"Unexpected Company... 2"
It was already past ten in the morning, yet Liyana was still in her room despite the hunger gnawing at her stomach. She sat in silence, arms wrapped around her knees, trying to understand what exactly was wrong with her today. Her phone chimed...a WhatsApp voice message.
She and her mother had been exchanging voice notes since earlier, using their neighbor Layla's phone. When the messages suddenly stopped, Liyana had assumed that Aunty Layla had taken her phone back. Curious, she played the voice note.
It was her mother's voice, offering prayers and wishing her success in her studies. As always, she reminded Liyana to protect her dignity and take care of herself. She ended by saying Layla would need her phone back soon, as she was heading to the market.
Liyana sighed and set the phone down gently. She stood up, grabbed her prayer hijab, and quietly opened the door to leave her room. She was tired of starving herself. Normally, she had breakfast early, but today had been different.
As she walked toward the kitchen, she nearly bumped into her new housemate, who was stepping out at the same time. He stepped back and said, "Good morning."
Avoiding eye contact, she moved aside so he could pass. Without sparing her a glance, he continued on his way. Only then did she step into the kitchen.
She stood staring at the mess he had left behind...dirty cups and plates piled in the sink, a bowl of untouched fruit salad on the counter. Her eyes followed the door he had exited through, wondering who exactly he expected to clean up after him.
She stood still for over a minute, debating with herself. One part of her urged her to leave everything as it was and just leave the kitchen, but eventually she grabbed the liquid soap and sponge, frowning as she began washing the dishes. Once finished, she cleaned the kitchen, made herself some tea, and took a few cookies on a plate before heading back to her room.
Around three o'clock in the afternoon, Liyana emerged from her room. Since finishing breakfast, she'd been studying, pausing only to pray. The house was quiet, and she wanted to be sure her housemate had gone out. She reached for the sitting room door but found it locked. She returned to her room, fetched her keys, and unlocked the door. A glance at the garage confirmed his car was gone.
Relieved, she went to the kitchen. She had been craving rice and stew since the day before yesterday, but his presence had made her uncomfortable enough to avoid cooking. Now that the coast was clear, she decided to make the meal. She set the rice on the stove and began preparing the stew...she still had some chicken thighs in the fridge.
She stepped into the sitting room with a sweeper to clean up and paused to tidy the couch first. Her eyes fell on some scattered documents...his, clearly. She frowned but left them as they were.
She swept the rug and found a key on the floor, twirling it in her fingers and wondering if it belonged to his bedroom. By the time forty minutes had passed, the food was done, and the house was sparkling clean. She took her food back to her room, prayed Asr, and checked her phone.
Her heart skipped when she saw a missed call from Yiming. Immediately, she lost her appetite. She sat on the edge of the bed, staring at her phone, worried. What would she even say to him if she called back? After a while, she took a deep breath and dialed his number.
No answer. She called again—still no response. Despite her hunger, she could no longer enjoy her meal. She hated anything that made her anxious about Yiming.
She forced herself to eat, then lay on her side. She didn't even notice when sleep overtook her.
Knocking on her door woke her. Groggily, she sat up, rubbing her eyes and staring at the door, confused and a little irritated. Who could be knocking like that? Was it even him?
She grabbed her phone and checked the time....6:06 PM. She hadn't realized she'd slept for so long.
More knocking. She got up and, with a scowl, threw on her hijab. "What is it?" she called out.
A voice replied, "Oh, I think I misplaced my keys. Just wanted to know if you saw them while tidying the sitting room?"
Only then did she remember the key she had seen earlier. She walked to the door, unlocked it, and opened it gently. He was already standing in the sitting room, clearly just arriving home.
Without looking at him, she walked to the couch, retrieved the key, and placed it on his papers. "Here," she said flatly.
"Oh. Okay," he replied.
She returned to her room, annoyed. Just "Okay"? Not even a simple "thank you"? She rolled her eyes and locked her door again.
Liyana tried calling Yiming again...he still didn't answer. That made four calls now since 7 PM. She guessed he was probably asleep, given the time difference, but she couldn't shake the feeling that she was in trouble.
She got up, took her used plate, and left the room.
In the sitting room, her housemate was gathering his documents while speaking on the phone.
"I'm on my way now," he said before hanging up and slipping the phone into his pocket. He picked up his documents and car keys and stood.
Their eyes met for the first time since he'd moved in. She looked away as if she hadn't seen him and headed toward the kitchen.
"I ate a little of the food you cooked," he said suddenly, without looking at her, pointing at a takeaway box on the couch. "And I'm taking some for my friend too."
Still without glancing her way, he picked up the box and walked to the door in a hurry. "Good night," he said.
She watched him leave, locking the door behind him from the outside.
Shocked, she stood there frozen. After a few moments, she walked into the kitchen and saw the mess he had left: his used plate, coffee cup, and fruit bowl all sitting in the sink, unwashed.
Leaning against the doorframe with her arms folded, she stared at the pile, fighting the frustration building inside her.
Eventually, she walked over, checked the rice he had left...barely enough for three spoonfuls. He had even spilled some around the pot and didn't clean up.
She poured what was left into a small bowl, washed all the utensils, cleaned the kitchen thoroughly, and made herself some tea before heading back to her room with her meager dinner.
She sat on the edge of her bed and dialed Soraya's number. Just before the call was about to disconnect, Soraya picked up and said, "Wow, Liyana, you seriously don't know how to check in, do you? Anyway, I've arrived safely in Virginia."
Liyana let out a small smile. "I already knew you'd arrive safely. How are you doing?"
Soraya scoffed, "That's really not your business right now."
Liyana laughed lightly. "But seriously, where exactly did you tell Hailong you were going?"
Soraya replied, "Ugh, don't act like you don't know me. His wife... who's never liked the idea of me staying in that house... talked him into it again. As far as they know, I'm at your place doing group reading with some of our coursemates."
Liyana chuckled. "Alright then. So when are you coming back?"
"Tomorrow's the birthday," Soraya said. "If all goes well, I'll be back on Monday."
"I hope so. Guess what?" Liyana said.
"What?" Soraya asked.
Liyana sighed. "Yiming called, and I missed it. I've been calling him since and he's not picking up. I know he's really mad. And me…"
Soraya cut her off sharply. "You what? So now life has no meaning because of this guy?"
Liyana lowered her voice. "He warned me... again and again...not to miss his calls. I swear, I was in the kitchen when he called, and my phone was in the room. It wasn't intentional."
Sounding irritated, Soraya snapped, "Why are you letting yourself be ruled by this guy, Liyana? How long are you going to let things continue like this? When are you going to show him that you're a person, not a pet? If this is what marriage will be like, then you're already setting yourself up to be a slave in his house! What kind of twisted relationship is this? Honestly, I give it to you...because if it were me, no way. Whatever happens, happens."
Softly, Liyana said, "I don't have a choice, Soraya…"
As she spoke, tears started to fall from her eyes.
Soraya, clearly frustrated, said, "Is it just you in your family he noticed? What about Labibah and Lamisah? I think you said Labibah is just two years younger than you, and Lamisah a year. Then your older sisters, Samira and Salma...what, they don't count as women too?"
Liyana didn't say a word, just wiped her tears.
Soraya sighed. "Well, whatever. But you really need to start standing up for yourself, Liyana. Honestly, sending you abroad was the worst decision they could've made....if you don't use the opportunity to claim your freedom. If you don't, I'm sorry, but you're headed for a miserable future. This isn't me being harsh.... it's just the truth. I'm tired of this whole Yiming issue."
Summoning courage, Liyana said, "Please don't talk like that, Soraya. You're supposed to be the one praying for things to work out for me, not saying things like this…"
Soraya scoffed but didn't say more.
Then Liyana said quietly, "Please… can you message him tomorrow morning on WhatsApp and apologize on my behalf? Because I know he won't answer my calls, no matter what."
Soraya sighed. "Alright. I hope tomorrow comes smoothly."
"Ameen," Liyana muttered, and they hung up.
At exactly ten minutes to ten in the morning, Liyana came out of her room with her phone in hand, just in case Yiming called and she missed it again. Since the night before, she'd been glued to her phone, afraid of missing a call from him again. She had already tried calling him three times after dawn...no response. Now she tried once more: still nothing.
In the living room, she spotted her new housemate at the reading nook, deeply focused on a huge textbook. She hadn't even noticed when he came back home. After dawn, she had made herself tea and cookies, stayed in the living room to study until about 7 a.m., then returned to her room and only just got up because she was feeling hungry.
He looked up just once and said, "Good morning."
She walked further into the living room and simply replied, "Okay," before setting her phone down on a one-seater and heading to the kitchen.
From behind her, he spoke. "If you haven't had breakfast yet, there's some left....help yourself…"
Zhanxianyibo🌹🌹🌹