Mending You And I

Chapter Twenty-Three

——Third Person's POV——

It was silent as both of them entered the house, Maryam being the first to step in. She was expecting another argument session but to her surprise, Abdullah didn't even look at her the whole ride. Instead, she kept on peeking at him and tried to find any difference in his expression but to no avail.

She had a bad feeling that it was the calm before the storm.

What did she do wrong anyway? She just happened to meet her former senior and it was all unintentional. She didn't need to worry. After all, Abdullah cared only for Noor.

"Maryam." she was snapped back to reality by the order. She looked around just to find that she was standing at the entrance, lost in thought.

"I need to talk to you. Follow me to my room." she opened her mouth to protest but was silenced when he simply turned around and walked to his room. Mila, who was standing beside a vase placed on the side of the entrance, flashed Maryam an encouraging smile.

Huffing, she trudged behind him with a scowl.

She entered the room and looked around for a second. It was neat and clean, not like how he left it in the morning. Then her eyes slowly trailed to him standing in front of the bed, taking his jacket off.

"Well, what is it?"

He didn't answer and walked over to the door and with a single snap, locked it. At that, Maryam got startled. "Why are you locking the door? Open it." she quickly said, reaching for the door herself.

"Leave it. I want some privacy." those words alarmed her further. "Privacy? For what? You said you had to talk to me. I don't see why we need privacy for that. In fact, I don't even need to be here. We can go to the living room." she was starting to panic as she kept on ranting.

Abdullah neared her. His lips turned to form a slightly mischievous smile. "Husband and wife have a lot of things they do in private. I thought you already knew that." He took a step forward, making her take two backward.

"You're crazy." she turned around and saw the grey-painted wall coming closer. "You haven't seen crazy yet, Maryam." He looked like he was bluffing but the closer he got, the more her heart threatened to jump out of her chest.

"What's wrong with you all of a sudden? You're scaring me." Her voice cracked when her back touched the wall, forcing her to look at him again. His intense eyes looked bigger than ever and his sleek shiny hair fell over his forehead, making him look even more handsome.

His mischievous smirk was still there and it constantly distracted her.

"It didn't scare you when you were with that Damian. That's just being hypocritical." his grin vanished and was replaced with a scowl. He clearly looked annoyed and angry. His mouth was inches away from her so she held in her breath.

A thumping heart with butterflies exploding in her stomach, Maryam stood glued to the wall, trying to get away as far as possible. Her lips quivered and her beautiful eyes showed fear and worry. That affected Abdullah, no doubt but he wasn't backing away anytime soon. Instead, it switched something inside him and the desire to be with his wife, which had been buried deep down had become uncontrollable.

Noor was nowhere in his mind and he could only look at the scared, vulnerable girl who was looking back at him with big round orbs.

"Damian is just an old friend. We barely talked. You're overthinking this, Abdullah." Maryam defended, thinking it would stop him. Instead, his arms extended out and he entrapped her between them and the wall.

"So you'd rather be with a man you've barely talked to than your own husband?" he questioned. Her worry transformed into confusion and disbelief. "I was never with him and neither do I want to. Besides, what have you done to make me want to be with you? Even if I forget all that, you don't want to be my husband. There are all these things and you're casually asking me that?!"

She didn't know where she got the confidence to speak out but she let out her emotions. Abdullah got startled for a moment but it was only for a second. His expression returned.

"I know we didn't start off right. But somehow, I can't stand you being with him." Maryam froze at his words, worry leaving her. He pulled his hand and gently placed it on her cheek, caressing it slowly. "And I want you near me. I've made mistakes, I know. But I want to make them right."

With every word that left his mouth, Maryam's stomach tied into a tighter knot. She felt a huge lump in her throat. Blood rushed to her cheeks and even at a moment like that, she felt nervous, embarrassed, and shy.

"Are you serious?" she muttered out.

Abdullah nodded, looking at her straight in the eyes. She couldn't look away even if she wanted to because his gaze held hers so deeply. "But..." she realized she was going soft again. She couldn't give in so easily. "How am I supposed to know that you're being honest? You still have Noor, don't you?"

Abdullah nodded. "It's true I still want to be with Noor," an arrow hit Maryam at that but she kept herself. "But, I can't ignore the fact that I can't stop thinking about you. The thought of you getting hurt is unbearable. And when you got kidnapped, I couldn't even breathe a second of relief. It made me realize, Maryam." His face came closer than before, his lips slightly touching hers.

She closed her eyes, knowing fully well that she wasn't supposed to give in so easily but she couldn't resist it. His other hand reached her face and he cupped it, filling the gap—

Rrringgg

Both of them froze. The vibration of the phone in Abdullah's pocket made him stop. "Tch" he bristled with annoyance. "This just had to happen." he then looked at Maryam again as if apologizing to her. A smile broke out on her red face and she couldn't hold in the laughter in her mouth.

She put her hands over her mouth to stop herself but it was no use. She started to laugh, surprising Abdullah. He was about to ask her what she found so funny when his phone rang again. He rolled his eyes and pulled back from her.

"You should take the call first," she suggested. He nodded but as soon as he took out his phone and brought it to his ears, Maryam turned around on her heels and unlocked the door. Her flushed cheeks were very apparent and the smile on her face was glued.

She glanced one last time at Abdullah and then quickly left the room.

Like the teenager she was, she fled to her room, trying not to think too much of her almost-kiss. It made her feel giddy and for a moment, she forgot that she still had a mistress and Abdullah's words weren't very trustworthy.

She sat in her bed after putting on her most comfy clothes and took out her phone to text Cornelia. She was sure by then that Abdullah had some feelings for her at least. She just had to come up with a plan to
make him confess it to her clear cut.

There was no turning back.