“Where are you going?”Dashtan looked at Rakia, who was passing through the living room wearing black jeans with torn accents on her thighs and a long-sleeved shirt in blue jeans that looked oversized. Rakia rolled up the sleeves of her elbow-length shirt in a rather large roll. She had her hair in a ponytail, but a few strands fell to the side of her face. In Dashtan’s eyes, Rakia looked like fresh meat that provoked the beast inside him to feast on it.“I’m going to meet Lizzy, I’ll be home before dinner,” Rakia said, then continued her steps after turning away from Dashtan.“Want me to take you?” Dashtan immediately asked before the woman had passed entirely.“No. I can-““I’ll take you, come on.” Dashtan decided, and Rakia looked up with a slight chuckle. This morning, she was a little angry with the man because of the kissing incident. Dashtan walked out of the house first, followed by Rakia later. He waited on the porch until she was out because she would lock the door. Dashtan
The aroma of grilled meat covered in spice sauce appetizes anyone who smells it to eat it immediately. Rakia and Dashtan solemnly ate the dishes served at their table for a few minutes.“Ash...,” Rakia called out, which made Dashtan turn to her.“How did you get through all your pain when Dalilah left you?” asked Rakia; she looked at the man curiously. Dashtan sighed loudly.“I don’t know, all I know is... My other self told me that I had to move on with my life. I went to a psychiatrist because for a few months I had trouble sleeping and tended to shut myself away, no desire to work and meet people. I was ashamed of myself.”Rakia looked at Dashtan attentively. She wanted to know a little about the man.“Back then, when I was in middle school, I didn’t have any friends because they didn’t want to be friends with me who was said to be weird and too smart who only liked to study. Dalilah was the only person who wanted to be friends with me back then, and I was happy to have a friend ev
As the clock struck midnight, Rakia woke up from thirst. She winced as she moved her sprained foot and forgot about it, so she slowly lowered her foot to the side of the bed. She thought of a way to get out of bed and walk to the kitchen. She ventured to use her fine foot to rest on, but her sore foot would only tread lightly on the floor. But when she tried, it hurt like hell. Rakia sighed in despair, but when she saw her cell phone on the nightstand, she thought she would call Dashtan. She sent a message through the green app, and luckily, he wasn’t asleep yet. A few minutes later, Dashtan came and walked over to Rakia.“Hi, sorry to make you come here in the middle of the night. Can I get you a drink?” Rakia looked at Dashtan with a pleading face. Dashtan smiled and went to the kitchen to get some water for his wife. Not long after, Dashtan returned to Rakia’s room with a glass of drinking water. He took a seat by Rakia’s side while she was drinking. He gazed at her so intently tha
"You're kidding, right?" Rakia gave Dashtan a probing look of disbelief."That's up to you, whether you believe me or not. I've told you the truth." Dashtan finished his coffee and then looked at Rakia, who seemed to be debating whether to believe."So what do you say? Want to come with me to the dig? I can tell Liam to make you a journalist who will cover the process."Rakia looked at Dashtan in surprise; what a tempting offer. When else could she be part of a team covering and witnessing a historical event? Rakia could see no other answer than to accept the offer. Dashtan looked at the woman waiting; he had already set the bait, just waiting for the fish to grab it."That will be one of the things I will never forget in my entire career. I'm willing," Rakia broke in."But there are conditions." And those words made Rakia again."Well, then I won't be going.""You've already agreed to it; there's no turning back, Rakia...." Dashtan smiled slyly in her mind. Rakia resented the man's d
They ended the kiss by closing their eyes, resting their foreheads against each other, and inhaling as much air as possible to fill their oxygen-deprived lungs."Don't ask for my heart, Rakia...," Dashtan said after she gained the strength to speak."I won't ask for it; I just want us to be honest with ourselves in this marriage." Rakia tried to get the Man to open up to her and go through this marriage without any pretense. Dashtan opened her eyes while Rakia immediately distanced them as she turned to the other side. She took a deep breath and then let it out regularly."I'll try, but if I feel it's beyond my limits, I'll stop."That remark made Rakia look back at the Man; a small smile broke out on her face."That's the spirit. Now, I have to eat and take my medicine; then we'll talk about the excavation later," Rakia said before getting up from the sofa and leaving Dashtan, who was thinking about his decision again. He turned to Rakia, who was hobbling out of his office. He had on
Her cell phone ringing woke Rakia from her sleep after she had made love with Dashtan a few moments ago. But when she woke up and checked her surroundings, she found him nowhere, not even in this room. Rakia covered her body with a thick blanket. It once again looked around for Dashtan, but all she found was her loneliness. Her cell phone ringing had stopped because she didn't answer the call. She let out a long sigh and closed her eyes for a moment."I regret it now," she said, but a second later, she smiled and shook her head weakly. Her cell phone rang again, and she lazily answered the call."Hi, are you awake? Sorry for not waking you up; I had a meeting that I almost forgot about." Dashtan's voice came from the other end of the line. Rakia smiled while biting her lower lip. Her face flushed with embarrassment, but she quickly pulled herself together."Um, thanks for calling, but you still left as you ran away after screwing someone's daughter." Rakia looked down. Dashtan laughed
Dashtan hugged Rakia tightly in their drenched state.“Thank God...,” he whispered while Rakia was still in his arms. He then broke the hug and looked at Rakia with a relieved look on her face.“Come on, let’s go inside; you’ll catch a cold; you have to change,” Dashtan said, carrying Rakia in front of his body to enter the house. He dropped Rakia inside the woman’s bathroom per the woman’s instructions.“You also change; please get me the bathrobe,” said Rakia, who was now sitting on the closed toilet of her bathroom. Dashtan complied and got up from his crouching position in front of Rakia.“I’ll be right here after I change,” promised Dashtan, to which Rakia responded with a nod as she looked at the man with a weak smile of gratitude. As Dashtan left Rakia to get changed, he returned to the pool to retrieve Rakia’s walking stick, placed it in the living room, ran to his room to change quickly, and returned to Rakia’s room with the woman’s walking stick.“Kia...,” Dashtan called, op
Dashtan turned to Rakia as the woman mentioned the name of the woman currently on his doorstep, his face betraying confusion. "Do you know her?" Dashtan asked curiously. "We met at the greenhouse when her mother took her there." Dalilah answered Dashtan's question. The man turned back to his guest. "What brings you here?" Dashtan spoke with no friendly intonation at all. Dalilah was instantly nervous at the man's unfriendly tone with her. She would have had to summon up so much courage and guts to see him alone if not for something urgent that only he could help her with. "I... Want to talk to you, it's urgent, please...," Dalilah pleaded. Rakia, who felt ignored, turned away and returned to the house. Her mind immediately thought of all the assumptions about Dashtan and Dalilah. Everything only led to one conclusion. Rakia chose to return to the kitchen and eat pizza alone. For her, she did her best not to interfere too much with the man's personal life as long as Dashtan didn't