"This is Zain," Fajr announced to the girl who was staring in bewilderment. "He's been drooling over you for the past hour!"
"That is not true."
"Um...I'm Sura." She reached out her hand and Zain shook it slowly, feeling the softness of her skin and...
Sliding into the front seat, Sura realized that she had never seen Zain drive before. Asali was a small town so they could walk almost anywhere so they didn't bring out their car that much.
As soon as she buckled her seatbelt, Sura started fiddling with the radio, trying to find a good station.
"You can connect your phone to that, you know?" Zain said, grinning at her. Sura stuck her tongue out while she tried to figure out something new. "Then you can play all your ancient tunes." "Ancient tunes?" Sura repeated, falling back into her seat. "They're not ancient."
"Fifty plus years not ancient enough for you?" "How would you know?" Sura dodged. "You don't listen to anything." "No, I listen to you talk all day," he mumbled.
It had been a week of them living together and they had managed to work through the awkwardness. Occasionally, Zain would crack a joke or Sura would mutter something witty under her breath. Most of the time they'd just read next to each other or discover new words in Zain's enormous Dictionary.
"What time do you get off work?" Sura wondered aloud, scrolling through her music playlist.
"At two-ish," he replied with a furrow between his brows.
"I get off at like four today. Got some extra work with the kids," Sura added. She was working as a teacher's assistant in a school for children with special needs.
"Hey, do we get a discount at the museum since you work there?" Sura asked, hoping it would be a yes but Zain shook his head.
"But I love that place, I'm glad that you work there."
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
On their way back from work, they decided to stop by at this corner restaurant that they used to go to. Zain always remembered to keep a Scrabble board(or several)in the car.
Back in their school days, they'd play late at night online after their families had gone to sleep. Sometimes, they even had epic fights over words and their definitions. Most of their arguments happened in corner restaurants or cafes for the whole town to hear. By the time they got married, everyone knew who they were because of all their public fights. One time, when they were in tenth grade they fought over the proper pronunciation of 'vase' and they were asked to leave the premises.
"Oh, finally," the woman at the cashier said after Zain had ordered for them.
Sura's face contorted in confusion. "What was that about?" "She wanted to know if we really got married." Then he added, "When I told her we were, she bluntly implied that it was about time." As they sat down, Sura's body stiffened and she felt a tenderness in her cheeks and she turned pink. "Everyone knows about us?" "It's a small town," Zain replied, shrugging.
"Yes, but..." "You know," Zain intercepted, leaning in. "Your voice just keeps going up when you start arguing, so all the times we fought the entire town heard."
