Le Chase Chapter 38

I know it's been a while, honestly I know! I wasn't even going to post this chapter but I felt dreadful for not posting anything, this has been the longest time I haven't used my blog for (probably). I said it wouldn't hurt to use an hour for a post, but this is just a small chapter before my finals start to keep you readers going. I hope everyone's doing well with school/university or even work, whatever all of you are up to. Allah yiwafigkom! :D x

Warning, this is a mysterious and SMALL chapter nyahaha. 

-


Previously in Chapter 37:


And without another word, I left her room, just as she wished. I agreed to leaving the room. But I didn't agree to anything else. I hurried over to the reception desk, where the nurses where.

"Can I see the results of patient Layal Al-X?" I asked, trying to look casual. The nurse sat behind the desk, her dark Indian skin was covered with a white plain uniform, her dark eyes suspecting me.

"Uhm, is that patient 651?" She looked hesitant, looking around for the papers. "Sorry I'm new, are you the brother?"

"Yeah, Abdulra7man." I lied, thanking God that she was new and didn't see Layal's brother already. She typed feverishly on the keyboard, not bothering to even ask for my ID. She printed the papers out and handed me a copy.

"Thanks Linda," I read her name tag, giving her a kind smile. She was young, she blushed and gave me a warm smile back. I hurried over to the elevators, as I waited for one, I looked over the papers.

I didn't understand anything from the papers, but two words caught my attention and those two words were enough to tell me what was wrong with Layal.

"Fatal cancer."

-

3 years later..

"Layal, squeeze closer to your brother!" The nurse's friendly voice cooed, her young eyes staring at my brother admiringly. Her chestnut hair was put up into a bob but her dimples would appear as soon as she saw my brother come into the hospital to visit me. My brother, Abdulra7man, squeezed me in closer with his strong arm, my body weakly surrendered and my forearm rested over his chest.

"Say cheese!" Jackie, the nurse called out before clicking Abdulra7man's Sony camera, the flash blinded my eyes momentarily as I heard the small click.

"Are you guys excited? It's your last surgery Layal." Jackie hid her sadness of the fact that it would also be the last time she would see my brother. I gave her a weak smile, I seemed to have too many surgeries, too many types of medicines to really keep count. All I knew was after this surgery, the cancer would finally be gone. I'd finally be free of it, there was always the fact that the cancer could grow back and infect me but knowing that still for a period of time I'd be cancer-free, made me happy.

"And then if everything goes as planned, we can finally go back home." 7amany, my brother whispered in my ear. The dreary smell of meds lingered in the air in my all white hospital room in Germany. I'd grown used to my old hospital room in Britain, at least it had more colours but Germany's medical team was what I truly needed for my health.

"Enshallah." I murmured, feeling a slight ache in my chest once the memories of Kuwait came flooding back into my mind. I dug a finger through my veil and felt the bare skin of my head. No long luxurious hair, just the hard yet fragile skin of my bald head. It used to make me tear up every time I saw it or touched it, but Ive grown used to it. 

"Layal, shfeech mu mistansa?" Abdulra7man asked once Jackie left the hospital room, leaving us alone.

"Shnu ely yiwanis?" I laughed bitterly.

"El7emdellah, just this surgery and you're finally done." He tried to sound more positive. "B3dain negder enrid el bait."

"To who?" My eyes began to tear up. I might have gotten used to the bald hairless head of mine, but my heart would never forget the death of my father. Who would I be going home to? What was the use of my health anymore when I had nothing left to go back to?

"Your friends," Abdulra7man painfully said, trying to forget about my father's existence altogether. My father's illness took over last year, Abdulra7man tried to fly back to Kuwait to take care of him whilst also flying back to me in Britain (where my old hospital room was), to keep me company. My other brother, Ebrahim, finally decided to go to university in America. So it was just Abdulra7man and I left.

"Yeah," I gave him a fake smile. I knew he was just as pained as I was and I needed to put some effort into being more positive. 

"Al7een bas ed3ay ena your surgery goes perfectly as planned and the cancer stays off of you."

"Enshallah," he patted my back but I winced, pushing him away.

"Asif asif, walla nesait!" His fingers had touched my spine, where my last injection was put and the pain was still unbearable. 

"3ade, t3wdt." I smiled and he smiled back. A more of a sad smile, nothing to be happy about.

"Yalla, namay, warach ga3da bacher for the surgery. I'll leave you to sleep now."

"7amany?" I squeaked out.

"Halla?" He answered before leaving my side. Before I could tell him anything, he continued speaking: "A packet of oreo cookies before they stop you eating for the surgery, right?"

"You know me so well."

-

-Thari- 

"Thari, shift'ha?" My mother giggled ecstatically, her eyes following the short girl that wore her hair in messy waves, her cheeks dipped in red powder and her eyes glancing at me as she walked next to her mother around the mall.

"Yuma," I annoyingly groaned.

"She graduated from AUK (American University of Kuwait) few months ago, omha etgouly et7b tarsim, nafsik!" Mom tattled on, we were both seated at Dean and Deluca, a cafe/restaurant and had a clear view of the girl and her mother. My mother tricked me into saying she needed a ride and wanted help with her shopping, but she clearly tricked me again (oh yes, this hasn't been the first time she's done this) to go wife shopping, rather than actually product shopping.

"Okay, w b3dain? Yuma chem mara agoulech mabe atzawaj!" 

"Shm3na?! Al7een ya7leilk tishtighl eb sharekat obouk, w obouk ma36eek most of his business share. W tekherjt men eljam3a, bas bageelik shay wa7d." She pointed to the girl once she was done speaking, clearly saying I was only missing a wife now.

"Tw elnas 3al zawaj." 

"Shnu tw elnas?! Tara people these days get married quicker!" 

"Yuma shaku? Qa9dch el3ax." I laughed.

"What's wrong with the girls I showed you? Clean reputations, good families and beauty, shtabe akthar besmellah?" My mother aimed her strongly eyeliner-ed eyes at me, her wrinkles in her forehead furrowing in annoyance.

"Mabe shay, yalla meshaina?" I avoided her eyes.

"Walla you're going to regret passing this girl up Thari," she shook her head, her English fluent and she only spoke English when she was super serious. 

I regret passing up one girl. 

And only that one girl.

Le Chase Chapter 37

Hey! I hope everyone's enjoying the chilly weather, I have to apologise for the minimum of posts lately. I just got out of tuition, two quizzes tomorrow but I was said the hell with it, I really miss writing!

Who's ready to see our second true character? This time, his name's Fahad, YES he exists! As I said, events are all made up but the characters are 100% REAL.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY @MAHAALSALEH_! To the sister my mother never gave birth to, I LOVE YOU! x

You can NOW leave comments on my posts, even anonymous ones, so comments will be highly appreciated. :D Tell me what you think about the post and the new true life characters, Fahad and Maha.

-

Previously in Chapter 36: 

-LAYAL-

"Yishawgoun, mu 9a7?" The woman who had dark hair, the same dark hair as Thari's and the same light skin, gladly stated.

"Eee, walla chan sheftay Maha gabel chem sa3a, kanet 7ail ta3bana w mu ra'6ya et7acheeny bas teghayarat lema shafet wldch." The second woman had a veil around her, I couldn't see her face but her voice was deep and I could catch every word.

"Perfect match." Thari's mother stated, I could see her face, it resembled Thari's perfectly. But her two words, may have caused happiness for the second woman, but those two words sliced into me, and broke every organ in my body, it broke me even more than the cancer slithering around me.

Most of the pain I felt was shot right into one organ.

My heart.

-

-THARI- 

"Thari, digeega!" I heard my aunt, Maha's mother, call out after me. I was in the hallway of the hospital, it was the fourth day of me visiting Maha. The fact that Layal hadn't contacted me or returned my calls were not my biggest priority right now, I'd just ordered Maha's favourite Subway sandwich and my cousin Fahad had been visiting her today with his sisters as well, we had planned to go out for dinner after the hospital visit.

I backtracked a few steps to meet with my aunt, her eyes were a whole lot brighter now after seeing Maha's good results and after she told most of the family about the condition, so now the hospital room didn't look so lonely and dreary anymore. 

"Na3am?" I answered her, she patted my left arm lightly as her mouth started to move to the symphony of her words.

"Mashkour," she gave me a huge smile, her deep wrinkles embracing her vibrant face.

"Shd3wa kela subway khalti, etha taboun shay digaw 3lay." I chuckled casually, digging my hands into the pockets of my Levi's.

"La2, thank you for staying around, adry mashghoul m3a el jam3a, ma ga9ert wyaana walla," My aunt graciously thanked me, kissing both of my stubbled cheeks.

"Mabaina khalte," I pecked her left cheek before walking off towards Fahad. His mahogany coloured eyes met mine, he was scratching the back of his neck with his tall fingers, his dark curly hair combed back slightly with the strokes of his fingers. He had an athletic build, he was close to my height now when I remember he used to be a whole lot shorter.

"Yalla?" Fahad asked, his 17 year old voice deep and impatient. I couldn't understand the fury I found behind his eyes, it evaporated too quickly for me to ask about it.

"Ha, wein enrou7?" I asked. Fahad pushed his Abecrombie shirt slightly over his beige shorts to bring out his blackberry, his eyes were on the big digital numbers that indicated the time. 9:34pm.

"Open flame kitchen?" He shrugged, looking careless.

"Okay." I agreed but cautiously watched him, he was clearly avoiding me with his eyes. He had been happy to see me two hours ago, but his mood suddenly changed after we hung around Maha and our other cousins.

We were about to enter the elevator but my Samsung vibrated in the pockets of my Levi's, stopping me in my track. I checked the Caller ID and inhaled a deep breath.

It was Layal.

"Uhm, Fahad enta rou7 gably." I looked up, Fahad was already in the elevator, his eyes watching me suspiciously. The lie easily slipped out of my mouth. "Neseit akheth telephone el thane bel hospital room."

"Thari-" He was about to question me but I threw over my car keys, he quickly caught it with his fast hands.

"Black GTO599 Ferrari, parking number 5." I cut him off and knowing Fahad's love for cars, his eyes widened, loving the idea of getting to drive instead of me. He wasn't 18 yet, he still drove around but I knew he loved Ferraris just as much as I loved my Rolls Royces.

"Men 3youne." He smirked, letting me walk off with ease. With the Ferrari car keys in his hands, I was sure he wasn't going to question why I'm going to take a while to go down. I hurried away, answering Layal's call before she hung up.

"Aloo?" I hastily spoke into my phone, I could hear her uneven breathing and a faint beeping sound in the background.

"Hey," she whispered in a raspy voice.

"Layal shfeech? No calls, no nothing and where the heck are you?" I worriedly asked her, my voice sounding more angry than patient.

"I got engaged." Layal avoided my questions but her words made me forget about the questions I even asked about. I was pacing around the hallways of the hospital but I abruptly stopped in front of a random room, unable to speak.

"Thari?" She asked, her voice fearful. I was silent for a while, I concentrated on the sound of the beeping of where Layal was.

"Thari say something." She begged, she was trying to catch a hold of something, that something? Was gone.

"Can you repeat what you just said?" Were my ears playing tricks on me? I couldn't believe it.

"I got engaged..."

"Oh," my fists were clenched as hard as possible, my fingers digging deep into the skin of my palms. I felt the veins on my neck trying to break out of the skin of my neck, a wave of heat struck me.

"Say something," she repeated again, her voice sounded was cracking, I knew she was in tears. But wasn't I supposed to be one who was in tears? Wasn't I one who was supposed to demand her for answers? Nothing came, I was physically stubborn, I wouldn't believe her words. Not even one.

"Mabrouk." I replied in a cold tone.

"What?"

"Shtabeene agoulch? Mabrouk, tabeen shay?" I left my tone emotionless as possible.

"3laqal ana giltlk, mu enta." She shot back at me, she sounded angry now.

"Shnu?" I nearly yelled.

"Nothing, okay? Yalla bye." She was about to hang up but I stopped her, the beeping in the background just annoyed me as hell.

"Layal entay weinch?!" I knew it was nothing to do with the whole topic but the beeping noise sounded too familiar. I looked up from the ground and heard the same voice on the phone, but in front of me, through the door that was standing right in front of my face.

"Bye Thari," her voice was louder now. I wasn't fantasising, I was actually listening to the same voice through the door. I quickly assumed that she was alone, or else she wouldn't have called me. I didn't care once she hung up on me, I knocked on the door in front of me and waited.

"Yes?" It was her voice calling out.

She was in the same hospital all along? All. This. Time?

My hands had no control, they barged the door open without another thought and I found Layal under a white blanket, on a hospital bed, her wide eyes full of tears, dark purple circles hugged them. Her face pale, wires in and out of her skin and scraps of her hair messily escaping the dark veil she wore. The first thing I looked for was an engagement ring, her fingers were already trying to adjust her veil that covered her hair, so I got a good look. No ring, no fiancee, no soul in this depressing room and my instinct said that she lied.

Or was it me being stubborn?

"Laish chathebtay?" I was still angry, I walked into the room and closed the door behind me. The weak image of her in front of me broke my heart but I couldn't control my anger.

"Thari get out," Layal snapped at me, her fingers drying her cheeks of the tears that spilled over a few seconds ago.

"9arlech akthar men esbou3 ga3da ehny? W ma gilteely?" My fists were still clenched.

"Once a player, always a player." She said in a hushed tone, her eyebrows arched angrily as she stared at me.

"Layal entay shfeech?! Ana shsaweitlch?!" I couldn't control how loud my voice became.

"Are you serious?" She asked me slowly in a venomous tone.

"Mu entay ely gilteely ma et7ebeeny?! Jawbeeny!"

"Are you blind? Why not show you?" She smiled sarcastically, her head shaking slowly. She grabbed her iPhone, clicking on the Photos app. I cautiously took another step so I was right in front of her where she sat on the hospital bed, I got a closer look of her pale tired skin. She thrusted the phone in my face and I could see the picture clearly.

It was a phone conversation on Whatsapp between Bdour and I, the one when I asked for Bdour's bikini picture. Bdour sent it to Layal and I knew for a fact that wasn't the only phone conversation that Bdour sent, I was guessing Layal saw all the conversations between us. But Layal didn't know that I was faking the flirting, I was faking everything with Bdour but it sure has hell backfired.

"W Maha? How many girls are you planning to 'marry'?" Layal sounded hurt.

"Let me explain-"

"No, get out." Layal demanded, when I looked away from the picture I saw that she had her face aimed at the other direction. She was crying, I heard the quiet sobs she was trying to hide. She built her wall so high and now it came crashing down in front of me. I ruined her, the anger melted away, all I wanted to do was take her in my arms but I knew I couldn't, and even if I did, she would fight me off with every bit of her strength.

"Please." I begged, kneeling down besides her. I was now level with her height, a bit shorter than her, knowing how short she was compared to my tall height. She slowly turned around to face me, the tears were gone but her eyes looked sad.

"Maha bent khalte." I quietly said. "7sbat ekhty."

"I heard the conversation, I saw the way she looked at you, I'm not an idiot Thari. And Bdour? You know what? Yeah, I don't love you so get out." Her anger came back swiftly, her words spiked me but I ignored them.

"Ey conversation?" I sighed.

"Omik w omha, they were talking about marriage." Layal grabbed the white sheets of her hospital bed, trying to will the tears away.

"God no. Layal she's like my little sister, she doesn't even like me." I shook my head nonstop.

"Bdour?" Layal whispered.

"I swear Layal, she said she had a picture of you without your 7jab and I needed a picture to ruin her, or else she would ruin you if I got any closer to you. Layal, think about it, why would Bdour, a friend you don't even know, send you those conversations?" I asked, her expression stood emotionless for a few minutes, I could see that she was thinking.

"She said she had my picture?" She asked.

"And that she would send it to all the guys if I didn't go out with her." I continued.

"You believed her?" She finally cast her bloodshot eyes towards me.

"Shqa9dch?" I asked.

"She asked for my picture the first day she met me, she never had that picture of me and still doesn't." Her words caused me to breathe a sigh of relief.

"El7emdellah." I mouthed in between my sighs. I pulled out my old blackberry, it had the rest of the Whatsapp conversation with Bdour, where she threatened me some more over the past few days. Layal read them, her cold expression turning warm.

"S-so it was all fake?" She bit her bottom lip, a hiccup escaping her mouth.

"Every last bit of it, don't you trust me?" I asked her. "'9elemteeny Layal."

"I never got engaged." She whispered.

"I know." I replied and she looked surprised.

"Shdarak?"

"Ana ma a3rfich Layal? 5 weeks ago you told me you'd only get married at the age of 24, after you get your degree and after you successfully find a good job. Shm3na you'd get married at 18 when you have non of that achieved that?" I smiled to myself, I could never imagine her doing it.

"You remember," she breathed out.

"I remember everything, from the very first day I set my eyes on you, I love you Layal." I tried to look at her but she wouldn't look back.

"Layal?" She was staring off at space, her usually rosy lips white as a sheet.

Before she could even answer me, my phone rang. I wanted to ignore it but it was Fahad, impatiently waiting for me. It's been 20 minutes. I cursed under my breath.

"Aloo Fahad?" I answered.

"Weinik? Shfeek 6awelt?" He sounded suspicious again.

"Shfeek ma estanest m3a el sayara?" I joked, trying to lighten the air.

"Embala bas mu chena 6awelt? Kel hatha 3la telephonik?"

"Okay khala9 al7een banzil, yalla bye." I hung up before he could question me again.

"Layal-"

"You should go," she finally looked at me, the air between us felt tense and her eyes hid a message behind those irises of hers.

"You didn't even tell me why you were here, Layal you look-"

"Thari, go. Please." She whispered, looking away.

"Is that what you want?" I asked, my fists clenched once again. I couldn't understand her, I couldn't even understand the words on the packets of medicine she was wired to, I was clueless.

"Eee."

"Mashe Layal."

And without another word, I left her room, just as she wished. I agreed to leaving the room. But I didn't agree to anything else. I hurried over to the reception desk, where the nurses where.

"Can I see the results of patient Layal Al-X?" I asked, trying to look casual. The nurse sat behind the desk, her dark Indian skin was covered with a white plain uniform, her dark eyes suspecting me.

"Uhm, is that patient 651?" She looked hesitant, looking around for the papers. "Sorry I'm new, are you the brother?"

"Yeah, Abdulra7man." I lied, thanking God that she was new and didn't see Layal's brother already. She typed feverishly on the keyboard, not bothering to even ask for my ID. She printed the papers out and handed me a copy.

"Thanks Linda," I read her name tag, giving her a kind smile. She was young, she blushed and gave me a warm smile back. I hurried over to the elevators, as I waited for one, I looked over the papers.

I didn't understand anything from the papers, but two words caught my attention and those two words were enough to tell me what was wrong with Layal.

"Fatal cancer."

Le Chase Chapter 36

Hey guys, sorry for the delay! Finally found the time to write this. Hope you enjoy it, I'll be out of the country for 4 days, going to be in Dubai and then right after that I've got more exams (yay..). Enshallah everything's great with all of you, enjoy the long weekend because I sure as hell will, before more exams start torturing me.

By the way, two new characters have been added and YES, they are 100% REAL. But the events are totally made up,  the true characters are Fahad and Maha (they're staying anonymous, no one can ask me who they are and nor will I give out any hints. I tried making this as true as possible when it came to the character's details).

Oh and by the way, Fahad isn't in this chapter but look out for him in the upcoming ones!

-

Previously in Chapter 35:

A sudden knock on my window startled me. I looked up and found 3abbas outside my car. I clicked on the button for the window to roll down.

"Hey, shfeek bitrid embacher? Mu 3ndk class?" 3abbas asked me, a book perched under his arm.

"6ala3ne embacher, 3abbas I need a favor," I suddenly said, I couldn't ignore my gut feeling.

"Yeah sure, what's up?" He asked, stuffing his blackberry into his pocket to pay more attention to our conversation.

"Remember when you tracked my Mom's iPhone gabel chem shahar?" I asked.

"Eee akeed, laish?"

"I need you to track Layal." 

-

"Thari, wein raye7?" My mother's voice sounded worried and strained, as if something was wrong. I was midway, walking upstairs with 3abbas following behind me with his laptop to track Layal. Apparently their house's internet was down and our house was our resort to go to. My foot was on the first step of the stairs, I paused and turned around to face my mother. Her face had hues of yellow under her pale skin, her face looking fearful. My mother worried a lot, I know it was normal for all mothers to worry but she? Worries, A LOT. 

I knew something was up.

"Yuma shfeech?" I asked her. 3abbas nodded towards her, greeting her with a warm smile but he took this as cue to leave us both alone by walking upstairs, his footsteps quiet and peaceful on the marble stairs, careful not to disturb anyone home.

"Bent khaltik bel mustashfa, she has heart problems," she started shaking slightly, her eyes tearing up slowly. Her eyelashes free of the gunk of mascara she usually heavily coated them with. They seemed softer and more delicate, sparkling slightly with the tears that easily flowed down.

"Ey wa7da?" I worriedly asked, knowing the answer immediately. I knew my mother was closest to my aunt Haifa and she had three daughters, I immediately guessed that it was her chubbiest child named Ghazal, she was fairly young and weighed over the average weight, the other sisters were health freaks.

"Maha," she croaked out, shocking me.

"Maha?! Shloun!" I gaped at her in astonishment. Maha was the strongest character of the family, health wise and personality wise. All those years of us fighting playfully back at our Grandmother's house, she'd defend any of our cousins when anyone teased them, even when she was such a tiny person compared to our taller heights. She was far younger than me, I believe the last time I saw her, she was about 14. She wasn't as of a health freak compared to her sister but I'd always catch her doing push ups or crazy kinds of exercises after any fatty meals.

"The 14 year old Maha? The crazy Maha?" I kept asking, unable to believe a word.

"15 year old." She corrected me, "Eee bent Haifa shfeek!" 

"Sh9ar?" I ran my fingers through my hair, touching over my short buzz cut, the spikes of hair brushing over the calluses of my fingers.

"Madre, khaltik Haifa tawha daga 3lay w galetly enha bel mustashfa, lazem enrou7 al7een." My mother paced around the hall of our house, looking for her car keys and her Miu Miu bag. And surprisingly, all I could think about right now was Layal, not Maha or her sudden visit to the hospital. What about tracking Layal? 

Thari, you can track her later, your cousin's in the hospital and your aunt called specifically wanting you all to visit them, it won't hurt to wait a day.

I hurried upstairs, explained the situation to 3abbas and he easily understood everything, he promised he'd meet me tomorrow to handle the Layal problem but he advised me to keep my mind on Maha and no one else. I chose to drive, my mother's frail hands kept shaking, her worry for Maha exceeding by the minute. I always believed that Maha was one of her favourite nieces, the way Maha would leave us at our Grandmother's house sometimes just to chat with my mom about the random-est topics.

I tried my hardest to drive as fast as I could, for the first time, my mother didn't lecture me on my driving, she simply sat silently in her seat, her eyes looking out at the window, watching the multiple cars pass us by. 

Once I arrived at the large illuminating building of the hospital, I parked the car quickly and rushed inside, my mother walking besides me. I hated the hospital smell, it smelled of medicine, death and newborn babies. I couldn't describe it, it was a bittersweet smell and it nauseated me.

"Ey dour?" I asked my mother once we were in the golden elevator alone, her eyes were elsewhere again, as if she was physically here but emotionally somewhere far, far away.

"Shnu?" I caught her attention, her eyes swerved towards me, looking startled.

"Ey dour w el room number?" I asked her again, in a softer tone, knowing she was worrying like crazy.

"5 w el room 512," she sighed, rubbing her wrinkled forehead with her ringless fingers. I wasn't used to seeing her fingers without it being with coated with jewellery, I wasn't used to them not having a  her beautiful gold encrusted wedding ring either. 

I pressed number 5 and listened to the annoying elevator music, trying to be patient. As soon as the little ring clicked into my fingers, the elevator doors sprung open and my mother was the first one to leave. I followed behind her to the room, she stood outside it, unable to actually walk in. The beige door was half open and my mother stood to the other side so the people inside couldn't catch a glimpse of her.

"Yuma, ma feeha ela el3afya enshallah, la t7ateen, yalla endish?" I placed my hand under her elbow, escorting her towards the door, my touch gentle. She quietly nodded and let me walk her into the room. The smell of medicine whipped our noses, making me feel even more nauseous than before. The room had multiple roses and lilies around Maha's bed, too bad they were all plastic, I couldn't catch a whiff of flowers to distract me from the medicine scent.

Maha laid under the white sheets, her face looking more pale than usual. She had beautiful fair skin but the beauty in it couldn't seep through how pale she looked today. Her hair was hidden under her veil that was messily wrapped around her, her usual curves were now all skin and bones. 

"Wi9altaw!" Aunt Haifa sighed in happiness but her eyes were just as worried as my mother's.

"Shlounha?" My mother asked, her voice cracking. She was afraid of approaching her, she put some distance and stayed closer to my aunt. No one else was in the room, her sisters weren't here either or our other relatives. Apparently we were the first ones they called.

"Thouuthouu," A familiar voice alerted me, I was watching my mother and aunt. I looked to the left and Maha had her wide brown eyes open, her usual rosy cheeks and lips looked icy cold. She usually called me "Thouthou" when we were kids, when she couldn't pronounce my name properly and the name just stuck.

"Mouumouu," I joked back, cracking a smile at her. "Shfeech khara3teena yal dalou3a."

"Hey chub, zain?" She laughed but quickly her face winced in pain, her hand sprung towards her chest where her heart was. I quickly regretted joking around with her.

"Laish ma gilteely?" I asked sadly, we haven't seen each other in months but we'd occasionally chat on twitter, she was the second little sister to me after Wath7a after all.

"Shagoul?" She avoided me, she tried to sit up straight but her chest hurt her even more since her expression was full of pain again, she slid back into the soft sheets of her hospital bed.

"Even when you're sick, you're stubborn?" I shook my head and grabbed the closest seat to her bed. I heard a few words from my mother's and aunt's conversation.

"Kanat ga3da et9aly chan faj2a ma egderat tetnafas, kanet bel9ala jidamy! Walla ekhtere3t." Maha's mother, my aunt, whispered to my mother.

"Haifa entay laish ma etgouleen?" My mother replied with a question.

"Agoul shnu?" Maha's mother replied with a similar answer to Maha's, like mother like daughter.

"Ena 3ndeha heart problems! Men meta kel hatha?"

"3ad ana a3arfich et7ateen wayed, ma gidert agoulch shay bas hal mara ma 3areft mnu adig 3leeh. Obouha ma yadry, emsafer wyaa 3ayleta."

"W zoujich?" I heard the rest of their words, shaking my head at the fact that only we were the ones who knew about Maha's condition, I wondered if her sisters knew, if her step sister knew either.

"Mashghoul bel dawam, akeed bi7aty.. gelt a7san awal shay bas akheth'ha el mustashfa 3shan encheyik 3leeha awal, etha ma feeha shay laish adig 3la el kil?"

"Haifa aham shay al7een el tests yikhal9oun, enshallah et6eeb!"

"Thari? Hello?" Maha annoyingly said, her strong personality still shone through, even through the weak state she was in.

"Are you okay?" I croaked out.

"Thari yikhaf 3lay?" She teased me, smiling. 

"Thi8a walla," I laughed.

"Eee I'm okay." Maha's smile vanished, her mahogany eyes more serious.

"How long Maha?" I asked, watching her.

"Thari please." She tried avoiding my eyes.

"Months?" I asked again, unable to stop.

"Thari." She said in a more annoyed tone.

"Years!?" I gaped.

"Ohoo, you're worse than my step Dad!" She fired back at me.

"W entay laish sakta?! Habla? Meynouna?" I grew angry, I was overly protective towards my girl cousins, they were my sisters and were always around me when we were children.

"Mu layig 3leik, 7ail mu layig." Maha started laughing, unable to contain her laughter. I couldn't help but laugh too, her eyes seemed more alive now, not like a few minutes ago when all they spoke were death and pain.

"Entay kelshay mu 3ajbch? Khala9 ma ra7 azifich wela ba7ateech wela ba'6a7kch, enzain?" I laughed.

"You're more childish than me and I'm way younger." Maha kept on laughing, ridiculing me and my maturity.

"Chub chub zain?" I imitated her girly voice, the one she used earlier. "Chub" was her favourite word.

"Hey shaku 9oute mu chithe!" Maha cried out in defence. All through our crazy childish conversation, I couldn't help but notice that my mother and aunt abruptly stopped chatting, their eyes were on us and they continued watching us with a smile on their faces.

-

-LAYAL-

"Layal wein ray7a?!" My brother called out, his body on alert.

Darn!

I was trying to sneak out of my bed, I was sick of laying in it all day, I was sick of the smell, every place in this hospital reeked of medicine that wouldn't get rid of my cancer.

"Uhm, 7amam." I lied, I thought my brother 7amany was fast asleep on the couch in front of my bed. He's been sleeping over, taking care of me and then going back home to check on my father when I was the one who was asleep. His hair was messed up and his face looked exhausted of all the long nights he had gone through.

"Oh okay, etha tabeen shay, y3ne, uhm, bel 7amam aw ey shay thane... gouleely." He awkwardly said.

"Uhm... okay." I laughed, shaking my head at him. He was adorable. I acted as if I was walking into the bathroom but I watched him closely as he closed his eyes and made himself comfortable on the peach coloured couch. I closed the bathroom's door but I didn't go inside, I just wanted him to think that I was already inside.

Luckily, the door to my hospital room was open ajar. I was already wearing Free City sweat pants and a fitting white shirt, a dark veil wrapped around my face. I had to take the long metal walking thing that held my medicine everywhere with me, I pulled it with me slowly, careful not to cause any noises to wake my brother up. 

The bright lights of the hall of the hospital hit my weak eyes, my room was fairly dark and I was always either asleep or getting my chemotherapy. I pulled my long sleeved shirt down over my sweat pants before walking around the hall, the desk in the middle didn't have any nurses or receptionists so I was free to walk as I pleased.

I looked through each door, most of them were closed but some of them had beautiful pink or blue balloons, indicating a new child being born. It made me smile, seeing more life when I had been expecting death lately. I didn't know how long I could lie to my friends anymore, telling them I was just sick with a bad case of the flu when all my cancer did was grow each other, it leeched through my organs, digging it's poison into anything that was healthy and alive. It was my murderer.

I heard a faint sound of laughter towards the room next to the one that had blue baby balloons floating everywhere. It attracted me, it was the source of happiness that my room lacked. My room seeped of depression. I weakly walked towards the room, the closer I got, the more louder the voices became.

The door was wide open, I stood fairly far from it so the people inside didn't notice me, but I quickly noticed the people inside. One person to be exact. 

Thari was sitting close to a hospital bed that held a beautiful young girl, she looked around 15 or 16, her lips were formed into a huge smile as he talked to her, making her laugh. I couldn't hear a word they said but watching them horrified me, I knew for a fact that he only had one little sister who didn't wear a veil.

I overheard the next words from the two woman standing slightly far from Thari and the girl, they were watching them both, looking happy. I couldn't understand anything that was going on, but the words clarified it enough for me.

"Yishawgoun, mu 9a7?" The woman who had dark hair, the same dark hair as Thari's and the same light skin, gladly stated.

"Eee, walla chan sheftay Maha gabel chem sa3a, kanet 7ail ta3bana w mu ra'6ya et7acheeny bas teghayarat lema shafet wldch." The second woman had a veil around her, I couldn't see her face but her voice was deep and I could catch every word.

"Perfect match." Thari's mother stated, I could see her face, it resembled Thari's perfectly. But her two words, may have caused happiness for the second woman, but those two words sliced into me, and broke every organ in my body, it broke me even more than the cancer slithering around me.

Most of the pain I felt was shot right into one organ.

My heart.

Open me.

You'll get what this is about after you're done reading. No matter how sick or busy or whatever I am, I had to write this. And for anyone asking about posts, I have 0 ideas, STILL. I need my two real reader characters for Le Chase before writing the next post. I tweeted that it was a surprise, knowing every reader of mine will probably think I wrote 5 chapters like last time, or even 10. This isn't a great surprise, but I need every one of you to read it.

Anyways, read on. And you can add comments, just saying, they're not restricted at the moment.

-

Her sweet innocent laughter echoed through my ears, filling the depths of my heart with light and joy. I looked down, her wide angled eyes looked back up to me, her crooked smile, her soft mahogany hair trailing down to her neck, her innocent pupils held love. The sun was beating down at our backs, the weather was starting to get humid, it felt as if every inch of my skin began to sweat, crying out in pain because of the painful heat but the sight of her smile distracted me of the pain.

"Honey, no don't touch that!" I exclaimed suddenly in our own native language, seeing her dainty hands reaching out to touch a strange looking insect that had specks of forest green sparkles, it looked beautiful, with it's wide beetle eyes but if you looked closer, it's mouth grinned devilishly, baring it's poisonous teeth, ready to bite at my daughter's finger. Chipo obeyed my orders, bringing her delicate fingers back slowly to not disturb the insect. After a few seconds, the insect scattered away, not bothering to approach us.

"Mama, I'm hungry." Chipo, named after the African meaning of "gift", looked back up to me, her charcoal coloured eyes full of hunger, her dark ebony lips parting slightly.

"Here sweetheart," I grabbed the last loaf of bread, the bread I bought today with the use of my hard earned salary, and fed it to her little mouth, that starved and starved. 

"Mama-"

-

Her angelic voice was cut off with the sound of a woman's scream, a scream that haunted my ears and crushed the lights I felt for a few seconds, a few seconds that felt too good to be true. I must have day dreamed about my daughter once again, the memory of her all alone with her father back in my home country, caused my heart to ache for the millionth time.

"Manila! I told you, MAIDS are not allowed to sit on our new couches! Sit on the floor before you get it dirty you filthy maid!" Her words stung but I didn't dare to reply, I would get a more harsh argument, even a slap to the face if I ever dared to talk back. I must have forgotten, I was too tired, my back full of pain after chasing her kids all over the house, trying to get them to sleep. I quickly sat back down to the floor, little Hamad, her son, looked terrified of his mother. Madame, that was what I was supposed to call her, had jagged but forcefully waxed eyebrows, her noise was pointy, small, her chocolate Middle Eastern eyes wide and beautiful to gaze at, but once her pretty lips slipped open, the most horrid words escaped.

"This is the number one rule of the house, you have been here for three years and you still don't know it?!" Madame yelled at me, her spit hitting the left side of my cheek. I nodded in agreement, agreeing that I am indeed a stupid worker but in my head, so much anger is being hidden, for all those years, over a billion hurtful words had been shot at me but I continued on to remain quiet, there was no use in arguing. As she continued on lecturing me that maids were not allowed to sit on couches and only on floors, my stomach felt queasy, I mentally forced it to stay quiet but it growled so noisily, it was impossible to ignore. Even Madame had heard the noise, it frightened me, the way her angry expression paused for a moment to understand the noise and then those strongly arched eyebrows of hers, twisted, furrowed, till a more furious expression took over her face.

"You're hungry? Again?" Madame scowled in disgust, looking down at my frail thin body, her eyes saw fat, fat and fat everywhere. I believed it for a second, thinking that I was truly gigantically fat and disgusting, eating too much of their food, that my skin seeped of oil and food, but the knife sharp bones that sliced out of my skin, the shape of my ribs clearly visible through my skin, told me otherwise.

"Mama please," little Hamad, bless his soul, begged his mother to stop, but that only angered her more. The honest truth? Little Hamad loved me more than his own mother, after all those nights I cradled him to my weak chest, telling him stories of his favourite animals in the wide, blue endless space, keeping him at peace when his parents fought; spoiling him with kisses when he needed them, when his mother didn't offer them.

"Shaima! What's wrong with you, making all this noise?" Sir. That's my other employee. He rushed into the brightly lit living room, his strained eyes looking at Madame and back at me, furious that we disturbed him while he was in his office working. I clenched my fingers into fists, my fingers were sweating, I was terrified of Sir. He was much more quiet but his punishments were far more brutal. I tried to concentrate on the wrinkles in the palm of my hand, the roughness of my skin, of all the dishes I had to wash everyday, the chemicals in the soaps were harsh, Madame didn't offer me any gloves to wear, I was forced to wash them with my naked hands. The chemicals poisoned the softness of my skin, the softness that my daughter used to love so much.

"Ya'agoub, s-she's been eating our child's food! Hamad is starving, look at his meal, there is nothing left of it. I caught her eating all of his food, even after I already bought her a large meal from Mcdonalds and an hour ago, she ate all of our chocolates that we were keeping for our dinner party next week." Madame's angry and evil expression melted away and was replaced with a damsel-in-distress expression. She looked sincere, honest and innocent. Sir's eyes turned to mine, he examined my too-thin body, looking confused. I mentally prayed to God that I would be saved by his confused face, the way his eyes crinkled up, showing that he didn't believe a word of his wife's accusations.

However, soon enough, her beautifully eyeliner rimmed eyes tricked him. The next lecture I got was from him, but that wasn't all. I wished so badly that it was just that. Sir locked me in the room again, no food, no water, no bathroom. "My room" sounded so luxurious, when the fact is, the room was tiny and it held the water heater, there was little space for a mattress to be put on the ground for me to sleep on. There were no lights, hard to believe when the house was lavishly grand and spacious, that such a room existed in the house. I was trapped with the filth, I was filth in front of them, my dark skin resembled filth compared to their beautifully pampered and golden skins. I was nothing, with my rags, compared to their brands, their jewels and their beautiful children.

The only light I got was from the tiny window at the corner, I would catch the slight glimpse of the moon sometimes, it gave me hope. It's been two days since I last ate, I grew used to it, the most I went without food was 5 days, but Sir never knew, he thought Madame gave me all those yummy large Mcdonald meals. I never dared to bite out of any of little Hamad's food, he had offered me countless times a bite of his chicken nuggets, it took every ounce of me to say no, whilst my mouth watered, watching him eat. I was forced to throw out the rest of his food, not to touch any of it, his mother tended to watch me do it, to be sure that I didn't steal a bite.

Two more years.. and your VISA will be done with, you'll go back home. To Chipo, to your daughter. Just two more years, you can do this.

That voice is what kept me going, soon enough my tears were too dried up to flow out of my eye sockets anymore. My body grew used to the pain and the hunger, they were it's new friends.

My new friends.

Friends.

I've forgotten the meaning of... friends.

-

*A wake up call to everyone. I am not saying EVERY Arab or even non Arab families treat their housekeepers this way, but they DO exist. The fact that the character in my story couldn't have any proper food, and the fact that she can't sit on couches but only on the floor? Those parts are TRUE. (Of course Manila doesn't exist, I made it up but I based the things that happened in the story on some true parts) t I have met, MYSELF, in PERSON, housekeepers who have told me their stories. No they are NOT lies, allah ya7fi'9hom w yisa3idhom, this is the harsh reality of how some people treat their workers. In our own religion, we are advised to treat workers, non-Muslims, as brothers/sisters.

One question.

Is THIS how you treat your brothers and sisters?

ABOUT POSTS & CONTESTS.

Eid is coming up AND my university midterm exams. DO NOT ask me when will I post or t7inoun on posts, please! I appreciate every read who has been patient and has let me post on my own time. I will not post everyday and I never know when I post, I just do and then I tweet to everyone that I've posted. I need to study, celebrate Eid AND take care of the contest.

I also need my winners for Le Chase before writing the next post, that's my priority before writing the next chapter.
As for the contest and when I'll announce the winners, I need at least a day to read everyone's entries, I have entries sent to my email and on my ask, it will take ages! And I have to be super fair and pick people that I will be able to write about. If you don't win, it doesn't mean your personality sucks or isn't different or as unique! If I could, I would write about each one of you but imagine direct messaging 80 people a day just to ask them about ONE post. That's HELL.

Just because I got male submissions, does not mean every guy can easily win since there's less guy competitors, if you did not write a detailed or a good persona about yourself then you will be replaced with a girl who has. Keep this in mind men!

My ask.fm is open for contest related questions or entries, I will not reply to people nagging on me for posts or comments, because I honest-to-God, do not know when I will post, mu ga3da a3anid a7ad w agoul "madre" to piss anyone off, I just honestly don't know. If you want a good post, you need to give me time to get my ideas sorted out and I have university right now, it's not high school, and even if it was, it would still be hard to manage a blog with high school or university aside. Plus I've been sick as hell these 2 days, I can't even attend my quizzes, you guys want me to write a post with this huge headache? Call me a de3la, but I won't write a very horrible post, this is my blog and I want to keep it as good as I can make it, so I will never write a bad post just to keep people pleased, I need to please myself too or else I'll hate my own stories.

Thank you so much for understanding and for all the readers who entered the contest, good luck! This is 100% fair, I will not choose a person just because their appearance was great but their personality was bad, whereas another person may have had a more honest appearance and a great detailed personality written down, or picking a Kuwaiti over an Emirati (for example). I will try to pick a group of readers who are different from one another., so example I pick 1 Emirate, 1 Syrian, 1 Kuwait, 1 Saudi with great detailed entries. You can be any age, I will not change ages, if you're 12 years old and another girl is 17 years old, I can perfectly place you in my story with your age. W maku shay esma wa96a with me, if you know me personally, I love you to death but it won't mean you will win easily, same thing with people who commented first, it's not about timing, it's about the quality of the entries.

Thank YOU, every each one of YOU, who read my stories. The BEST audience a blogger could ask for, all of you are amazing and so considerate, wishing me get well soons everywhere and defending me, I am forever grateful to everyone! If I could, I would write 20 chapters in one day 3shankom. I WISH I didn't have university to worry about, if I had all the time in the world, I would devote myself to the blog and you guys. You all are a great blogger family to you, I just don't want any of you to misunderstand me of being mean or annoying with posts. So if anyone asks "where's the next post 6aweltay!" I'm sending you a link to this post, bagoulekom men al7een. :p

I can't wait to pick my winners for Le Chase and my new story! If this works out, I might do this again for my next next story. Please know that even if there will be real true characters, I will still add fictional ones to do the dirty work mostly, be smart, all the events will be made up so you can never point your fingers at any of my real characters and blame them for doing such a thing. It won't be 100% accurate but I'll try my best to make it that way. And my characters (the real ones) have the choice of staying anonymous, if they pick that choice then NO ONE'S questions about who they are will be answered, capiche? And no one has the right to be like "that girl HAS to be Flana Al X!" I know the drama of being anonymous, I was anonymous myself, stop your ligafa-ness and just enjoy the story, it's the person's choice to remain anonymous or not, respect it because it was their amazing entry that made the story even better with their true characteristics.

Hint: my next story is fantasy genre, not realistic at all, so imagine adding realistic people to the mix?  And it will be in 100% English, no one can change my mind about this decision, it's been ages I've wanted to write FULL English posts, I'm sorry if this will annoy any of you but I promise you there's loads of Arabic blogs you can switch to if you hate the No-Arabic part of my next story. 

New deadline for the contest is Wednesday, so Tuesday around midnight, I will disable comments and no one can add more entries or change their entries.

Readers Contest

I've had this idea for a while but I didn't know how to do it properly, I finally know how to do it now.

I need four readers.

This is what will happen.

The first two readers will be added to Le Chase as two main characters. Two other readers will be chosen for my new upcoming story, as again, two main characters.

One will be a guy, one will be a girl. It's just like adding real people into a fictional story and seeing how the story changes around.

This is how you apply to the contest, I will want you to send me things about you, on my ask. (www.ask.fm/vieblogue) or COMMENT on this post. NOW you can comment on my posts, I took off the restrictions of commenting. I prefer it you comment on this post so you can write as much as you want.

RULES: (ANYONE can join, no matter how old you are, where you come from, or even what language you can speak.)

1) You must attach your twitter username to your comment. So I'll know how to contact you. Anything sent to me via dms or on my whatsapp/bbm (to the people who personally know me) will not be accepted.

2) You need to tell me 5 things about yourself:

• FIRST NAME, last name is NOT needed. AND YOUR AGE.
• Your appearance, describe yourself. Your hair colour (if you wear a 7ijab, then skip this hair question and tell me how you were your 7ijab; turban style? Cotton style? Black simple? Colourful? Anything you want.), your eyes, your skin colour, your body type, your style in clothes, etc etc, add anything here about how you look like.
• Personality, are you strong? Loud? Funny? Obnoxious? The most unique personalities, are the kind I'm looking for, so don't be vague or general! Describe yourself in detail, in and out. It would be nice to know which country you come from too, it's an extra part of yourself you can add. The MORE you write, the BETTER. Super short entries have less of a chance of winning.
• Which story do you want to be added to? Le Chase or my new upcoming story?
• If Thari from Le Chase punched you in the face, what would you do? The question for girls: If Bedour from Le Chase slapped you and stole your husband, what would you do?

3) You have 2 days to write and post this comment (you can change it about), tell me why I should add you in the story. One or two sentences about it, no need to write much about it.

After 2 days, I will DM the winners and close my comments to no one can comment anymore. As I said, I need TWO BOYS and TWO GIRLS. Everything written about you, the description of your personality/the way you behave/your looks, will be TRUE in the story. The events of course, will be fictional. YOU will get a say on what you want to do in the story or how you would behave to a certain situation in the story. YOU will have the choice of either remaining anonymous to my readers or let people know that this character is based on YOU.

2 days starting from today, start commenting! Make your comment as unique as possible, the two readers I choose will be the most different/interesting. I want exciting characters, characters that EXIST and this is your chance, to see REAL characters, in a fictional story I made up.

Deadline: Tuesday 23rd of October (deadline might change if I don't have enough male/female participants) 

Any questions about the contest: www.ask.fm/vieblogue, you will have the choice of wanting to be added to Le Chase, or my completely NEW story. If you're afraid of someone seeing your twitter username on my comments, then simply put a number or a nickname, for example:

"***, ***, **, from: 534233 or from: girlfromtheblock"

Then go to my ask.fm and say: "I am girlfromtheblock and my twitter username is @*******", I will not publish it, I need to know who you are and I will not announce the winner if I do not have their twitter username, because anyone can say 'yeah I swear I was the 5432 person' and lie about it, so make sure you do send me your twitter username after you put a fake name on my comments. 


*COMMENT YOUR CONTEST ENTRIES ON THIS POST. DO NOT DM IT, OR ELSE I WILL LOSE YOUR INFO OR FORGET ABOUT YOU. IF YOU CAN'T COMMENT, GO ON MY ASK AND ENTER YOUR SUBMISSION THERE, BUT THERE IS A CHARACTER LIMIT SO IT WILL BE HARD FOR YOU TO TYPE. AND PUT A SIGN SO I KNOW WHO IS WHO ON MY ASK.FM, IT'S SO MUCH BETTER JUST TO COMMENT ON THIS POST.

Le Chase Chapter 35

Second chapter of the day! I don't think you'll need the "previously in chapter 34.." part since you read it a few hours ago. It's short though, didn't want to take too long on it.

-

"Layal Al-X?" The professor's voice echoed through the classroom. I turned my head and looked at Layal's empty seat. "Absent, okay Leena Al-X?"

"Here." Leena called out. I sighed, rubbing the back of my neck as I continued to stare at Layal's empty seat. It's been two weeks and she's been absent, missing every English class. I didn't even see her at her usual spots around the university, not even at the cafe.

"Well, Thari since you don't have a partner, I guess you have the choice of joining other partners and forming a group of three or finishing this project on your own." The professor walked up to me after he was done with the register.

"It's okay I'll finish it alone." I shrugged, ignoring the fact that all around me were partners of two, girl and boy, speaking in hushed tones about what they were going to write for their project.

"Well then, you won't have to sit this class since it's really just going to be partner work for the next 50 minutes. I won't mark you absent." He gave me a kind smile, I thanked him for his generosity and left the class. I was growing worried about Layal's disappearance, where was she? I knew she made it obvious that she wanted nothing to do with me, this has nothing to do with my ego but I still couldn't believe that she didn't love me.

"Bu Zaid! Wein rayi7?" Jarra7, a good friend of mine bumped into me and greeted me with a light peck on the cheek, his stubble grinding over mine.

"Khale9t men classes, al7een barid, tabe shay?" I asked, not really in the greatest of moods.

"Salamtk yal 7beeb, 3yal khala9 ana bakhaleek, ashoufk bacher enshallah." Jarra7 gave me a hesitant expression but I gave him a smile to avoid questions on why I looked so tired.

"Enshallah." I nodded and forced a smile once again, he looked pleased and finally left. I walked past the tables of the university students lounging about with their friends. I passed Bdour's table, where her and her friends usually sat. She didn't bother me with a glance or smile, after that day months ago, where I publicly rejected her in front of my friends, she backed off.

As soon as I was clear of people and in my car, just the radio on and my eyes staring at the view in front of my car, which was the university building and a few scattered trees under the hot boiling sun. I stared at my Samsung, thinking over and over again if I should call Layal or not. I had her number memorised and I missed listening to her voice, but I wasn't the desperate type, however when it came to Layal, I changed from a steel man to someone who was helpless.

It couldn't hurt to try calling, just once. Just to ask about her. I dialled her number with the touch of my fingers and patiently heard the phone ring.

"Aloo?" After a few rings, she finally answered. Her voice sounded tired and I could hear a beeping sound in the background, but other than that, it felt like she was somewhere quiet and isolated. It sounded like I just woke her up, I looked at the time and it was 3:40pm.

"Layal?" I quietly said, feeling like if I made my voice louder I'd disturb her.

"Thari, are you okay?" Her voice cracked, she sounded worried about me. 

"Shouldn't I be asking you that question? Ma dawemtay.. 9arlech esbou3ain, wainch Layal?" I asked her, my finger tips pressing into the steering wheel of my Range Rover.

"Bas maree'9a shway, ma feene shay el7amdellah," she coughed slightly in the background. "You're okay? Cus you don't usually call. I mean, in the past few weeks, after, uhm, you know. That talk we had."

"Eee asif az3jtch bas kent ga3d as2al 3anch..." I wanted to smack myself for being stupid, calling her after she wanted nothing to do with me. But at the same time, I didn't believe her. I kept hearing the beep in the background.

"Entay bel mustashfa Layal?" I suddenly asked her, worrying even more about her.

"La2 shaku! Ga3da uhm, eb frashy bel bait bas feene 7arara, b3ad chem youm barid adawem enshallah, okay al7een tabe shay okhouy mawjoud bel bait ma agder a7acheek." She started to talk really fast, blabbering about.

And then, that was how I knew she was lying.

"7ilfay ench mu ga3da bel mustashfa." I challenged her.

"Tara mu zain na7lif wayed asasan, shfeek ma et9adigny? Ga3d etgoul ene chathaba y3ne?" Layal suddenly started to sound mad, causing me to question my gut feeling that said she wasn't okay.

"La2 la2 asif Layal mu qa9de.." I bit the inside of my cheek, yearning to make the phone conversation longer but she was obviously trying to end it. "Salamat ma etshoufeen shar enshallah."

"Allah yisalmik el shar ma yeek, yalla I have to go, bye." Layal tried to strengthen her voice, it didn't sound as tired as it did at first and she quickly hung up on me before I could word a "bye".

A sudden knock on my window startled me. I looked up and found 3abbas outside my car. I clicked on the button for the window to roll down.

"Hey, shfeek bitrid embacher? Mu 3ndk class?" 3abbas asked me, a book perched under his arm.

"6ala3ne embacher, 3abbas I need a favor," I suddenly said, I couldn't ignore my gut feeling.

"Yeah sure, what's up?" He asked, stuffing his blackberry into his pocket to pay more attention to our conversation.

"Remember when you tracked my Mom's iPhone gabel chem shahar?" I asked.

"Eee akeed, laish?"

"I need you to track Layal." 

Le Chase Chapter 34

I hope everyone's having a great weekend! I sure am, I want to say thank you to every person who clicks on my blog and just reads my words, and to every supporter who had my back since day one and continues to support me today. Even if you just joined the Masquerade family, thank YOU. I will be forever grateful to have met and to have been writing for such a beautiful audience, no matter how many haters I've come across, every one of YOU make all of this worth it.

This chapter goes out to the beautiful Badriya! HAPPY BIRTHDAY! This one goes out to you, I've written some parts of this chapter just for YOU and your lovely birthday, you'll know which parts I mean once you get reading.

THANK YOU ALL, again! Just really, THANK YOU.

-

Previously in Chapter 33:

After that, I left her and left the cafe, walking to my car with my head drooped down, disappointment filling me. I was about to climb into my car but something stopped me.

Layal's voice.

"Thari!"

-

"Halla?" I turned around to find Layal hurrying up to me, her left hand holding her veil around her hair, afraid it'll fly away as her feet were gliding in a fast pace.

"I k-know we're not talking.." She began, looking nervous.

"And it wasn't my choice." I bluntly replied.

"Thari you lied to me!" My words angered her, her tone angered me.

"I called you a thousand times, you didn't even let me explain! Was I that easy to forget Layal?" I let everything out, using hand gestures to show her how much I meant every word.

"Thari shaku-"

"Layal, I only lied about knowing your brother Ebrahim, and only about him." I fired back, finally getting my chance to speak.

"And the smoking? Don't lie and say you didn't smoke! I see you smoke everyday now." Layal spat at me in disgust, hating anything to do with cigarettes. Her face was full of fury, her eyes not looking into mine and her body rigid.

"Laish ma sa2alteeny Layal?" I sighed. "That was the first time I started to smoke, I needed something to kill the stress, there were so many things going on and I needed you, but all I found was a message from you saying a harsh goodbye, without even giving me a chance to speak for myself."

Her fury evaporated and her eyes grew moist; "Things like what?"

"I'm going to have a new sibling, a half sibling. And my parents are divorced now, that day, my mother went missing and when I found her, she wouldn't come back to the house and we were stuck with my Dad and his second wife." I babbled on, trying to summarise everything. "Khala9 ely 9ar 9ar, w al7een elwa'93 9ar a7san, laish yeeitay al7een? After nearly 4 months? What else do you want to blame me for? Mu kafee ely feene?" The sun over us sliced through our skins, making the conversation even more heated than it already was.

"Happy birthday," Layal said in a quiet voice, her eyes finally meeting mine, a tear spilling over her gorgeous looking eyes.

"What?" I grew silent.

"It's the 15th of February. Your birthday," Layal continued, she looked cautious.

"Oh." So my own birthday slipped my mind and even 3abbas's mind. I didn't really care for such things, usually it was the girls who made such a big deal out of one day, what was so special of growing up to be a year older? I was guessing I got my birthday wishes all over my twitter by now but I stopped using both my twitter and blog account, avoiding most people.

"Bas?" I asked, hoping she'd say more.

"Bas." Layal nearly whispered, disappointing me even further.

"Even after what I just told you?" I asked, dumbfounded.

"I hope you have a good birthday today." She ignored me, she gave me a sad smile, her eyes looking down at my hand that held a cigarette pack before turning around to give me her back, to walk off. All I did was watch her, speechless of what had just happened.

"What happened? To us?!" I yelled at her, causing her to stop midway. It wasn't possible, could she have changed that much in a few months? Could I have changed that much?

"Layal don't walk away from me!" I yelled again, sprinting after her, not letting my last chance to get ruined, this was the chance 3abbas told me about and I was going to seize it. She turned around once I caught up with her, her cheeks were damp and wet.

"Don't you love me?" I asked her bluntly.

"No I don't," Layal said, her voice cracking.

"Your tears don't agree." I saw through her lies, I sighed once again, hating the fact she was crying in front of me and I couldn't do anything.

"Usually the mind disagrees with the heart." Layal looked away.

"Give me a second chance."

"Thari why can't you understand?!" Layal exclaimed in frustration.

"Entay mu ga3da etgouleenly shay 3shan afham!"

"W-we don't have a future." Layal's words stabbed me. She sounded so sure of it and I couldn't help but disagree with her, no matter how confident she sounded.

"Is that what you're worried about? Layal ba7achy obouch 3shan akh6ibich! You're never going to be a girlfriend to me, you'll be my wife, Layal just give me a second chance and I'll make everything happen, I promise. Layal its my birthday." I used the birthday excuse, I had to sugar coat it, I needed her to say yes.

"I don't love you." Her eyes hardened but I could see the moistness still lingered, the tears were threatening to spill over again but it took all of her power to stop them. I got a better look at her eyes this time, they seemed more yellow-ish than as white as it used to be, her face more strained and tired.

And this time, when she turned around to walk away, I didn't chase her.

Soon enough, my chase for Layal had ended.

-

-LAYAL-

My chest ached, it ached with endless pain. Maybe it was the wires going into my arm, or the fact that just a few hours ago, I stood in front of the man I love and pushed him away. The eery smell of the hospital made me feel queasy, I remained in my bed, every part of my body felt dead and weak. And the worst part was that this was just the beginning.

The beginning to the pain that I was about to endure.

"Layal, ga3d y3wrch shay?" My brother, Abdulra7man, tall and confident, stood over me. But his usually confident face was replaced with a worrisome expression, his eyes pitying me.

"La2," I lied. Everything was hurting me, my mind was split in half, one half wishing that Thari was by my side, the other half dreading the the situation I was in. A few days after blocking Thari, I was right about to answer his call, give him a second chance but something stopped me. That day, the first shot of pain hit my left breast, usually it hit me every once in a while but I thought it was because I slept on the wrong side of the bed.

But that day, the pain was too unbearable to handle. And next, came my test results.

"Layal Al-X, 18 years old?" The doctor, short, chubby but had a friendly looking face, walked into the all white painted, medicine scented room.

"I have unfortunate news Layal," The doctor's voice didn't assure me of good news at all, I grew scared and mentally prayed, hoping for some good news after the bad one.

"Allah yastr," Abdulra7man whispered, his voice quivering.

"Your cancer has spread from your breast to your liver through your blood stream, it's third degree sarcoma cancer. This also explains the pain and the yellowness in her eyes."

"Doctor.. explain it in a simpler form please?" Abdulra7man's English was broken, his heavy Arabian accent could be heard.

"Your sister's cancer is growing everyday and I don't think she will be able to live, she will have to fight hard to live. Very hard."

-

**A little awareness for breast cancer.