Clueless Love

We both finish eating breakfast and walk to David’s study. We walk in and take our seats. Once we are all seated, David is the first one to speak up.

“Thank you both for coming…” David says, but Ismail cuts him short.

“Why are you being so formal? It’s not like this is a business deal or something,” Ismail chuckles.

“Shut up and let me talk, Ismail,” David replies.

“Sorry, go on,” Ismail says making a hand gesture, smiling sheepishly.

“As I was saying before ‘Mister I know it all’ spoke. I want…”

“I am not ‘A know it all’. I just asked why you spoke so formal,” Ismail interrupts again.

“Ismail, let the man talk,” I say holding back my laughter, because seeing the two of them bicker is fun to watch.

“Thank you, Umit, and Ismail don’t open your mouth until you are told to do so,” David says, and I just shake my head smiling.

“Umit, you are supporting him, you of all people should be on my side,” Ismail says, sounding like he is really hurt, but I clearly know he is faking it.

“Ismail there are no sides here. You are just starting an argument. I don’t even know what you are trying to do here, but there are no sides,” I say sternly, but secretly thinking Ismail is quite the character.

“Did I not tell you not to talk until you are told to do so? And for what it’s worth, she is on my side,” David smirks while tapping his chest.

“Please, I am not on anybody’s side. Can we go back to the reason we are here?” I say not quite understanding where this conversation is leading.

“I am watching you, David, that’s my lady you are talking about,” Ismail says pointing his fingers to his eyes, and back at David.

“OKAY! That’s enough! Please, can we go back to the main topic” I say, but smiling at the fact Ismail called me his lady and the way they are behaving is also making me laugh.

“Alright, jokes apart. I wanted to speak to the both of you to help me with a plan to put Mr. Alberto in prison. We need a plan so good; he won’t suspect it coming his way,” David says.

“Alright, but if I may ask, why are we the ones helping you and not your fellow officers?” I ask.

“One, because I am meant to be dead and two, Mr. Alberto has people in the station who give him Intel any time I have a lead on him, so I can’t trust anyone there yet. I have to be sure I have solid evidence against him before I make myself known to the world again.”

“Okay, I feel like the best way to get evidence against someone like him, is to get close to him. He looks like a private person, so someone has to gain his trust and get close to him to get information on him.” I voice, thinking out loud.

“That’s a good idea Umit, but Mr Alberto knows my face, and knows Ismail’s face. You are…” David says but is cut short by Ismail.

“No! Umit is not going anywhere near that man,” Ismail says shocking me with the way he disagreed before David could even finish talking.

“Wow, I did not know you disliked him so much,” I say.

“It’s not about the fact that I dislike him, I just don’t want you near that man,” Ismail says using a softer tone to speak this time, and I clearly understand what he means without saying it.

“Alright, it’s fine. I won’t get anywhere close to him,” I assure him.Exclusive content © by Nô(v)el/Dr/ama.Org.

Ismail is not someone who makes a judgment without reason. So, there must be a good reason for him to react so strongly, not wanting me near the man. And I won’t lie, I do kind of like the protectiveness. It’s nice to have the man you are in love with wanting to protect you.

“Thank you. Why don’t we monitor his movements and keep tabs on his phone or something?” Ismail suggests.

“That is a good idea. But Mr Alberto is a very smart man, and when I tried monitoring his movements in the past he found out. He made sure I was never able to know the locations he did his dealings. I have always lost him, one way or the other. About keeping taps on his phone, that could work because I never tried that before. I was never able to get access to his phone like I wanted to, but since Ismail has gotten access then maybe we can find something useful,” David says.

“We could have. But while reading Mr. Alberto’s messages, emails, and going through his call log on the phone we have access to it is obvious he does not use this number or phone to make any deals. Whether its guns or any other thing he deals with illegally, he does nothing from this number,” I state, telling them my observation while going through his phone.

“Wow, this man is leaving us short of ideas,” David grumbles.

“Yes, he is. But there is still a way we can monitor his movement. We can track his movements without following him around,” Ismail states.

“We can do that, how?” David asks.

“We can do that by putting a GPS tracker on his car. We will be able to know his movements without him even suspecting a thing,” I say understanding what Ismail means.

“Yes, she is right, and we can also monitor his calls if we can get that other number he uses for his deals. If we get access to all of that we will be able to know who he calls, texts and where he goes without him knowing a single thing,” Ismail says.

“Wow, I think you should both join the police,” David says impressed.

“NEVER,” Ismail and I say at the same time, and end up laughing at how neither want to join the police.

“I am hurt by the way you guys responded. That was a compliment. My job is actually a very good job, thank you very much,” David huffs.

“No, thank you very much. I love my job as a software engineer,” Ismail responds.

“Same goes here,” I say, raising my hand.

“Okay, but any day you guys change your mind I will be here waiting,” David says.

“Don’t hold your breath, it’s never going to happen,” I say.

“Yes, never going to happen,” Ismail agrees.

“Alright, Alright. I get it, you guys don’t like my job, so back to what we were saying. Ismail your plan could work, but that would mean we will need to go back to San Francisco.”

“Yes, we will. And we need to get that other phone number he has, so we can keep tabs on it,” Ismail agrees.

“Alright then, we will do that when we get back to San Francisco. As well as finding a way to get close enough to his car to put a GPS on it. I don’t know how exactly we are going to do that, but we will find a way. We leave at 7:00. p. m. tonight. The sooner we leave, the sooner all of this can be over,” David says.

“Alright,” Ismail and I reply.

At 7:00 P. M. on the dot we leave for San Francisco, and this time I make sure to sleep, because all this travelling back and forth is making me tired. We observed our prayers before leaving LA. I am not able to sleep because I can’t help but think about how my life has changed in the past few months. Fatima almost got killed, and so did Emma. I would have never guessed that happening in my friend’s lives. I also fell in love with the one man that I would have never imagined falling in love with. I am sure if you asked me a year ago if I thought Ismail is handsome, I would have never said yes. I don’t even know how I fell in love with him, but I know that I love him more than anything. That’s why I have become completely entangled in the drama happening in his life. I would do anything to help keep Ismail safe and alive. I wonder what would have happened if this drama in our lives never happened. Would I have found out about Ismail’s feelings for me? Now that I think of it, it’s true what they say. Everything happens for a reason. From the way Ismail told me about his feelings, and his response to me telling him how I feel. We may have never told each other how we feel, otherwise. The way he said it last night clearly showed he said it in the heat of the conversation, not like he was confessing it to me. I am not saying he does not love me, but I am saying that if all of this hadn’t happened, I might have never found out.

We arrive back in San Francisco around half past eight. Ismail’s car is still there, and luckily there is still fuel in it. While Ismail is driving, I notice we are not heading to my house to drop me off, so I ask why. “Because we are going to a safe house.”

“Oh, alright,” I say. Mr. Alberto probably has his men watching the house for Ismail or me to turn up. I don’t know if they know who I am or are watching my sister’s place, but I think it safer for everyone if we are not around them now. I can’t wait for all of this to be over so I can be around them again. Ya Allah, make everything work out for the best.

We arrive at a beautiful house. It has this cozy warm feeling. I meet David’s wife and kids. He has three cute looking boys and a beautiful wife. Her name is Lisa, and she is a doctor. She was the one who saved her husband’s life after he escaped. She told me he was standing right in front of her when she heard her husband was found dead. She thought that maybe it was his ghost she was treating. Lisa is worried about her husband because if Mr. Alberto finds out he is alive, he won’t hesitate to kill David himself this time. That is also one of the reasons why David can’t go back to work yet. Lisa wishes nothing more than to see Mr. Alberto in prison so her family can go back to the way it was. It is safe for Lisa, and their children to stay in San Francisco since Mr. Alberto believes David to be dead.

Tomorrow is a new day, and hopefully a good one. I am getting my phone back from Fatima. She picked up my clutch and phone after the award show. For her own safety I am not going to see her. I am sure Mr. Alberto will be watching her and everyone else close to Ismail and myself, wanting to see if we will meet up with them and use that opportunity to get us.

Most people would wonder why Mr. Alberto is out to get Ismail. It’s simple, he believes David left evidence with Ismail before he died, and he believes Ismail is going to give it to the police anytime soon. He also thinks that the only way Ismail is going to agree to give him the evidence is if he gets me. He believes if he has me, Ismail will hand over his evidence. But something feels not quite right to me. If Ismail had evidence against him, wouldn’t he have given it to the police already? Why is it people miss the most obvious things sometimes? It just makes me understand the power of Allah. Because no matter how smart and dangerous this evil person is, by making even a little mistake we have the chance to get them.

I am really looking forward to what tomorrow has in store for all of us. I wonder how we are going to do a lot of things because it’s one thing to think up plans, and it’s another thing to play it out.