Chapter 38: Chapter 38
“You’re kidding, right?” Rakia gave Dashtan a probing look of disbelief.
“That’s up to you, whether you believe me or not. I’ve told you the truth.” Dashtan finished his coffee then looked at Rakia who still seemed to be debating whether to believe.
“So what do you say? Want to come with me to the dig? I can tell Liam to make you a journalist who will cover the process.”
Rakia looked at Dashtan in surprise, what a tempting offer. When else could she be part of a team that would be covering and witnessing a historical event. Rakia could see no other answer than to accept the offer. Dashtan looked at the woman waiting, he had already set the bait just waiting for the fish to grab it.
“That will be one of the things I will never forget in my entire career. I’m willing,” Rakia broke in.
“But there are conditions.” And those words made Rakia surprised again.
“Well, then I won’t be going.”
“You’ve already agreed to it, there’s no turning back, Rakia....” Dashtan smiled slyly in her mind. Rakia resented the man’s dirty tricks but it was an offer that if she refused, would not come again a second time.
“What are the conditions?” Finally, Rakia chose to listen to the conditions.
“Let’s talk in my workspace, wait there I’ll take a shower first,” Dashtan said and walked out of the kitchen leaving a curious Rakia behind. After a few seconds, she complied with the man’s wish to wait for him in his workspace. Rakia stared at the room she entered for the second time. That time she didn’t have time to look around for longer and for this occasion, she wanted to see more of the room. At the same time, she wanted to get to know Dashtan little by little. He had to admit, the man was like an onion with many layers. The room was unchanged from the last time she was here, so she walked at a slower pace deeper into the room after closing the door. Observing the room, Rakia was attracted by a number of photos displayed on the side of the wall adjacent to the glass wall. She looked at the photos one by one and smiled. Almost all of Dashtan’s faces at various ages were there. From him wearing his school uniform when he was as tall as an elementary school child, to him wearing his toga and speaking on a podium and the photo was taken from the side. The next photo was the same, but this time he was photographed with several people wearing formal wear while Dashtan was in the middle of them wearing a university graduation gown and toga. Then she moved on to another photo, it looked older than all the photos the colors were worn out. There were many children in the photo but Rakia couldn’t tell which one was Dashtan. Her eyes roamed again and found a number of award certificates neatly displayed among the rows of photos. Rakia read with amazement all the awards. Starting with the science and technology awards, Rakia now remembered the man’s story about not having any friends because he was considered weird and too smart. She also wanted to know at what age Dashtan achieved all his achievements.
“Such a genius,” muttered Rakia whose gaze could not escape from everything she saw in front of her at the moment. She did not hear Dashtan who was standing by her side staring at what Rakia was staring at right now. A small part of his life.
“That was an award when I was an undergraduate at MIT,” Dashtan said, staring at the award plaque Rakia was staring at right now.
“At what age did you get all this?” asked Rakia then turned to look at Dashtan who looked fresher after taking a shower, the refreshing scent of the man’s body wash making Rakia’s mind a little foggy. She wanted to inhale that scent more closely.
“When I was in undergraduate college, I entered as the youngest student, I was fifteen years old.”
Rakia widened her eyes at the man.
“Really? Ow, wow....” Rakia turned back to the photos and pointed to an old photo with many children.
“Are you among these children?” she asked again. Dashtan reduced the distance between them so that their bodies were closer and Rakia was increasingly affected by the scent of the man’s body. Her concentration was suddenly broken by this conversation.
“Yes, those were my short elementary school days. I went to elementary school early and jumped to middle school in a short time, and middle school was the same. After that, my stepfather said he would enroll me in MIT right away. I didn’t mind that because I love learning and the world I’m in, I’m crazy about science and technology,” the man explained, which only made Rakia more amazed. But on the other hand she felt that he was lonely, with all the phases he went through so quickly and his genius.
“Aren’t you lonely by jumping faster into some phases of your life? I mean you were in a phase that didn’t fit your age at the time, how did people treat you?” Rakia asked as she turned towards Dashtan and she was quite surprised at how close they were. She looked up slightly to see the expression the man showed towards her question.
“That’s why I appreciate Dalilah’s presence in my life so much,” he said which wasn’t exactly the answer Rakia wanted to hear but she could more or less get the point. Dalilah was a woman who meant a lot in Dashtan’s life. The other side of her when she heard her conclusion was like being pricked by a small needle. It was quite disturbing but she could control herself.
“Are you done wondering about me, Miss Journalist?” he asked, making Rakia smile and almost laugh.
“There’s always something interesting to learn about you,” Rakia said as she folded her arms across her chest. Dashtan smiled at that.
“Come here, let’s talk about that,” Dashtan said, reminding Rakia of their purpose for coming to this room. The man walked towards his large, wide desk with all the things he needed to complete his tasks as a CEO of a well-known company on it. Rakia walked over to the sofa and sat there waiting for Dashtan to join her. The man took a seat right next to her.
“To be honest, it’s urgent so I have to say it. The condition I want is that we must be open with each other in this relationship.”
Those words made Rakia frown as she looked at Dashtan.
“But in the agreement, we are freed not to interfere in each other’s affairs unless it is urgent.” Rakia reminded one of the points in their agreement.
“It is urgent, since you will be participating in the excavation, we will automatically expose ourselves as husband and wife as well. We should make this relationship as natural as possible, let’s just say we should know each other’s partners.”
Rakia sighed harshly as she turned away from Dashtan for a moment. She closed her eyes tightly and felt a little giddy about her marital relationship with the genius.
“Ash!” Rakia turned to the man again and looked at him sadly.
“Do you want to hear my honest confession?” asked Rakia with a serious yet sincere and honest face. Dashtan looked at Rakia thoughtfully, but he finally nodded.
“Although I initially went through this with you out of interest, I honestly don’t want to deceive anyone by pretending to be your wife, including myself.”
Dashtan sighed heavily.
“I just don’t want you to get hurt because I can’t give you what you expect,” Dashtan whispered. Rakia swallowed all the bitterness she felt and tried to be strong.
“If you don’t have anything to give me during this marriage, at least be honest with yourself about what you want this relationship to be like. Even if I end up getting hurt, at least I have tried to be myself in this marriage. But, if you want to continue as it is in our agreement, I will allow you to do so but not with me, let me live this in my own way.”
The confession took Dashtan’s breath away, he was amazed at the woman’s honesty.
“If we can’t give our hearts to this marriage, at least be ourselves.” Rakia added and that stunned Dashtan. Again he did not know how to deal with his own feelings. Just like the times when he was close to Dalilah. He couldn’t trust anyone including Dalilah back then, even though the woman was sincere with him. But finally, thanks to her sincerity, he dared to risk his heart.
On the other hand, Rakia ventured to touch Dashtan’s face which was so close to her face at the moment.
“It’s only been a day since we got married, you’ve already broken your own agreement by not touching casually, how will it be?” said Rakia right in front of Dashtan’s lips which were really tempting. However, Dashtan without hesitation immediately kissed her, gently and unhurriedly but more and more intensely. It slowly fueled the passion that had been building between them since the beginning without them realizing it.