Zara took her time to gather her thoughts and came out after few minutes from her brother-in-law’s study.
She ran to the guest room and started packing her stuff, to leave her sister’s house.
Jenna put her kids to sleep and came to check on Zara and was confused to see her dump her clothes into the bag.
“What’s going on?”
She asked approaching her with a frown and stopped her from packing, demanding explanation.
“Paula called me. She wants to meet me ASAP. She sounded urgent. I have to go.”
Jenna knew about their thick friendship so she didn’t question her further and helped her with the folding of her clothes.
“Careful Zara. Call me if you need anything.”
She told her sister before sending her off.
…………….
“Zara?! Paula didn’t tell me about your visit.”
Richard moved aside, giving way to the anxious woman and asked her in confusion.
Zara walked past Richard into the living room and threw her bag on the sofa, searching all the rooms for Paula.
“Where is she?”
She yelled at him when she couldn’t find her friend, scaring Richard.
“She is at work. I think you knew about it.”
He answered confused by Zara’s actions.
Didn’t she leave their house few days ago? Why is she here again and she looked so worried.
What’s going on?
Zara hit her forehead in frustration, realizing her hasty decision. How can she forget about Paula’s work? Of course she must be in her office now.
The reason why Richard is home is because he owns many supermarkets in the city.
So he spends most of the days at home doing chores while Paula works at a software company.
“What happened Zara?”
Richard asked, picking up her bag from the sofa and put it down before gesturing her to take a seat.
Zara collapsed on the sofa with a thud, rubbing her forehead in worry.
She lifted her head when Richard came back with a glass of water and took it, sipping a mouthful and said.
“I am doomed Richard.”
She leaned her head on the back of the sofa and stared at the ceiling, thinking about her conversation with Sebastian.
“I am all ears.”
Richard sat beside her, turning sideways, waiting for her to share her story.
Zara took a deep breath before facing her friend’s husband.
He is always been a good friend to her and supported her in every way.
Maybe he’ll help her to figure out what she should do with her messed up life.
Thus, she told him everything that happened with Sebastian, including his warning and threats.
“Just say it man.”
Zara hissed in frustration, already predicting Richard’s thoughts.
She knew she’s wrong in the first place to call Sebastian. No reason can justify her actions. She deserves everything that is happening to her.
“I’m not going to ridicule you Zara.”
Richard said leaning back on the armrest and continued.
“Tell your parents that you love someone. Problem solved.”
Zara dropped her jaw at his words because he said it like it was that easy.
“Do you not know about my dad?”
She asked, still finding it hard to believe what he just said. Her hands clutched her hair, thinking about her dad.
“Paula told me that your family’s a bit complicated. Care to tell?”
Richard freed her hair from her grip and held them in his own. He doesn’t want Zara to miss her loved one just because her family is against love.
Zara stayed silent for few minutes, contemplating whether to tell him about her family or not but after sometime she brazened herself and opening her mouth.
“My dad, he is religious and typical. He’s not to be blamed because he inherited all of that from my ancestors.”
She chuckled remembering their family stories and continued
“He believes that children should listen and obey their elders and whoever rebels considered as sinners. I grew up in that kind of environment.”
Tears pooled in her eyes, thinking about her childhood.
“When I was a kid, I used to believe in my dad’s beliefs and always thought he’s right but as I grew up and explored people, my thoughts changed.”
She faced Richard, holding back his hands and told him how hard it is for her to survive all these years under her father’s rules.
“I can understand his protectiveness as a father of two daughters but he was extreme sometimes. Even breathing felt suffocating in my own home because of his rules and conditions.”
Tears streamed down her cheeks and her voice choked as she talked about her situation and Richard held her hands tight, giving her strength to continue.
“Jenna was so fed up of his behaviour and went against him which angered dad and since then he started being more tough on us.” at this point Zara started crying, remembering her hard days.
“Jenna always wanted to be with someone who can make her feel her freedom and found Kai.”
She smiled through her tears, thinking about her sweet brother-in-law.
“When she introduced Kai as her boyfriend, dad blew up.”
Her smile faded as remembered the day when her dad almost created a havoc because of Kai.
“He never hit us Richard. But on that day, he was almost tempted to slap Jenna. He called her an abomination.”
Her dad’s words still rang in her ears, making her tremble in fear.
“He…He said she is shameless to love someone before marriage and..and stopped talking to her for months. That phase was so hard Richard.”
She choked on her words, her eyes swollen from crying and her voice became hoarse but Richard didn’t stop her because she would feel better if she let it all out.
“My mom and I persuaded him, begged him and went on hunger strikes to make him let Jenna marry Kai.”
She sniffled, her cries slowly turning into sobs.
“Whenever I feel low, I would call Paula and she was my best stress reliever. She would cheer me up with her motivating words and encouraged me to fight for my freedom. And yes after my sister’s marriage, I started rebelling.”
Richard let her lean on his shoulders giving her support to open up.
She wrapped her hand around his bicep, using his shoulder as a pillow and felt better.
“He always wanted us to marry someone he chose but Jenna fought back and so he forbid me from going out, reducing the possibility of meeting people, falling in love. Ridiculous right?”
Richard chuckled nodding his head, agreeing with Zara.
“I have goals to achieve. Dreams to come true. I wanted to go out, study hard, secure a job to earn money, a lot and I want to live my life in my way but he thinks such independent girls are useless.”
Her nails dug into Richard’s flesh as she recalled her dad’s stupid thoughts.
“He feels that women should be under men’s protection. Bullshit! I hated his thoughts, so I wanted to be an independent working woman. Is that too much to dream of?”
Zara sat up straight and faced Richard, furrowing her brows as if she’s venting her anger on him, thinking him as her dad.
“I wanted to prove him wrong and make him realize that being independent does not mean being characterless and that women are capable enough to protect themselves.”
She wiped her tears, suddenly gaining confidence to voice out her thoughts.
“I don’t want anyone to control me, not even dad. I do love him but don’t want him to think bad about us.”
She tucked her bangs behind her ear and sat cross legged, letting everything out.
“I told dad about my decision to study abroad and I fought third world war with him.”
Richard almost laughed hearing her sarcasm but he controlled himself and listened to her carefully whilst she vents her anger on him for real.
“He said I will change after getting used to foreign life but I assured him many times that I will never betray his trust and that I would return safe but he didn’t listen. We quarrelled for months and after trying and trying, he finally agreed but it came with a price. A promise.”
Her eyes suddenly dimmed when she talked about promise and Richard held her hand, urging her to continue.
“He asked me to promise about my marriage. I’m to marry the guy he chose.”
Richard knew how it went as Paula already told him about Mr. Jones ridiculous act of taking an oath from Zara but he let her tell her side of story.
“I was not into love and never been interested to be in relationship and I was desperate to fly away for my future, so I promised him.”
Her eyes brimmed with tears, talking about her promise. She regrets it now. Very much.
She wanted her dad to change his perspective on people and the outside world which is why she took the risk but if he knows about her past with Bash, he would kill her for sure.
“Why did you do that with Sebastian if you are scared of your dad?”
Richard finally opened his mouth and asked the question he badly wanted to ask for the past few minutes.
“I don’t know, I….I just lost myself at that moment. I never let anyone near me but with Bash, I let my guard down. I gave my reins to him.”
Zara said helplessly and wiped her tears which fell without her notice.
“What do you want to do now?”
He asked taking the tissue from the coffee table and gave it to her.
“I will be quiet. He doesn’t know anything about me, not even my name. It’s impossible for him to find me.”
Zara wiped her cheeks with the tissue and hoped that this is the end. She doesn’t want Sebastian in her life but wishes a happy life for him.
“Don’t worry, we are with you.”
Richard said, rubbing her hair lovingly and hugged her to his chest.
Zara hugged him back, closing her eyes as she thought about Sebastian.
She trusts Selina that she won’t tell him about her details even if he forced her using his influence.
She only prayed that everything falls into a place once she wakes up from her sleep tonight.