HIS (YOU series #1)

32

Amira

"If it's so bad, then why don't you just drop it," I ask Ailah.

We were currently in the living room, I was sitting on the three-sitter couch with Fatima and Hudayya while Ailah was seated on the two-sitter facing us with her back pressed to Jafar's chest with his arms draped around her, it was the cutest thing ever.

Hud had dropped off Huddaya at 11 pm and then left with Akram, they've been gone since then, and it's 5 pm. Hudayya and I had begun baking a box cake, then got lazy and crashed in the living room, by the time Fatima arrived and found it, it was burned to a crisp.

The love birds had shown up an hour ago, arguing about the new season of river dale, I advised them to drop the show entirely, but they once again argued with me. Fast forward an hour later, they're still going on about it.

"You just won't get it because you don't watch it," Ailah says, hinting at her frustration with us because we don't watch or understand the show's premise.

"Then stop telling us about it, please,"  Hudayya says, sighing.

Ailah responds with a sigh and snuggles deeper into Jafar's chest deeper, he responds to the action by placing a kiss on her forehead. She smiles.

"Awww", Fatima coos.

"Awww?" a voice asks from behind.

Akram!

I watch as Ailah and Jafar jump off the couch, I share a look with Hudayya and Fatima and get off the couch, we make our way to the exit hoping to escape.

"come back here," Akram says as we reach the door, his voice is stern and cold.

Without any fuss, we make our way back to the couch, I sit on the edge and fiddle with my fingers. My heart was beating so fast that I thought it would escape from my body.  He strolls as he approaches them.

"When were you going to tell me you're dating my little sister," he asks Jafar.

"Better question, how long were you all going to keep it from me," he asks, looking at everyone else before his disapproving eyes landed on me.

I squirmed under his gaze and looked away.

"Ya Akram, we didn't want to hide it from you. Jafar wanted to ask you if it was okay, but I stopped him because I knew how you would react." Ailah lies easily.

"I didn't need you fucking up one more relationship for me, especially when it's someone I like", she adds.

"Fucking up your relationship?" he asks, bewildered by her answer.

"Yes, you've chased away every guy you've ever seen me with," she responds.

"Because none of them was good for you", he replies, folding his arms.

"Who are you to decide who's good enough? You're not even good enough for Amira," she yells out.

"What?" he asks loudly.

They were both getting heated now.

"yeah, when were you going to tell her you met with Simna," She asks, stepping forward.

I look between them, puzzled because this is the first I have heard of it.

"You told her?" he asks Jafar, and he shakes his head frantically.

"No, I saw you", she responds to him.

My mind went blank for a second before I heard cries coming from the baby monitor, I grabbed it and left the room quickly. I made it to Aadil's room, took him out of his crib, and sat on the rocking chair by the wall.

"You had a good nap, didn't you" I coo at him.

He smiles at me and babbles incoherently, just then, Fatima and Hudayya walk in.

"Everyone's gonna head home, call us if you need anything, okay," Fatima says.

I smile at them, and they make their way out. I feed Aadil and change him before heading to my room with him.

"Let's go organise mommy's closet," I say to him.

Three tantrums and feeding breaks later, I was finally done. Aadil eats like a horse these days, Ammi, who feeds him tuwo every time he's with her, says it's because he's tasted real food. I pick him up from the carpet and head back into the room.

I snuggled with him, hoping he would fall asleep, but fortunately, we both slept off.

Akram

I stood by the bed, watching over them as they slept, they looked so peaceful. My entire world lay right in front of me. I was so lost in thought I didn't notice that Amira had awoken.

"Not creepy at all," she says, eying me as she gets off the bed.

She points to Aadil as she makes her way into the bathroom, I nod in understanding. At least she's talking to us, my subconscious says. A few minutes later, she steps out and offers her Maghreb prayer.

She finishes up and then folds the hijab and mat, she then sits on the ottoman. She looked at me and then cocks an eyebrow, she was urging me to start talking. I took in a deep breath and then began to explain.

"I was at the restaurant because I was meeting up with the guys, she came up to me with her husband while I was waiting for them. She apologised and begged me to forgive her." I started

"Her husband also chimed in and said she was genuinely trying to be a better person and right her wrongs. She then asked if she could meet you and apologise in person. I didn't tell you because I knew your answer," I add.

I watched as her expression softened, I immediately knew what would come next, so I hastened to end it before it even started.

"Before you even ask or try to convince me, my answer is no, you won't be anywhere near that girl", I rushed out sternly.

"But Akram, if she's trying to change, she should be given a chance", she replies.

"No, Amira, I know you believe people can change and mend their ways, but the reality is it doesn't happen all that often, and Simna is not on the list of people prone to change," I reply.

"Babe, you don't know that", she whines.

"I don't want to know, you're not meeting her, it's final," I say, ignoring her pout.

Her frown deepens, and I sigh.

"I'm sorry for keeping it from you, but please understand where I'm coming from", I plead.

She gets up from the ottoman, wraps her arms around me, places her chin on my chest, and looks up at me.

"I understand, I just don't want her to feel her efforts are in vain," She says.

"That's if she's being genuine", I scoff.

She rolls her eyes.

"Seriously, AK, it's hard enough to come to terms with the fact that you have a problem, it takes courage to try and do better, even more to admit your wrongdoings if she's abandoned at a time like this, it could be very detrimental to her mental health" she replies.

I understood her point the first time she made it, but I couldn't shake the fear of something going wrong.

"Please, just 10 minutes", she pleads, looking up at me with her most gorgeous brown eyes.

I sigh deeply.

"Fine, I'll be there the entire time, and I'll have security around", I state, thinking of all the measures to put in place.

"Relax, it'll go smoothly, just trust me," she says.

I hum, placing a kiss on her temple.