Chapter Nine

A few days passed by quickly. His routine remained the same as he waited for her to call him. He had been anxiously waiting for a single phone call, just for her to say once that she wanted to hang out again, go for a bite, or even just talk. "Why isn't she calling me? Or even texting?" He was anxious, it had just been a few days. He had tried to call her a few times himself, but she never picked up. "I'll wait a few more days, just until Saturday again. I'll go and see how she is doing."

The following days went by excruciatingly slow. He kept his phone close at all times and hoped something would happen, but nothing did. He hung out with Noori to waste some time, but he could never think properly, always anxious.

"Aaru uncle, why aren't you rolling the dice?" She pouted as he got distracted for the millionth time.

"Sorry." He looked at her with a plain smile and rolled the dice half-heartedly.

It was finally Saturday. Aarush had his usual tutoring lesson begin.

"Yunus sir, how are you?" She still had a sullen expression, this however made Aarush sigh in relief. If Reni hadn't heard of Inaya, then that meant she wasn't forced to go back home.

"I'm fine, what about you?" He asked with a smile.

"Mom said that dad found where Ina is." She said suddenly.

Aarush's heart suddenly dropped. "And?"

"Well, she said she isn't coming back. Amin uncle tried to convince her too, but she said she is happy. Why doesn't she want to live with us? I don't get it." When Aarush heard this, a dangerous flicker flashed past his eyes. "For now, Amin uncle is going here everyday to convince Ina to come back, so far no luck."

"Everyday?" Aarush asked with a deep frown.

"Yeah. Ina should just come back, Amin uncle is so worried about her. You know, he really cares for her. Always having her back for everything." Reni said with an annoyed look. "Ina is being so dramatic."

"Alright, you shouldn't speak like that about your aunty. You don't know the real reason, so don't make assumptions, that's never a good thing." Aarush knew Reni was oblivious to everything that was going on in Inaya's life, so he couldn't blame her for thinking that Inaya was being selfish, but that didn't mean he liked to hear it. "Anyways, let's quickly do the tutoring." He began right away. He wanted to finish it early so that he could visit Inaya and see what was going on.

A few hours passed slowly. Aarush was a little distracted throughout because of the things Reni told him. He felt anger bubbling inside of him, thinking that Amin was harassing Inaya everyday.

"Ok, don't forget your things guys. Also, the work I assigned isn't due, but still try it and come back with questions next time." As they all left the place, Aarush looked at Reni's mom with a glare, of course the latter didn't notice this. Making sure they all left, Aarush quickly grabbed his keys and left on his bike. 'Inaya, just wait, I'll beat that Amin bastard up if he is causing you trouble.'

After about fifteen minutes, he arrived in front of the school. He had been driving with great speed just to get there as quickly as possible. He got off his bike and noticed that the guard was the same one from last time.

"It's you?" The guard also recognized him.

"Hey, I heard someone has been coming here to bother Inaya, is that true?" He walked forward with a furious expression.

"Yeah, her brother and some other guy keep coming to make trouble. I can't do much, but prevent them from entering the grounds." The guard shook his head. "Do you want to go in and check on her? I know that you and her don't have problems, so I can let you in." He knew he wasn't supposed to allow this, but he was also concerned about the women. He treated them all like his own family because of the many years he had been guarding.

"If you can, that would be great." Aarush thanked the guard who opened the door for him. Aarush quickly ran inside and began to search high and low. People would avoid him when they saw him, except a few women.

"Hey, what are you doing here? You can't be here." One of them scolded him with a growl.

"I'm sorry, but there is someone here I need to see. Inaya, she is being hounded by her brother and some other guy. I want to make sure she is alright, I'll leave right after that, I promise." He said with an apologetic tone.

"We can't let you do that." They replied without budging. "If you don't leave, we will have to call the guards."

When Aarush heard this, he calmed down, but his expression suddenly became icy. "Alright, let me phrase it this way. If you don't show me where Inaya is, I will get this place shut down, and trust me when I say this, my connections are deep." Aarush decided to just threaten them. He didn't have the time to wait around. "I just want to see her and make sure she is alright, I won't harass her nor do anything bad. Just lead me to her, it's simple."

The women hesitated but nodded their heads reluctantly. Although it wasn't guaranteed what Aarush said was true, they couldn't take that chance. They knew very well that the government didn't care about their school too much, so if there truly was someone who wanted to make trouble, it could be done without much of a problem.

"Thank you." He smiled at them as he followed behind them. They led him to the cafeteria and pointed at an entrance.

"She's in there." Aarush nodded his head and thanked them once again before walking towards the door. He peaked in and saw that there was a single person inside. Piles on piles of dishes were in front of her, stacked high enough to reach her head. She was slowly washing them in her plain clothes. When he saw this, Aarush felt a throb in his heart, it hurt him like a knife stabbing through him.

He slowly walked over without making much of a sound. He looked closely and noticed her wrinkled fingers. Her hands had a few cuts here and there. "Inaya?" He called out slowly.

She suddenly turned around, but when she did, Aarush's expression dropped and his eyes showed an intense coldness. "A-Aarush? What are you doing here?"

Ignoring her words, Aarush walked closer and reached out his hand. He placed it gently on her slightly swollen cheek. "Who hit you?" He asked slowly, his face becoming more and furious. He gently caressed her cheek unconsciously.

Seeing him show such an expression, she became a little frightful. "No one. Anyways, what are you doing here?"

"You didn't pick up any of my calls nor did you call me." He said slowly, his hand still on her cheek. "Inaya, tell me, who hit you. Was it your brother? Was it Amin?"

"Aarush, don't worry about it, it was nothing." She said with a plain smile.

"Also, why are you washing so many dishes?" He looked behind her and noticed all the dishes. He lifted her small hands and stared at them with a sad look. "Look at your fingers, your hands."

"I'm fine Aarush." Inaya replied blandly.

"No you're not." Aarush suddenly walked to the dishes and pushed the pile to the ground.

CRASHHH

"Aarush!" Inaya leaped at the sound. "What are you doing?" She said with anger.

"What am I doing?" He looked at her with anger. "What are you doing? Someone hit you yet you're saying everything is fine. Your hands are hurt and you are working so tirelessly, yet you say you're fine." He felt angry beyond words.

"I told you I'm fine." She said with anger boiling up in her heart as well. "Anyways, why does it matter how I'm doing, my life, my choices." She growled back.

"Screw that! I don't give a damn if it's your life." He suddenly walked forward and touched her cheek. "I know who did this and I'm going to go and settle this shit right now!"

As he turned around, Inaya suddenly grabbed his hand. "Wait, where are you going?"

"Someone hit you so hard Inaya, the mark is still on your face. You and I know which person is capable of such a disgusting act." Aarush pushed her hand aside and walked towards the room's exit. He saw the women looking at him with a bit of worry. Aarush couldn't help but snort at them. He dug into his pocket and pulled out a few bills. "This should cover those broken plates." He shoved them into the leading woman's hand before storming off.

"Aarush, wait!" Running behind him, Inaya felt a huge headache dawn on her. "Stop!" She grabbed his hand and pulled hard.

"What?" Aarush looked at her with anger.

"Stop butting into this, it doesn't concern you!" She said with a furious expression.

"It doesn't concern me? Is it because you and I have no relationship?" He asked with a furious expression.

"You and I are not related, so it doesn't concern you. Stop butting in." She said with anger.

Aarush suddenly pulled her arm and pulled her closer. His hand wrapped around her thin waist as he looked at her from above with a furious expression. "You're saying that unless you and I have a relationship, I can't butt in?"

"What are you doing? Let go of me Aarush." She struggled as he held her waist tightly. "Aarush!"

"Inaya, I don't know why I care so much about you. It doesn't make sense to me why seeing you like this, hurt by some person, makes me so mad." He leaned in and said in a silent voice.

"Aarush, let go of me." She still tried to struggle, but Aarush only looked at her with a sad expression. He lifted a hand and gently caressed the swollen cheek.

"Does it hurt?" He asked her in a quiet tone. "You can tell me if it does, I will make sure to help it feel better."

"No it doesn't hurt." She growled. "I just want you to let go of me, right now!"

"If I let go, you better not run after me." He said while slowly loosening his grip on her.

When she felt her chance to escape, she quickly struggled out.

Slap

"You…" She glared at him furiously. "How dare you grab me like that?! I thought you were different! I thought you could be different from Amin, but you're the same as him! Taking advantage of me, trying to touch me!" She turned around and ran in the opposite direction. Aarush raised his hand and touched his warm cheek with an angry expression. He was never one to follow the normal way of thinking. Usually, this was a time when they would leave the angered person alone, to let them think, but Aarush didn't believe in these things. He followed his own train of thought. He felt it would be wrong to walk away from this, he needed to go and talk to her.

Aarush ran behind her, following her closely behind. They ran through many turns until Aarush reached an open door. He looked inside and noticed it was a small, empty room. Walking down the three steps, he entered the room easily. When he looked around, he felt more hurt by what he saw. There was almost nothing in the room, just a single bed, a mirror, and a window to see the outside. It was more like a prison room then anything. He looked towards the bed and saw Inaya sitting with her hands on her face. Sighing a little, he walked over and sat next to her.

"Go away Aarush!." She pushed him with her hands, but Aarush still kept sitting. "Why aren't you leaving me alone? Why is everyone always harassing me?! I just want to live my life without getting beat or assaulted, is that too much to ask?"

"It isn't too much to ask." Aarush said in a calm voice. He looked around the room and saw his book on the ground, placed on top of her clothes. He walked over and picked it up. "You know Inaya, I've been thinking about this for a while, why did you like this book of mine? It was my most unpopular book, the one people said was too extra or just cringe worthy. So, I questioned this over and over again. Today, I think I understand why." Aarush walked over and sat down in front of Inaya. She was wearing thick, blue socks. They looked warm. Aarush reached out and grabbed her foot.

"What are you doing now Aarush?" She said in a complaining manner as her tears fell from her face.

Aarush smiled and just began to massage her small feet gently. "Are you sore?"

"Stop it." She said annoyingly, moving her feet away, but Aarush tightened his grip on them.

"It's fine, I like doing this. Just close your eyes, I know you're hurting." He said with a gentle smile. Aarush continued with his massage, but he didn't stop speaking. "Do you wanna know why I think you like my book? Well, the main character in my book is a protector, someone who cares for those around him. You probably always wanted to experience that same care and protection since the ones that should be giving you this treatment are instead harming you. You envy characters in this book because of this reason, right?"

"Why does it matter?" She said while biting her lips.

"It matters because this care and protection that you want so badly… I can give it to you." Suddenly, he spoke his words with clear eyes.

"What do you mean?" Inaya looked at him with a tear stained face. Seeing this, Aarush felt hurt. He began to caress her face again, gently smiling at her.

"I don't know…" As he was about to say something else, Aarush suddenly felt someone grab him from behind."Who the hell!"

"Alright, you messed around enough!" He was surrounded by a few guards who grabbed him from all sides and pulled him out of the room.

"Hey, I can leave myself!" Aarush struggled out of their grasp and glared at each one of them. Aarush looked back at Inaya and smiled gently. "Bye, my time is up now." He then walked towards the exit and left the school. The guards kept a close eye on him as he left. "You guys can relax, I'm not going to fight back, just know this though, If I feel like it, all of you can be on the streets." He spat on the ground and glared furiously. "Next time, watch it." He got on his motorcycle and drove away.

Inaya sat in her room, dazed by everything that just happened. She looked around and felt lost. "What did he mean by his words?" She was stuck on this. He said he could provide her with what she desired, but what did he mean by this?

Sighing, she fell on her bed and reached to her face. When she met her brother a while ago, without even saying a single thing, he slapped her across the face. It was such a hard slap, she almost fainted because of it.

She thought back to Aarush appearing in front of her today. His anger and worry filled her mind. The way he reacted when he saw her hurt, the way he caressed her face, her hands, she couldn't help but remember it. Thinking about all of it made a weird feeling rise in her heart, she didn't understand it, but it was new. All the chaos happening in her life, she couldn't help but want to suddenly sleep a little. The day was so busy, she felt exhausted. 'Maybe some rest will clear my mind.'