𝓜𝔂 𝓫𝓪𝓫𝔂, 𝓶𝔂 𝔀𝓲𝓯𝓮

24# REPORTERS

THE KHALIL RESIDENCE,
ASOKORO.
JANUARY, 2022.

Zaynab's eyes looked like they would pop out any second.

They were red and puffy, pitiful through and through.

Her hands shook and her teeth rattled, and she was struggling to breathe.

She knew that at the end of the day, she'd be the one with the biggest loss.

That at the end of the day, her heart would be the one bleeding and broken.

That at the end of the day,....she'd be the one who her son would hate the most.

She hadn't informed anyone of what she'd done.

Beside her, was Ayman's phone. The one she'd taken from his bag just before he'd boarded.

She'd told Yahya he had urgent business and would be there in time to go to the mosque, and made some excuse up when he started to ask her questions.

Honestly, she didn't think she could pull it off.

There were just too many things against her. Ayman could start suspecting that something was off and call home, Yahya could insist that Ayman had to be there, Jamil could refuse to get married to Jamilah, or Jamilah herself, might be the one doing the refusal.

All her hope was hinged on was that Ayman would be too pre-occupied with worry for his uncle that he'd forget to call, and that every other person would be too busy they'd forget to ask for Ayman until it was too late.

The more she thought about it, the more foolish Zaynab felt for thinking it'd work out. And the higher her guilt climbed.

Already, Yahya and Jamil were preparing to go to the mosque, the females in the house— mainly Hafsah and two of Yahya's sisters, were in Jamilah's room helping her to get ready, and giving her advice.

Zaynab was too worried to step out of her room for any formalities.

Already, the wedding was rushed. They'd skipped a whole lot of the events they would usually have done, and went straight for the nikkah.

Zaynab still didn't see the reason behind Yahya's urgency to have the wedding hold as soon as possible, but she trusted that he had his reasons.

**
She was pulled out of her thoughts by the sound of her door being knocked on.

Zaynab went into full panic mode, dabbing her eyes and cleaning her palms against her gown.

She picked her hijaab off the bed and threw it on, before going to answer the door.

When she saw that it was Yahya, her heart raced harder, fear gripping her.

Yahya looked at his wife, his heart uneasy.

His eyes took in her swollen eyes, the way she was fidgeting, and how her eyes held caution that was never there before, especially not in his presence.

"Ya Zee, are you okay?", He said, his hands reaching out to hold her.

He'd hardly ever seen Zaynab in the state she was in. She hardly ever looked anything except composed.

"I'm fine", she said, taking her hands away from his so he wouldn't feel it tremble.

Yahya looked at her, understanding that she didn't want to share her problem but too worried to leave it at that.

"Whatever it is, you can talk to me about it, okay?", He asked, his voice calm, soothing.

Some of the chaos Zaynab had been feeling subsided, and despite her self, she managed a small chuckle.