Chapter 48: I Love You Too

"So, you"re telling me that instead of in two days, you"re coming back today?" She said with a voice that did nothing in hiding the kind of happiness she was feeling. She had missed him for almost a week now and just when she was about to start cajoling her heart not to burst out of her chest for wanting him by her side, he called her with such good news.
"Yes, Singleton," he chuckled softly. Even though she had noticed a sense of sadness surrounding him, when she had asked him about it, he said it was just because he was missing her, but Nadia knew he would never sound that said just because he had missed her. "But it depends on what I'll be getting when I get..."
She cut him off excitedly, "Everything! Whatever it is you want, just say it." She heard the sound of his laughter and recalled how desperate she had sounded, which made her yelled a bit, "Yes, whatever! I've missed you like crazy. But please, will you wear your inform while coming back?"
He laughed and nodded his head as though she were looking at him, "Anything for the lady. What else will you like?" She blushed at the thought that had just crossed her mind.
"You shouldn"t come back tired, okay? That dish you"re making isn"t done yet, so, get reading to do some cooking." It was his turn now to shriek softly and her turn to burst into a peal of laughter.
"Nadia?! Subhanallah! Can someone tell me that this woman have turned into?" She was still laughing and covering her face as though he was there for her to be shy.
"What?" She said with a loud voice, "I said nothing wrong! And I haven"t turned to anything, someone turned me into this, don"t you think?" They spoke for almost an hour and she wondered if it was because he wasn"t busy or just because he needed to talk to someone to get whatever it was that was eating him up out of his chest.
"So, you"re taking the next flight? I thought you"re going to fly it yourself?" She heard the soft groan that escaped his lips.
"No, I'll just take a day excuse and be back to see you, I'd be back here in less than 48hours, that isn't a problem. Maybe I should take my yearly leave and we should go to our honeymoon, what do you think?" She smiled widely at the thought of that.
"And we"ll go to Egypt first, right? Let"s recreate the first time you"ve seen me." She said with all the excitement in the world and Hussain grinned.
"This just told me, it was love at first sight for me, are you in love yet, Nadia?" She gasped softly and rolled her eyes even though he wasn"t there to see it.
"Who"s talking about love here? Someone definitely has a dirty mind. Who knows? Maybe he wants to come back to do some cooking, maybe things are killing him over there." She replied with a mischievous grin.
He sounded taken aback at first, silent for a few seconds before he chuckled softly. "Someone has surely gotten bold over the days. Ah! So that"s what is killing you over there too? And you even have to ask me to come over in my uniform? I should"ve taken you along with me." They kept on bickering on each other that if one heard their conversation, no one will ever think that once, these two people hated the guts of each other and were always at the verge of making each other victims of a crime.
By the time they were done with the call, he told her he was only going to take his bathe and walk down to the airport, as the hotel they were in was only a few feet away and he needed the walk. She immediately got to her feet and got with the cleaning of the house, even though there was nothing to clean anymore, but she needed to busy herself before he got back.
And while she was cooking, she had to stop to laugh her chest out, because she had remembered the dish talk they had just had with Hussain. Bree came back with Baby H after she had taken him for an evening walk and Nadia couldn't have appreciated Bree, she was thankful that someone like Sohila was there to take her hands off Baby H for sometimes.
"Bree, will you like to have dinner? It"s my country"s meal, though. Would you like to try? Or Nathan is waiting for you?" She looked at her and then noticed the makeup she had worn and smiled, "Going on a date?" She asked with a soft smile and Bree nodded.
"But can you pack it for me? I'll heat it in the morning. Hussain has once given me a deal he made and I think it"s delicious." She packed it for her and thanked her before Bree quickly left after she had received a call from Nathan that he was waiting for her.
Nadia took Baby H and stared into his face that looked freshed up by Bree and she sniffed his sweet scent. "Sometimes I wish you were an ice cream, Baby H." She laughed at herself and thought she"d need an ice cream, but when she checked the fridge, there was none and she couldn"t remember that she had licked it all.
She sent Hussain a text message, having it in mind that if he landed he"d hopefully see the text and bring along with him, her favorite ice cream. She lit candles in the living room and turned the low light, she"d love to have a slow romantic date night at home with him. She got tired of waiting for him and when the time had passed when he told her he"d certainly be home by then passed, Nadia turned the tv on and started watching, while shuffling through the channels, she caught a headline that made her jolted to her feet and her heart lost its beat.
A plan crashed and there are no survivors. From Ontario, Canada to Florida, United States." No, she did not read that! What happened? She was sure it was the plane Hussain had boarded. Her entire body was shaking as she snatched her phone from the sofa and tried to call his line but it wasn"t coming through. She was already in tears, rushing from one end of the living room to the other, not knowing what to think or do.
"Hussain!" Her lips trembled and she realized he legs weren't strong to take up her weight, she slumped on the floor. "Please, you can"t, okay? You promised me, Hussain, innalillahi." She was crying, trembling and she could feel the way her heart was constricting with so much pain that she didn"t know how to take care of it. "Hussain, please..."
She checked the internet for any information about the passengers but gone none, her vision was blurred with her tears and at any time, she may pass out due to pain and panic. She kept calling his line, sending him messages, in hopes that he would have to reply her but he didn"t. She kept crying at the pitch of her voice, she didn"t know who to call and ask, had never known any of his friends apart from Bree and she didn"t want to disturb their date. Yes, she knew that death had surpassed everything, but she just couldn"t even believe that he was died for her to resort to asking for help.
She"d wait, she thought and curled into a fetus position on the floor while she cried, her eyes a shade of blood and her heart, engulfed by the darkest and most painful emotions to ever be felt by man. She was still crying, thinking of all the things that had transpired between them, all the things she had ever said to him, the hurtful and the good. How she had once wished that he would die in place of Hassan, now that she had lost both of them, Nadia knew she wasn"t strong enough to walk through this.
She closed her eyes at the searing pain that threatened to cut through her entire being. She hadn"t even told him that she loved him, what a life she had lived! Please Hussain, come back, please?" She whimpered softly and broke into even more painful tears.
•
She was still in that position, and at this rate the tears were no longer rushing down, she could only whimper and felt as the pain had already paralyzed her entire being. She had the door being turned and instantly thought that it was Bree, they must"ve heard about the crash and came to see if she was fine, if she had called any of their relatives back home. She didn"t even look up, just ducked her head down as she broke into tears, she didn"t want to hear about it. She didn"t want to listen to anyone that would tell her Hussain was no more. She"d hate that person, she really wouldn"t forgive whoever it was.
Whoever it was rushed towards her and knelt beside her, strong hands lifted her upright by her shoulders and her eyes were too blurred by tears to take a hold of the person"s face. "Nadia..." He whispered, his breath a bit shaky.
Instantly, her eyes shot open and when she took a hold of his facial features and recognized it to be him, she broke into tears and threw herself on him. "Hussain! I thought you were dead. Oh Allah..." She cried terribly, holding him so tight that she might suffocate him with her arms.
He wrapped his hands gently around her and sighed, finally, he was home. And by home, he meant not the building that seemed so familiar. He meant her arms, her body, her smile, this amazing little human that offered him comfort without even trying. This human that comforted his pains and plaster a smile on his lips. This human he would love to have by his side until the twelfth of forever.
"What happened, Nadia? Why will I die? I mean..." He shook his head, feeling how she was still trembling in his arms, "One doesn"t need a reason to die, but didn"t we speak on the phone before I boarded? I only lost that flight, I got there late and ended up taking the next flight, that"s all."
She looked up and stared at his face, "That plane...Ya Allah, it crashed, Hussain. No survivors, I didn"t know you had lost it. Alhamdulillah." She cried and hugged him gently this time, letting his warmth fill every nook and cranny of her chaotic soul.
She felt as he placed a subtle kiss on her forehead and smile, "Alhamdulillah. My battery ran down, I didn"t get a chance to call you..."
She shook her head and sit comfortably, "Can you not speak for a moment? I need to tell you something. I"ve never regretted not telling anyone anything until today." He nodded his head and sat down beside her on the carpet, taking her hands into his, he wouldn"t want to imagine how terrified she was.
"It was at the moment when I thought I'd lost you forever that it occurred to me; I love you, Hussain." She saw the shock, the confusion and then the hint of sadness and doubt, she smiled softly at him, cupping his face into her hands. "I don"t love you because of him. I don"t love you because you"re a splitting image of him. Or that you have a face that I"m already in love with. No." She shook her head firmly, "I love you for who you are, Hussain. For how you treat me, how you"ve always loved me, how gentle you are with me in your own unique ways, I just...for saying I'm yours, I have over a thousand reasons but I couldn"t say they"re all enough. I just love you. And I'm not loving a shadow of Hassan Abdulhameed Alkali, I'm loving a man of his own, Hussain Abdulhameed Alkali." He crashed his lips into hers and kissed her. The kind of kiss that sparked a fire beneath them as though they both were a lit bonfire. They kissed hungrily and subtly as though they couldn"t be certain which emotion to emote first.
And when they broke apart, they both were smiling at each other. "I'll always love you more, Singleton." She smiled and nodded her head at him, resting her head on his chest. "Should we eat first? I'm famished. Here, I've brought you an ice cream." And he didn't even see the text, she thought, and felt all swarmed with love.
When they stared into each other"s eyes, they both smirked naughtily and said, "Or maybe, we should cook that dish, don"t you think?" In unison, before they burst out laughing and he lovingly scooped her into his arms and carried her to his bedroom, where he satisfied both his emotional and physical needs, with a woman that knows all the hidden places in his body and soul.