Masqué Chapter 18

Not a VERY long post or a very short one, it's kind of medium length, but it's better than nothing, right? I'll be in Kuwait by after tomorrow then enshallah I'll be posting more. :D Just like the old times. xx

I love every feedback I get, any other silent readers that haven't commented yet? I'd love to hear from you! :D

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"Fawaz? Ghalia?" I stuttered unbelievably, my eyes switching from Ghalia's lit up face to Fawaz's innocent one.

"Surprise!" Ghalia grinned.

Mu wakta..

"Haha, uhm, great surprise." I said in a shocked tone, trying to act happy.

My eyes swerved to what was behind Ghalia and Fawaz. It was a black Silverado. My mother probably needed her car and the other cars were already taken by Bibi and Turki.

My only way out of here was that pitch black Silverado. I looked down to Fawaz's hands, he was clutching the Silverado car keys.

"Uhm, 7amdellah 3la salama!" I cheered, gripping Ghalia's hand to pull her in for a hug.

"Allah yisalmich love!" Ghalia grinned. I felt guilty of what I was going to do next.

I moved to Fawaz to shake his hand, his other hand was holding a suitcase so his left hand, which was holding the car keys, was extended to the front to shake my hand.

I took this chance to grab the car keys out of Fawaz's hands.

Fawaz looked startled, I grabbed the keys and ran behind Ghalia and Fawaz over to where the Silverado was. I unlocked the car quickly and got in.

"Amal!" I heard both of my friends cry out.

"I'm sorry!" I yelled once I was in the car, I pushed the car keys into the ignition, pressed on the brake and then on the pedal to start the car. Fawaz was hurrying over to the car but he was too late, once he started running, the car was already moving, driving me out of my parent's large estate.

Amal, you idiot. You don't know where the bidi3 is, ma 9arlech akthar men sharein ga3da bel Kuwait!

I drove aimlessly around, wanting to smack my head against the steering wheel. I dialed the only number I counted on.

Saif's.

Saif answered my call in a heart beat, I tried to forget about what happened between us today. That could wait, Bibi couldn't.

"Hey." Saif said groggily through the phone. Was he asleep? It was probably his medicine.

"Uhm, asfa etha g3dtik bas shloun arou7 el bidi3?" I asked nervously, trying to ignore how good his voice sounded.

"Laish betrou7een elbidi3?" Saif asked in a curious tone.

"Bat3asha." I lied.

"M3a mnu?" Saif asked in a caring tone.

"My friends." I lied again.

"Ey friends? I want names." Saif ordered.  

Ohoo, mu wakta you start acting like a boyfriend now.

"Al7een betgouly wein el bidi3 wla la2? I can call Nawaf and ask him instead if you have a problem with me going there." I lied again, I didn't even have Nawaf's number.

"Nawaf? Mu giltlch etwakhreen 3ana? Khala9 khala9, ta3alay 3ndena, ana bawadeech." Saif's tone turned from controlling to jealous at the mention of his brother Nawaf's name.

"Laa2, ma y9eer, my friends are with me right now, they're all girls. So 3aib." The lies kept slipping out of my mouth.

"Etha refejatich m3ach 3yal shloun ohma ma yidiloun?" Saif asked in a smarta** tone.

Amal, you IDIOT.

"They're, uhm, my friends from Switzerland, they're visiting me." I pressed the palm of my hand against my forehead once I stopped the car as the traffic light went red. The windows were scrolled down and my eyes were staring at the road in front of me. I was lost.

"Hallaa bel zain." I heard a deep male voice call out. I turned to the left and found a guy with 7an6awy skin, a Hackett shirt on and his mischievous eyes were staring into mine. He had a grin plastered over his face as he was showing off his red Lamborghini.

"Amal, mnu hatha?!" Saif's voice startled me.

"Mnu mnu?" I acted dumb. Please red light, turn green. Please! 

The red light disobeyed me out of stubbornness, staying red and bright, forcing me in my place.

"Yal thgeela, riday 3laay." The Lamborghini dude called out in a flirtatious tone.

"Amal, I can hear that guy ely ga3d yighazlich! Entay weinich? I'm coming." I heard Saif stumble through the phone in his room, his crutches falling to the ground as he tried to push himself out of bed.

"Saif tssshhh, I can't, tsshhh, hear, tssshhh, you." I kept making 'tsshhh' noises before hanging up on Saif, acting like there was no signal. I took a deep breath and regretted what I just did.

Now I was lost, trapped and I didn't have Saif next to me. I didn't want to depend on him. Maybe it was because of the jealousy I felt towards him and Asmaa, being too close together. They way he didn't fight off Asmaa's hand on his arm.

My iPhone was vibrating on my lap, I looked down and saw that Saif was calling me back. I decided to press "Decline" to ignore his call. I decided to dial our driver's number, luckily, he answered quickly.

"Yes Madame Amal?" He said into the phone. I ignored the stare I was getting from yucky Lamborghini dude.

"Hi Naif, where is bidi3?" I asked, biting down on my lip. Naif was kind enough to stay on the phone with me to tell me each detail of the address to Bidi3.

After 50 minutes, I finally was outside bidi3. It was a long stretched road with restaurants like Chocolate Bar or Fridays stuck together. I was looking for a place to park the car but my eyes found someone familiar.

I found Bibi in her casual jeans and spiked blazer standing outside of Chocolate Bar. There were two men standing next to her. One was tall with huge muscles that were trying to tear out of his body and the second one was short and skinny, his bones visible through his shirt. Both of the men had grins on their faces and Bibi's face was overshadowed with fear.

I had to take action. I parked the car in front of another car, not bothering to look for a legal parking spot. It wasn't my car anyway. Sorry Fawaz, desperate times call for desperate measures.


I swung the car door open, hopped out of the car and hurried over to where Bibi was standing all alone with the two guys.

"Amal!" Bibi breathed out in relief once she saw me. She was clutching her Vera Wang cross bag to her chest, her innocent almond eyes full of fright.

"Allaah, mnu hathee?" The tall guy looked over to me, his eyes mentally undressing every piece of clothing I was wearing. Now I could see both of their faces, they both looked around 23-25 and they had perverted eyes that gloated whenever they caught sight of a girl.

I grabbed Bibi by her wrist, pulling her along and forcing her to follow me but the tall guy's chunky hands grabbed my shoulders, forcing me to stop. There weren't any people around us, it was a week day and it wasn't dinner time exactly. It was also still too hot for people to sit outside, all of them were clustered inside the restaurants, too busy having their mouth dug into her food to pay much attention to us.

So we were pretty much alone.

The tall guy's hands were too strong, I was forced to stop in my place.

"La etjeesny!" I ordered, trying to sound confidence but my heart was stammering inside my chest. The fear was exceeding, I had never been in this kind of situation before.

"La etjeesny!" The short skinny guy imitated me, trying to sound girly. The tall guy growled with laughter, finding it funny. Bibi was holding onto my hand, I could feel her hands shaking, she was scared.

I didn't blame her.

I was scared too.

These guys were Thamer and Sultan. The guys Asmaa's friends were frightened of.

"Entow ma etwansoun, hiiifff." The tall guy groaned in annoyance, he forced me to turn around to face him. He had a narrow nose, a wide mouth and his eyes were small but they held danger behind them.

"Please let us go." Bibi squeaked out. The skinny short guy was touching Bibi's hair, trying to sniff it with his dirty nostrils.

"But the fun has just started." The skinny guy grinned, showing off his dirty teeth. I caught the scent of his breath, it smelled like tobacco. A smoker. He had bushy eyebrows and a rugged beard that covered most of his ill looking face.

"Yalla!" The tall guy roared, his voice ordering us to follow him. We had no choice, his hand was gripping my arm as he ushered us into Chocolate Bar. I couldn't help but notice the stares we were getting by other people who were seated in the restaurant.

They were giving us dirty looks, they assumed it was our choice to go out with these two guys, as if it was a date. But the guys weren't guiding us to a table to sit with them, they were guiding us to a back door that led to a parking area behind the restaurant.

A thought crept into my mind as we were walking pass the people, towards where the back door was.

Amal, there are people. PEOPLE.

"WAKHER 3ANI!" I screamed out, pushing the tall guy off of me. Suddenly, every head in the restaurant turned to look at us in shock. We were still in the middle of the restaurant, we had a chance to escape. We could get help.

"Hey, ush!" The tall guy's eyes widened in shock, his hand tightened around my arm.

"LA TEMSIKNY!" Bibi followed my lead, her scream was aimed at the skinny short guy. Bibi's feet dug into the short guy's foot, causing him to scream out in pain.

"AAA7! Bas ana ma misaktich!" The short guy said in a confused and painful tone, he noticed the attention we were attracting and suddenly was embarrassed.

"Hey, sh9ayer?!" A man's voice boomed. I turned around to find a tall man in his late 40's wearing a dishdasha, he was having dinner with his wife and his 8 year old looking daughter.

"Wla shay, 7beebty madry shfeeha." The tall guy grinned easily.

"ANA MU 7BEEBTIK! WAKHER!" I screamed again, causing everyone in restaurant to stare at us. One of the waiters in Chocolate Bar hurried over to us with stricken face.

"Excuse me! You two men, LEAVE or I will call the police!" The waiter barked, the manager of the restaurant was standing behind the waiter with a scowl on his face.

The tall guy was forced to let go of my arm, he gave me a death stare before turning around to leave the restaurant. The short skinny guy followed him out of the restaurant, trying to ignore all of the stares.

"Are you girls okay?" The kind Filipino waiter asked in a worried tone, he had a metal piece stuck to his shirt that said "PAUL".

"Eee, sawow shay?" The old man in the dishdasha asked, his hand holding his Porsche blackberry, ready to call the police.

"We're okay, thank you." I stuttered out, my throat feeling rough because of the screaming we had to do.

"Bibi! Amal!" I heard a familiar voice call out. I turned to the right and found Nawaf in his sweat pants and shirt, his worried eyes were on us. Behind him was Saif, he was holding onto his crutches and trying to hobble as fast as he could towards us.

"Kela minik!" Bibi hissed to Nawaf before storming out of the restaurant, I was forced to follow her out before we attracted any more attention. The guys followed us out, reassuring the restaurant that they were our cousins and not rapists who wanted to kidnap us next.

"Bibi, ne6ray!" Nawaf called out, running after her. Nawaf and Bibi were walking in the opposite direction, letting Saif and I alone.

"Amal, wein ray7a?" Saif said in between heavy breaths, he was holding onto his crutches, he couldn't walk as fast as Nawaf or me.

"Barid el bait w bakhith Bibi m3ay." I replied in a cool tone.

"Hey, ma ra7 etsougeen! Laish chathebtay 3lay? Who were those guys Amal?!" Saif angrily called out, his gentle hand clasped my wrist, stopping me in front of the Silverado.

"Ma7ad, khala9 bas rou7! Asmaa's waiting for you." My jealousy got the best of me.

"Amal, 6al3eeny!" Saif's tone wasn't angry anymore.  I didn't listen to his command. Saif grabbed my shoulder, turning me around with his strong arms. I was forced to meet his eyes, I noticed now that he was still in the same shirt I saw him in earlier today in the afternoon.

I also couldn't help but notice that his leg had a bloody gash.

"Saif." I gasped, looking at his leg which was bleeding all over again.

"Amal etghareen 3lay?" Saif said in a playful tone and ignored me, staying on the subject.

"Saif, your leg is bleeding!" I looked into the Silverado and saw Fawaz's maroon Hollister hoodie. I grabbed it out of the car and crouched down to the ground to wrap it around Saif's bleeding leg.

"Amal, don't worry." Saif watched me. "It's the strawberry cake Asmaa made me today."

Oh, nice. 

Real nice Saif.

I stood up, grabbing Fawaz's hoodie and trying to clean off the strawberry stain off of it. I smelled the stain just in case and Saif was right, it was strawberry syrup that was on his leg bandages. Not blood.

"Enshallah 3ijebik el cake, khaleeha tenfi3k." I gave Saif a fake smile before swinging the door of the car open, ready to climb into the car.

"Amal!" Saif let go of his crutches, letting them fall down to the ground so he can wrap his arms around my waist, lifting me off of the car seat and forcing me down onto the ground. I had my back against him so I could only feel his chest and his soft breath on my neck.

"Saif." I said in a controlling tone, using it to send him the message to let go of me. He didn't listen but I heard him hiss under his breath, he was in pain because of his leg and the weight of me that he was carrying.

"Saif, you're hurting yourself, let go of me." I softened my tone.

"Never." Saif replied stubbornly. "Unless you give me a chance to explain."

"Okay khala9, al7een la et3awr rou7ik zyada!" I sighed. Saif let go of my waist but he ended up falling against me because he had nothing to lean onto. He was practically hugging me from behind, but not on purpose.

"Walla asif." Saif kept repeating, he tried to regain his balance but his left leg was in a cast and he didn't have his crutches to hold on. I caught the familiar scent of his perfume, it was hard not get a little dizzy.

"Digeega." I said awkwardly. I let him hold onto me, I turned around so I was facing him. He had his arms on the car but I was in between him and the car, his arms brushing against mine. I leaned to the ground to grab his crutches and helped him to hold onto them. He put a hand on my shoulder as he tried to regain his balance once more.

He wasn't touching me anymore, he had his crutches to keep his balance but I couldn't help but notice that his cheeks had turned red, as red as mine.

Man, it was awkward.

"Okay." Saif breathed out in relief. "Hey, digeega, who's hoodie was that?" Saif's eyebrows knitted together in confusion, he got distracted by Fawaz's hoodie and never got to the explanation I was waiting for.

"What hoodie?" I asked in a dumb tone, I was distracted by what happened a few seconds ago. Saif grabbed Fawaz's hoodie out of the Silverado and looked at me with eyes that were fully of jealousy.

"Uhm." I had no explanation for that one.  

Shagoul? Oh hey Saif, I stole Fawaz's car to save Bibi from Thamer and Sultan. Oh, you don't know those three guys? 

"Saif, yalla?" I heard Nawaf's voice behind Saif. I looked behind Saif and found Bibi with flustered cheeks. I was guessing that Bibi and Nawaf were okay now, they didn't look like they wanted to kill each other.

"Uhm, eee okay." Saif mumbled, he returned to acting like he had amnesia. "I'm glad you're okay, uhm, was your name Amal?"

"Eee, it's Amal." I said in an emotionless tone but I felt a pang in my heart. I was hurt again, knowing Asmaa would be around him, free to act like she knew him but I had no excuse to be there for him.

Saif's eyes held back feelings only I knew about. He was still angry about the hoodie thing and his eyes sent me the message that said "I'm gonna be back and you better have answers to my questions."

Nawaf checked up on me as well, asking if I was alright. Bibi and I thanked the guys before climbing into the black Silverado. As I drove out of the bidi3, my eyes caught something strange.

I found Asmaa standing with A7mad and Dalia next to A7mad's Lamborghini car outside Chocolate Bar. Their eyes were on the Silverado that I was driving and each of them had an evil grin on their face that said:

"We know everything."