AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Seeing Raina could have been as elusive as capturing a photo of Bigfoot. He would leave to get aglimpseof her.
“Yes,” he said.
“Then why would you agree to go out with me, knowing you have feelings for someone else?”
Five years ago, his relationship with Emmaline began with an argument where he’d spread his ego like peanut butter on sandwich bread.
She’d been the instigator in that scenario, aware of who he was before he opened his mouth. A year into their relationship, she admitted her research into his background was why she approached him and why they ended up in bed together that same night.
She’d heard he was a prodigy.
She’d heard he started college at thirteen.
For someone his age, she’d found it impressive that he’d already written two textbooks, one on head-and-neck surgery and the other on uplifting communities through medicine. When he “joked” that he was shocked he’d managed to write not one buttwobooks because he had dyslexia as a child, she’d laughed and said,“Whatever. There’s no way you were ever retarded.”
But he wasn’t a prodigy.
At age thirteen, he’d believed he was born solely to be the world’s biggest idiot. It was what he’d heard, teachers mumbling that he was “stupid,” “slow,” and “a complete moron,” not far enough under their breaths.
He’d worked his ass off, wanting to please his parents andthose same teachers, but grades didn’t reflect attempts. Therefore, for him, every D and F confirmed the names they called him.
The final nail in the coffin was the night he overheard his late mother praying to Allah for forgiveness because she’d given birth to anaptal.
A fool.
In middle school, he’d decided that he wanted to be a doctor, butaptallar,fools, didn’t become doctors. Of all the medical documentaries he’d watched, he never saw a single fool with an M.D. after their name.
Then, overnight, he became the man of the household when his father all but vanished. As he’d been tall for his age, and because the family had needed the extra money, he lied to get a job as a janitor at a clinic that catered to Muslim immigrants from all ethnic backgrounds.
At that clinic was a doctor who was the furthest thing from a fool. One day, that same doctor told him that so was he.
“Em, when you first invited me, I didn’t know you wanted to talk about us getting back together,” he said.
She rolled her eyes. “I used the word ‘date.’”
“With air quotes.”
“Can’t seeing this woman wait until tomorrow?”
It could barely wait five more minutes.
“No. It can’t.”
The rest of her lipstick disappeared. “Fine, but keep your card. I don’t need your money.”
He started buttoning his blazer but decided to remove it in the car. Getting Raina out of his system wouldn’t be easy, so he needed as little confinement as possible to make it through the purge intact.
“Well, then.” He rubbed his palms together, then tossed up two fingers. “Bye, Em.”
With a tip of his head, he left.
* * *
On the short drive to Delilah’s condo, which was inconveniently in the same building as his, he rehearsed what he would say once he set eyes on his demon woman.
“Raina, I don’t know what you did, but I need you to free me from your spell.”
He grimaced.
