Le Chase, Season 2, Chapter 2

I'm finally back in Kuwait! And ready to post.

Before you read the post, please just read these words, they're important.

1- NO curse words or "SAB" on my comments, understand? Get off my blog if you will be rude with your tongue, I have readers who are aged 8 years old and above, (yes I know young kids who read my blog). And I also know my comments are PUBLIC, ANYONE can read those words and I would appreciate it if you keep those words to yourself. Honestly, don't stoop down to such low levels, you're better than this.

2- I understand it's annoying as heck to wait for a post but I have a life. It doesn't mean I'm busy 24/7, yes I have free time sometimes and no, I don't always feel like writing, sometimes I'd rather go out have fun or lay in bed on a lazy day. But I won't say I'll write it on a certain day and break a promise, that's why I don't give out dates. If this annoys you so much then just go to another blogger's story, this is my hobby and I have chosen to continue my old stories for you guys and if I get bad behaviour, I will certainly stop writing them. Writing is a passion, do not turn it into homework for me.

3- I'll schedule my time better so I can write at least a post every week enshallah, this month has just been hectic. As soon as I'm done with the exams and projects this week, I'll handle my blog more enshallah.

This post goes out to the lovely Basma, MJ, Fatma (famousawi) and Melodrama. I know there are a lot of people who defend me and stay so patient for posts, so understanding and are so kind to me all the time. These are a few beautiful girls who have just reminded me today why I love writing so much. I hurried back from the airport and I won't sleep until I write this post for you guys. I've delayed it too long, forgive me and thank you to these beautiful girls and for all the other readers who have been here for me, supporting my stories and being absolutely amazing with everything.

Comments are open again, don't swear please, you can say you didn't like the post or don't like or whatever else you don't like through more appropriate use of words.

Spread kindness y'all! :p

-

Previously in Chapter 1 of Season 2:

"Heyy!" 7amany, my brother, grinned.

"BABA!" Abdullah suddenly woke up, hearing my brother's loud voice.

"Wee, ga3edta." 7amany tried to ignore my glare, it took me an hour to try to get him to sleep.

"Your problem now," I shook my head as Abdullah pounced from my lap and into his father's arms.

"Shloun el filim?" I asked, straightening my messy hair.

"Kan 7lu, Jawa bel sayara al7een na6ratny. Thank you so much for babysitting 3boud while we were out," 7amany gave me a light kiss on the cheek, holding Abdullah with his left arm.

"No problem," Layal smiled.

Layal stood outside of her house, watching 7amany and his wife drive off with Abdullah. She felt queasy, watching the car disappear off into the distance on the grey coloured road. Depression hit her once she was back all alone in big house.

She kept longing for that one thing.

That one thing that God wouldn't grant her with.

-

Thari snuck into the house, his leather Bottega Veneta shoes sliding over the marble floors, the leather grinding over the hard exterior of the ground, causing the shoes to cry out through the sounds of squeaking. He threw his crisply ironed blazer over the couch, the lights were dimmed, he could hear the sounds of the AC whizzing past his ear. It was exactly 1:00 AM in the morning, Layal was probably sound asleep in the bedroom and Thari hadn't even approached the stairs.

He collapsed right onto the luscious feeling couch, the softness of it hugged his body, welcoming him into it's warmth. He closed his eyes for a second, taking a lungful of breath into his mouth.

Slow wisps of sounds entered through his left ear, he heard her toes sliding over the stairs quietly, Layal  had heard the whirr of his engine outside and he guessed she even waited up for him. As she always did, every night. He usually came around midnight but tonight, he purposely stayed out till 1 AM since he always found her awake at midnight, he wanted her fast asleep, it made the guilt easier.

Warmth touched the side of his arm, she was closer now. She didn't murmur his name to make sure he was asleep or not, she got used to him collapsing on the couch for months after he came back from the office. She stopped asking once he stopped answering her with his "mms" or "yes I'm awake" and started ignoring her. 

He could feel her eyes on him, he counted slowly till twenty. Right about now was when she'd grab the blanket and pull it over his body but this time, he reached till forty and he still didn't feel the blanket. He heard sniffs and quiet hiccups, he tried not to move to give away that he was awake and closely listened to her. 

Fifty one... fifty two... fifty three...

Where's the occasional blanket and whisper goodnight? He wondered. Before I could reach the number sixty, he felt her soft lips against his forehead and the heaviness of the blanket pulled over him. A trickle of wetness touched his cheek, he wondered what it was but he remained still, acting asleep. He waited for the sound of her feet walking away, once he heard them on the stairs and the soft click of their bedroom door, he quickly opened up his eyes and stopped acting asleep.

He touched his left cheek, it was wet. A droplet of water had touched his beard and he hoped it hadn't been Layal's tears. The heaviness was still there. 

The heaviness was never from the blanket, from all those nights he acted asleep and she would tuck him in with a blanket. The heaviness was in his chest, from all the guilt he felt from the fact that he kept on this act for so many nights when he knew, she was miserable. He never knew how to face her after knowing he could never see a little boy that resembled him, or a little girl that resembled his wife.

He closed his eyes and embraced the heaviness, keeping it close to his chest as he drifted off to sleep, imagining that it was Layal's arms instead of the guilt that was trapped inside of him.

-

"Layal, hello? Wainch?" Hessa's voice scared Layal, she whipped her head away from the window and looked at her tall friend Hessa. They were work friends and were both at Starbucks with a few other colleagues for their lunch break. Layal's long fingers were wrapped around her white mocha, her thoughts parading everywhere.

"Ha? Kanee kanee!" Layal laughed in a singsongy way, the sound was too fake, even to Hessa's ears. The other girls were too engrossed into the gossip with each other to notice.

"Emshay, khan rou7 el 7amam." Hessa grabbed Layal's arm, pulling her up from the table, ushering her to the bathroom, leaving Layal's drink deserted on the coffee table with the other girls, still chirping about some woman who had been divorced twice and is already pregnant with her third husband.

"Shfeech?" Hessa asked once she made sure the Starbucks bathroom was empty of people. The smell of Dettol soap and coffee beans danced in her nostrils. Layal stared off into space, unable to answer for a few minutes.

"Wela shay," she finally said.

"Etgi9een 3la mnu? Yalla 3ad, goulay." Hessa cocked an eyebrow, leaning her back onto the sink, her peplum shirt perfectly balancing out her curves.

"9ej... bas ta3bana, mu nayma 3adl men ams."

"Raylch 6awal mara thanya, mu?" Hessa guessed. Layal and her had gotten really close ever since they met a few years back when they were both applying for the job and had both luckily got it.

Layal remained silent and simply nodded.

"Hatha athwal?! Laish yisawe feech chithe?!" Hessa barked out in frustration.

"Mashghoul bel bor9a, y3ne 3ade..." Layal sighed.

"Layal we both know it isn't that and the fact that you still wait for him every night is pathetic, enzain?" She lectured. "Where's the hard-to-get Layal?"

"We're married Hessa, ay hard-to-get? Don't you think we're way past that now?"

"So that's it? You're going to follow him around like a lost puppy?"

"I'm his wife."

"He's your husband, he should start acting like one instead of doing this to you every night. He barely talks to you anymore, he's always 'working' and he cancelled your trip to Germany together for the reason of 'being too lazy to go', the heck?" Hessa dwelled on, "And when did he start acting like such a jerk? After he finds out you can't have children! He's not the only one in pain here, he can still have kids, you're the one with the problem and he should understand that you're the one who needs him right now, not the other way round for goodness sakes!"

"Hessa wa6ay 9outch, fashla etha a7ad sema3." Layal hissed, Hessa's voice was echoing in the bathroom but realistically there wasn't anyone around anyway. 

"Mnu eb yesma3ny? You're just shutting me up because you know I'm right."

"Can we go back to our coffees and forget about this?"

"No, you need to keep your husband in line or else you'll be the one getting traumatised." 

"Hessa, we're in Kuwait, not in America, shal 7achee?"

"I don't care where we are, this is wrong, just because he's a man doesn't give him the right to do something wrong. Especially to his own wife. I doubt he even is asleep on that couch, I bet he's faking it."

"He wouldn't, he just wouldn't."

"Tickle his feet tonight, if he squeezes his eyes shut super tight till you see lines then he's awake. It means he's trying his best not to fidget around or laugh, if he was truly asleep then he'll move about but his eyes won't be shut so tight that he'll look weird laying there." Hessa evaluated.

"That's stupid Hessa, seriously."

"Use it tonight and thank me later."

-

Layal waited that night even longer, till 2 AM this time. She heard the familiar whirring of Thari's engine, the door keys jingling and those leather shoes squeaking as he tip toed to the couch. She waited longer this time before going downstairs, she was trying to be normal but she knew she waited longer to give him more time to fall asleep.

After fifteen minutes, she walked slowly down the stairs, as quiet as possible. She stared at his peaceful looking face, he was sound asleep. Of course he was asleep, just look at that angelic face. He couldn't be acting, could he? Layal trickled her fingers over his feet, his shoes were on the ground, his socks right besides the coffee table. She stared right at his eyes, no lines were there, he was breathing in and out slowly.

She tickled between his toes, on the soles of his feet and still no lines on his eyelids from squeezing them too tightly. 

He is asleep.

Layal was about to grab the blanket to automatically tuck him in and go back to bed but she quickly paused once her fingers touched the cashmere blanket next to Thari as she remembered something important. Thari wasn't ticklish in the feet. He could only be tickled on his neck.

Layal took a deep breath, feeling the nervous butterflies swishing around in her stomach. He must be asleep. 

Just do it Layal w khal9ay! A little voice commanded in her head, it sounded a lot like Hessa's scolding voice.

Layal pulled her fingers out and trailed them over Thari neck, tickling it slightly. She watched his eyes, they crinkled slightly and the eyelids formed small wrinkles of lines, he looked as if he was shutting his eyes too tightly, trying to stop something from happening. He was trying to stop himself from laughing, his mouth twitched once before he regained control.

Hessa would have encouraged Layal to tickle some more until he finally admitted to being awake but Layal was too emotional, she snatched her fingers away and simply stared at Thari, his face calimg down instantly and his eyelids smoothing out automatically after her fingers stopped tickling his neck.

He didn't fidget or move around like a normal person would do while asleep, he stayed frigid and looked stressed out as he tried to compose his posture so badly to keep his act.

Layal felt as if someone tore her heart out of her chest and squeezed it with their long sharp nails, digging into those veins. For months, he had been acting, for months.

Thari must have reached a hundred, counting, waiting for Layal's occasional blanket, but this time, Layal took the blanket and threw it over his lap, hard.

"You tuck yourself in tonight, I'm done doing it." Layal snapped at him, knowing he was listening. What disgusted her even more was that he continued acting asleep, making Layal doubt for a second that he was really acting or not but the fact that his hands squeezed over the blanket made her 100% sure that he was still acting.

That night, Layal didn't sleep with a pillow case full of lonely tears or a frown on her face, she slept with a heavy heart and an angry expression.

-

"Where are we going?" Thari asked 3abbas, who had offered to carpool with him to work this morning when Thari woke up in the morning, seeing his car taken by Layal. He kept thinking over her words from last night, knowing she probably found out that he was acting that he was asleep for months just to avoid her. The guilt increased and he dreaded seeing her, afraid of an argument but at the same time, he was hoping so badly to talk to her and to at least explain. But explain what? What was his reason? Did he even have a good one? Thari was worried, couldn't even defend himself.

"Somewhere," 3abbas had taken a different route and Thari didn't recognise it but he was sure that it didn't take them to the office.

3abbas parked in front of a local Starbucks and gestured to it, making Thari follow him inside.

"Grabbing a coffee before work y3ne? Tara el hindi ely yishtighl 3ndna isn't that bad at making us coffee, mu ela enrou7 darb bas 3shan gahwa, 6awelna tara." Thari complained, gesturing to his Rolex rose gold watch. He hated being late to the office, especially when he knew he had a meeting in an hour and he wanted to make sure he had a good breakfast before it.

"Shd3wa, emsh bas emsh," 3abbas walked into the coffee brewing cafe. There was nobody around, just a woman sitting by herself by one of the tables with a coffee in her hand. Thari went straight to the cashier to order but 3abbas passed him and walked to the table where the woman was. Thari stood besides the cashier, confused. 3abbas looked back at him, walking towards him to grab him and force him to follow.

"Ahlain," the woman purred. Her cat shaped eyes looked over to 3abbas and then to Thari, her hair was pulled down to loose waves and her angular face looked young and fresh. Her dress was cut slim on her body, hugging her barely there curves but her dark short hair brought her pale flawless skin into view.

"Thari, hathee Aisha. Vice versa." 3abbas introduced us, ignoring my very confused expression on my face. He sat in front of her, leaving the seat besides her for me. I was forced to sit besides her, I wanted to grab another chair or pull the chair closer to 3abbas but the table was tiny, there was no space.

"Shlounch?" 3abbas asked the woman, completely ignoring Thari. It angered him even more.

  The heck? Why is he bringing me to a cafe to this strange woman without an explanation? Is she some girlfriend of his? How could he even cheat on his wife? Thari's thoughts whizzed about.

"Zaina el7mdellah, entow shlounkom?" Aisha smiled, she had a gap in her two front teeth but her nose remained straight, her teeth glistening white.

"Tamam," 3abbas answered and waited for Thari to do the same, but he ignored the question altogether and glared at 3abbas. He was about to stand and storm out of the cafe but 3abbas's next move stopped him.

"Dgeega, ana bas barou7 el 7amam okay? Khalkom ga3deen," 3abbas patted Thari's back, Thari wanted to so badly punch 3abbas in the face and twist that hand of his. His temper was getting out of control now, especially once 3abbas left both Thari and the so called Aisha woman alone together.

"So..." Aisha dwelled on, looking at Thari with an intrigued expression on her young face.

Thari simply ignored her, he wouldn't even look at her. He acted as if there was something super interesting on the wall in front of him.

Ana male sheghl bel mara, 3abbas always has to get me in his dirty business. I'll show that jerk. Thari was plotting an evil plan to get back at 3abbas, ignoring the woman altogether. 

"Thari, it's a bit weird that you're avoiding this." Aisha stated.

"Avoiding shnu?" Thari said in a disgusted tone.

"3abbas told me that you were interested, I guess you're not anymore." Aisha cocked a strongly arched eyebrow at Thari.

"Interested in what?" Thari's forehead furrowed in confusion.

"Didn't 3abbas tell you anything?" Now Aisha seemed confused.

"Tell me what?" Thari questioned, Aisha pursed her ruby lips slightly before she started speaking but her words were muffled because of the sudden noise appearing behind him. He was turning around to give the ladies creating all this noise an annoyed glare but he met two familiar wide coloured eyes that he loved so much.

Layal stood staring at Thari and the woman with him in pure shock, the girls with her were too busy chatting loudly but one of them stood with Layal, glancing at Thari too, with a disgusted expression on her face.

"He didn't tell you about us meeting so we would you know, maybe get married? I don't mind that you have a first wife, if she doesn't mind that she has to share," soon, Thari caught the words from Aisha's mouth, but he was stuck in between both of the women.

And the man had no idea what to do.

-

* If there are any mistakes, please tell me! I'm half asleep, I had a rough day at the airport so excuse any mistakes. I'll fix them if you list them in your comments, oh and please comment if you can! I would love the feedback, thank you so much. :D