Chapter 79: B

"Come on, Gimbiya, maybe I should get you married then, right?" She rolled her eyes and went back to the kitchen, still fuming.
"To who? I don't have a boyfriend and I'm more interested in having my degree first. No, but thank you." She called out from the kitchen while Na'im made Maryam sat down on the dining chair.
"You should rest a bit, Hoor. It isn't good to be on your feet all day long." She smiled at him before he stared at the warmers they had on the dining table, "But this is too much for just us."
"It's not for just us, Yarima, we're inviting your soldier friends over and Falaq is coming back today. Maybe she's already at the airport, so we're going to dine together."
He made an O expression and smiled at her, "And here I thought you're having a date in my chamber. I was just about to go and report it to Alan Gubro to get you married."
"I just told you that I don't have a boyfriend, Yarima." She said and was walking back into the kitchen after she had brought out something and left it on the dining table, "And this dinner is to celebrate the coming of the royal baby, nothing more."
Na'im followed her into the kitchen after he had served Maryam the fruit salad when she told him she was hungry. There was a teasing gleam in his eyes because today, he was hell bent on annoying Saima, even though he'd have to reserve some until Hafiz had arrived. "And here we all thought you have a crush on my soldier friend." She choked on the apple she was nibbling on and turned to look at the laughter that played in his eyes before she whined.
"And who's your soldier friend? Yarima!" She whined and he lifted his hands up in surrender.
"Spare my life, Princess. I'll go and take my bathe before they arrive, make sure you take care of my wife if you want your little secret to be kept hidden from Alan Gubro, unless you REALLY want to get married. Then I can step up as the big brother I am." He heard the sound of her whining tone when he kissed Maryam lightly and walked to his room to take a quick shower.
The dinner was nothing like Saima had imagined it, even though she was so excited that Falaq was finally back and now they will think of where they want to go for their studies and meet Alan Gubro with the talk, she was so surprised to find herself being uncomfortable under the strange, yet comforting gaze of Hafiz. She wanted to tell him to stop staring at her that way lest someone noticed, but she didn't know how else to do do that unless she was going to speak to him, which she wasn't ready to.
And then a message popped in her phone, 'Stop nibbling and eat your food, Princess.' Oh, she had totally forgot about her phone, she would have texted him to stop staring at her since.
'If only this soldier will stop staring at me as if I've held hostage of something so precious to him, I would certainly eat. And beside, I'm so famished to be nibbling on this favorite meal of mine.'
Slightly, she looked up at him and found that he was staring at her. She rolled her eyes at him and turned her eyes back to the phone, waiting for his reply. 'How is it that you only know about this now? You're holding hostage of something so important to me, Princess.'
"It's either the two you get a space to have this chat or eat, I can't have y'all zoning out of what we're discussing, right, Falaq?" Na'im asked his other sister that smiled and nodded her head. She was still not used to having him acknowledging her, but the warm welcome she had received from him was more than enough.
Hafiz and Saima were brought out of their reverie as they smiled shyly before they placed down their phones. "I wasn't talking with him," Saima argued and he nodded his head to agree with what she had just said.
"Let's see your phone then, Lieutenant!" Na'im said with a voice that told them this was a military order and Hafiz stared at him, not being able to gulp down the spoonful he had just consumed.
It was just Faruk that had came, Jafar had another plan and couldn't grace the table. And when he tried to stifle his laugher, Hafiz quickly turned to him, "Why are you laughing?"
"No, I just remembered something. Give him the phone, I thought Captain Bolori asked for it?" He asked innocently, but they all knew Faruk did that knowingly and Hafiz would be damned if he didn't get back at the two of them.
"I don't have a captain here, I just have a friend named Na'im. And I'm not going to do what my friend asked of me." The whole table burst out laughing with the exception of the two of them.
Maryam looked at Saima that quickly shook her head at her, "Or maybe, you can collect Saima's phone since she's your younger sister, then. Let's check and see if they weren't texting each other, it's so interesting that I want the whole story."
Saima whined and hid her phone behind her back, "Yarima, we'll talk about this later. Okay?" Her best puppy eyes weren't ones you could ignore even if you've never seen her and amidst the laughter that roared all over the table, Saima could feel his eyes on her, intently that she wanted to throw the spoon she was holding at him.
Before they all left, they individually congratulated them on the coming of the royal baby and gave them gifts. Falaq knew that Maryam hated being touched by total strangers, so she stood at a safer distance and handed her the gift bag, "I've just heard of it shortly, I would've gotten him or her something bigger. Congratulations to the two of you."
Maryam extended her hand to her, even though she felt like yanking her hand away when Falaq was about to shake it, she stayed that way until the handshake was sealed and managed a beautiful smile. "Thank you, Falaq, this too is more than enough."
It was like a small baby shower and they were all smiles and laughter before they left and Saima only argued once that Maryam should come back, but they all knew Na'im wasn't going to let her leave. They walked out of the chamber with smiles and appreciated the cool wind that graced their skins.
"What was it you were talking about?" She asked as she turned slightly at him, after they made sure Falaq and Faruk were out of ear shot.
"The thing in your hostage that belongs to me?" He asked and she nodded her head, turning back to face him with a solemn look. But deep down, even though Saima thought she had an idea of what it was, she didn't want it to be true. She didn't even know how she would act if he said it.
"One year from now, if you're still a good girl, I'll tell you what it is." he smiled at the expression on her face and walked towards his car without staring at her again. Faruk got into the passengers seat while Saima still stared at him.
"You're no good, Soldier." He nodded his head, flashed her a bright smile before he drove off.
...
Maryam stood beside him as she clung tightly to his arms, he hadn't told her what the operation was about, but she knew it was going to be a very big one and she was afraid. She stared at him with tears brimming in her eyes as she shook her head, just that, if all her pleas were bound to work, Na'im wouldn't have been all set to leave this morning. She wished there was a way to stop him, but her mind wouldn't think of any other way and deep down, she knew he would certainly leave.
Na'im gently pulled her at an arms length and smiled at her, "I'm not going anywhere, Mairam. It's just an operation and I won't even be away for a week. The highest it could get is five days, okay?" She had been crying since yesterday night when he told her he was going away on an operation. She didn't know why she felt a feeling of foreboding, but she didn't want him to leave. She wanted him there with her and where she would be able to see him everyday of her life.
"But you might be hurt when you leave, I don't want that." She was even tired of trying to stop her tears from rolling down her cheeks and let them flow freely. Even though Saima was there and in the car, she could see Hafiz waiting for him so they could leave.
"I promised you since yesterday, didn't I? I won't be hurt, Mairam. I'll be back healthy and safe, I promise." She nodded her head, but his assurance did nothing to cajole her paining heart. She just wanted to keep on crying until she couldn't cry anymore. She hugged him tenderly and felt the way his heart was beating erratically in his chest.
"Please keep up to your promise, please." He nodded his head and kissed the top of her head. He didn't know what would be of him, but he sincerely wished he would be able to keep up to his promise and come back to her safe and sound. To the best of his ability, Na'im would try and come back as safely as he had left.
Saima stared at them and smiled before she looked away. She knew he was staring at her from the car and wondered why he wouldn't just come out to say hi. She wouldn't say that she was feeling what Maryam was, but she was feeling sad that they were leaving and afraid of what if they didn't come back? She had lost a friend then? She shook her head to shake off the thought of Hafiz not coming back, she wouldn't even entertain such thoughts.
Her phone rang and when she saw the name she had saved as 'Handsome Soldier', she rolled her eyes at him but nevertheless, picked the call because she so badly wanted to say her parting words to him. "I thought you weren't going to say goodbye." She said immediately after she had picked the call. The car was a bit far away from her but she could still point out his eyes staring at her.
He smiled, "I wanted to, but seeing you right over there was hard and I thought what if I die? So, it's better to die without a regret of not saying goodbye to the princess." He chuckled when he saw her expression changed and she rolled her eyes at him even though she wasn't sure whether he would see her or not. But his words were obviously not welcomed in her heart.
"You can't say that as casually as you did, to even accompany it with a laugh, Soldier." She reprimanded and he nodded his head. "You can't die, okay? Or else, even if you do, I'll make sure to keep hostage of that thing you said, forever. That way, you will never be able to rest in peace." She was talking with a pout visible on her lips that made Hafiz wanted to walk out of the car and hug her as much as he could.
"Noted, Princess. I won't die, I'd be back here safe and alive so that I can save that precious thing of mine from your hands." She smiled but if Hafiz was correct, there was a gleam of tears in her eyes and he slightly gasped. "Are you sure those tears aren't for me? Don't tell me they're for your Yarima brother."

When A Soldier Loves
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