AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“You love her,” Ameena breathed. “Kamal, you love her.”
“It doesn’t matter. I realized it too late, and she’s made it quite clear that she’s never going to love me.”
“I did not raise an idiot,” his mother hissed. “But you are acting like a complete idiot. Jada buried herself trying to make you happy. You think she’s doing that because she doesn’t love you?”
“Mom, don’t do this. Don’t make me think that there’s something there when there isn’t.”
“Kamal Al-Basir, stop being an idiot. You are married. You have a wife, and if you don’t fight like hell to keep your wife, then you are going to married to a shell for the rest of your life. You are going to be a shell. Is that you want? You want to be a shell? You want her to be a shell?” Ammena’s voice raised a few notches, and Kamal winced.
“What about you and Dad. You weren’t in love when you married. What happened?”
His mother chuckled. “I guess we don’t ever talk about it, do we? I hated your father when we first married. I resented him, but what could I do? He was going to be Sheikh one day, and I was raised to be his wife. But unlike your beautiful wife, I didn’t hold my temper as well. He was such a good man. He let me rant and rave, and somewhere in that time, I realized that I loved him. I knew that all that patience came from him loving me.”
“Mother, Jada doesn’t fight with me. She catches me kissing another woman, and she doesn’t even blink an eye.”
“Kamal, you have to make a decision. If you love your wife, and if you want your wife, then you have to choose her and you have to choose her now. But if want to believe that she’s never going to love you, then you don’t choose her. You stay there and you do your work, and you let her suffer.”
He moved his chair back up and leaned over. “It’s not that easy. Mom, it’s not that easy.”
“It is, Kamal. You just have to choose. Baby, I love you. And I want you to be happy, but it has to be your decision. I’m going to go, baby. I’m going to check on Jada.”
“Will you call me? Will you let me know how she is?”
“You know how she is, Kamal. I don’t have to tell you that.”
The line went dead, and Kamal pressed the heel of his palm to his eyes. A million things ran through his head. This job was important, but he could just a break. He could take a week and fly home and spend time with his wife. But she said that she didn’t love him. Why would she say that if she didn’t mean it?
In frustration, he thrust out his hand and swept everything off the desk. As all the papers went flying, he let out a low growl of rage. They fluttered around him, and he sank to his knees. How did he get here? And what the hell was he supposed to do now?
Chapter Twelve
Jada walked aimlessly around the suite. She had a cake baking in the oven and a pie cooling on the counter. And in a few days, she was probably going to eat both of them in its entirety. She was pregnant. She was pregnant and in an unhappy marriage. She might as well get gloriously fat and happy.
There was a knock on the door, and she moved slowly across the floor. Ameena had checked on her several times over the past week, and no matter what she told the older woman, Ameena kept coming over.
“Really, I’m fine,” she muttered as she swung the door open. Surprised, she blinked. “Sheikh. What are you doing here?”
“It’s Nahid, Jada. I’m not here as your Sheikh. I’m here as the father of the stupid fool that you married. Can I come in?”
She stepped back and swept her hand aside. “It’s your place. I’m just living in it.”
“It’s like that, huh?” he said dryly. “I know that you’re upset, but for the first time in a long time, I’m finally seeing you. And you are magnificent.”
Jada chuckled dryly. “You’re not wrong. We’ve both made mistakes. The only difference is that he tried to find his happiness, and I kept my mouth shut and tried to be the dutiful wife.”
“Ameena tried to be the dutiful wife. It didn’t work out so well for her either.”
Jada lifted her eyes to meet his. “What are you talking about? You’re still married.”
“Of course we’re still married. We’re still married because after all the dancing that we did in the beginning, we were finally just honest with each other. And that’s all it took. My wife loved me, and I loved her.”
She went to the drawer and grabbed a knife. Cutting open the pie, she served two slices on plates. “I think the difference is that Kamal is in love with someone else, and you were not. That’s why it works. But he married the wrong woman because he didn’t think that she loved him. She does.”
“Pie.” Nahid gave her a brilliant smile. “I love pie.”
“I love to cook. Actually, I really just love to bake. I’m not really that great of a cook, but I try. I’m a good baker.”
He took a bite and nodded. “Yes. You are an excellent baker. Jada, I don’t know what’s going to happen to you two. I know that I raised my son to be like me, and I’m not always the best husband. And I didn’t raise a good husband. But I believe that you can change that if you were honest.”
