Blood turned to ice in her veins, replaced by a suffocating wave of panic.
With a deep breath, she tapped it open again It was indeed a picture of her. Not just any picture, it was one from her recent visit to The Serenity Spa. There she was, clad only in a tiny towel that didn't even reach her mid thighs. But the background was what truly sent her world crashing down. It was unmistakable, there was the back view of that man staring into the hammam.
How didn't she notice? How didn't she hear him.
The picture looked as though she was conversing with the man as he folded his arm and he was clad in a white robe.
This wasn't just a random picture of her enjoying a spa day. This was her, vulnerable and exposed with a man in view.
Before she could process the first image, another one popped in and this felt like a physical blow. It was an image of him sitting on the bed whilst she got out of the hammam. He seemed like he was sleeping. To be honest with herself, the pictures looked far from that of a spa. It looked like she was enjoying her time with a man in a luxurious hotel.
She gasped, "Innalillahi wa inna ilayhi rajiun!" (We belong to Allah, and to Him we will return).
She heard the sounds of her sisters leaving the room, joking around. The carefully constructed world she'd built around herself, brick by fragile brick of trust and security, dissolved into dust. Tears welled in her eyes, blurring the cruel image on the screen. A whimper escaped her lips, a sound raw and painful, the sound of her world turned upside down, leaving behind a trembling mess of fear and confusion.
It wasn't a random spa day. It was a meticulously constructed lie, a weaponized intimacy. The air grew thick with a suffocating pain and panic. How had she not noticed? How had she been so utterly blind?
With trembling hands, she sent a barrage of messages to the unknown number.
"Who are you?"
"Where did you get these from?"
"Why are you doing this?"
The silence that followed was a deafening roar in her ears.
She couldn't stay here. Not another minute in this crumbling world of her own making. She yearned for the one person she knew wouldn't judge, the one shoulder she could truly lean on is her brother, Ahmad.
She got up, aggressively cleaning the tears pouring down her face and tore through her wardrobe, flinging clothes haphazardly into a suitcase. As fear grew in her mind, Ahmad was her only hope. He could fix this, even if it meant enduring his punishments and wrath.
It was just a couple of minutes past noon and she still hadn't had a wink of sleep. She dialed Ahmad's number, and he picked on the first ring. Steeling herself, she tried everything she could not to let her voice break, but in the end, it did. "Ya Ahmad, is it okay if I stay over at your house for the weekend?" she asked.
"Of course! Why do you need to ask?" He laughed, oblivious to the storm brewing within her.
"Alright, just pick me up whenever" she mumbled, desperately trying to regain control.
"Okay, I'm not even home yet. Get ready, once I pick up a package I'll come get you."
"Okay" she faked a chuckle, hollow and unconvincing even to her own ears. Hanging up, she forced her leaden legs towards Ammi's room.
"Ammi, I want to stay a few days with Ya Ahmad. There's some research I'm doing that I need his help with" she lied smoothly, her voice laced with a tremor she hoped wouldn't be noticed.
"What research is that?" her brow furrowing slightly.
"Just trying to see if I could start a business, but I'm finding it hard to figure out about the industry" Jadwa replied, hoping the explanation would suffice.
