FARAH

Chapter 1 - Glance

~F A R A H~

~"Farah look at me baby"

I hear my mama's voice but my eyes are extremely focused on the light of the burning village, I hear screaming and pleading it's all havoc.

The dark smoke envelopes the entire village as I watch houses burning to the ground.

Childrens' cries for help, the heat is too much for me to endure. My left back shoulder feels as if it is on fire, and the agony is unbearable for a child like me.

My eyes are welled up and glossy from tears, my heart won't stop beating rapidly, I'm scared to death. Not having my papa beside me for comfort in a horrific time is making it worse than it already is.

"Farah listen to me" mama turns me around, coughing. "I-i'm going to get your papa, okay? Stay here and don't go anywhere." Her soothing hand comes over my sticky cheeks, consoling me but the pain in my shoulder and my entire is to no avail.

"NO MAMA NO, DON'T GO"~

"MAMA COME BACK" I scream and sit straight on the bed with sweat dripping down my forehead and all over my body. it was just a nightmare.

Gasping heavily I wipe my forehead with my palm, and it feels as if my breath is stuck within my throat and I cannot breathe properly, so I immediately get out of the bed and run to the bathroom.

Turning on the tap, I take a handful of water and splash it on my face.

After few minutes my breathing and heartbeats begin to return to their proper pace, but my body and mind remain troubled from the earlier incident.

I close my eyes and take deep breaths, struggling to gather myself up.

I open them back and look at myself in the mirror; my jet black hair is tangled, my nightgown and cheeks are soaking in sweat.

It isn't something that is new to me. These nightmares are just the same as an uninvited guest.

Ignoring the fact that these things are badly affecting my mental health I sit on the floor, bringing my knees close to my chest and resting my head against the wall.

"I w-will always be t-there for you" I try to sing between low hiccups and hoarse voice to calm my body. Usually, it works just fine for me.

I feel my eyes filling with tears, but I instantly wipe them off before they could make their way down on my cheeks.

'I can not cry anymore, I'm not weak, I'm strong' these are the words I've been saying to myself for the last fourteen years.

Whenever I try to forget everything and start a new life, the scar on my back, mercilessly drags me back into misery, leaving me with nothing but fragility, pain, despair, and sorrow.

I begin to think of a distraction and when I get a hold of it, I stand up from the floor and walk out of the bedroom towards the kitchen.

There is only one thing that can lighten my mood and that's food!

After eating like a pig, I get up before I can finish the whole jar of the cookies, and go back to the room to get some sleep.

×××

Waking up in the morning the first thing I did was taking a long shower.

After finishing I come out of the bathroom and stand naked before a full-length mirror.

I stare at my breasts and notice tiny burns on the left side, but I couldn't care less cause I already tried everything to get rid of it but anything helped, so I stopped struggling.

My gaze slowly roams all over my body, I stop as I look at the not-so-big burnt skin on my left hip. I trail my fingers on the hideous scar.

I turn a bit more and look at my left shoulder, I cringe when I see my other burns. It starts from my shoulder then is followed down by tiny burns. They are like cigarette burns, small.

After eyeing myself for I don't know how long, I finally stop and start to get ready for work.

I quickly gather up my stuff and step out of my apartment to a small yet beautiful, and aesthetic coffee shop, I've been working here for almost 3 months and I like spending most of my time here.

I walk in through the back door where our little garden is, and yes we sell flowers too. The fragrance of Jasmines and lavenders fills my nostrils in a calming way.

Wonderful little flowers are blooming beautifully under the hot sun.

I sit down near the lilacs, admiring them in full bloom. The calm and relaxing aura around the plants is a wonderful feeling for me, it's always a bit nostalgic to me.

I get up and start making my way inside, when I walk into the store, I deeply inhale the aroma of coffee and tea that is making my mouth drool.

After taking my sweater off, I begin my daily chores, such as cleaning, baking cupcakes for the showcase, and preparing bouquets.

Meanwhile, the main doorbell rings, and Kiara, the owner of the cafe and the most amazing boss enters.

I must admit that she has one of the unique beauties. She has silver-white hair that reaches her shoulders, her skin is medium in tone, and her eyes are undoubtedly one of the most unique eyes you'll ever catch sight of. I was startled when I first saw that one baby blue and the other silver eye colors.

She has a very nice figure, her breasts are pushed up and are creating a sexy cleavage, she's wearing black high waist jeans which is making her hips look wider and sexier.

"Good morning" I wish as I put my cupcakes Into the oven "Good morning Girl," she replies in her usual manner.

She puts her stuff on the chair next to me and grabs a trowel and a small pouch of seeds. "I'm going to the back," she tells me before tying her hair down into a little ponytail, I nod and she walks down the door.

I bend down to check out the cupcakes and I hear the doorbell ring and the door opens.

I don't pay attention to it and there comes a small knock on the desk, which makes me look up but I bump my head against the edge of the counter.

Ouch. I rub my head with my eyes shut, but when I open them back my whole face, especially my cheeks starts up to burn for the sight in front of me.

Here stands a crystal white-silver-haired man with glassy silver eyes which is shining like a diamond in a dark room. His hair flawlessly falling all the way to his brows, and reaching his neck from behind, his perfect haircut complements his facial structure perfectly.

He has an emotionless expression plastering his face.

My embarrassment level is now at its peak when I realize how I am shamelessly gawking at him.

"How may I help you today sir?" I try to sound professional "where is Kiara?" He blankly questions "she is in the back, do you want me to call her?" He nods as a response and takes a seat in the middle of the room.

I immediately stroll out to Kiara "hey, someone is here to meet you" I let out, earning a confused look from her "who?" She asks with a frown forming on her face "I don't know, he has silver hair and eyes" somehow my explanation makes her put down the trowel she has been holding and a strange mug appears on her face.

After her lack of response, she finally nods "do you want me to say no?" I ask but she doesn't answer and only looks down at the now buried seeds.

"Like it ever stops him from getting what he wants" she whispers to herself but I can hear it loud and clear. I have some really good ears.

I look at her and she is deep in thoughts. Is she okay?

"Kiara?" My voice pulls her out of her daze and she shakes her head "yeah, you go first, I'll be right behind you" she gives a weak smile that doesn't reach her eyes

I come behind the counter, keeping my eyes on him for a second or two. He doesn't say or do anything except for looking down and tapping his long fingers on the table in front of him.

I try to mind my business and open the window blinds that are halting the sunlight from entering the cafe.

I pull the string to the left side of the window, letting the daylight come inside. I turn a little and watch as the bright light of the sun touches the left part of his body and now I notice dark red veins peaking out of his black turtle neck t-shirt.

It covers the left side of his neck and it almost reaches up to his sharp jawline. He has two winged tattoos on both sides of the veins, it looks as if the tattoos are indicating what's in between.

I don't pay much attention to it, Although it is a pretty unusual sight. I begin to open the blinds one by one except for the one in front of him.

He slowly closes his eyes and I can't help but admire his handsome face like an absolute creepy stalker, don't blame me blame him for looking so hot.

Farah that's enough...

All of a sudden he opens his lids, his burning gaze looks straight into my eyes, not once breaking the eye contact that has my heart beating faster than regular.

I swallow the sudden lump in my throat and look elsewhere, however, it doesn't stop him from watching my every move as I walk to the counter.

He is no longer patting his fingers, instead, he has locked his sights on me, just as I was a few minutes ago.

After a good few minutes of watching me, he finally gets distracted by Kiara's hands on his shoulders.

"Look who's here to meet me" she bends down and pecks his cheeks which he quickly wipes off with a disgusted face "it was just a kiss" she pouts and rolls her eyes as she takes a seat next to him.

"They're always disgusting" his voice is low and deep, Kiara laughs at his insulting words "okay, okay now tell me what my big bad brother wanted to talk about"

So they're siblings, now the same hair color and same silver eyes make sense.

Both of them possess rare good looks for sure.

They both start talking and I go to the garden to get some daisies.

After spending some time breath in the fragrance of flowers and enjoying the nice and warm sun.

I go in and put the basket on the counter. I spare a glance at them and the man's elbows are on the table and his head is buried in his hands.

Kiara whispers something to him and he looks at her furiously "I.Don't.Care about what he thinks!" He spits each word viciously before getting up and sprinting towards the entrance, Kiara rises as well

"Stop!" She shouts at him from across the room but he doesn't budge and slams the door shut followed by a loud thud.

The whole uproar takes me by surprise but I don't question her anything because firstly, it's none of my business and secondly, she looks a bit sad. I still make her a cup of nice tea which she happily accepts.

"Don't mind him, he's just a little insane" explains Kiara nervously as she runs her middle fingers over the rim of the cup. Her actions showing she's embarrassed by the prior event.

"It's okay, you don't have to worry, Kiara" Her lips fold in a smile and her hand stops playing with the cup after my statement.

After this tiring day, I now head to my apartment.

After walking for what felt like years, I finally came to see the same broken building, with busted, scrapped walls and broken windows.

The sad part is...That's where I live.

I walk in through the wide corridor, walking through the empty lobby I look around to see if anyone is nearby.

My footsteps echo in the empty building, causing me to walk faster. I soon reach the dirty stairs and start climbing them.

My apartment is on the second floor so I don't have to deal with dirty stairs for a long time and to be honest it seems like no one has cleaned it for years.

The apartment I live in used to look the same but after weeks of cleaning it finally feels a little nicer. Much better than before I say.

I reach in front of the red door of my apartment. I insert the key in the keyhole, turning it around it clicks and the door opens.

I step inside and push the switch next to the door, the whole living room lights up. I go to the kitchen counter and put my stuff on top of it.

I place my hand on my stomach, a loud rumble comes out of it, and I press it with both of my hands.

I'm famished but I can't seem to find any leftovers or food in my fridge. Last night I only had a few cookies left but I ate them like a hungry pig.

Looks like I have to sleep on an empty stomach again tonight, Great just great!

My eyes blink at the bright sunlight coming from the large window above the bed. It has no railing and is big enough that anyone can jump off it, not that I plan on doing that crap work.

I turn my head to the left and look at the little clock sitting on the headboard. It's barely 8:00 in the morning, so I can sleep a little longer, and with that, I turn my body to the left and go back to sleep still holding the pillow I hold every night. it's just a bad habit of mine.

A loud alarm sound makes me flutter my eyes and in the process of turning around, I fall straight from the bed onto the floor on my elbow.

A little groan comes out of my mouth. I lift my upper body and try to adjust to the light. I feel lazy than ever, however, I bring myself to look at the clock, and my soul for a second leaves my body.

I almost scream at the clock, it's 9:00 a.m. and my teeth haven't been brushed yet.

I reach the back entrance of the cafe and insert the key in, opening it I enter, and without sparing a single glance at the flowers I walk inside.

Everything is messy inside. The floor is dirty, tissues, coffee stains are covering the tables and there are a bunch of unfinished bouquets atop the counter.

I only have fifteen minutes left to finish everything before the shop opens and I don't know how I'm going to do it.

While I mop the floor the front door opens and enters the same tall man from tomorrow morning.

His hands are in the pocket of his long overcoat and he's looking down at his steps, then he looks around at the mess but doesn't show any reaction.

I'm sure he'll tell Kiara how badly I'm maintaining the shop in her absence.

I put the mop aside and look up to find him near me. I have to look up to meet his eyes and he has to look down to meet mine.

He doesn't let me speak or react before he questions "where are flowers Kiara told you to prepare for the delivery"

It takes me seconds to recall what he just said, and when I get a hold of it I just want to kick something, probably myself.

Why am I so lazy, I should've done that yesterday but I thought I would calmly do it in the morning, and now how do I excuse myself from the person in front of me.

I bite the inside of my cheek and say no in a very low voice, almost not wanting him to hear but the small sigh he lets out confirms that he heard that loud and clear.

"How long will it take you to complete it?" He asks while pressing the bridge of his nose between his index finger and thumb.

"Fifteen minutes at least" I retort quickly.

I remember what flowers Kiara asked me to prepare, so I kneel before the peonies and start working.

He leans over the door and crosses his hands over her chest. I look at him from the corner of my eye and he's looking straight at I don't know what.

His sharp jawline is more defined when he's facing in a straight direction.

Out of nowhere, my stomach begins to rumble, and he swiftly turns his head towards me; I immediately look down, avoiding sudden eye contact.

I feel like he's looking at me, but I try to ignore it so as not to distract me. After a while, I hear the sound of him walking towards me and stands next to me.

"how long?" He questions, looking straight ahead "It's almost done" he hums as a response "what's your name?" he asks

"it's Farah, and... What's yours" he blinks and turns his head towards me and expressionlessly says "Prince".

Oh, Prince Charming, I imagine garbage stuff inside my thick head.

I begin to wonder why he looks so serious all the time.

Stop it.

After some time I finish. I put all the flower tubs into two large baskets and cover them with a cloth.

Perhaps they are having a party or something like that.

I guess I should help him carry the baskets for it is quite heavy to be carried alone. I pick up the baskets one by one and place them near the counter while he waits outside.

"Sir it's done" I call and he walks inside. I pick up one of the two baskets, waiting for him to pick the other but instead, he grabs the handle of the one which is in my hands.

His hand touches mine as he takes it from me and bends to my side, picking up the second one, and walks out of the shop to his car.

Nice.

I follow him outside. He opens the trunk of that car, carelessly puts it in the baskets and moves to the front seat, and leaves without saying anything.

______________________________________________

That was awkward, ntgl...

3151 words

Cover created by:- meha-k

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