Chapter Twenty Six – Isolated

At once she agreed with what her mom said. She would marry Layaan, a little more pleased than before since now he is a bit tolerable with his charming character towards her. Alaya agreed that she would still be seeking the life of ‘freedom’ that she dreamt of though she was married to a guy like Layaan. Positive vibes filled her heart as she thought of how perfectly everything has fallen into place in her life. Little had she known, that this was just the calm before the storm.

**3 weeks later**

Alaya wore a long and glittery dark blue dress and a black shawl as she walked into the court alongside her father with her other family members following behind her. Layaan wore a black suit with a tie of same colour as he looked at Alaya walk into the courtroom. Alaya smiled as her eyes met with Layaan’s.

It was nothing like how Alaya imagined her wedding to be. Ever since she was little, she thought she wouldn’t be able to look at her husband in the eyes on the first day of her wedding. She thought she would be too taken away by even the idea of spending the rest of her life with a man that she wouldn’t be able to stop blushing. She thought she’d feel sick with all the butterflies in her stomach.

But there she was, walking straight towards her husband-to-be, with no hesitation whatsoever. Why? Alaya asked herself as she sat down on the chair next to Layaan. Was it because she didn’t like Layaan? What was he lacking? He didn’t lack anything. For some reason, the spoilt brat version of Layaan has turned into one charismatic man.

Alaya still remembers the night where she was left alone on the road by a driver. She was walking alone on a highway when a bunch of burglars tried to snatch away her handbag.

“Let go off my hand! RIGHT NOW!!!” she tried to use the voice and words of someone who made stand in that position that night. But that did little to help. The men kept trying to take a hold of her hands. Just then, Layaan made his dramatic appearance and threw a punch at the man who held her hand. When the man left her hand with a twist, she ended up falling to the ground with her right hand underneath her. She moaned with pain that emerged in her hand but wasn’t able to move either.

“Never think of coming back to her ever again!” after a few minutes of fighting, Alaya heard Layaan saying. The fact that those burglars ran away right after those words took Alaya by surprise. Was Layaan really that good of a fighter that he could scare away those huge men? She found it hard to believe. But before she could think about it, Layaan came near her and bent down.

“Are you hurt? Can you get up?” Layaan said, in a voice full of concern. Alaya tried to get up but couldn’t because of the pain in her right arm. Layaan looked at her failure at her attempts and once again to her surprise, picked her up in his arms. Alaya looked into Layaan’s eyes as he did. She wasn’t sure whether it was for real or it was because she watched too many movies. But she saw a genuine concern in those eyes for her. Her heart beat differently as Layaan walked with her in his hands. She kept looking at him though he looked away. She was too busy staring at him to even notice that her head was bleeding. She passed out after a few seconds because of that.

When she woke up on the hospital bed, the first face she saw was also Layaan’s.

“How are you?” he’d asked with a charming smile.

“Wh…what happened? Those…burglars last night. You’d saved me…” Alaya said, recollecting everything. Layaan nodded, with the same smile.

“But before that I was in your car. The driver said that he will take me to you. But he left me in the middle of….” Layaan put his hand on her lips before she could complete.

“I know. I know all of it. That driver was planning to run away even from the beginning. I came to save you as soon as I heard his plan from some of the other housekeepers. I’m really sorry to have you in trouble like that. Will do anything to fix it.” Layaan said sadly. Alaya quietly thought about it and trusted those words more easily than she thought. What was up with her?

She’d figured out soon. She was in utter need of someone who loved her and cared about her. And Layaan did exactly that for her from that night. She’d brought her favourite soup and favourite ice-cream for dinner that night. He’d talk to her for a long time that night. Alaya was comfortable with the conversation since it had nothing to do with their marriage. Layaan mostly shared and reminded Alaya of their school days and they both laughed. Alaya looked at Layaan dreamily as she thought of giving him a chance. She was all out of love anyway. Remembering how Raphael addressed her the last time they had a conversation, and seeing Layaan’s changed behavior made Alaya incline towards that thought. Though having the thought that Raphael hated her still hurt her in the very depth of her heart. She’d see dreams about Raphael saying those same words to her. But he’d always have tears in his eyes when he did. Alaya wondered whether those dreams meant that Raphael still loved her.

“I accept.” Alaya came out of her thoughts as she heard Layaan saying. Alaya closed her eyes as she felt uneasiness in her heart. What was it about? Was it the thought that Raphael still had feelings for her? But how could that be? How could she come to believe that when he had left her in the middle of the street with no guardian? How Raphael have talked to her so harshly if he loved her? How would Raphael have ignored her all the time she was at her house? And for heaven’s sake he is married. That is quite telling of the fact that he had moved on.

Even with all the evidence, Alaya still felt like something was going wrong, as she thought she was getting completely bound to another man other than Raphael. But Alaya took a deep breath, brushed those thoughts away and opened her eyes.

A few minutes later, Alaya was walking down the stairs of the court with her hand in Layaan’s arm. Layaan’s father and Alaya’s family followed behind them.

“So we will be leaving now Layaan….and Alaya.” Mahmood said after getting off the stairs and looking at the young couple. He put his hand on Alaya’s head lovingly. Alaya smiled at her father and hugged her other family members before she lost their sight as they got in the taxi that was going to take them to the airport. Thanks to the money Layaan’s father had, her family was flown to Boston all the way from New York just for her wedding.

“Shall we go?” Layaan asked Alaya, after even his father had left. Alaya nodded with a smile. Again, she walked with Layaan with no nervousness or hesitation that it kind of scared her. Nonetheless she began to walk towards Layaan’s Mercedes along with him. But before they could reach the car, Alaya saw one of her friends from high school.

“Alaya!” Lucy had screeched. She was wearing casual clothing along with some files she carried.

“Lucy! Long time no see….what’s up?” Alaya asked, momentarily forgetting about Layaan.

“Well I’m working on a case for my assignment. I’ve decided to stick in this field. How about you?” Lucy asked. Alaya’s smile faded as she thought about it. She’d gone into a crash course in law while she was in high school. Her friend right there was so interested in law that she dropped out of high school to get into law school. It happens to be that she did get the application though she dropped out. Alaya should have done the same. She loved law too. But the thought of being hated by people made her hesitant. That too was one of the things she couldn’t take a chance on.

“I…have not decided my field yet. Not law though…” Alaya said.

“What are you doing here then? Getting married or something?” Lucy asked.

“Well…yeah.” Alaya laughed unwillingly and Layaan showed a smile too.

“Congratulations! I really gotta get going. See you later Alaya!” Lucy said, as she headed for the stairs. Alaya said bye as she did. Once again, Alaya began to walk with Layaan, envying Lucy to a higher extent that she thought she would.

Unlike Alaya expected, they had a quiet ride. This time, even Layaan wasn’t initiating a conversation. It was odd for Alaya to see the change in his behavior again. She thought that her ‘charming prince’ would talk to her about her thoughts on career. What was up with him? Was he having the nervousness that she was supposed to have? Who knows?

Alaya didn’t ask where Layaan was headed because she was close to sure that he will take her to one of his ‘mansions’. But to her surprise, after an hour and a half, Alaya found the car going into the country side. She started seeing more and more greenery from outside the window. She stifled the need to ask but ended up asking a few minutes after they got into that area.

“Where are we going?” Alaya asked. Just then, Layaan parked his car into a small wooden house typical to that area. Layaan turned to her without turning off the engine.

“Alaya, I’m sorry that I did not tell you this before. I have some business to attend to. Its going to take me about 3 months starting from today. Have to stay away from you in that period since it would take a lot of travelling….that house you see is the first house my father lived in. I thought you could stay here until I came back. You’d even get more time to think about your career don’t you think?” Layaan asked. Alaya felt a heaviness in her heart as she heard that. Was she being left alone? AGAIN?

“Its ok….you could go. I can live on my own.” she ended up saying though she was disheartened. Layaan smiled and held her face lovingly for a few seconds. Then just told her to go. Alaya was taken aback by those words. She thought Layaan would help her take her luggage and to get into that house. But to her horror, Layaan left her after a housekeeper who came from that house took her luggage. It was that lady who kindly told her to get in as well.

Alaya got into the house and took a good look around. It was higher and bigger than Alaya thought it would be. It had up to date furniture and fireplace as well. The living room was almost as big as it will be in a mansion. As Alaya walked inside looking all around her, she heard coughing of an old man from one of the rooms she passed. For some reason, that voice sounded familiar to her. She went near that door out of curiosity. When she opened it, her eyes grew wide.