In Love with Neighbour

Chapter 5

Ramadan had started. And the next two days went without any commotion. Hannan became perfectly fine like before because Samaira has been more cautious than before. In the evening the Khans had come over for iftar and they were all chatting in the living room after Maghrib prayer. There were only greetings between Samaira and Zain, nothing more. Samaira brought some snacks for all and kept them on the coffee table when the bell rang,

"I'll go, see," Samaira opened the door and found a postman with a letter, she signed, took the letter and closed the door.

It was from the University of Auckland and was addressed to her. She opened it, it was an acceptance letter. She got accepted to study in Botany. She didn't know how to feel, she was maybe happy that she got accepted but deep down she wanted to go to Malaysia to study Biochemistry. She said Alhamdulillah anyway.

"Who was that dear?", Farida asked her when she walked inside the living room. She looked up,

"It was the postman. My acceptance letter came from the University of Auckland," she forced a smile.

"What! Really?", Sahil got up and took the letter from her.

Farida hugged her,
"Alhamdulillah, Alhamdulillah!"

Hannan also hugged her and kissed her forehead.

"Congrats Sam! I'm proud of you!", it was now Sahil's turn to hug.

Then Sara and Hafiza also hugged her and Rashed gave her blessings and Zaif congratulated her.

Zain had been watching her from the beginning. He had noticed that she wasn't too happy after opening the letter. Now also she was trying hard to smile genuinely but he could understand that it was fake. He didn't say anything though.

"Congratulations," he said looking into her eyes, she looked back for a moment only to look away after giving him a small smile.
She was afraid that if he looked into her eyes any longer, he would find out the truth.

Anyways, they all had dinner together. The elders were asking Samaira about the admission details and all occasionally. Also, they live in Hamilton and the University is about an hour drive. So, they were talking what to do about that. All the time Samaira was replying with few words or just nodding with a smile.
As usual, Sahil and Zain were the only ones who noticed it.

After the Khans went back, the Sheikhs were also going to bed. Samaira was about to enter her room when Sahil came to her,

"Hey! Are not happy with your acceptance letter?", he asked leaning on her room's door.

"What? No, of course I'm happy Alhamdulillah!", she replied trying her best to make him believe.

"Then why were you so quiet today?"

She knew if she denied it, he wouldn't believe at all,

"Umm, maybe I'm just a little bumped that I didn't get Biochemistry. That's it. But who cares? Botany is kinda the same thing, so don't worry, I'm fine and obviously happy!", she said happily.

"Okay then. Alhamdulillah. Congratulations again. You'll do great in Botany too," he hugged her.
She sighed in relief and both went to bed.

The next day, Samaira thought of treating everyone for her results. Also, she wanted to cheer herself up. The best way was baking something. In the evening, Samaira was baking some blueberry muffins when Sahil came into the kitchen,

"Sam! Did you get the chemistry book for my assignment? Is it in your room?"

"Yes I did, it's inside my bag, my bag is on the table."