"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...
When they got back home, they had the entire living room to themselves and Zain was pressing the same button on the remote, trying to find something to watch on Netflix.
"TV show or movie?" he asked as he scrolled through the Bollywood section.
"Whichever," she replied, shrugging with uncertainty. She kept running her hands through her hair, most of which had been pulled back from being pulled back by her hijab all day. Her eyes widened excitedly and her head snapped in Zain's direction. "Hey, did you ever watch Beauty and the Beast?"
He snorted, shaking his head with a smile. "Of course I did," he answered. "You're the one who made me, remember? That was the first princess movie I watched and..."
"And, you actually enjoyed it. Admit it!"
"Yeah, yeah," he said, clicking on a movie. "Why'd you ask me about it right now? You wanna watch it?"
"No," she said, breaking the silence. "I just...remembered something." Zain's eyes trailed over to her. She was toying with the embroidery on one of the cushions, a thought in her mind, one that made the sides of her mouth lift up. One that she was reluctant to share...
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Sura pressed her lips together to hide her smile and Zain turned his eyes towards the television before Sura could notice that he was looking at her.
The following Monday, when Sura got off work she got a text from Zain asking her to come to the museum.
On weekdays, the museum closed early so Sura had no idea what she was supposed to be doing here after hours.
"Glad you could make it," Zain said, rubbing his hands together, like he did when he was nervous. "I've got something to show you."
"What?" she whispered, afraid that her voice might echo in the empty space. It wasn't dark just yet but as they walked deeper into the museum, Sura realized that they were really the only ones here and that most of the lights had been switched off.
She gulped, trying to keep up with Zain, who was surprisingly walking faster than usual.
"What's down here?" she asked, as they traveled down a flight of stairs. "Are you going to show me a magical Egyptian tablet that brings the museum to life at night?"
Zain chuckled, understanding the reference. "Nice assumption, but sadly no."
"I don't remember anything being down here."
"There wasn't until recently," he said, his voice loud as ever. He found his way to the light switch and turned it on. The room lit up, revealing the several bookcases lined up against the walls, some even in glass cases in the centre of the room.
"The book exhibit," he said, helping Sura down the stairs. Flinching when she let go of his hand since he hadn't realized that she was even holding it in the first place.
