Chapter 56: Chapter 56

Neither Dashtan nor Rakia spoke during their ride in Dashtan’s Lamborghini.

“Where are we going?” Rakia opened the conversation, she felt Dashtan was hiding something.

“You’ll find out later, for sure this place you have to know, it’s important,” said the man who currently seemed to be thinking about many things. Rakia turned to look at the husband she got from a marriage based on that agreement. She was sure that something must be on his mind. She also tried to open the man’s mind little by little, as a journalist she had a way of getting her sources to be more open in conveying information.

“I don’t know much about a country’s economic issues, but this country is always in the top three hottest topics. And apparently... This country is amazing.” Rakia began to try her hand at foreplay. Dashtan smiled at the woman’s ramblings.

“In recent years we’ve opened up to a number of investors from western countries.” Dashtan tried to respond, Rakia was happy with this good start. She would not be rushed.

“That’s good. I wonder what you’ve done for the country to make it this way. I thought, you definitely won’t waste the opportunity.” The wind hit Rakia’s face from the half-opened car window. She smiled at the magnificent buildings that passed by. The city was beautiful and chic.

“Not much but my father wished I could do more by being like him.”

Rakia’s other self snapped her fingers in her mind after hearing Dashtan’s words. She immediately began her first attack.

“Does this have anything to do with that parliamentary seat? I thought, if you’re so competent why not take the opportunity?” After asking a question that was an attack, Dashtan looked a little uncomfortable. But Rakia could sense that the intensity of the discomfort was still within reasonable limits. As long as the man did not show excessive temper, Rakia would keep digging.

“I know it’s a good opportunity but, it’s hard to do if my wife could be the thing that would get in the way.” Dashtan’s words had an impact on Rakia, it was a counterattack. A faint smile played on her lips.

“Oh, yeah! I’ll be fine if you inherit the hot seat.”

“That’s what you think,” Dashtan replied quickly without pause. He let out a long breath.

“Some people will use you as a weapon to bring me down, especially since you’re a journalist. You guys are known as information hunters, would you also hunt me down if someone gave you an order to do so?”

Rakia swallowed compulsively when the backlash hit her right on target, but she would not let only herself get hurt because of this conversation.

“Don’t I work with you? Besides... I still haven’t decided whether I agree to divorce you in three months or not. If you plan to sit in the parliamentary seat after that inheritance transfer you mentioned, I....” Rakia instantly felt suffocated before again pronouncing her decision.

“I will step down and accept the divorce.” Dashtan turned his head as Rakia actually stated her decision. Silence reigned over them for a few minutes before Rakia broke the silence.

“Is this one of the things that bothers you?” asked Rakia as she turned to Dashtan. She was sure the answer was yes despite the man’s silence.

“You shouldn’t feel hindered by having me in your life. After all, you can just decide to divorce me and the deal between us will be over. You....” Rakia waved her hands in a weak motion in front of her body.

“You are free to live your life the way you want, and so am I,” she continued. She imagined that it was really happening and it felt very disturbing, but Rakia found it strange why the separation bothered her. She dismissed the notion that she loved him.

“We can’t love someone we don’t know.” That assumption echoed in her mind but it only complicated her own argument. She who admitted to loving Dashtan and she who only recognized Dashtan as a partner in this marriage.

“Is it that easy?” Dashtan asked in a dubious tone. Rakia snorted.

“Why, isn’t everything we live for fake?” Rakia began to get carried away by the unpleasant atmosphere of their conversation. Dashtan was the same, he gripped the car tightly. When he stopped at an intersection because the traffic light was red, he hit the brakes so hard and suddenly that Rakia jerked forward and almost collided with the dashboard in front of her.

They fell into an uncomfortable silence.

“I told you before, don’t promise things you can’t-“

“I know. If you want a divorce, we can divorce after we return to Singapore.” The words sounded cold and sharp like a chip of ice driven into Rakia’s heart. She swallowed to wet her parched throat, and moistened her lips, which were also drying up from the uncomfortable atmosphere of their conversation. Moreover, when Dahstan made that statement, she had already received his ultimatum.

They arrived at the Dubai underwater zoo, a large aquarium featuring various types of marine life that could be seen with the naked eye through the tunnel-shaped design of the aquarium.

“Come on,” said Dashtan who immediately got out of the car. Turned towards where Rakia was currently sitting and opened the door. The woman came out with slow movements, they stared at each other for a while. Dashtan smiled first as he brought Rakia’s hair behind her ear.

“We’ll talk about that later, for now I just want to invite you to enjoy our time here,” he said which made Rakia smile softly. The tension they felt a moment ago faded a little. She decided to put aside what they had been discussing and follow Dashtan’s wishes to enjoy their time together for as long as they could.

They arrived home at four in the afternoon and things were in full swing for tonight’s event. Two men with Middle Eastern features approached Dashtan as she and Rakia passed through the main door of the house. They embraced each other briefly like close brothers.

“This is Zidan and Faraz,” Dashtan said, pointing out the two men by name to Rakia. The woman smiled and cupped her hands in front of her body as she said his name.

“It must be a miracle from God that our geniuses are married,” Zidan chirped, which only made Dashtan and Faraz laugh. Rakia just smiled while holding back her laughter. Mahira’s arrival interrupted their conversation.

“Oh, my sweetest Rakia... Come here, we have to start the preparations,” said Mahira who was holding out one of her hands for Rakia to greet her and come with her. She was led to one of the rooms on the left side of the house and two women wearing caftans were waiting there.

“Oh my god, so this is Rakia?! Beautiful.” One of the women wearing a cream-colored kaftan complimented Rakia. Mahira smiled proudly and happily. Rakia was invited to sit in one of the chairs facing a mirror with a table in front of it. It was like being in a private salon. Rakia took the opportunity to observe this room, which looked like a fitting room designed as a storage room for clothes. Mahira and the woman in the cream caftan were busy choosing clothes from the large wardrobe in the room. One woman wearing a light gray caftan approached Rakia and stood behind her.

“Hi, I’m Amayla, people call me May. I was wondering how you melted that frozen genius.” May’s words caused a puzzling reaction for Rakia.

“Is Dashtan that stiff?” Rakia was even more curious. May smiled and looked at Rakia through the mirror just as she was about to say something, the door of the room opened and revealed the figure they were talking about. Dahstan looked at each person in the room.

“May, Aunt Ramlah! This is a surprise,” said Dahstan who then went deeper into the room. The woman named Ramlah immediately turned to Dashtan and approached him, giving him a warm hug. Dashtan returned the warm hug. May, meanwhile, smiled warmly at Dashtan.

“You’re off?” Dashtan asked May. The girl nodded.

“I plan to spend my winter holidays here.” The woman revealed her plans. All these interactions did not escape Rakia’s eyes. She wondered why he was lucky to be surrounded by such a warm and accepting family. She was a little distracted by thoughts of her own family. Her parents being an only child and not being close to her family made her never know what her parents’ family was like, except from doctor Pedro’s family, but only a few people.

“I need Rakia, just for a moment,” Dashtan said stating his intentions for the room. Mahira rolled her eyes and said, “Alright but just a minute.” Dashtan nodded once and then turned to Rakia, he gave a code to the woman. Rakia got up from her seat and followed Dahstan out of the room. They stopped not far from the room.

“What’s wrong?” asked Rakia as they faced each other. Dashtan took her hand and held it.

“We have to go home tomorrow, it’s urgent.” Dashtan looked at Rakia with an understanding gaze.

“Why? Something wrong?” Rakia wanted to know. Dashtan let out a long sigh as he looked down for a moment before looking back at Rakia.

“Your father had an accident on his way to the airport.”

The news seemed to collapse Rakia’s world in an instant.