When Eliyas finally came back to the room he found a very strange scenery:
1- the bodyguards sitting in what was originally his and his wife's chairs.
2- the bodyguards almost finished the food he would pay a fortune for.
3- his wife standing far by the window, seemingly occupying the position a bodyguard would take.
It was only natural for him to so dramatically shout:
_" what's happening here?"
I didn't turn to look at him though, totally ignoring his existence I only kept looking at the sea behind the glass.
The bodyguards on the other hand must have felt very wronged, they both soundly stood up and explained:
_" the master lady asked us to sit and eat."
_" You go back to your initial positions now." Eliyas ordered coldly.
Once they closed the door behind them, he asked me again:
_" What happened Noursine?"
I ignored him again, only steadily walked towards the table to take my purse then coldly said:
_" let's go back home."
He quickly walked the distance between us, gently held my chin to make me look at his face then asked for the third time:
_" What happened?"
I pushed his hand away and just looked at him.
This man knows me so much, so much that I don't even need to speak for him to realize what I had in head, my gaze must have explicitly explained that I already discovered what he had hidden from me, and I was not happy about it at all.
It seemed like he was so shaken by the expression on my face, the temperature suddenly dropped in the air around us as we both only looked at one another icily.
I assume the part of him loving me so much is still valid at least, since there was nothing that I could offer to him, but he was still very affected by the change of my mood.
_" we'll talk once we're back home." I finally spoke, then I tried to walk pass him to get out.
He suddenly grabbed my arm though, then violently forced me to sit down on the chair.
Once he did that, he stormed out of the room under my watchful eyes and roared at the top of his lungs to his bodyguards:
_" You go summon Miss Ladou here immediately!"
Once he did that, he walked inside the room again, slammed the door shut, then steadily walked towards me.
He stood right in front of me, not saying anything except for digging holes in me with his sharp eyes.
I mean, why was he even acting so mighty when he was the one at fault!
If I was a petty person I would have yelled at him until my vocal chords were torn then walked away! But there I was acting very decent and keeping his face in public and him on the other hand making it even harder for me to tolerate his behavior.
He even had the audacity to suddenly ask me:
_" I assume Miss Ladou said a couple of unnecessary words and now you're acting so sour about it, like the typical Noursine Saadat, isn't it?"
I didn't reply when he finished asking, I only daringly gazed at him refusing to say a word, that's when he suddenly yelled so loudly:
_" Isn't it Noursine? Isn't it!?"
I was honestly taken aback by the strength of his voice, he rarely loses his temper even when we fight, god bless him, my ears started buzzing right after that.
_" Don't yell at me!" I shouted back.
although my voice was much weaker, softer and even musical, God bless my eastern dialect, I sound like if I'm singing even when I'm absolutely angry and dead serious.
He took a deep breath, then much more calmly he said while pointing his finger in my face:
_" I want to know what you are thinking about right now, you tell me everything in your head."
You see, it's pointless to be an overdramatic wife, take my mother in-law as an example of that, My father in-law never held any respect to her actions and never ending tantrums, whenever they quarreled in front of me he would simply walk away living her shouting at his back not minding her losing face in front of a stranger.
It's pointless as well being calm and reasonable, you take me as an example of that, my husband always take my silence as a sign of indifference and he acts in a way that triggers my nerves and heart ever deeper!
Since he apparently wanted to launch war before we're safely home then be my guest!
I stood up to face him and said:
_" Why did you lie to me about not having any love affairs in the past? I never said I minded that, you were a free man and you were free to be with anyone you wished for, so what is your point in lying to me?"
_" Oh, I lied to you.." He icily repeated as he came even closer to me, bowing his head to shrink even the height difference between us both.
His gaze was so intense that I seriously felt scarred, but I was not planing to lose our staring battle anyways.
I even so daringly added:
_" Yes you did, I can tell Serine was not inventing a story from her head, and now I don't know what else you lied about, you can't say you just accidentally forgot to mention having an ex, you clearly told me you didn't have any, if this isn't lying then what is it?"
_"You're calling me a liar again Noursine, are you willing to take the responsibility of this accusation?" he asked with a very angry face.
At that close of a distance, I could clearly see how hard he was oppressing his emotions, His eyes turned so red and his jaw tightened, i could even see his veins bulging in his neck.
All signs were as clear as the daylight that something was very off, my smartest head still dumbly insisted on replying:
_" This isn't an accusation, this is the truth."
He moved away from me when I finished speaking, his face turned expressionless and empty of warmth while he avoided looking at me and simply eyed the closed door.
Although it seemed like he strangely became not affected at all which of course enraged me to the extremes, when he quietly said few moments later though:
_" Trust is just a game for you isn't it? You have it today, you lose it the moment someone randomly walks between us, and this will never change, not now, and not in the future."
His voice sounded so pained that I felt unexplainably guilty and hurt my self.
While I turned to look at him having this deep uneasiness inside my heart the door was finally knocked, then Serine appeared again with a very pale face.
_" You wanted to see me?" She asked with a shaking voice.
_" Yes Miss Ladou" Eliyas replied calmly as if he was not the same person who shouted deafeningly when ordering for her to come.
He added:
_" I brought my family to your restaurant to enjoy a meal, now I walk out for few minutes and when I come back I find my wife having accusations to discuss with me, I don't find it appropriate though to clean after someone else's mess, for the sake of your restaurant miss Ladou, I suggest you clear the misunderstanding you created by your self."
_" I don't understand." She hardly said while the colour was drained out of her face.
I could notice her hands shaking, after all, the ruin this man has brought to so many powerful people isn't a secret from anyone in the circle, and this beast was clearly threatening her.
Every time I watch Eliyas acting this way, I find my self more convinced that the warmth and affection he shows to me are indeed very exceptional.
As I partly started to feel that I might have been wrong in accusing him, he said addressing Serine:
_" I want you to simply tell the truth, how me met.. What our acquaintance was.. And how it ended."
She took a deep inhale trying to control her stress then replied:
_" We met at college, we were introduced to one another when we were in the same group for a project, we were not close but I confessed to you in our senior year, we broke up after few days."
_" Is this what you told my wife?"
_" not exactly." She replied almost unheard.. Then added:
_" can I take a seat?"
Eliyas nodded robotically, then closely watched her as she pushed a chair and weakly sat on it with her whole body trembling.
As if his devilish aura wasn't enough to cause someone a heart attack, he cruelly walked towards the table, and as he poured a glass of water and handed it to her he said:
_" When I was in my senior year in college, a classmate of mine confessed to me, although I usually make my rejection very clear, I believe the words I said to her were not so conclusive, Miss Ladou, will you tell my wife what I exactly said to you?"
_" this matter is personal Mr Filladi, Even your wife has no right to know about it." She boldly refused to answer.
Eliyas icily stared at her without even asking her to speak again, he remained silent, however, his threatening aura was so heavy and imposing that she quickly gave up and admitted:
_" You said that I remind you of someone, and that it's such a pity you'll never hear the confession I said from her, when I asked whether you meant your mother, you smiled and you didn't reply, you left afterwards, I understood you didn't reject me at the time, only today I realised you were referring to your now wife."
So.. I was wrong again.
I felt so embarrassed for accusing him and for all the nonsensical thoughts I had that I didn't even dare look at him, I kept only staring at Serine's shining earrings as if they were the most beautiful thing my eyes have ever saw.
Eliyas still found this explanation not enough to clear things, he further said to both My and Serine's torment:
_" few days later, a college mate of mine asked me whether it was true that I was going out with the heiress of Xx chain restaurants, although I had no idea of the identity of this heiress since I totally forgot about our first conversation, I still conveniently chose not to slender your reputation Miss Ladou, I made the effort of looking around for you and even personally asked you whether the rumours were originating from your end, I guess your memory isn't that short, is it? Will you tell my wife again what I exactly said to you when I met you."
She hardly took a sip of water then replied:
_" you asked whether I was the one who spread rumours about you and I having a relationship, when I said they were not rumours and they were the truth you said I must have misunderstood something, and that I better stop bringing damage to your reputation."
Once she said this, i closed my eyes tightly and realized the silliness of my mistake.
" you misunderstood"
That's what Eliyas always says..
He never feels the obligation of explaining what exactly was "misunderstood"..
Even the greatest problem that happened in our marriage regarding Lydia's matter was because Eliyas didn't explain anything to me clearly, he simply said:
_" you misunderstood."
I can put my self in her shoes, she must have assumed Eliyas indeed agreed to be with her and that he just hated how she made their relationship public or something, although If I was in her place I wouldn't have built a castle from powdered sand, but people are different anyways, and some are overly confident, conceited and delusional.
_" can I have your word Mr Filladi, that nothing will happen to Xx ?" She asked.
Eliyas walked back towards his seat, and as he took his jacket and put it on he replied:
_" As long as I hear no words about this little encounter of ours, I won't even withdraw Filladi's investments in your chain."
Once he finished speaking with her, he walked towards me, held my arm and added addressing her:
_" If you should let anything be known, then it is how I love and cherish my wife."
Then he walked out of the room dragging me along with him.
For a moment I thought: " Ok, he's holding my arm and still publicly displaying his affection for me, it seems he's not that angry after all"
But when we finally reached our car and he pushed my arm away as if it was a piece of garbage I realized the harm I caused this time round was much greater than I anticipated.
This man, he didn't even look my direction when he ordered the team's leader:
_" you pay for the restaurant and have a better word with Xx management regarding what happened, then take the master lady back to the Villa in one of the cars, I need to head back to the company's building urgently."
As I watched him sitting inside the car and immediately leaving without looking back at me or even making sure I safely went in another car, I felt so abandoned and alone.
This was only the beginning of his long.. Long coldness and indifference.