My Knight In Shining Kaftan (COMPLETE)

Chapter Twenty

Nostalgia is a dirty liar that insists things were better than they seem.
-Unknown

_____

"Be kind,
Life is a mirror" was the quote that was written on her key holder, she loved it. She looked down at her suitcases and the pile of clothes on her bed and the floor. She had to finish packing before saturday, she wanted to have enough time to spend with her family, the thought of not being able to see them for the next eight months made her stomach churn.

She would miss Hadiza and her attitude, she would miss her blossoming relationship with her mother, she would miss Fatuma and Sadiq's cute yet triggering relationship. As much as she wanted to be with them every now and then, seeing happy couples triggered her painful past relationship, Malik made a permanent scar in her heart that no matter how many men she'd met, she couldn't help but compare them to him. He made her question every act of kindness done to her by men that aren't Sadiq, her father or Adam.

For the past three months of being friends with the guy, he had partially proved to her that there's still hope for the men species, he doesn't cut her short when she's talking and had never been impolite, at first, she was waiting for him to screw up like Malik had done and she would sign out all men for the rest of her life.

She was convinced that he is a good person, and character had nothing to do with the person's gender, it is rather a choice. Malik chose to do what he did to her, he wasn't forced nor pressured, he on his own decided to be that way. Fatuma wasn't pressured to be a loyal friend and wasn't forced to always have her back, it was a choice she made by herself.

Adam wasn't forced to be a polite gentleman, he made the choice to be that way, on his own. She on the other hand wasn't forced to love Malik or pressured to keep holding unto his nonexistent love for her. It was a choice she made on her own out of foolishness as she had thought he was sent by God to fix her.

But she was now better than the girl she had been, and she's striving to be better than her every single day.

She never thought she'd ever become a doctor because she already believed that dream of hers was already crushed. After several attempts and giving up then willing to study Anatomy was what she did, but fate had other plans for her. She dropped her feet on the cold floor and headed to the shower then got ready to meet Adam.

That wasn't the first time they would be hanging out together, the first was a day after her birthday, she called him to check if he was still alive, her words exactly. He said he felt betrayed that he had to find out about her birthday on social media. Fatuma's Instagram wasn't private and she had many followers, he came across it on his explore page.

She thought of teasing him, so she deliberately ignored his complaint and asked how many girls' birthday parties does he come across in a day. His reply got her rolling on the floor, she hadn't laughed like that in long period of time. He said that the spirits of her betrayal sent it to his phone and that he thought they were friends.

He gave a hilarious farewell speech, then he hang up to bury their dead friendship in their backyard. It was then, their relationship had a label.

He texted her again, later that day. The message read:
         Lunch with me tomorrow?

When she took longer than necessary typing, he must've known she might be contemplating whether to say yes or no. He sent another:
          I don't know what's going on in your head
          right now, but it's a public place, you can
          trust me.
      
She smiled, he was thoughtful enough to consider the lack of security in the country and reassure her. She texted back:
             Sure, time and place?