Naila finished her plate and sat in silence, waiting patiently for Luke to finish, though she really is in a hurry to get back to dorm.
"You are not supposed to step out of the dorm at this hour, are you?" Luke asked. The two locked the eyes. Naila took a deep breath.
"I'm not," she agreed.
"Let's leave," Luke said. He stood up. He walked towards the cash counter and paid for both. "My treat," he said.
The two walked down the road. That's when Naila remembered. She lied to the security and he is definitely going to check.
"Just a second," Naila ran into the super market in the opposite side of the road. She quickly grabbed a pack of sanitary pads and paid for it. And she ran back quickly, panting hard.
"What was that?" Luke asked.
"I lied to the security that I need to buy this, so he let me out," she said lifting the plastic bag. "What if he asks? I mean like notice that I don't have a bag in my hand," Naila kept panting. Luke laughed.
"Why did you sneak out for dinner? What about the dorm food?" Luke wanted to know.
"Food is kind of boring now. Same stuff every other day. They don't even put effort to make basic stuff taste good. Tell me how can a basic pancake or tea taste bad? How can the basic sandwich taste bad? The canteen is not doing its job properly," Naila sounded disappointed.
"So you skip your meals," Luke drew the conclusion. Naila nodded and remained silent.
"Come quick ma'am," Security called Naila out the moment he spotted her near the gate.
"Coming," she said and looked at Luke. "I will leave then," she said. "Goodnight."
Luke nodded and smiled at her, inserting his hands into the Jean pocket, putting the hood back on his head.
"It's so late. I already warned you ma'am," Security keot complaining.
"I know, I know, I'm sorry," Naila apologised and stepped into the gate.
"Sr. Lisa would be here any time for the last rounds,"
"I'm here," a lady's voice came from nowhere. Naila and Security jumped out of fear.
"Oh you're in deep trouble Naila," Luke folded his arms against his chest, and stood watching the drama unfolding.
"Where were you Naila?" Sr Lisa questioned angrily.
"I.." Naila stuttered. "I went to get this," Naila said lifting up the plastic bag. Luke smiled. It appeared to be working.
"Don't you know you should not step out of the dorm after 8?" Sr Lisa did not stop. "You are a teacher in this prestigious institution. You should be the one leading the students, stopping them from doing all sorts of things, instead you itself snuck out of the dorm. Is this the example you're planning to set for the students here?" Naila had no words listening to all of it. "Who were you walking with?" Sr Lisa asked out of the blue. "Who is that guy?"
Luke noticed something then. He immediately moved away, hiding in the shadow. 'Oh, shoot," Naila began to sweat. "Are you not a married woman? How did you even think of spending time with another man," Naila was shocked. "This is not the first time. Last time we got the report that you were dropped of at the front of the gate by a man too. Who is it? Should we call your family? Ask your husband to come meet me," she sounded so angry.
"Sister, there is nothing like that," Naila tried to convince.
Luke could hear them but he remained quiet to not add fuel to the fire, stepping behind the tree disappearing into the shadows more. He slowly walked away, towards his car, parked in front of the restaurant but he kept looking back. "Goodness. She is an adult. Why would they make such a big deal out of this?" Luke couldn't help but wonder.
"Naila, this kind of behavior is not acceptable." Naila started feeling really bad. She couldn't even defend herself properly. She was worried that they might ring her family and anxiety began to kick in. Sister Lisa threw a sharp gaze at security and walked back. "Go to your room," she scowled.
"I told you," security said. "It's ok. Go now," he waved.
Naila quietly followed Sr Lisa and walked into the dorm. "Meet me at the office tomorrow," she ordered Naila and walked into her room.
Naila walked into her room and locked the door behind her. She tossed the plastic bag onto the bed before heading to the washroom. Turning on the tap, she splashed cold water over her face and stared at her reflection in the mirror.
"What trouble have I gotten myself into this time?" she asked herself.
Her mind was too exhausted to make sense of anything. She was full, tired, and all she wanted was to sleep.
"I'll leave all the worrying for tomorrow," she murmured, remembering Scarlett O'Hara's famous words. "After all, tomorrow is another day. And I'll deal everything then. I need sleep," She decided.
With that thought, Naila changed into her nightclothes and slipped into bed. For tonight, she decided, she would let everything else wait.
The next day, she woke up early. She put on brown plaid skirt, an off time ribbed top and a brown sweater on top, unbuttoned. She wanted to have an innocent poor lady look. She went to the canteen for breakfast. She tapped her card and took the plate. It was egg sandwich and sweet corn soup. She was not a fan of it but had no other choice. She took half an hour to finish it and sipped her morning coffee calmly. It was almost 9 AM.
Naila then walked towards the Dorm Warden's office. Sr Lisa was already there, going through the newspaper, waiting for Naila. Apparently, warden has invited the school principal Natalie Oscar too.
"Good morning sister, good morning ma'am," Naila greeted both. Natalie nodded.
"Sit down," Sr Lisa asked Naila.
'Oh! So it's going to be a long conversation,' Naila guessed.
"Naila," Natalie began. "I heard some rumors about you," Naila sighed. "Naila."
"The food isn't the best here and yesterday I ended up skipping the dinner. I thought I could sleep but I was too hungry. I craved. And I stepped out begging the security. Yes I lied to him. I said I'm going to get sanitary pads. So he let me out. He had no choice. But I had a good meal," Naila explained the truth.
"But you were with someone," Sr Lisa interrupted. "I saw you walking towards the gate with a guy," She did not give up.
"We also heard that, you went to hospital with a guy and consulted a doctor together. We also heard that you were dropped at the front gate," Natalie explained.
"Who is spreading all such things?" Naila questioned.
"You know we have CCTV everywhere. So we can easily check the gate cameras and all the ones till the end of school premises. It covers the whole street. The cleaning staff from the dorm saw you at the hospital." Naila could not believe how invested some people are in other people's life.
"I was sick, so I went to hospital," Naila admitted. "What's wrong in that?"
"But you were with a man. Are you not married? Why would you go out with a man. You also met a man last night. How can we believe you when we have proof," Sr Lisa spoke. "This is why Natalie I said that we should call her husband and inform him whether he is aware of her behavior or not," Sr Lisa wanted to just trust her side of the story.
"Oh my god. Please stop," Naila lost it. "Nobody is calling anybody," she raised her voice. "Why does it matter? Seriously?"
"Then who was it?" She was asked again.
"She asked why does it matter?" Someone asked and walked. "Isn't she an adult who can make choices and do what she wants?" Naila sprung up from the chair.