Chapter 39: "Veiled realities"

Finally, an update on time💪! Comment your reactions as you read😊.

First draft: April 2018

Salma looked around the small hillock that they had climb. The botanical gardens stretched beneath them on all sides in a sea of green, the various shades and hues of which were dotted with bright colours here and there. Smiling at a particularly heavy clump of flowers swaying in the gentle breeze just below, Salma figured this had to be the bees favorite spot on campus.

A bee whizzed past her right. Salma followed its flight to see it hover over a chamomile flower that had already been claimed.

"Oh come on!" Zayn cried, giving the stalk a gentle nudge to move it away from the bee. "I saw it first!"

Salma giggled, feeling the soft caress of the grass on her palm as she used it as a prop to turn to Zayn.

"It was the bee's property all along," she said.

"Says who?"

"Says the bee," Salma replied, pointing at the tiny winged-champion. It was still stubbornly buzzing over the flower, trying to settle on it, despite Zayn moving it hither-thither.

"Which one?" Zayn smirked. "The human bee or the honey bee?"

"Just stop," Salma muttered, laughing.

"Now don't act like you weren't sneakily laying claims on my flower," Zayn continued.

"Pshttt! I don't even like flowers!" Salma rolled her eyes.

"For real?" Zayn asked, surprised.

"No, I don't like them like gifts, as bouquets," Salma explained. "I like them but on plants, where they belong."

"Where bees can access them as their property whenever they want?" Zayn provided, suddenly letting go of the stalk. He was glad he had not plucked the flower that was now cheerfully bobbing in the wind, while the bee hovered over it.

"Yes and – what no!" Salma backtracked to see Zayn trying to suppress a smile. "You gotta stop with 'all things bees' with me!"

"What? Isn't it 'all things bees' with you?"

Salma did not respond. She felt her cheeks getting warm realizing how accurate his words were.

"I suppose," she muttered quietly.

"Glad that you agree." Zayn flashed her with a smile. "Let's make a deal then, whichever bee wants to claims my flower, it can do so on the condition that I get to keep her for a day?"

Salma stiffened.

The heck?!

She glanced at him out of the corner of her eye to see him offering his hand. She felt a shiver rake her spine to realizing he had not burst out laughing yet. He was serious?

"Shake on it to seal the deal?" Zayn said.

Salma swallowed, watching the bee fly away, probably realizing there were plenty more flowers on the field then the one she wanted. Salma smiled.

Clever lil bee!

"No," Salma refused. "I don't want the flower that comes with a jail sentence, anyway."

"Rude!" Zayn frowned, dropping his hand. "Doesn't matter, there's plenty bees lining up to spend the day with me."

Salma turned to him to see him grinning. He pointed at the flower. The little bugger had returned. This time with two more and they were chasing each other away from the flower. The first bee won the fight as the two flew away. She eased onto the flower, settling on it gently.

Traitor! Salma made a face.

Before Salma could stop him, Zayn startled her by closing his cupped hands around the insect, trapping it.

"Mine!" he cried in triumph.

"What're you doing?!" Salma snapped. "Let her go –"

"Shh! It's fine! Listen," Zayn whispered, holding his cupped hands towards her. Without realizing, Salma grabbed his wrists and brought the trapped bee closer to her ear. She heard the familiar musical buzzing.

"She's scared, Zayn! Let her go," Salma pleaded.

"She?" Zayn chuckled.

"Foraging Bees are females," Salma replied, inspecting his closed hands as if to see a way to unlock the contraception to free the insect.

"It's weird that I haven't been stung yet," Zayn said, trying his best to not focus on his racing heart responding like a maniac to the soft touch of her fingers on his skin.

"These don't sting. Only Soldiers bees do, and that too, if they feel the need to defend the hive. Would you please let her go now?"

Zayn could not help but smile at the affection with which she discussed bees.

"You learn something new everything day." Zayn shrugged. "Anyway, you want to do the honors of setting it free, Human bee?"

Salma's eyes snapped away from his hands to him.

"Just cup your hands around mine," Zayn instructed, and when Salma gave him a quizzical look, he urged. "Come on!"

Sighing, Salma did as she was told, only slightly aware of the fact that it was Zayn's hands she was holding in the process. Carefully as he could, Zayn slipped his hands from underneath hers, stepping around Salma in the process. The bee buzzed violently, trying to escape. Zayn abruptly closed his hands around hers. He was suddenly aware of Salma getting trapped between his arms. His already racing heart started pounding at a mad pace. Salma, on the other hand, was in her own little world. The little bee tickled her palm with its buzzing wings. Giggling, Salma stepped back. It was only when she knocked into his chest did she realize she was practically in his arms. Zayn felt her tensing up and inching away. However, for his sake, she stumped her discomfort and fought against the violent urge to roughly shrug out of his arms.

"Okay, I'm letting it go," she said, trying to sound normal.

Salma stepped away just in time for Zayn to remove his hands around hers. She set the little insect free, allowing it to take flight. Salma shielded her eyes as she watched it fly towards the sinking sun.

"I'm sorry little bee." Salma pouted after it. "Please, don't hate me."

Zayn felt his heart clench as her words resonated with the cries of his soul directed at her.

"She won't," he found himself saying, to reassure her or himself, he had no idea.

"She was out going about her business and was harassed for no reason. This was her safe place, you know." Salma sighed.

"Will she come back?" Zayn asked.

Salma stared after the bee, searching through her knowledge of foraging bees and how they responded to danger, if at all. Zayn was desperately waiting, seeking an answer to a completely different kind of question.

"I like to believe she will . . ." Salma said, as she turned around to face him.

He felt a new hope surging through him hearing those words.

"It's weird that I don't know," Salma continued. "I mean they are really persistent. They got their jobs, they got to do them. I'd say threats are irrelevant to them so long as the colony is not the target."

Zayn was not sure how to feel after she finished. Her words about the bee were remarkably true for herself. She had her gaze firmly set on fulfilling her duty to her family and in that she had rendered everything else irrelevant, including herself.

"But she'll come back, right?" Zayn asked again. "The flower needs the bee. It'll whither without it, and bear no fruit."

"Well, well, well . . ." Salma bit her lower lip to prevent her laughter. "Look who's suddenly concerned for the flower and bee's well-being after sabotaging their reunion?"

"Question is," Zayn continued, ignoring her jibe. "Should the flower be kept away from its bee when it was the circumstance that shook the flower and cause the bee distress? He's stable now, and withstood the storm and fought his demons."

"He?" Salma laughed.

"How about, chamomile flowers are male?" Zayn tried to humor her.

"You're so lame!" She chuckled. "Foraging bees really are females."

"I trust you on that, don't worry," Zayn reassured her, smiling.

As he stood there, Salma realized he was still expecting a response to his question. Zayn looked so concern for the flower, it was weird. This is how she probably looked when she talked about the bees. She found it funny but she could not deny it though, it did soften her heart towards him a little.

"Will the bee return to the flower?" Salma said.

Zayn nodded.

"Absolutely." She smiled, making Zayn's heart flutter. Salma started walking down the path as she continued chatting, "I have this theory. When you love something unconditionally, it responds in a similar fashion. See how tenderly these botanists handle the plants? I feel like the plants responds by growing better, brighter, like it trusts them and the care it gets. In our department, you see this with animals all the time. No one will gain a bird's trust or witness its marveling beauty like an ornithologist who loves them. Same holds true for the animals, be they the shier ones like the Pandas, friendlier ones like elephants, or wilder ones like tigers. Well, the key to gaining their trust being patience of course but you can't be patient with anything unless you love it. It's just beautiful, really."

"It is." Zayn smiled as he followed after her down the path, amused by her enthusiasm.

"Yeah, I feel like that's how it is with me and bees." Salma shrugged, "Bugs in general. Sarah won't believe me, she thinks I chase after them, but they actually come to me. It's almost as if they know I won't hurt them."

Zayn chuckled, shaking his head. She was really something special.

Even the bugs knew.

That night after going to bed, Salma was reminded of their time spent together. She felt her heart flutter with a foreign emotion when she recalled Zayn cupping his hands over hers, literally encircling his arms around her body. Salma realized he had diverted her attention to the bee just to ease her discomfort that she felt when he asked her to hold his hand.

Smiling, she reached for her phone.

Thank you, she typed and hit send, before composing another text.

Salma: For making it less awkward today.

***

Written on: April 13th, 2021

Zayn clicked on the yet another article and scrolled through. It had been a while and he was still having trouble finding much about Salma being Grand Chief Sulaiman's granddaughter. Every time he opened a new article, his heart raced with anticipation and his stomach twisted into a knot with dread. He was not sure if he wanted to know more about Salma's supposedly shady family or not. A part of him wanted to find out the truth, but then he hoped to be proven wrong.

"Don't lie to me, Bee," he muttered as his eyes ran over the words onscreen. "Please don't lie to me."

Zayn paused. He frowned as he reread the sentence.

"Old news," he sighed as he read the line about Sulaiman's daughters now leading a non-political life.

He was about to close the page down when he stopped.

". . . the eldest has settled in the US with her family, while the younger girl is married to Zaryab Gul."

Zayn frowned. The eldest daughter lives in the U.S with her family?

He wondered if it was Salma's mother, Aliya. It did not help that the article did not mention any of the daughter's names. Zayn sighed, typing Zaryab Gul in the search bar to see if he was Agha Gul's son, in which case his wife would be Salma's aunty. Nothing came up under his name so Zayn tried searching for Agha Gul instead. He scrolled down to his family and children.

"Bingo!" Zayn whispered as he read the name 'Zaryab Gul'.

His heart sank with a feeling he did not quite want to acknowledge. If all of this is true . . .

Zayn reach for his phone and dialed a number.

"So what bother's the --"

"Alex, I might have a lead for you," Zayn cut her mid-sentence.

There was silence down the line before Alex replied.

"Better be good."

It did not take long for Alex to pull a few strings to connect the dots. Zayn attended the phone on the very first ring when she called back with information.

"This is getting murkier with by the minute," Alex said. "Salma's family arrived in the U.S as political asylum seekers."

Zayn felt the same discomfort clenched his heart, except, this time it's grip was tighter, too painful to ignore.

"Are you saying she's actually the Grand Chief's granddaughter?" he asked, a hard frown furrowing his brow.

"Yes," Alex replied. "Judging by the information I'm reading that's the only fair conclusion I can draw. Zayn, we got ourselves a whole can of worms here. That family's history is marred by bloodshed and mysteries. The dead aren't dead, their living not living. It's madness."

"I hear you," Zayn replied, pinching the bridge of his nose. "I haven't read half as many conflicting conspiracy theories in my life as I did in the past few hours. No wonder they'd taken asylum. Almost all of them ended up being murdered. If they're who we think they are, that is."

"If?" Alex laughed incredulously.

Zayn did not reply. He felt betrayed. She was literally a princess with a target drawn on her back and she did not see it fit to let him know before signing a nikkah.

"I think it makes sense that they're tight-lipped about it," Alex said, guessing what was going through his head when he did not respond. "Imagine being royalty that is still quite popular among the people. They're a threat to a lot of people and their political careers. I suppose they prefer living in anonymity. The trauma would make anyone run for their lives."

"I guess," Zayn muttered. He figured this situation was better. At least now, he knew he was not the only one tricking the other. "I suppose this new revelation crosses them out of your suspects' list then. They don't fit anywhere in Agha Gul's drug cartel story."

"It could still be the case that we are entirely wrong," Alex replied. "I have to be careful. She's in direct contact with a suspected drug lord and very well placed in the school as a distributor university."

Zayn closed his eyes in frustration.

"You're still on about that shit idea?" he cried. "She's not selling drugs to the students, Alex. I'd have known. I'd be the first dimwit she'd think was vulnerable enough to make an offer to!"

"However," Alex continued completely ignoring his rant. "It's her father I would once again remind you to watch more closely. He still lets the man they sort asylum against into his house. Doesn't add up. Also, his trips to the sthooriy embassy have become frequent again."

Zayn frowned, still stuck on Salma being the premier granddaughter.

"Don't you think it just makes their narrative stronger?" Zayn asked. "Agha Gul was Sulaiman's greatest rival in their council. It adds up that they flee the man but are not in a position to challenge him. Bee's aunt is his daughter in law that he's using as leverage. And now Bee's being forced to marry for political mileage."

And probably to gain more to keep as ransom, Zayn thought, disturbed by the idea.

The whole thing actually added up. Although Mr. Rahman withheld the exact names and details of the problem his family was facing, he had told Zayn about Agha Gul trying to force a marriage between his grandson and Salma for political reasons.

"Could be," Alex replied in a distracted sort of a way. "We'll find out. Keep a closer eye on them. The father specifically."

Zayn pressed his lips together in irritation. He suspected Alex was just as intrigued by the messed up past of Salma's family as he was. She was probably getting side-tracked and was digging in to see what she found out. Judging by her interest in Salma's father and his relationship to Agha Gul, Zayn figured the agent was more focused on what went down between them, than Agha Gul's suspected drug cartel and how it may or may not be functioning in the U.S.

"I'll see what I can do," Zayn replied, rubbing his temples tiredly.

Cutting the call, he got rid of his phone and laptop. An enveloped slipped off of his desk. 'Step III' the cover read. Zayn eyed the envelope with a bitter misery and disappointment. Spogmae had given it to him the day Salma had crashed in her lab but it did not seem important anymore. He shoved the envelope in his drawer where the two other envelopes were stacked and crashed on his bed, thinking. The new information about Salma's identity and family history had shaken him.

"Princess!" he whispered into the air. "You're a literal princess!"

A mix of emotions attacked him. A feeling of betrayal clawed at his insides but he also felt bad for her. He had no idea of the magnitude of the threats to her life or her family. It made his head ache. His heart seared to think all of her friendliness and acceptance of him was a show, a forced exercise that she was given no choice to but to perform. All her smiles were fake, her laughter just a shadow with no heart behind it and their building relationship just a shell, a farcical image of what people actually had.

"This wasn't real to begin with," Zayn reminded himself, massaging his aching head. "It was never real. Just do your job, pack your bags and leave."

But what was his job anymore? And go where, to do what? For all he knew. This one was over. Agha Gul was clearly not using the Rahman's family as a distributing point. They were his victims just like anyone else.

Her twinkling brown, smiling eyes flashed past his mind as she doubled up with laughter after reading his comic.

"It's not real." He sighed, closing his eyes to the feel of her soft hands underneath his. "It was never real."

A text notification alerted him.

MyBee🐝: Thank you

Zayn frowned, surprised. His heart beat skyrocketed again, challenging the truth behind the words he had just uttered. He rubbed his sleepy eyes with his fingers and raised himself on his elbow. He got another text.

MyBee🐝: For making it less awkward today.

It was crazy how simply reading her text made his blood buzz. The smile that spread on his lips was not one he could help. She did not mention it, but he just knew what she was talking about. It seemed he was not the only one thinking about the feel of his hands clasping over hers. He started typing quickly.

Zayn: Aww, my pleasure, your Buzziness. Thank you for going with it.

Zayn added a kiss-emoji at the end, but then thought better of it and replaced it with a blushed- smiling one and hit send. He crashed back against his pillows, waiting for her response. However, he could not let her not knowing.

"Princess, you have me dancing to the sweet buzz of your royal ways," he muttered to himself as he typed the next text and sent it.

Zayn: I love you . . .

Author's Note:

Wow, things just got so much clearer, didn't they😏? Now we know exactly what's going on😂? Do you think Salma will regret not telling Zayn about being Sulaiman's grand daughter? Or is it the single, most wise decision she'd have ever made?🤔

Vote, comment and share!

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Lots of Love

J.