_" I was in a business trip out of the country, I couldn't come earlier.. I flied as soon as you called" Eliyas said
_"what! You were not in the country!!" I shouted.
He nodded as if it was a matter of fact that needed no question and no surprise.
I just couldn't believe that man!
_"Eliyas, did you come back just because i called you?" I asked both taken aback and burdened.
_"Yes"
_"you could have just told me you were not in the country! I would have spoken with you in the phone__"
_" i didn't come because of you Noursine, don't get that wrong" he soon interrupted me.
He leaned on his desk, closed his eyes, and while exhaling he said:
_"ever since the accident, i started to have this terror.. And this regret, i have to keep an eye on you all the time and i have to come as soon as possible when you need me to, i have to do that or else i'll go crazy"
Hearing those words from the man who never cared about anything i really felt sad.
I know all about uncontrollable terror.
In the past years i never wondered how Eliyas felt when he found me lying unconscious inside the room drawn in my own blood, i didn't even ask my self how it was hurting to him to be accused of killing his own son and almost killing me.
I always felt regret for not being able to call for help when i fell down although deep down i knew that no help no matter how early it was could have helped saving my son. So how terrible it must be for him to know that he just gave us his back and didn't even try.
I didn't know the impact of that accident on him until i heard such words, and i had no idea if that was the only aftermath that he had.
_"shouldn't you see a doctor about this?" I said concerned.
He opened his eyes to look at me.. And totally ignored my advice saying:
_"what happened with you earlier Noursine? Why were you crying?"
Seeing that he didn't want to talk about the matter any further, i just respected his wish and so i asked:
_" do you remember my mother's second marriage?"
He stood up properly in front of me as if getting guarded .. And then he said while twisting his eyebrows:
_" i do, you said you don't want to meet her again"
I sighed.. I tried to put my pride aside and i admitted:
_"it's not about not wanting to meet her again, i would have went to see her secretly if i could, it was actually that i had no clue about her before, i had no idea where she was__"
_"are you serious?" He interrupted me again, looking very displeased.
Such an unnecessary question.. Of course i was dead serious!
There i was emptying my heart content to him and the first thing he thinks about was that i was throwing a joke!
_"why would i joke about such a thing?" I asked mockingly.
But his next actions surprised me even more.
He just walked pass me to the door.. I thought he was going out.
He turned on the lights making the office look so bright my eyes stung.. I thought he just didn't like the dimly light.
He came back towards me with an angry face.. And that is when i realised that i had absolutely no idea about what was going on inside that unpredictable man's head.
He breathed deeply while pressing his eyes shut trying to control his emotions, yet he ended up yelling:
_"Noursine! Did it really never occur to you that perhaps you should have told me that you didn't simply abandon your mother, that you just couldn't reach her?"
_"it isn't important"
_"well it is not up to you to decide what is important for other people and what is not! Have you ever imagined how insecure it made me feel to know that my wife could simply dump her own mother?"
He was breathing quickly .. His eyes were turning red of anger.
Somehow it seemed like i was breaking into Eliyas's layers that evening in his office.
He was right.. I should have simply told him the truth before, it was easier.. And the right thing to do.
I have never thought that such a small modification of facts affected him this deeply.
_" i was embarrassed" i admitted.. I looked inside his eyes and truthfully said:
_" i was so embarrassed to say that i had no idea where my mother was.. You had such a wonderful background while i came from a trashy family, how could i explain to you that i didn't invite my mother to my wedding nor tried to visit her later because she ran away with another man and i had no idea where she was? it was better to say that she married in an honoring way and i just couldn't forgive her, i wanted to save my face at least about this."
After i finished these words, Eliyas looked away as if he couldn't face me anymore.
He then whispered:
_"what happened in her matter today?"
_" i found the man she ran away with .. I want to contact him"
_" you stay out of this .. I'll see what i can do about it" he said in a bossy way while heading back to his desk again.
He took a notebook .. Held a pen and then ordered:
_" give me his name"
_" Ghemmari Noureddine" i uttered.
He wrote the name quickly, and without even raising his eyes to look at me again he said:
_"i'll find your mother and take you to see her in a couple of days"
I felt so weird looking at all the transitions of his feelings.. And i wondered, in what way did i think that this man had no heart before?
His feelings couldn't be possibly clearer.. Nor more honest than this, seeing the disappointment .. The anger and even worry.. It was so easy, or was it like he said before, that i simply never tried to understand him?
something else impressed me as well, he only asked for the name and didn't even bother asking about the info that i had, was he that powerful? He only needed the name to find him?
_"thank you Eliyas.. I really appreciate it" i said.
Honestly feeling grateful to him, it didn't matter to me whether he'll find them or not, i just knew that he'll do his best and that was enough for me.
_" there's no need for you to thank me .. I want to meet her as well"
He replied afterwards still ignoring me.
I looked at him a bit hesitated .. Then i just decided to speak my mind and i asked:
_" i haven't seen you in a long time, i mean this month you just disappeared.. were you ok?"
He suddenly raised his eyes to look at me and weirdly smiled hearing these words, then answered:
_" i'm ok now"
My heart started to beat so fast.. I felt guilt.
Did it make him that happy just because i showed that i was concerned?
A part of me wanted to say:
"Please make yourself less obvious, how can i keep hating you if i see how honest you are?"
He kept smiling when he added:
_" your bag is on the sofa .. You take it and wait for me at the company entrance, i'll drive you home after i make a couple of calls"
I looked outside the window to observe the dark sky and i figured out that it was indeed convenient that he drives me home.
So i nodded.. I took my bag and i left his office.
The building was almost empty at that time, only few hardworking employees were still moving around like ghosts barely making a sound.
I took the elevator to the lobby.. And then i waited there in the warmth.
I remembered that Eliyas might expect me to be waiting outside the building so i sent him a text saying:
"I'm waiting in the lobby, call me when you drive the car to the entrance"
The text was successfully sent.
Recalling what happened earlier in the restroom, i found that i was so dumb in fact, how didn't it occur to me that the weird long number that called me was a foreign number?
Such a grave mistake can not be forgiven since i worked long as a journalist and we received calls from all kinds of numbers.
As i said before, the one really can't expect his own brain to work in full power all the time.
I rested my hands flat on one of the boilers in the lobby to warm them while waiting, after i felt the numbing heat in my palms i flipped my hands and warmed the back of them as well.
Unlike the burning hot gas stove that i have in my house, the boiler felt amazing, i had started to make a whole list of the benefits of having boilers instead of the stove in my head, like i didn't need to worry about my clothes falling above the boiler and burning to ashes, or me suffocating from carbon monoxide if the chimney got clogged accidentally because of bird nests, or having constantly that fear in the back of my head that the gas might leak from some pipe inside the stove and the whole house will blow up to dust. The only disadvantage of boilers was that they were extremely expensive for me to afford.
I kept flipping my hands above the boiler like i was grilling a stake when i felt somebody standing right behind me and suddenly two big hands covered mine.
I didn't even have to look behind me to know that it was Eliyas because i recognized his hands, i especially remembered that small mole he had near his left wrist which i always twisted my finger around whenever i held his hand in the past.
_"take off your hands.. Someone will see us" i ordered coldly.
He chuckled in my ear and shamelessly said:
_"even if they see us, who dares to speak about it?"
He then lifted my hands with his.. put them flat on his cheeks, and said while looking at me:
_"they feel good"
_"Eliyas" i called his name.
_"hmm"
_"did you not come to meet me for the last month on purpose?"
_"yes"
He answered simply while holding my hands and pressing them against his cheeks childishly.
_"how about the last 3 years?"
I know that the lobby isn't exactly the best place to have a serious conversation, having my hands taken advantage of that way was not suitable as well.. But i was always this kind of people.. Whenever an idea pops to my head i just speak it out loud before losing it.
_"let's go get the car" he said totally ignoring my words.
He let go of my hands.. And started walking in front of me.
I just followed him, i wasn't dying to know the answer anyways.
Once we walked out of the company some man walked towards us and handed car keys to Eliyas.
He drove me home afterwards.
What was weird though.. When i thanked him and wished him good night attempting to go up to my apartment, That man opened his door and left the car as well, then he went to his car trunk and took out a big suitcase, He followed me next while holding it.
_"what are you doing?" I asked logically.
_" i came to the company right after i came out from the airport.. I didn't have the time to take my luggage home"
_"but why are you taking it out now?"
_"it's not safe to leave it in the street .. Some important materials are in it"
How is it not safe to leave it in the street? His bodyguards are everywhere around us! Who dares to steel from him!
Plus he didn't have to come up with me in the first place!
But i didn't want to comment on this .. I was curious to know the reason why he started to act petty all at sudden.
Is it possible that he brought me a present and it was inside that suitcase?
I mean in the past he usually brought me things from the places that he visited, i always insisted:
_"don't bring me jewelries! I find men who just end up choosing jeweleries or clothes as gifts for their wives totally lazy and uncreative, bring me souvenirs! The kind you have to go walking in the narrow streets to find!"
That man literally executed my words, he thanked me for giving him such a wonderful idea and ever since then he started to go in weird adventures whenever he went on a business trip just to bring rare souvenirs.
He would talk about it for endless hours whenever he gets back and always gave me the weirdest of souvenirs that only the locals of that certain country could make.
If you think this isn't enough.. He even made the maids in the villa arrange a special room only to display those souvenirs on the shelves of that room and turned it into a small museum.
I found it hilarious whenever i caught him holding a notebook and writing the story behind a newly brought souvenir in that small museum of his.
Looking at the suitcase i wondered if he did that again.
I didn't argue with him .. I just let him take his suitcase and struggle with it all the way up the stairs towards my apartment.
By the time we finally reached the forth floor where i lived, he was panting so much i couldn't hold my laughter.
I opened the door and i commented:
_"wasn't it better if you just left it there you petty person? no one will steel it"
_"can you bring me a glass of water?" He said.
I nodded while hanging the keys and taking off my coat.
I went to the kitchen next to bring his almighty a glass of water.
After i poured the water for him, i walked out of the kitchen holding the glass.. But i found that the living room was weirdly empty, confused as to where did that man go to i started to look for him inside my small apartment.
I noticed that my room's door which i usually leave open was close, so acting as the lady of the house i just opened it.. I was surprised to find him there.. Not only that, his suitcase was lying open above my bed and he was in the process of taking out some comfortable house wear.
_"what are you doing?" I asked while handing him the glass of water.
After he finished the whole thing he answered as if it was the most natural thing to do in the world:
_"changing my clothes"