I Want You to Stay

Chapter 19

Hana's POV

"And Ta-da!" Sarah and Yasmine say once they are done decorating the dessert with heart-shaped strawberries.

I was home alone with Sarah and Yasmine. My mum left after Qasim came to pick her up, and Sahil is not yet back. It is exactly 5pm, so he should be finished by now.

I let Yasmine borough one of my abayas since hers got stained while we cooked. Sarah didn't want to let go of the purple princess dress that my mum got her, so after showering, she wore it again. Sarah insisted a lot, so I agreed to change into an abaya the same colour as hers. She wanted us to match.

As soon as we are done setting the table, we hear someone open the main door. I leave the girls in the kitchen and go check who it is. I find it to be Sahil. I was ready to do a 180• degree turn back to the kitchen, sneakily avoiding him, but he spoke before I could.

"Where do you think you're going?" Sahil asks. Although I couldn't see him, since I was avoiding his eyes, I noticed a hint of amusement in his voice while he asked his question.

"Uh... What? Me?" I play dumb.

"Yes, you."

"Nowhere, just... Came to say hello and I was gonna leave."

"But you were gonna leave without saying hello."

"Was I?... Okay, so, Assalamu Aleykum. Goodbye now." I turn around to leave, but once again, he speaks.

"Hana."

"Okay, I'm sorry." I face him again, but I refuse to look at him. "I just didn't want you to blame me for what happened, so I thought it was best if you didn't know. If you think about it, you do like to blame me for everytime Sarah goes out." I apologise, but I remain defensive.

"I wouldn't blame you. I just wished you had informed me instead of letting me find out from Adeel."

"Wait, Adeel? The bodyguard? So he is a snitch huh?" I look towards the door with an annoyed frown.

When I look back at Sahil, I realise I managed to get a small smile from him. Hopefully, that means he is not mad at me anymore.

Before Sahil could say anything, we hear the doorbell ring.

"Are you expecting someone?" Sahil asks me.

"Uh... I forgot to mention. My friends are coming over for dinner."

"The crazy girls from the hospital?" He asks, gaining a smile from me. "You call that friends?" He sounded genuinely puzzled. "Call me when they're gone," Sahil tells me before rushing upstairs.

I take a deep breath convincing myself that everything will go just fine. Finally, I open the door to find the girls at my door. Nusaima, Liliana, Samreen and Shazia.

After greeting them, I allow them in and lead them to the dining room, but they seemed more interested in looking around the house while mesmerised.

"Oh Yasmine, you were already here?" Shazia asks when she notices Yasmine sitting at the table with Sarah.

Once everyone's plate is in front of them, the conversations begin.

"This is so nice!" Shazia says with a mouthful of food and ready to bring more to her mouth, but her sister Samreen nudges her to stop.

"Quit it, you're embarrassing me." I hear Samreen tell her.

"No, eat. You can repeat if you want more." I give Shazia a friendly smile and she returns it.

"What have you girls been up to?" I ask them to break the ice.

"Nothing good." I hear Yasmine mutter to herself, but since I was next to her, I could hear her.