”

“Come with me, please.”

“Okay…” Amara stood up nervously. Her father had promised not to expose their relationship.

Her coworkers glanced her way and started to whisper. Amara lowered her head and trudged after the man like a prisoner being led to the gallows.

When they arrived at Dustin’s office the secretary pulled the door open and gestured inside.

“Here you go, Miss.”

Amara nodded in thanks and walked in with bated breath. Looking around, she confirmed that she was alone before she addressed her father.

“Hi, Dad. Is something wrong?”

Dustin was leaning heavily against the window and only turned when she spoke. Amara noticed the deeply creased lines on his forehead as if the frown had imprinted into his features.

“Wh— what’s wrong?”

Dustin stared at her for a second before his mouth opened. “Amara, honey. Sit down, please.” He gestured to the large leather sofa.

Amara frowned but did as she was told. “Dad, you are scaring me. What is going on?”

Dustin cleared his throat. He was desperate to get to the bottom of things, but he had to tread carefully because of Amara’s feelings. He berated himself for not asking Amara about it sooner. He had meant to check in on her the morning after, but he had a meeting, and then Jenny’s hospitalization had him all wound up and he subsequently forgot about his quiet daughter.

“Honey. I meant to ask you about Saturday. You left dinner and locked yourself in your room. I’m sorry it took so long to get back to you. Are you okay?”

Amara nodded. “Yeah. I’m fine now. Thanks, Dad.”

Dustin nodded and cleared his throat again. “Can you tell me what happened?”

Amara froze. “I rather not talk about it…”

Dustin moved to sit next to her. Taking her hands in his own, he looked into her eyes. “This is important. Please tell me what happened.”

Amara looked down but held her silence.

“Please, Amara.”

“Dad, it’s not that important. Can we just let it go?”

Dustin was agitated but he didn’t let it show.

‘Why is Amara so damn stubborn!?’

“Look Amara, I need to know what happened that night. Was Derrick involved in any way?”

Amara frowned at the mention of Derrick. “What?”

“Derrick! Was he involved with your sister?”

Amara’s eyes drew to slits as she pulled her hands out of Dustin’s grasp. “It’s always all about Jenny with you! You don’t care about me at all!”

Dustin let out an exasperated breath. “Honey, please! It’s not about that. Something came up and I need to figure out what happened.”

Amara stood up and roared. “FINE! I’LL TELL YOU WHAT HAPPENED! THAT SHAMELESS HUSSY THAT YOU LOVE SO MUCH WAS DROOLING LIKE A w***e AS DERRICK LICKED HER BOOBS!”

Dustin’s eyes grew wide as he watched his daughter fuming, red-faced and fists clenched. He stood up to his full height and towered over his daughter.

“You DO NOT speak of your sister that way, do you understand!?”

Amara sneered at her dad. “Why? Are you going to slap me too!?”

Dustin scowled. “I don’t want to, but you are pushing the limits.”

Amara scoffed. “Yeah, I know you only love Jenny! So go to your precious daughter and stop bothering me at work!”

She whirled on her heels and stormed out of the office making sure to slam the door behind her.

Dustin felt exhausted. Collapsing on the sofa he took a moment to collect his thoughts. He would need to ask Amanda to check on their daughter. Amara had clearly taken all this the wrong way. But first things first, he needed to tell Chris what was going on. From what Amara said, Jenny may be in love with Derrick and tried to call off her engagement with Nathan. If so, Nathan essentially kidnapped her under everyone’s noses.

With another sigh, he rubbed his face with both hands trying to get the disgusting image Amara painted out of his head. Derrick, that f*****g little twerp, touched his beloved daughter in HIS house! He picked up the phone to tell Chris.

***

“Please, Mistress, have a bite.”

Two maids shuffled around the bed as they tried to engage Jenny in conversation. Jenny clamped her mouth shut and closed her eyes refusing to speak or eat.

“I’ll take it from here.” Nathan’s gentle voice came from behind.

The maids bowed to their master and scurried out of the room leaving the bowl of warm porridge on the nightstand.

Nathan sighed as he looked at Jenny’s defiant face. He had just stepped away to handle some things for work and the moment he heard she had regained consciousness, he hurried back hoping to be greeted by her smile.

“Habibti, how are you feeling?”

“Why are we married?”

Nathan sighed at her cold voice. He sat down next to her and picked up the bowl of porridge.

“Here, eat some food first and then we can talk.”

“I asked you a question.”

Nathan’s face stiffened. Placing the bowl back down he took a breath to gather his wits about him.

“You were adamant to call off the engagement because you were ashamed you had betrayed me. Am I correct?”

Jenny didn’t respond, her head was still turned away from him, so Nathan continued. “I told you I don’t mind. I love you from the bottom of my heart and I know you truly regret it. I was afraid you would call off the wedding, so I took the opportunity to marry you while you were in a coma.”

Taking her limp hands into his own, he brought it up to his lips to kiss. “I’m sorry for forcing the decision on you but I truly love you. Please give us a chance to work things out.”

Jenny opened her eyes for the first time and turned to glare at Nathan as she forcefully yanked her hands out of his.

“Work things out? You did not respect my decision, Nathan. How can this marriage work when you unilaterally decide for the both of us!? Is this marriage even valid!?”

Jenny groaned and leaned into the soft pillow. Her head was throbbing as she felt blood pulse through her brain.

“Habibti, don’t strain yourself. You have a concussion, so you need to relax. Please…”

Jenny moaned softly in response.

Nathan felt heartbroken. The love of his life was suffering, but he still couldn’t touch her recklessly for fear of her wrath.

“Habib—“

“Send me home,” she whispered.

Nathan froze; unsure if he heard her right. “What did you say?”

Jenny, grimaced as she forced herself to speak again. “Send me home.”

Nathan felt a sharp pain in his chest. He stood up quickly. “Please calm down for a moment. I will be back to check on you.”

Nathan ran out of the room and kept going until he was in the gardens below. Doubling over, he clutched the front of his robe and gasped for breath.

His watery eyes wandered to the open window where his beloved was being held against her will. Every fiber of his being screamed in pain. All he ever wanted was a ‘happily ever after’ with his beautiful bride. How did everything fall apart?

He stood transfixed under her window and for the first time since he became an adult, he cried.