Two days earlier, on December 16, 2009, at 12:10 am.

Nadine got in the car and directed Samir to the airport. It took them twenty minutes to arrive because the entire city was quiet. “Are you expecting someone?” Samir said as he pulled over to the side of the main airport entrance.

“No… I’m the one traveling,” Nadine said as she opened the door, “Don’t go, I’ll go inside to get something first and then come back.” She entered the airport and ordered a cup of black tea before returning to the car and handing it to Samir. “I knew it was your teatime,” she said as she placed the warm cup on the car seat, “And... tell Camellia not to call me.”

“Thank you,” Samir said, chuckling. Soon after Nadine’s accident eight years ago, he began working for Camellia’s family. Nobody knew anything about his background. He was simply a quiet man with a caring demeanor.

Samir extended his hand to take the cup; Nadine examined it, noticing a tattoo on his right wrist — she narrowed her eyes to see it clearly; a strange shiver ran through her body; she clenched her fists unconsciously, feeling a sudden sensation of all her blood burning under deadly fire.

She didn’t appear bothered or harmed; it was her soul that was affected. Something took over her mind in a split second and told her to calm down. She blinked her lashes and moved her gaze away from his wrist and toward his face.

Samir, a Nubian in his late forties, is a man of many faces. He didn’t appear to be the type of person who would get a tattoo. She returned to the airport and purchased the next flight to Dubai.

Nadine was about to turn off her phone when she noticed Camellia’s name on the screen. “Are you fucking serious?” Camellia’s voice was too loud for Nadine’s ear, so she cringed in pain and moved the phone to her other ear. “You’re leaving for Dubai!” Nadine rolled her eyes; everything already irritated her.

“I already told you that.”

“How could you?” Camellia yelled. “I’m sick with worry here, and you’re—”

“I don’t have the energy to argue,” Nadine said. Her tone indicated that she was about to end the call.

“—don’t you dare to hung up on me!”

“I’ll call you later, bye,” Nadine said, ending the call after hearing Camellia’s sigh. She gave the phone one last look before turning it off. She clenched her teeth and sighed deeply. All she could think about was getting to Dubai as soon as possible.

Everything seemed to move slowly once she was inside the plane. She pressed her temples together, feeling the rapid beat of her heart. Her skull filled with an animalistic headache. She prayed for a moment of sleep within her soul, but nothing happened.

Her thoughts were consumed by the agony she was experiencing. Something more complicated and unexplained affected her heart. The pain was a heartbreaking one that people experience after a significant loss. Her mind was recalling all her memories of Adam as she shifted in her seat uncomfortably.

It was the first time she told herself she had never loved him. Cheating and lying had an impact on her, but not to that extent. She was aware that he was in love with his ex-girlfriend. He was always getting their names mixed up.

She thought it would never ruin her soul, but it was having a profound effect on her. She was breathing heavily, wanting to cry so hard that it felt as if someone was splitting her heart. A pain she never understood. Even though her life was filled with wounds from her family, the pain she felt was deeper and unreasonable, and something was behind that unbearable agony.

Something more significant than her shallow, meaningless existence. Something she hasn’t been able to grasp in her entire life, or in the eight years she remembers.

The four-hours flight felt like hundreds of years, with decades of emotions rushing back to her as if she were stabbing a weapon into her heart. She closed her eyes, trying to calm her rapid breathing, but nothing worked, and her heart filled with pain she couldn’t identify.

Nadine picked up her phone and called Liam’s number after the plane landed. He was fast asleep in his bed, soft snores coming from his cracked lips. As his phone buzzed on the nightstand next to him, he reached for it lazily to turn it off.

He cringed as he looked at its screen with one eye open. “I’m at the airport,” Nadine said loudly, with noises behind her overpowering her shaking voice. He closed his eyes and hummed; he couldn’t get his voice to respond out loud.

“I’m getting a car now, meet me at the beach,” she said firmly.

“No... worries,” he replied weakly, not realizing she had already hung up. That day, Liam was exhausted. His flight from Sydney to Dubai was about fifteen hours long, and he slept for a couple of hours only, yet his curiosity about what happened to Nadine drew him out of bed.

6:30 am.

Liam had already been waiting for Nadine for over ten minutes, standing on the sand and admiring the beautiful sunrise. Behind him, there was a sudden sound of gasping, followed by a long sigh. “Liam,” Nadine said, her voice shaking. Liam turned around to see Nadine’s tears bursting like a dam. Her cheeks and ears were a fiery red. His mouth dropped open; he’d never seen her in such a state before.

He moved in closer to hug her. She sobbed uncontrollably into his chiseled chest. He held her silently, slowly stroking her back as her tears soaked his shirt. Her agony had come in waves, with minutes of sobbing punctuated by brief pauses for deep breaths.

She didn’t feel or hear anything other than his heartbeat. Her hands clenched tightly around him, and Liam couldn’t help but hug her even tighter, hoping she’d calm down and stop crying.

Neither of them realized how close they were. Liam moved his arm slowly to hug her waist, and Nadine wrapped her hands around his neck. His embrace was warm, and his arms shielded her frail body. She placed one hand on his shoulders and the other on the back of his neck. Both buried their heads into each other’s necks, smelling each other’s scents; her tears had stopped, but their tight embrace had not.