Chapter 4

The discussions were over and the men had returned to their homes, taking with them a good impression of the family, of course with the exception of Minusa who never had a good impression of anything or anyone. When the girls had re-entered the enclave, Maana had taken her eldest daughter aside and informed her that she was the centre of the earlier discussions. Rana was surprised, but she was shocked by the next bit of information her mother revealed: the men had come to ask for her hand in marriage to Thansa. Rana could hardly believe her ears. No wonder the sly dog had been smiling at her at every little opportunity! She felt stupid as she recalled what Braana had told her. It seemed her younger sisters were far more informed than she was.

"So what do you think?" Maana asked, intently studying her daughter's expressions.

"I... I'm flattered, Mother. I mean... I feel honored for a great man like Lord Thansa to deign to look at me in such light, but... that's the best I can do. I don't love him, Mother, so I can't marry him."

"You need to understand, Rana." Her mother shook her head slowly. "I was only asking you as a formality. Actually, you have no say in this... neither do I. Your dear father, before his death, had promised you to Manis' son so..."

"But that's not fair, Mother." Rana wailed, close to tears. "I'm supposed to choose whom I love and marry him!"

"Life's never fair to anyone, my child. It's what your father wanted. We can't do anything about it."

"But you're the new head of the family. You should make the decisions and correct Father's wrong ones. I'm sure if Father were here to see what the man he promised me to has turned out to be, he'd have changed his mind."

"Look Rana." Her mother said, drawing her closer. "You're my eldest daughter. I'd like to see you married as quickly as possible before I die. Your father's decision is not the only reason I'm resigned to this marriage, it's also because there're not many men around. Most of our young men were killed in that crazy war and the few lucky ones left like Thansa, we have to make do with them. God knows I have no much love for the man... with his obscene muscles, tricky smooth face and crazy ponytail, but you know, half a loaf is better than no bread at all... or do you prefer a man like Minusa?"

"Oh God forbid, Mother." Rana exclaimed. "Why would you even think of such a thing?"

"Then bring home a much better man and I'll tell Thansa and all his ancestors to go to hell."

Joey felt that he had not talked to his best friend for far too long and he felt the need to remedy that. He was an impulsive person and he very much hated postponing things. Checking the time, he found that it was just in the very early hours of the morning. Any red-blooded person would be in bed by now and no sane person would call someone at this hour just to say hi, but Joey never considered himself sane, not completely. Switching his bottle of beer over to his right hand, he grabbed the phone with his dominant left. Sure enough, Ben was asleep. On the third ring, a groggy voice droned from the other end of the line.

"Still asleep, eh Benny?"

"That you, Joey? What's the problem?" Ben drawled in a sleepy voice.

He hated to be disturbed in the middle of a sweet dream.

"The problem, buddy, is Tara. You need to tell her to step down on those massages, they seem to be weakening you a lot."

"Is that all? You're just jealous. See you later."

Ben disconnected the call and rolled back into his sleeping position. A massage from Tara? Well, he had never thought of that before. It would be exquisite! He smiled at the thought as he drifted off to sleep.

Joey shrugged as he heard the line click off. Perhaps the crazy bum was enjoying his sleep too much. Well, who wouldn't be with such a girlfriend beside you every night? Yes, he was jealous and envious and covetous when it came to extremely beautiful women like Tara, but he didn't need a lecture on it. Drink in hand, he got to his feet and walked over to the balcony of his beach house. He was living on the top floor of the building, mainly so he could enjoy the view for miles around. He scanned the area idly, looking for nothing in particular. He breathed the sea breeze and smiled in satisfaction. As a very busy IT staff member, he had very little time for women and dating as much as he'd have liked. As a result, he lived alone. This worried him, but what could he do about it? He had to work and pay the bills, you know. Feeling in a surveilling mood, Joey picked up his long-range night-vision binoculars and scanned the quiet area. He could see the waves lazily rippling against the shore as the wind blew a little harder.

He sighed and was just about to turn back to go catch a few hours sleep when something caught his eye. Something... no, someone was moving across the beach toward the water. He refocused the binoculars and found that he was actually watching a woman, a young woman. Funny enough, she looked familiar. As the woman looked around to see if she was alone, Joey caught sight of the outline of her face. Damn! He knew her! What the hell was she doing here at this time of the night? From the way she moved, she seemed to be in a hurry. He watched her progress with rapt attention as she approached the shoreline. What did she have in mind? He watched with bated breath as she now moved into the water. She kept on walking. He felt that he had already let things go too far, but before he could decide on what exactly to do, what he saw next made him gasp. A closer look at her and the binoculars fell off his hands. He stood stunned, mouth agape just like a stone statue. Then he suddenly turned around and ran back into his rooms, closing and locking the door behind him.

"Hey Joey, what gives?"

"Are you alone?" Joey quickly asked as if he was holding his breath.

"Yeah. Why?"

"On my way."

The line clicked off and Ben looked at the phone in surprise, wondering what was going on with his friend. Why did he sound so relieved to hear that he was alone? Ben just pocketed the phone and shrugged. He was in the kitchen, trying to fix himself breakfast. He was still skewing the eggs when the doorbell rang.

"Coming!" He called out and kept his word by running to open the door. The person that stumbled past him into the parlour was the person he least expected to see.

"Thought you were at home or somewhere far away."

"No no." Joey replied in an out-of-breath voice as he looked all about his surroundings as if searching for someone.

"You're alone, eh?"

"What's the problem, Joey?" Ben asked, moving closer to him. His friend promptly slumped down on the sofa and held his head in his hands.

"Where does Tara live?" He asked, his voice muffled due to his sitting position.

"What sort of a question is that?" Joey shook his head slowly.

"Answer me, man. Do you know where she lives or you don't?"

"Well... I... not really, but..."

"Then you need to see something."

"What?" Ben asked in a sarcastic tone.

"You gonna say she's cheating or what?"

"No." Joey shook his head as he got to his feet. "There's no way to say it. You have to see for yourself. Call me the next time she comes over."

"Hello!" Tara called as she stepped into the house.

There was no answer. It was all quiet. She wondered if Ben was asleep. She called again, but still no answer, so she dropped her bag and went in search of him. She soon found him immersed in a song playing from a headset he had on.

"Hello!" She shouted at the top of her voice.

He started and looked behind him, then smiled as he saw her, and she smiled back albeit weakly. His arms opened wide for an embrace. She rushed in and rested her head on his shoulder.

"You look tired, what's up?"

"Hmm. Nothing. Just haven't been catching enough sleep."

"Don't worry, we can fix that."

She looked askance at him, but he only smiled knowingly. He had a secret idea in his head that he planned to put in motion as soon as possible. He was sure of total success. This time she would stay the whole night.

They were sitting side by side as usual, watching a TV series. He held her in his arms as she placed her head on his shoulder, watching the show disinterestedly. He could feel her breath coming in measured whiffs and he smiled in satisfaction. He'd gotten her. The drug must be working now. He waited a few minutes to let it sink in properly, then he turned to her.

"Feeling sleepy, babe?" He asked softly. She simply nodded as she struggled to keep her eyes open.

"Okay, let's take you up."

He positioned himself properly, knowing how heavy she was and then lifted her into his arms. She didn't stir. He carried her carefully up the stairs to his bedroom and placed her on the bed, almost reverently. Drawing the covers over her, he promptly joined her in bed. She was in a deep sleep now and a proud smile spread over his features. She would thank him for this when she wakes up tomorrow, merry and fit.