If Ashar is unable to forgive his life-long friend then there is no way he's going to consider my apologies who is a stranger for him. But avoiding me is not going to settle this problem. Ashar has to confront me if he want himself out of this marriage.
After washing thoroughly all the pieces of chicken I put them aside and begin preparing batter for the fried chicken. I'm preparing lunch.
"What are you cooking today?" Melanie appears beside me.
She's one of the young housekeepers who worked at the mansion. She's young, but three years older than me. Melanie is the old worker of Hobsons, but she was on a break so I didn't see her before. She came from a small town. Her parents couldn't afford to send her to college so after completing her high school she started working as a housekeeper here. Since the pay here was good, she didn't bother herself to find another job.
"Fried chicken." I reply while stirring the batter.
She watches t
There is one question, one confusion thats keeps pestering me, not leaving my brains alone, no matter how much I try to ignore it, to act chill like Samara.Am I married or not?My anxiety made me do some research about it online. I typed some keywords related to my situation and read some articles about Christian weddings and beliefs. Online source was the safe source. I didn't have to disclose to anyone what had happened to me.I found online confirmation too that Ashar and Samara's marriage is null and void. They are not married. For my own doubtful marital status, I couldn't find the exact answer, but they did support my argument. They said woman and man must be present physically while proclaiming their marriage vows. And they should say their correct, full names during all their declarations. It is the religious and legal requirement both.It brings me back to my point. From Ashar's behalf he said correct names. I didn't use any names, but
Later in evening, Melanie informs me that there is an important guest sitting in the living room with Ashar and his father. She asks me to prepare few snacks immediately. I did made some sandwiches and cookies. Melanie enters into kitchen, "Sanaya, you're the best. I'm so exhausted with all the work. Thank you for being here." I smile and hand over the tray, filled with snacks I prepared. She pushes it back to me, "You go and put that in the living room. I'll come with their drinks." She moves towards the cold storage and takes out the cold drinks from there. "No." I blurt out, "I can't do this." "Why? Please help me or Matt will go crazy." "But-" She huffs and scurries to me. "Go, Sanaya. You're wasting time." She shoves me forward and yells, "I'll be following you." Ugh. Matt and Ashar both will go mad if they see me there. I can't tell Melanie about this. I already had a fretful encounter with Ashar today and it's enough for
Head down, phone in my hands. I'm looking through unread text messages in my inbox. There are some unnecessary texts from the places where I had left my resume. I delete them. I also have few missed calls from Ryan, Carol and foster home. I leave all of them a quick text that I'm kinda busy with my job so I can't contact them. Afterwards I return my phone to Aaron. The ringing of the kitchen's intercom catches my attention. I look around and wait for someone to answer it. Few minutes pass, but no one comes and it doesn't stop ringing. So I just shrug my shoulders, go over and pick it up, "Yes?" "Where were you, Melanie?" Ashar hollers, makes me move the receiver slightly away from my ear, "I've been trying the intercom since few minutes. Just what you all are doing? Playing around?" "But, I'm not-" "Bring coffee with my migraine medicine in the study." "Liste-" He doesn't let me finish and hangs up the intercom. What
Next morning, after preparing breakfast for the family, I lay on my bed thinking about my yesterday's encounter with Ashar. My reaction definitely surprised him. But he should think before speaking. His words were hurtful and unforgiving. In future, if he'll do anything like yesterday, I'm not going to swallow it without returning the contempt to him."Look at those pictures." Melanie comes to me and brings her phone in front of my face. My eyes widen. It's a picture of the wedding day when I was standing outside the Church with Samara's father. I freeze, she continues showing all other pictures and most of them are mine."Don't they look good together? I really wonder why Samara hid her face." She asks to herself. My mouth goes dry as again whole wedding event spirals through my brain. That day was the most unfortunate day of my life.Thankfully, my face was not visible in any of the images Melanie showss that means no one can recognize me.I sit up on m
I and Melanie are in our room after nightfall. Melanie is ironing some of her clothes while I'm folding up mine and putting them back in my small wardrobe.I think I'm in need of good clothes because all of my clothes now look frayed, even the colors are fading. I'm planning to ask Matt's permission to go for shopping or else soon I'll have nothing good to wear."What's your plan for the weekend?" Melanie inquires."No plans." I reply while putting the pile of my clothes inside the wardrobe.She stops ironing and gives me a disbelieving look, "Seriously Sanaya, I've been observing you. You seem weird. I've never seen you going out of this mansion. Are you introvert or what?"I hate lying to her when she is so nice, so helpful to me. Rubbing my temple, I sit on my bed, "I don't have many friends and few of them already left for college to different cities, so I don't talk to them much."She turns off the iron, drags a wooden chair and sits in
Later at night, after Melanie asleep, I get up from my bed. I stayed in bed to wait for sleep, but it didn't come. This is happening to me since I've shifted to this house. My stress keeps me restless all night. Straightening my pull over, long-sleeved, V-neckline, orange pink sweater, I move a brush in my long hair to remove the tangles. Casting a quick glance at the wall clock, I grab a bag of salted, potato chips and wander to the swimming pool lounge. It's 1'o clock in the morning. The lounge is located at the backside of the mansion. I'm going there since three consecutive nights to get some fresh air. The calm and silent environment of that place helps me to sleep. Moreover it's the only place for me nowadays where I can see the sky and inhale fresh oxygen. I roll up my ankle-length pants and about to dip my legs into water when I suddenly hear voice. My heart skips a beat and I involuntarily stand up. All of a sudden, Ashar appears, talking on his phon
Two whole months passed, but nothing changed for me. No one from the family bothered to talk to me about the matters concerning my release. I only saw them going out and returning back to the mansion. Through Melanie, I got some updates about Ashar like he only came to this house for a day or two and then left for business trips or for some other business related stuff. She also caught Samara and Ashar arguing few times so I guess they are still the same. I didn't see Ashar after that swimming pool lounge unexpected meeting. He acted like I don't exist at all. I know nothing about my divorce. No one gave me any update regarding it. I just lived my day and night with hopeless thoughts as if this phase of my life is just never ending. But anyways, something good happened. My college started. I found a good distraction so I keep myself busy with assignments and college works. As Matt planned, Aaron takes me to college and brings me back home. I thought with time
I'm standing at some distance from the front entrance of the mansion because Ashar is going to arrive here any minute. I got that piece of information from Melanie. She said he usually visit mansion at this time for about an hour. I'm going to catch him today and ask him to help me in my college work. I have tried all my ways, used all my contacts to find a business owner who can be ready for a short interview with me, but so far I'm failed in my attempts. Big proprietors are not ready for meeting on such a short notice and since I'm running out of time, I have to put aside my pride and think on Melanie's suggestion. I hate to confront Ashar for his help and give him a chance to insult me. The submission is now just a week away. My anxiety and pessimistic thoughts force me not to waste any more time and at least try my best although I know he'll never agree to help me. I get a hold on myself when I see Ashar enters into the house. Instantly, I scu