Under That Niqab

15. The click

Zaki's whine cut through the room as he complained, "I've been talking to you for the past fifteen minutes, and you haven't even lifted your head from your phone. Your brother needs your help, come on..."

Zaki had this clingy attitude that irritated Shavez, and he knew it, hence tended to do it more often just to get under his skin.

"What should I do?" Shavez finally looked up at him, his face showing clear displeasure.

"Come with me to Faiza's place with my parents. I spoke to Maria, and she agreed to come too. That way, you'll get to meet her, and there will be more people to witness me being a gentleman. You know, parents!"

Maria was Shavez's second cousin and Faiza's first.

"Me? There? Do you trust that I'll bear witness to you being a decent guy? Nice joke, man! I'll worsen the situation, trust me on this. I know all your secrets," Shavez winked mischievously.

"Yeah, you can do whatever you want. Just get up now; we'll have to be back before office hours are over."

"Alright, alright, I'll come. You go get the car," Shavez told him, to which he gave a suspicious look.

"I'll come, of course. Should I not even organize my desk?"

"Okay... I'm already nervous, and you're acting like a baby here," Zaki said, exasperated.

"You know everything will go smoothly, don't you? What's with the nervousness? I'm pretty sure they will approve of you. Their agreeing to give you a chance and meet your parents is already a green flag. So chill; everything's gonna be alright."

"I hope so. I'll be waiting outside," Zaki said and left.

Shavez did the necessary work and left his cabin.

"You're off early, sir," Adnan remarked, heading towards his cabin holding a file.

"Yeah, got some work to do."

"Will you be back?"

"Maybe. I don't know. Anything important?"

"Um... Haya and Mustafa are working on a few designs that need your approval. It would be better if you could cross-check the file today because it will take more time otherwise."

"Alright, I'll try. Are those the files?" Shavez asked, signalling the one Adnan was holding.

"No, sir. They are still working on it. This is mine."

"Keep it on my table then. I'll get going."

---

It was already past five o'clock when Shavez ran into the building. There was a lot of work to do. Sometimes, no matter how much you wish to stay put just for a while, you know you can't.

He thought of taking the files and heading home; that was the only thing on his mind.

Rushing towards his cabin, he found Haya standing across the table, her head buried in something.

Oh, my heart! He was already experiencing shortness of breath from the running, and now he felt like his heart was going to stop beating. What is it about this woman? Every time he looked at Haya, his breath hitched, his heart on the edge of exploding. Haya had this exceptional aura that her mere presence was enough to make him lose his sanity.

Shavez wasn't expecting to see her because it was already past office hours, and he thought she had left. A sense of relief washed over him, relief that he got to see Haya, be around her even if it was just for a while.

"Hi," Shavez said, gathering himself, to which she turned around, surprised.

"Hi, sir. Thought you weren't coming today."

Glad I came.

"Yeah, I just came to pick up the files. I'll do the paperwork at home. Why didn't you leave yet? It's late, everyone left, I think?"

"Was gonna leave these here for you to check."

"So you're heading home now then?"

"Yeah," Haya said, and he nodded.

"Wait for me. I'll drop you off at the bus stop," Shavez told her, expecting her to protest. But to his surprise, she simply said, "Sure, I'll get my belongings," and left the cabin.

---

"We went to Faiza's place today to talk to her parents," Shavez told Haya while walking down the street.

"Oh wow! How did it go?" Haya's eyes sparkled when she looked at Shavez.

"Just as we expected. Her parents were very supportive. They were impressed with Zaki's straightforwardness, and there was no reason to reject him, was there?"

"Of course. He is a wealthy, handsome man from their point of view. Why would they reject him? Plus, he loves their daughter dearly."

"Yeah, I wish a happy life for them."

"Yes, me too," Haya said.

"By the way, I need your little help."

"I would think of it as an honour if I could be of any help, sir. Tell me?"

"I want you to—no, Zaki and I—we both want you to take Faiza along with you this weekend, saying that you want to go for an outing, not making her suspicious at all. I'll send you the address where he's been arranging the proposal. It's a beach," Shavez told her.

"I'll sure do. I bet it's gonna be beautiful."

"I don't know if I'll find anything beautiful after you," Shavez said, looking at her, but the bus horn drowned out his words.

"Thank you," Haya said and boarded the bus.

Shavez sighed as he watched the bus leave. He didn't know he had been holding his breath for so long. Perhaps he was unaware of what happened to him when he was with Haya.

Sometimes when you meet someone, there's a click. Shavez didn't believe in love at first sight, but he believed in that click he felt when he first saw Haya.

---

"They are here," Shavez said, spotting Haya and Faiza.

"Where?" Zaki asked, narrowing his eyes, and searching for them.

"On the right of that statue," Shavez said, signalling a particular statue.

"Oh yes! I see them."

"I'll get going. Best of luck," Shavez told him.

"Already?"

"Of course! I'm telling Haya; she will leave Faiza alone, and you can approach her then," Shavez told him while texting Haya.

"I'm too nervous for this. I didn't speak to her at all for the last two weeks—not on call, not in messages, nowhere in the office. I'm very much afraid. What if this offends her more than we think it does, and she turns me down?"

"Zaki, Zaki, Zaki... Bro, calm down. Here, have some water," Shavez told him, handing over the bottle he had. "You're gonna have to do this. Think of all the efforts you've put into making these arrangements, talking to her parents, convincing them. You've come too far now. Don't let these thoughts of backing outcome to you."

"And think of how much you love her, how much you want to see her happy—rather, crying out of joy, I should say," Shavez added as he saw Haya approaching them. She had a smile on her face, her eyes telling a story.

"Two years of relationship will never get affected by something that happened just for two weeks," she said.

"Yeah," Zaki said, not so confidently.

"Now that's my boy! Come on, go now. Call me if you need anything. We won't leave unless you tell us to," Shavez assured him, to which he nodded and turned to leave.

"Let's give the couple all the space they need," Haya said after Zaki left.

"Sure," Shavez agreed.