manal | achraf hakimi [COMPLETE]

.8

if you're muslim and your reading this, and you haven't prayed yet, please pray first :)

note: some interactions depicted in this chapter are cultural, not religious.

27/12/2022

[1134 words]

——

it was stupid of him to think that his mother would not decipher the meaning behind his sudden interest in going to dinners. especially if they were from the neighbours house.

she kept giving him looks. she was sitting with her sister on the floor having some tea when achraf came to them with the news.

'the neighbours have invited us over for lunch tomorrow.' he simply stated, almost nervous revealing this information. his mother and aunt looked at one another, wondering if everything was okay. they had returned from the female section of the engagement, and it was later at night.

achraf had returned from maghrib prayer and sat down on the floor beside them.

'are you sure it was the neighbours habibi? how'd you even know them?' his mother questioned, in a cheerful mood. it had been long since she had experienced a traditional village party. love.

yeah. i'm in love with his daughter mama. he internally said but he wasn't going to just say that. not right now, not like this.

'he invited us on iman's behalf.' he said as calmly as he could, not wanting his giddiness to give him away.

'ah ilyas faez is a good man.' he quickly inscribed the man's name in his mind. if he wanted manal, he needed to get past her father first.

'he almost never minds that iman is almost always with his girl, she is such a trouble maker sometimes.'

'la la la.' no no no. iman added as she emerged with some fresh tea, finally having changed out of her special clothes.

'they love to have me around, unlike here where my backbiting starts the second i'm not in the room.' she said teasingly.

'you've gone worse with age.' iman's mother complained as her daughter patted her cheeks, laughing.

'you love it mama, without me you'd be so bored.'

iman moved away to fix her earrings but her mother was wearing expressions that showed the effects of bittersweet age. long was gone the time when she used to wait for her to return from football, and scold her for climbing the walls of the balcony with manal.

it made her happy to see her daughter grown up, but it hurt that she could not relive the past once more.

—

manal almost did a double take when she saw who had entered through the metal gates of her house into the courtyard. she was on the balcony, collecting some lemons from the tree that was too tall to reach from the ground floor.

she quickly retracted, her midi length dress becoming a problem to handle when she was hurrying like this.

she knew they had guests, but she thought it would just be iman and her mother. she hadn't expected it to be everyone.

she watched them enter the living room and then made her way downstairs, glad that the kitchen was not accessible through the living room.

she had almost snuck into the kitchen when her mother called out after her.

'ah, there you are manal! come say hello.' she wanted to dig herself a hole in the ground and just bury herself but she knew that she had to face the music now. she couldn't deny guests.

with a semi forced smile on her face, she walked into the living room to find iman, aunt laila (iman's mother), iman's aunt, and of course, the boy.

she was surprised that he kept his eyes down, not looking at her directly. it was strange to see him change from all those years ago, physically. he was so tall he almost hit the door in the way in. she knew if it was up to iman, he would have one hundred percent been a victim to that door.

her family was on the shorter side, except her younger brother that seemed to have a growth spurt almost every week.

'salam alaikum.' peace be upon you. she said, going forward to kiss aunt laila's hand, who in return kissed her forehead. she moved to achraf's mother who smiled at her and repeated her sisters action. his mother held her face for a second, complimenting her before she moved on to iman, who had a sly hidden smirk on her face that didn't seem to grow tired of all the mischief.

she repeated her phrase once she reached achraf, not looking at him directly. she didn't notice his mothers widened grin at the sight of their innocent interaction.

'walaikum asalam.' he replied, glancing at her for a second until she moved past to stand by her mother. her mother looked at her and motioned to the kitchen, indicating that she wanted her to get the tea and serve it.

she had never been so angry at her mother in her life.

iman swiftly followed her into the kitchen, denying herself the formality of a guest. 'it's my house after all.' she claimed as she walked past manal's mother who laughed and agreed.

'i saw that.' she claimed as manal heated up the water again. she was delaying herself, but she wanted to have as much time possible before facing him and his mother again.

'i don't care what you saw. this was all your plan wasn't it. telling me to come home early even though you knew i hadn't finished faris lesson.' faris was a special needs child in her class, who required extra attention from manal.

iman smiled as she saw her friend riled up over the boy.

'manal, you and i both know that you have already planned that lesson, so don't go using little faris as an excuse.' she said as she took the cups and put them in a tray alongside the dry fruit.

'and it wasn't me at all, it was all ilyas uncle's idea. he invited us over, not the other way round.' she said matter-of-factly which had manal blushing.

'people in glass houses shouldn't throw stones my dear.' she said, poking manal on the cheek to make her point clear.

manal just looked at her and sighed, with an apology. iman beamed in response, knowing that this will be a fun lunch to witness.

—

so so so sorry for the late update. i've been overwhelmed and sick and j mean no excuse but hey, at least i wrote most of it in like 20 minutes!

please comment and let me know how you want this to end, because i think chapter 10 should be the final chapter because i mean i don't know, it's fitting?

thank you,
author