A Prayer Heeded Read online

  After a few minutes, Ali comes back, looking for Adam. Adam looks at Ali with hope, as he may know where his love has gone. Ali sits beside Adam and hands him the phone.

  “She requested that you not look for her, Adam.” Ali sounds serious and broken too. He doesn’t like the idea of seeing them separated. Ali knows how much Adam was addicted to Rania’s company, and he is afraid of how Adam will survive without her. He saw him falling apart the night before, when Adam heard the news of the disaster, but this disaster is worse than last night’s incident.

  Adam still looks at Ali with hope, as if he might change his words. “Don’t look at me like that. I couldn’t stop her. She made me promise not to follow her.” Ali’s words make Adam’s heart crumble into a million pieces. He has to admit that he has lost everything by his own flames.

  ***

  Rania’s cab wanders the cold streets of Toronto on Christmas Eve; she is still not able to decide where she will go. She has no home; she left her money and her wallet at Adam’s place. The only thing she has in her clutch is her fifty-dollar bill and the donation checks Adam handed her, before leaving for the party. She looks out the window, remembering his words. I will never let you go. Ever. He deceived her in front of so many people. She can never forget what he did to her at the party.

  Through the window, she sees the Hope community center and shelter home, decorated with holiday lights. She asks the cab driver to stop the car in front of the shelter home. She pays the bill of twenty-six dollars, and sends him on his way. When she steps inside the warm entrance, she sees a large picture of Adam hanging on the wall with the notation: We thank Adam Gibson for his generous donations. Tears trickle down her face on seeing the image of the man whom she once thought was her true love, whom she thought she could trust with her life. In the lobby is a shelter worker, a seventy-year-old Englishwoman named Martha. The old lady sees the suffering girl and leads her to a chair.

  Rania bursts into sobs, letting all her pain flush away with her tears. Martha pats her back, providing her protection. Rania finally wipes her tears and her makeup, which is running down her face.

  “I have no home. Can I stay here?” Rania asks the old lady innocently.

  The lady smiles, and offers her comfort with a warm embrace. “You can stay as long as you want, my child. You know, due to some good people living in this world, we have shelters, even if we have no home. There is a bit of goodness left in this land.” Rania knows the lady is talking about Adam’s generous donation of this state-of-the-art shelter home. She puzzles over her fate. Of all the places in the world, she ends up seeking shelter in one of Adam’s charities. She recalls Adam’s words when he said he would bring her home back. Her fate has landed her back into his hands and riches. She is at the mercy of Adam’s generosity.

  She takes out all the checks signed by Adam, each check worth fifty thousand dollars. She hands all the slips to the old lady. “This is all I have. But I need shelter for a few days, against these checks.” Her bargaining shocks the lady, when she sees a quarter million dollars’ worth of checks in her hand. She looks at the slips and eyes Rania dubiously. “They are for donations. And there is no better place than Hope. But I would appreciate it if you can manage to hide me for a few days. I don’t want my name to be on this donation.”

  “Don’t worry, my child. You have a big and generous heart. Come, I will take you to your room.” Rania follows the old lady and she shows her a small room. “We have plenty of space in this shelter, and since you have donated so generously on Christmas Eve, you deserve a private room.”

  “Thank you. But you shouldn’t be thanking me for this money. It is from someone else.” Rania smiles sadly at Martha, who looks at the slips once again and is surprised to see the Gibson Enterprises name on them. She looks up at Rania and then back to the checks. “Can I sleep now?” Rania speaks in a broken voice.

  “Of course, my child. Let me get you something to change into for the night. You can’t sleep in this gown.” Martha leaves for a few minutes, then brings some donated clothes for Rania and leaves her alone in the room. Rania locks her door and sits on the corner of the bed. She looks at the clothes and wonders at her fate. Within a few seconds, her life has dropped from the sky and she is buried under the ground. She remembers how graciously Adam filled his closet with a huge selection of high-end clothes for her. I will place the whole world at your feet. Adam’s words are echoing in her ears, like an aching pain. She looks at the old used clothes and cries heavily, cursing her fate. How her life is broken into pieces in front of her eyes, how a streak of jealousy can tear strong relationships. How Adam treated her royally and lovingly, the whole day. And now, she is empty-handed.

  The thought of Adam kissing her tenderly keeps flashing through her mind. Despite what he did to her, she knows deep down she still loves him. She has never trusted anyone in her life. Adam has passed all her tests of faith, but she wonders what happened to him tonight. What was the feeling that overtook his heart? She cries for a few hours in the night, and then sleep overtakes her mind.

  ***

  Adam is all alone in his apartment, lying on a chaise in his study, drinking heavily and looking at the picture of his and Rania’s first dance. He is cursing the demon that overtook his mind. Why couldn’t he wait and let her dance with her old friend? All she wanted from him was trust, and he failed in providing it. Adam recalls the times he begged for her trust and when she finally agreed to trust him, what he had done brought him beyond the level of despair. He’d insulted her in front of three hundred people, and worst of all, bruised her lip, and then let her leave on her own. Adam keeps wondering furiously where she would go in the middle of the night. She has no home of her own, he has pushed her out of his life, and she has even left her wallet at his place. He thinks of calling Mike and asking him to hunt for her personally, but the idea that Mike might actually kill him when he finds out what Adam did, is shaking him. He knows how protective Mike is about Rania. He imagines her presence; it would have been the best Christmas of his life, but due to one single sin, it has turned out to be the worst. He goes into his room, where his eyes search desperately for her. He has not touched her, he has not kissed her yet, but his body is craving her touch; his lips are burning for her. He picks up her clothes from his bed and tries to feel her presence through her fragrance. Her absence has broken him.

  He feels Ali’s hand on his shoulder. “Please stop drinking, Adam. I promised her I would not let you drink heavily. Please let me keep my promise.” Ali takes the glass from Adam’s hand and puts it aside.

  “She has no home, Ali. Where did she go? You know where she is, right?” Adam asks his friend helplessly.

  “No, Adam, I don’t know. She requested me not to chase her anymore.” Ali takes a deep breath and continues. “Give her some time. Let her go for a while.”

  “But where is she? She could be out in the cold. She doesn’t have anyone and I know, even if she had, she wouldn’t go there.” Adam hugs her clothes to him and speaks again. “Last night when I thought I lost her to the fire, I was cursing God for His decision, but now…I have lost her with my envy…who should I curse now, other than me?” He looks up again at Ali. “You aren’t going to look for her?”

  Ali stands there quietly, not saying anything in response. He looks at this rich man with pity and concludes that he is grateful he has never fallen in love with anyone. He sees a man of strong mind falling apart, all because he is madly in love. Ali remembers how Adam was with the other women in his past, not caring about their feelings, and one single woman changed him from head to toe. Her absence is killing Adam. He is behaving like a drug addict, who is not given his drug when his body is craving it.

  Adam picks up Rania’s bag and hands it to Ali. “I know you will find her. And when you do, this is hers. She’ll need all these things. I am just afraid…if she does anything to harm herself, I won’t ever forgive myself.”

  “She is a woman with a strong mind
. I don’t think she would do that.” Ali provides his point of view. “Suicide is a sin for her. I don’t think she would go for it.”

  Adam is extremely tired and drunk, and his head is spinning with thoughts of where she might be. He is hardly able to stand on his feet. Ali is fulfilling his promise to Rania, so he stays with Adam and helps to put him to bed. Adam burrows his head into the same pillow that Rania slept on last night, holding the last clothes she wore, and he can still feel her presence in his bed. He looks around the bed and remembers the game they played in the afternoon, about the king and his chamber. He keeps wondering what he can do so that she will forgive him, and then an idea comes into his mind. He shares it with Ali before going to sleep.

  ***

  It’s Christmas, and Rania wakes up around ten in the morning. Her head is still heavy due to her crying last night. She checks herself in the mirror; her lower lip is wildly bitten and sore. Adam has left the worst scar; not like the man who gave her burn marks in the past. This time, her soul is marred. She hides under the blanket again, afraid to face the day. When the incident happened last night, there were so many people taking pictures for the news. How can she ever face the world? He’d mistreated and insulted her, in front of all his family and friends. She thinks that if Adam had killed her in silence, she would have accepted death from his hands, but this is worse than death. The feeling that she has to live with this shame is torturing her more than anything.

  A knock at her door distracts her. “Come in,” she says in a low tone.

  Martha steps in, with a tray of breakfast in her hands. Rania wonders why she is getting such special treatment—maybe because of her large donation. “Merry Christmas, my child,” Martha says. “How are you feeling this morning?”

  “I am good, thank you.” She tucks her knees to her chest and creates a space on her bed. Martha sits beside her. Rania sees a folded newspaper on the tray, besides tea and a sandwich. Martha notices Rania looking at the newspaper, so she picks it up and places it over Rania’s knees.

  “I won’t ask you how and what happened to you last night, but he is extremely apologetic about it.” Martha’s words surprise Rania and she opens the newspaper, where her and Adam’s picture makes a headline. She reads the article with the title: Adam Gibson apologizes to his girlfriend in front of the whole nation. She wonders why the media haven’t posted any pictures of the party last night, since the venue was crowded with photographers. Has Adam paid the press to suppress them? The question comes into her mind, but she has no answer. She knows Adam can move heaven and earth with his money, if he wants to. She starts reading the article. It says that Adam is extremely ashamed of his behavior and wants to apologize to his girlfriend and his parents for ruining their evening. The article also mentions that when Rania left the party, she had no home, and Adam is requesting information from anyone who can tell him where she has gone. He’s included a personal message to her, conveyed over the media, nationwide.

  Please don’t close all the doors on me. You are my home; please don’t make me homeless. Adam.

  Tears cloud Rania’s eyes and she hides her face in her hands. Martha looks at her with sympathy. She doesn’t know how to treat this broken girl. After a few minutes of crying, Rania looks up at Martha and asks, “You didn’t tell him where I am, right?”

  “He still doesn’t know, my child. But for how long will you lock yourself in here? As soon as you come out, anyone can see you. Right now, only I know, and I saw how hurt you were when you came last night. You are welcome here, as long as you want, but the man who provides shelter to hundreds of people would not like his own woman living on the mercy of others. He deserves one chance. Men are usually very bad at apologies, and he is apologizing in front of the whole country.” Martha pushes the tray toward her. “I am not one to force you, but I still feel he deserves one chance.” She continues, “Please, have your breakfast. I will come back after a while.” Martha places a motherly kiss on Rania’s forehead and departs from the room.

  She reads Adam’s message again and again and cries over her pain. She realizes that he is in as much agony as she is. But even if she forgives him, would things ever be the same between them? If a person has a habit of being jealous, then this could happen again. It is in Adam’s nature and she can’t change it. She decides that sometimes, things happen for a reason. She was never meant to be his. Things would not have been possible between them. No one can open the chains in which Rania is trapped. So she decides, let it be like this. Silence is the solution to all their problems.

  She knows if she were to face Adam, her heart would melt again. She has already forgiven him, but trusting him again is the difficult part. Even if he says he loves her, she knows things cannot go beyond that, because she has some boundaries. She realizes she got sidetracked for a while. Her heart was misleading her to Adam’s path, which she can never take. She thinks of the words of the fortuneteller, informing her that Adam is her soul mate. She can’t believe it, because soul mates don’t crush the soul of their beloved. Her mind wanders for a while, feeling Adam’s sensuous touch on her. She can still feel his kiss on her neck, and now her heart keeps reminding her that he is no longer there for her. Her curse has come up again, in the form of pain; she can never let anyone love her.

  Ever.

  ***

  On Christmas morning, Adam looks at the news headline, wondering if Rania has read it or not. He had no other way to tell her how sorry he was. Will she ever forgive him and break the bars between them? He has paid a really heavy amount to all the media diggers, not to mention what happened last night. In one night, he paid millions of dollars’ worth of royalties for the pictures that were taken of him kissing her mercilessly. He remembers his own words: he told her once that she was like a fire and if he tried to touch her against her will, he would burn.

  Ali is busy tracking down any information on where she might be, on Adam’s orders. Nonetheless, deep down he wants to keep the promise he made to Rania. He always respected her as a sister, and she has always trusted him. Ali doesn’t want to ruin that, like Adam did. Adam refuses all calls where people are chasing him with questions. He is one of the most influential people in Toronto, and in the past, whatever he did was news. He is like an open book, and never in his life has he been reluctant to provide information. But this time, he refuses to make any public appearances after his message to Rania. He knows the press will ask him if he is in love with the girl. He knows he loves her, but he wants her to hear it from his mouth, before the rest of the world hears it, which is why he never mentioned his love in the message printed in the newspapers.

  He walks down memory lane and rewinds all the memories that she created in his life. He plays all the videos and pictures he took of her during their vacation over the past two weeks. He keeps watching them in his theater, on a large projection screen, while drinking heavily. He wants to ease the pain with alcohol, but the more he drinks, the more depressed he gets. There is no way he can get her off his mind. As much as he knows he loves her, he also knows he is obsessed with her.

  Ali appears in the middle of the afternoon, looking at the broken man with compassion. Adam has refused to eat anything at all, because he knows Rania won’t be eating. Ali keeps trying to convince him, like an elder brother, that if he doesn’t look after himself, he will not be able to look after Rania when he finds her. Somehow, all his words of wisdom are failing on Adam. Ali realizes it is very important to bring Rania back to him; otherwise, Adam will ruin himself. In less than twenty-four hours, Adam has lost all his senses. Ali is worried about what he will do if she doesn’t come back in a few days. He sits next to Adam and watches him looking at the projection screen, lost. He can’t believe a man like Adam can fall in love with a woman so intensely. He takes the glass of whiskey from Adam’s hand.

  “You are not letting me keep my promise to her.” Adam looks at him with misery. He wants to keep the promise too, but he is failing at it, just like he failed a
t keeping trust in his relationship. “Even if I find her, what if she refuses to see you?” Ali shuts off the projection screen to get Adam’s attention.

  “I know she won’t see me. I know her, she won’t even complain. She has chosen the path of silence, and that’s killing me inside. It would have been better if she had fought with me, but her silence tells me she is more distressed than I imagined.” Adam looks toward Ali. “I just want to know if she’s doing okay. She has no money; her wallet is here. I don’t know what she would be doing. The thought that she’s homeless is making me sick. I build homes all across this country, and the person I have loved most in my life has been homeless since last night.” Adam pauses for a moment and rests his head on the headrest. “Hah! What a fate you have, Adam Gibson,” Adam says sarcastically, shaking his head.

  “Does she have any friends, other than Mike?” Ali asks.

  “No.” Adam shakes his head in denial. “And even if Mike was there, she wouldn’t have gone to him. I know her. She wouldn’t complain about me to anyone.”

  “By the way, Mike is waiting outside to talk to you. You need to see him, at least. He might have news of her.” Ali stands up from his seat and leaves the room, hoping Adam will follow him.

  When Adam enters his living room, Mike is waiting for him impatiently. He stands up, looks at Adam and slaps him with full force in the face. Ali runs toward him to protect Adam, but Adam signals him not to. This is between him and Mike.

  “I told you I would kill you, if you ever hurt her,” Mike yells at him, wrath in his eyes. “Where is she right now? Where did she go, Adam?”