Chapter 51. Guilt

It was Friday and she had just closed early from work. She packed her belongings and left the office. Picking up her pace, she walked to her car and hopped in. She had a date with Muhammad that night. It was going to be the third time she was seeing him. The first time was when they met at Aldo’s restaurant and the second time was at her office; it was eerie but she loved the visit — he bought her flowers and lunch.

They sat in her office and talked about everything, and whatnot. He asked her where she lived and if she was single — Bushra froze when he asked. She didn’t want to lie to him. With him, her life felt complete and for the first time, she could admit that she was happy to be around a man. And lying to him was the last thing she’d want to do. Mercy walked in on them — they kept a great distance luckily but she looked at them as though they were doing something aberrant.

Mercy was looking for any sort of way to embarrass Bushra. She had spread the rumor that Bus