38

                                    

                                          
Warning: unedited.
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Maryam sauntered back to her room and met Saeed already set for work. Her anger about him stopping her from working suddenly arose. "So he can go to work while I can't?" She muttered underneath her breath and walk pass him. She had no intention at all of speaking to him. 
"Have you done it?" Saeed asked, startling Maryam a bit. She had not expected him to speak to her. 
She cleared her throat dramatically. "Done what?" She asked, pretending to be oblivious to what he was asking. 
"Is she gone?" He rephrased his words, his haze never wavering from hers. 
Maryam signed. "I have already fired her. She will soon leave." 
"Good. I'm off to work." He remarked and when she didn't reply, he continued. "Please take very good care of yourself and our babies." 
Maryam restrained herself from rolling her eyes. With one last look at him, she lay down on the bed, turning her back on him. 
"Okay then. I will try to be back early today so I can help you with some of the house chores." Maryam heard him say before the door slammed indicating he just left. 
With a heavy heart, she turned around and her gaze lingered on the door. She felt extremely bad for how she just treated her husband. She felt bad for not wishing him well before he left like she always did. She felt bad for not kissing him and praying for him. She felt bad for snubbing him while he was talking to her. She was not used to doing all these at all. It was an entire new thing for her. But despite the guiltiness she felt, she had to remind herself why she was going all these - why she was giving him the cold shoulder. "I'm sorry, habibi." 
Minutes later, she ambled straight to Manal's room to see how she was faring. On pushing the door open, she met Manal lying on the bed and flipping pages of her little magazine. A huge smile appeared on her face, but instantly turned into a frown as she remembered why she wasn't at work - because of her children. She shook her head a little in an attempt to spurn the thought from her mind. She walked closer to her and kissed her on the cheek. "How are you feeling now?" She asked tenderly. 
"Alhamdulilah." Manal replied smiling. 
"Does your arm still hurt?" She inquired. 
"Yes, a little bit."
"Where?" 
"Here, here and here." She pointed, showing her the exact places that was aching her.
Maryam began planting small losses on the spots to numb the pain. "I'll the kiss the pain away." 
"Thank you, ummi." She grinned. 
"Do you still feel anything?" 
"No ummi, the pain is all gone now." 
Maryam's lips tugged up into a smile. "That's good and yes, I came to tell you that Nafisa will be leaving today." 
Maryam watched as Manal furrowed her brows. "She's leaving? Today?" She asked, her eyes almost bulging out of their sockets. 
"Yes. Do you feel bad?" She inquired. 
"No... She doesn't like me." She blurted and her hands flew over her open mouth. 
Maryam's demeanor contorted in confusion. "She doesn't like you? Why? Does she..." She trailed off, not wanting to even harbour the disdainful thought in her mind. Nafisa would never mistreat her daughter, she was positive.