RashidThere are few things in this world that I hated more than being put in a compromising position, and that was being forced into situations that I wanted fuck all to do with.It'd taken me a great deal of effort not to take my unrelenting anger out on my unsuspecting best friend, but fuck was he starting to get on my nerves. He certainly wasn't the target that I wanted to aim for, but he'd be a convenient one at the very least. In the back of my mind, I knew that it wouldn't be fair of me to let out all of the vile self-hatred I'd been storing inside of myself for the better part of two months. But he'd at least get it, that was the problem.Zayed, out of anyone that I knew, was the most perceptive person aside from my father. He was never one to let me, or my bottled-up annoyance, go unchecked at any point and it's what made him my most trusted confidant. Until lately. Because lately he's become almost insufferable."You think I should go with t

LylaMy eyes watered. "Of course, I will."Melanie's grip on me tightened. "Really? You'll be my maid of honor?"All I could do was nod in return.I stumbled back slightly when she threw her arms around me, happily laughing in my ear while she hugged me tight to her chest. I held the box out from us, making sure to keep it upright so the pendant didn't fly out and shatter on the ground. Jewels and their hardness scales were not my forte, and since Melanie had gone to such painfully great lengths in order to get this to me, I didn't want to break it while only having it in my possession for less than ten minutes."I'm so excited!" She pulled back from me. "I have so much to tell you about the wedding. I have a whole binder!"Despite my rocky mood and my stomach rolling with nerves, I laughed. "Of course you do.""You want to see it?"She was moving away from me before I even had a chance to answer her, unzipping her bag and pulling out her c

RashidOver the course of the next few weeks, I engulfed myself with helping Zayed with his travel plans to the States. It wasn't much, but it kept me preoccupied just enough to push my thoughts aside for a little while and focus on something trivial that had little effect on my life.Zayed didn't need much help, aside from the paperwork that came with being granted a travel visa, but he seemed to enjoy the company of it anyway. A surprising fact that had me questioning his sanity altogether.My anger had slowly started to subside into deep melancholy which had come on quickly and with hardly any warning of its onset. Whatever part in the grieving process I was at, apparently, I'd moved on to the next stage of it without meaning to.I wasn't sure if that was a good thing or not but I tried not to think of it. I dreaded the day that acceptance came and I slowly started to forget all about Lyla and the way she'd made me feel while I was with her. Would it all soon

LylaSomehow, Melanie was able to convince me to go to Sven's to spend some time with our friends.In the back of my mind, I knew she was only doing this because she wanted me to get out of bed and out of the house. I'd been holed up for days after I'd come home, feeling completely defeated and so goddamn sick.It seemed that as soon as my mind had caught up with the rest of my body, all of my pregnancy symptoms kicked in at once. Not only was I suffering from extreme nausea, but my head hurt all the time and my joints ached in places I never thought were possible. This entire situation was a whole load of shit and no matter how many times Melanie stayed up to force-feed me or sit with me while I threw my guts up, none of it seemed to get any easier. My entire life had been flipped on its head. I could never go back to the person I was before going to Dubai. She was long since forgotten the second I'd gotten off that plane after landing in that beautiful c

RashidThe water was hot when it ran over my hands, scalding me slightly. In the mirror, my scowl stared back at me, the annoyance from earlier still prevalent on my face. I'd excused myself to that bathroom less than ten minutes ago and still, I couldn't get myself back down to a neutral standpoint. Whatever it was about Hafsa that drove me up a wall was something I would consider impressive if it wasn't so fucking irritating to deal with.It wasn't even the way she acted in her mannerisms—which were completely normal, if not regal in a sense. Her presence grated me without her even trying to; my pent-up anger pin-pointedly focusing on her and boiling so hot inside of my stomach that I considered getting checked for ulcers with how much stomach acid must be bleeding into my system by now.No matter how many times we did these stupid dates, and tried to get to know one another, it was never going to work. I was never going to change my mind or my feelings for he