Chapter 48: Chapter 48
The sound of the room door opening distracted the two people who were drunk with mutual attraction to each other. Rakia and Dashtan suddenly turned their heads and found Dalilah standing near the closed room door with a surprised face.
“What are you doing here?” Dashtan asked flatly. His gaze instantly changed when he looked at Dalilah, sharp and cold. Rakia, who felt awkward, looked down for a moment and swallowed, she was instantly nervous when she felt Dashtan’s aura that changed instantly to become unfriendly.
“Sorry, I just wanted to-“
“You want to discuss it again?” Dashtan cut in quickly. Rakia frowned and raised her gaze to stare at Dahstan.
“Then, if you’ll excuse me,” said Dalilah who quickly turned and left the room. Dashtan sighed and then clucked.
“She comes here often?” asked Rakia, looking down. Dashtan shifted his gaze to the woman, he immediately hugged her.
“A few days ago, she came here, it seems she tried to persuade my family,” Dashtan said, making Rakia worried.
“Would you have let her come between us if your family had been persuaded?” Rakia’s question was like a blunt object that hit her heart. At any time and for any reason she did not want her marriage to be infiltrated by another woman.
“Of course not, I promised you, calm down....” Dashtan gently stroked the top of Rakia’s head and kissed her for a moment. Rakia tried to calm her restless heart, as Dashtan unraveled his embrace they locked eyes again.
“Now, go and use that card, I want it on my desk later this month,” Dashtan said, breaking the ice between them, as Rakia smiled and almost laughed. She nodded and they parted ways after Rakia gave him a quick peck on one cheek.
Rakia did not expect Dalilah to be waiting for her in the lobby so she was forced to engage the woman. Several people looked at them as they stood in the middle of the lobby.
“Why? Why are you so stubborn? You and Dashtan are just two strangers who don’t know each other and then get married, wouldn’t it be easy for you to accept me?” Dalilah looked at Rakia uncomprehendingly. Rakia felt like slapping the woman, but all she could do was clench one of her hands at her side very hard, as if she was pouring all her anger there.
“If you still love him, why did you leave him? Why?” Rakia snapped, making her voice echo in the room until all the people there turned to her. Her gaze darted to Dalilah. Dalilah was surprised by that and held her breath for a moment to face Rakia’s anger that she did not expect.
“Yes, I am a stranger woman who does not know Dashtan as you know him, but I am not a woman like you, who shamelessly asks a wife to share her husband with you. Don’t even think of starting anything with me, because I’ll make sure you suffer.”
Rakia left with angry steps after speaking her mind. When she was in the car, she just sat pensively with her body shaking from the sensation of anger that had not completely disappeared. She took a deep breath to neutralize her feelings, her mind half empty. She left the parking lot after she felt a little better. She had already made up her mind if everything had to end bitterly. But she wasn’t going to go down without a fight, she was going to fight and if she had to accept defeat in the end, she would.
Fortunately, the atmosphere of the supermarket was able to make her forget her worries for a moment. After shopping according to her original plan, she drove her car to one of the malls. She wanted to be in the center of the crowd, so she wouldn’t feel alone. The day after tomorrow was an important day, meeting Dashtan’s extended family was something that could make her nervous, even though she was only thinking about the possibilities that would happen.
When Rakia arrived home in the afternoon, she found Mrs. Hunt busy cooking something, the delicious smell made Rakia approach the woman.
“Mrs. Hunt, what are you cooking? It smells delicious,” said Rakia, which surprised the woman a little.
“Tomyam, do you like it?” asked the friendly woman. Rakia looked at the cooking sparkling as she nodded. Rakia excused herself to change her clothes, but when she went into the room and checked her cell phone which was in a small bag, she found a message from an unfamiliar number.
[Hi, Kia, it’s me Benjamin, can we meet? I have something I want to talk to you about]
Rakia sighed and immediately deleted the message. She didn’t want to add more burden to her mind. So, she decided to ignore Benjamin and help Mrs. Hunt in the kitchen. She and the woman started to get along, Rakia was happy to have Mrs. Hunt to talk to. They talked about recipes and where she came from.
“I come from the same country as Mr. Dashtan’s mother. She said I reminded her of her birthplace, which she had never visited.” Mrs. Hunt told her story, and Rakia listened as she ate tomyam at the granite table while the woman washed the cooking utensils she had used.
“Husband?” she asked curiously.
“My husband died two years ago of lung cancer, and I haven’t had a child yet,” Mrs. Hunt said. Rakia looked at the woman with sympathy. She thought her life had suffered the most but she forgot that there were many others who had suffered for decades but were still strong and living. After finishing her duties in the kitchen, Mrs. Hunt went on to complete other tasks, such as cleaning the house and checking the laundry. She was left alone in the kitchen with her lunch gone. Thinking of something else to eat, she jumped down from her chair and approached the refrigerator, remembering that there was chocolate ice cream in there. She took out the ice cream in the medium-sized bucket and took a spoon, then returned to her chair.
The coldness of the ice cream was able to ease her heart, which still felt hot from the anger she felt when she met Dalilah in Dashtan’s office a few moments ago. She recalled the incident, but she didn’t want to be burdened with thoughts of that crazy woman.
“Are you okay?” The question startled her from her empty mind as she savored her ice cream. Rakia turned her head and found Dashtan standing at the threshold of the kitchen space. Rakia turned her chair to face the man.
“Yeah, I’m fine, are you home?” It was Rakia’s turn to ask. Dashtan walked over to her and stood in front of her.
“Yes, I wanted to check up on you after giving everyone in my office a shocking taste of my wife’s fantastic temper,” Dashtan said as he took over Rakia’s ice cream spoon and scooped out a sizable lump of ice cream. Rakia looked down with a bit of nervousness coming over her.
“Are you going to give up if-“
“I told you that I won’t break my promise. It’s just you and me at this married,” Dashtan emphasized in his last sentence. Rakia swallowed harshly, she thought of another assumption.
“Yes, I know, but, if Dalilah insists will you choose her and let me go?”
Hearing that, Dashtan slammed his ice cream spoon on the table making a clinking sound that was enough to startle Rakia. His face turning furious, he pulled Rakia out of the chair and forced her to follow him to his workspace. Dashtan locked the door once he and Rakia were inside. Rakia looked at Dashtan with misgivings and when she turned towards him, she saw his gaze that implied anger and some things that she found hard to understand and describe. Dashtan approached Rakia at a fairly slow pace.
“Look, Rakia... If I want to be with Dalilah, I will never choose another woman. Dalilah is the most memorable woman in my life, both, good and bad. I can never accept someone who has disappointed me.”
Rakia looked at the man with great sympathy. Somehow right now, she saw Dashtan more than she ever had before, as if the man was opening up a bit more about himself. Dashtan took Rakia’s hand and clasped it.
“Maybe, I haven’t been able to behave as you expected but I want to try to make this marriage work the way it should.” Dashtan looked at the bracelet Rakia was wearing, the one he had bought when they met in Jakarta that time.
“Why? Even our relationship is just an agreement, Ash. We shouldn’t go too far in this relationship. I just don’t want you or me to suffer.” Rakia felt that what happened between her and Dashtan should not be like this. They were silent for a moment before Dashtan moved out of her way and past her towards his desk.
“How about, after I sign one of my stepfather’s asset transfers, we get a divorce? The excavation your father was going to do at the site was originally going to be given to me, but because of the discovery, my father granted it to be managed by UNESCO. In exchange, I got a date plantation and wheat farmland in Turkey.” Dashtan said this while staring at the floor with a half-empty gaze. Meanwhile, Rakia seemed to have a heart attack, her chest tightening as the question was asked.
“Do you agree? After our visit to Dubai, the excavation will begin, and the transfer of assets to me will be in about three months, if you agree, after which I will divorce you.”
Dashtan’s words were like shards of glass piercing her heart at this moment. Because of the pain, Rakia could not say a single word. To be honest, she was still confused about her relationship with the man, but hearing Dashtan talk about their separation hurt her.
“I’ll think about it,” Rakia replied and then took a step to leave the room.