Flawed Hearts

Chapter XXIII: New Beginnings

"Look over here," Alev pointed to the front page of the magazine she was holding. "They made it to the front page."

"Wonderful," Lale squealed, reaching out for the magazine.

"They look perfect together," Alev complimented. "He's got himself a keeper, let's see how he gets out of this."

"See who gets out of what?" Afet questioned, walking into the living room.

"Aslan," Alev replied nonchalantly, flipping through the pages.

"Look over here Lale," she pointed to another page. "They were tagged as the most outstanding couple of the night."

"Of course," Lale batted her lashes. "My brother and sister in law are the definition of a match made in heaven."

"You wish," Afet sneered, balling her fists tightly.

Lale bit her lip in an attempt to conceal her laughter while Alev shook her head trying to hide hers too, thereby infuriating Afet further. Afet huffed then trotted out of the living room shaking with hatred and anger.

{••}

"Trouble in paradise?" Afet mocked, witnessing Najmah being ignored by Aslan.

"Doesn't concern you," Najmah responded calmly, taking a sip from her mug.

"Oh but it does," Afet remarked, sitting on the barstool next to Najmah. "You see what you have now is supposed to be mine."

"Aslan, this wealth you're enjoying, being doted on by members of this family, all that belonged to me. I had this perfect future laid out in front of me but you," she laughed humorlessly pointing at Najmah. "You took it all away and I am now left with nothing."

Najmah set her mug on the counter then made to stand up but was refrained by Afet who placed a hand on her shoulder and forced her back on the stool.

"Don't ever try to touch me again," Najmah threatened, pushing Afet's hand away. "I don't wanna listen to your pitiful life story. If I took anything from you then it wasn't yours to begin with."

"Why are you so selfish Najmah? Why do you still insist on this marriage? You do not love him and he clearly does not love you so why stay? Is it because of the money? Are you staying with him because of the money? If that is the case, then I can assure you that I will give you anything you want in the world, no matter how much. Just give back Aslan to me."

Najmah balled her fists, biting her lip,her anger rising an octave higher. If she were to turn around, she knew that she would strangle her but she didn't want blood on her hands especially Afet's. She uncurled her fists and walked away without uttering another word to her.

{••}

The loud crashing sounds coming from Aslan's room had everyone rushing up the stairs, wondering what could have caused such a ruckus. Aslan was quick to get to his room, having a slight idea about what might have happened. He locked the door behind him, restricting the others from witnessing Najmah's state.

He found her tucked away in a corner, staring absentmindedly into space. He assessed the situation in the room before walking towards her, ignoring the heavy knocks and voices coming from the other side of the door.

He crouched down to her level and placed a hand on her knee. She recoiled from his touch and moved back into the corner, staring at the mess she made with a blank expression.

He withdrew his hand but reached out again, raising her cheek so she could look at him.

"Najmah," he uttered, his tone low and sympathetic.

She closed her eyes and released a shaky breath, opened them again and stared at him unblinkingly, raising a shaky hand to cup his cheek smiling bitterly. She retracted her hand and curled it to her side before rising up to her feet, trying to put as much space as possible between them.

He rose up too, wrapping a hand around her waist to restrict her movement. As she fought against his hold, his grip became tighter until she lost the will to fight. His features softened as his hold loosened a bit, enough to let her move but not completely letting go.

A tear rolled down her cheeks as she fought an internal battle with her desires; the desire to run back to her family, desire to hide away in her room, desire to be close yet far away from him, desire to be okay and free from her disorder.

"Can we stop fighting?" she murmured against his chest, wrapping her arms around him.

"I'm sorry," he muttered, placing a soft kiss on her forehead. "I shouldn't have said what I said, I had no right."

"I shouldn't have pushed you away. These few days, it was depressing without you," she mumbled, holding him tightly. "I'm so scared Aslan. I don't wanna lose you."

"I'm here, I'm not going anywhere. I got you," Aslan whispered, drawing small circles around her back.

She lifted up her head and stared into his black orbs, getting completely lost in them.

He used his thumb and wiped away her tears, cupping her chin in his hands."I don't know what this is, but I'm willing to try if you give us a chance."

'This isn't right,' her mind told her 'He isn't right for you. You ain't right for him either.'

"I don't wanna get hurt," she muttered weakly as her walls began to crumble down.

"You won't," he replied, brushing his lips against hers as he wiped away her tears. He rubbed his nose against hers in an Eskimo kiss as she sighed into his warmth.

She nodded weakly and he took it as a go before crushing his lips against hers. She wrapped her arms around his neck as he deepened the kiss, setting her down on the windowsill as she wrapped her legs around his waist. They both came up for air with a sudden joy in their hearts.

"We will get through this together okay?" he placed his forehead on hers, closing his eyes.

"Mm-hmm," she nodded.

"Here's to a new beginning," he murmured against her lips, his face breaking into a smile.

"To a new beginning," she replied, laying her head on his chest.

Their small intimate moment was interrupted by the consistent knocking on the door and Najmah disentangled herself from him,using the sleeve of her shirt to wipe away her tears. She took in the messy state of the room, her eyes meeting his in panic. He nodded at her reassuringly before motioning for her to get into the bathroom.

She stared at the door unsurely as the pounding increased. He nodded again then walked towards the door as she went into the bathroom.

"The chandelier crashed," he answered their unasked question as he opened the door. "And Najmah's alright, just a little bit shaken up. Must have been a loose nut or something, I'll have someone come and take a look."

"Oh poor thing," Ferah uttered, walking into the room with Lale and Alev in tow.

Najmah had just walked out of the bathroom wiping her face with a towel when Ferah wrapped her arms around her, patting her back lightly.

″The crash must have scared you, I have no idea what could have caused it. You're not hurt,are you?″ Ferah questioned, inspecting Najmah′s body for any sign of injury.

″No,I′m fine. I was in the balcony when it happened,″ she lied swiftly, feeling guilty for taking advantage of the woman's kindness. She caught Aslan′s gaze and he winked at her before walking out of the room, to get someone to clean up the mess.

″I can see that it's not our company she needs,″ Alev remarked, wiggling her eyebrows at Najmah. ″Aslan should come and comfort her.″

″Alev!″ Ferah swatted at her playfully.

″What?″ she questioned innocently. ″ You should have seen the way they were looking at each other.″

Ferah shook her head as Lale giggled, placing her head on Najmah′s shoulder. ″Come on, let′s go to my room. You can rest there before your room gets cleaned up.″

{••}

"Come on pretty time for bed," Najmah patted Hilal's bed.

Hilal pouted, crossing her arms over her chest as she stared at Najmah. She wasn't ready to sleep, she didn't want Najmah to leave her alone.

"I'll take you out tomorrow okay? We'll get lots and lots of chocolates too."

She quirked her eyebrow up, cautiously moving towards Najmah. "Pinky promise?" she questioned timidly, pursing her lips.

Najmah nodded, curled her pinky around Hilal's with a smile then kissed her on the forehead. She tucked her in then switched off the lights, making the room go dark except for the neon lights casted by the glow in the dark stars on the wall of her bed.

Hilal did her night du'a as per Najmah's request then closed her eyes. Satisfied, Najmah trotted out of the room and went back to their room.

She opened the door a little then peeped in, praying that Aslan wasn't in the room and to her luck, the room was empty. She smiled then opened the door a little wider and tiptoed in just in case she had missed him.

***

She set the hair dryer back into its case and began to rummage through her bag looking for a headband. Aslan's cologne hit her nostril and she froze, unable to continue with her search. She wiped her sweaty hands on her robe as her heart began to beat faster. Swallowing a lump in her throat, she turned around to face him while tucking a strand of hair behind her ear then faced him, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.

"You aren't gonna ask me what happened earlier?" Najmah queried, eyeing him suspiciously.

He shook his head patting the space next to him, motioning for her to sit. "I am partly responsible for what happened today."

She nodded, walking towards the bed. Before she could sit, Aslan jerked her towards him, making her fall onto his lap.

"Aslan!" she shrieked glaring at him. 

″I love your hair,″ he said instead, twirling a strand with his finger as he kissed the corner of her lips.

″You do?″ she questioned, her brows snapping together.

He nodded, using a finger to smoothen the crease on her forehead. "Although I would prefer you stop attacking my chandeliers," he teased, poking her side a little. "They cost a fortune."

"Remind me to attack your closet next time," she replied making herself comfortable so her head was resting on his lap and her body on the bed.

"Then prepare to pay for the mess you shall create," he responded, playing with a lock of her hair.

"Oh we'll see about that," she replied closing her eyes, enjoying the smooth caresses in her hair. Silence descended upon them though it was a comfortable one. The soothing feeling of his hand in her hair was making her sleepy until his voice broke the spell.

"Your accent sounds American," he stated with a hint of curiosity.

"Mm-hmm," she nodded lazily. "Years and years of listening and watching the same thing. Nightie night," she mumbled, curling into his body more.

"Sleep well," he chuckled gazing at her face. Once he was sure that she was indeed asleep, he gently stood up from the bed and drew the covers over her then went to his closet to get ready for bed.

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