The Addiction of Love

VII

That night, Inaya performed the Salat-al-Istikhaara to seek guidance from Allah about Zain's proposal, and the response of the prayer came out to be positive.

She was really happy and couldn't wait to say yes to him. She was excited about what his reaction was going to be and wasn't able to sleep till the wee hours of the night. After her alarm woke her up, she took a long shower and took out a beautiful chikankari blue palazzo and an elegant white kurta. She applied some concealer and foundation on her face, applied some blush and filled her eyes with kohl. She finished the look with a nude lipstick, and for her hair, she straightened it and left it open. And not to forget, her favorite silver jhumkas.

After slipping into her sandals, she looked into the mirror one final time.

"Mashallah, kitni pyari lag rahi hai meri chanda!" Razia couldn't help but exclaim at her daughter when she came down for breakfast.

"Thanks, ammi." Inaya blushed.

"Is there any special reason for dressing up on a Monday?" Razia teasingly asked. Like most people, Inaya had always been grumpy on Mondays, but today there was an uncanny glow on her face.

Inaya lowered her eyes shyly and murmured,"I'm saying yes to Zain today."

"Really?" Razia shrieked. "I am so happy for you."

She kissed her daughter's head and prayed to her Allah to always keep her blessed.

Since Inaya had taken extra time to get ready, she was late. So after a hasty breakfast, she left. She had planned to talk to Zain first after reaching the office, but her boss, Suchitra called her to discuss her promotion. The board of directors had approved it and it would be made known to the rest of the employees on the day Suchitra leaves, that is two weeks from now.

After that, she got caught up in a team meeting. And by the time she got free, it was almost lunch time. So she shut her laptop and took the lift to go to Zain's office.

There she found Aditya, who informed her that Zain is in the cafe downstairs. So she then went there. As her steps neared the cafe, her heartbeat increased and her palms got sweaty. With a deep breath, she opened the door and entered the cafe. Her eyes scanned the place to look for her man, and she found him, sitting on a corner table, with a woman, laughing.

Suddenly all the nervousness flew out of the window and a different feeling took its place. A feeling that she had never felt before; jealousy. She knew it was stupid but she couldn't help it. She stood frozen in her spot, glaring at them.

Zain's eyes fell on her and he found a strange expression on her face. He excused himself and walked towards her.

"Hey," He smiled at her.

"Who is she?" She nodded her head towards the woman who was sitting at the table.

"What?" Zain couldn't comprehend such a direct question.

"Who is she?" Her eyes narrowed at him.

Zain looked back at the table and understood who she was asking about. "Well, she's.." He was about to answer but he stopped and raised an eyebrow. "Hold on, why are you asking?"

His delay in answering her question made her even more angry. "Are you going to tell me or not?"

"Are you, by any chance, jealous?" He smirked.

She didn't expect him to figure it out, and suddenly felt exposed in front of him. "You know what, forget it."

But he held her hand. "Tell me, are you jealous?"

"Why would I be jealous?"

"Maybe because you can't see me with someone else."

It was true. She couldn't see him with someone else. She looked down so that he couldn't see the vulnerability on her face.

"Inaya?" He held her chin and made their eyes meet.

"Do you want to say anything to me?" He expectantly asked.

She just nodded. "Yes."

"What?"

"Yes," She whispered, and her eyes told him what she was saying a yes for.

A dazzling smile appeared on his handsome face.

She wasn't able to hold his gaze as her cheeks reddened. She lowered her eyes and started staring at his suit's buttons. Nervously, she raised her hands and her fingers started to fumble with the buttons.

He couldn't help but stare at her in awe as she cutely played with his buttons. Already behaving like his wife.

"Are you sure?" He asked again.

Without looking up, she lightly nodded at him. He held her hands that were still on his buttons. A wave of current passed through her body. He properly joined their hands and took her to the table where the other woman was sitting.

"Rhea, meet Inaya, my fiance." He proudly said to the woman, whose name was Rhea. Then he looked at Inaya. "And she is my school friend, Rhea Sharma. She lives in Pune with her husband and was in town for some work. So we decided to catch up."

Inaya mentally hit her forehead and greeted Rhea. Zain and Rhea had already ordered their food, so Zain left to order Inaya's favorite grilled cheese sandwich for her.

"Zain didn't tell me that he is getting married." Rhea started a conversation.

"Yeah, it didn't happen long ago." Inaya smiled at her.

Zain returned and they all spent the next hour laughing and teasing. Rhea was a really sweet woman and told Inaya all his embarrassing school memories. She then left as she had a flight to catch, while Zain and Inaya went to the office.

"Pick me up at 7:30." Inaya told Zain when he dropped her at her office.

"Your wish is my command!" He bowed slightly at her and winked.

She laughed at his silliness, making him feel lucky to have such an amazing woman.

"Did I tell you how beautiful you look today?" He asked.

She shook her head.

He moved closer to her and leaned to whisper in her ear. "You look so irresistible that it makes me want to marry you right now."

His husky voice erupted millions of butterflies in her stomach. She just shyly pushed him away as they were standing in her office.

"People can see us." She murmured while looking around.

"Just a few weeks more, then you'll be my wife and you won't have to worry about who's watching us and who's not." He smirked at her and walked backwards while staring at her.

She couldn't wait to marry him.

🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸

Salat al-Istikhaara, which translates to Prayer of Seeking Counsel, is a prayer recited by Muslims who are in need of guidance from God Almighty when facing a decision in their life.

This was one of my favourite chapters from this story. They both are just so damn cute!!!