New Girl In The Court

Chapter 18

Sorry for being a day late.
Enjoy:)

"Assalamu Alaikum, Amal. How are you?" Raiyan said with a smile as the door opened.

"Walekum Assalam," Amal said with a smile before opening the door wide. "Mamujaan your girlfriend is here. He is waiting for you in the living room."

"Okay," he closed the door behind him, "Girlfriend? What was that about?"

"When he is at work, he works with you, when his phone rings it is you, when he is home you are here. He spends more time with you than his wife. You clearly are his girlfriend." Amal sat down on the floor near the table, whereas Raiyan took the chair.

"Ignore her banter," Sufyaan said from behind his laptop, "her mother is making her study so she is aggregated."

"I am fine," Amal said before she buried her head in her book. Raiyan and Sufyaan got busy with their discussion and soon papers followed. The two parties did not disturb each other and stayed focused on their respective aims. Nevertheless, forty minutes later Amal had it enough and she looked up from the book. She closed her eyes and let out a sigh.

"What happened?" Sufyaan asked without lifting his eyes from his laptop. " Numbers causing a problem again?" Amal shook her head in yes making Raiyan smile at her. "Your mother loves numbers. She enjoys mathematics more than anything else and here you are struggling even for the basics. She must be very proud."

"She is enough proud of Keyaan to fill in for both of us. He is too good at too many things."

"That is true. That does not mean she isn't proud of you."

"It does not bother me. I am glad he has to bear the expectations. All I have to do is be average. He, on the other hand, always need to be perfect. My life is great." She raised her arms in the air as she said.

"That is a great attitude," Raiyan was the first to react, "I wish I thought the same as a kid. I was too busy trying to be better than my brother, who, just like Keyaan, was perfect. Now, I think I wasted my time."

Amal looked up at him and said, "Your brother was good at studies, sports and even with humans?"

"He was also good with animals. All the cats and dogs around our house loved him. I, on the other hand, was scared of them."

"They are scary. They move any time, in any direction! I do not understand how people like cats or dogs. They bite and scratch. Are their owners some sort of aliens who do not feel pain? What is it?"

Raiyan chuckled as he leaned forward. "I used to think the same. They are odd people."

"They sure are! I didn't go to Khala's house for one whole year when she got a cat. But then the cat went missing and she was upset so I spent a whole month with her. It was fun."

"This was two years ago, right?" Sufyaan asked his niece who quickly shook her head. "Last year, she spent a month or a little more at your house when you were sick. This year it is our house. Are you two planning for a month-long vacation here?"

"Yes, we are! Can we stay longer than a month? A month is too small. Right?" She asked Raiyan. 

He raised his eyebrows before saying, "for staying at someone else's house, too long. Staying with people you love, too small."

"This is not someone else's house. It is my grandfather's. Someday, after he and he," she motioned towards Sufyaan, "is gone I will own half of this place. So technically it's mine." Sufyaan frowned as he tilted his head. "And Haajar khala is my best friend. So, yes a month is a very small period of time to be with her. We must stay for at least forty-five days. Okay?" She looked at Sufyaan as she said.