manal | achraf hakimi [COMPLETE]

16.

jummah mubarak x

please pray if you haven't prayed already.

6/1/2023

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[1115 words]

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he picked up the letter that manal had sent a few days ago. her expectation was clear. he bit his lip in thought and then decided to not give it too much thought.

andres had been pulling his hair out for not telling him that he had gone and gotten married over the span of 3 weeks. it just didn't make any sense to him. in fact, andres had sensed that something deeper than a contract would rise between achraf and elma, the turkish-german influencer. she was everything he needed, new and fresh, and able to keep him in tune with media and off season duties.

once achraf got a headache again from andres worrying about being sued, and also just what type of girl he had married, he cut the call.

andres made it clear that to get what he wants, he needs to talk to elma to end it on mutual terms instead.

'hey.' he sent the text with a lot of uncertainty.

'hiii! where have you been?' the reply came almost immediately. he knew she was on her phone.

'i got married.' he wanted to say, but he quickly deleted the text to phrase it better, depending on her reaction.

'morocco.'

'oh that's lovely.
when are you coming back to germany?
i miss you.'

he winced at the text. how had she not realised yet that this was all fake? of course she knew, but she played into the act quite well. he didn't want to hurt her.

'when the season starts.' he blandly replied. he had texted her with the intention of persuading her to end the contract on mutual terms, but now he felt like he wouldn't be able to do it over text.

he cleared his throat and decided to give elma a call instead.

'achraf! you never call.' he could hear her pout over the phone.

'listen, elma, i know we have a contract, but i need it to end.'

her silence said enough. it was potent, and when she gave no reply, achraf was forced to plead.

'elma, please.'

'can you not wait until december?' she coolly said, devastated that he would even consider it ending. she had benefitted from being seen with him. her follower list and brand partnerships didn't seem to stop coming. ending this would be disastrous for her.

'no.' he curtly replied, closing his eyes as he leaned against the door of his room upstairs at his aunts house. he could see iman looking up at him, and he knew it was only a matter of seconds before she herself came up. i

she took a sharp intake of breath. 'if you don't mind me asking, why do suddenly?'

'suddenly? elma i was never keen on this and i had made it clear to you that day.' he said, annoyed by the insinuation of her words. 'besides, i'm engaged.'

her silence was strong and he felt the tension. elma was an emotional person, one who was determined to get what she wanted through any means necessary.

'i see.' she swallowed a lump in her throat.

'i see.' she said again, taking a deep breath in before putting the phone to her ear again. 'i'll see what i can do, but i think it is best if we wait until december. the clause is costly. for both of us.'

'i still want you to try to convince your agent. i am desperate here.' he nodded his head as though she could see him, and then spoke into his mobile phone, thanking her for being cooperative. he wasn't blind, he knew elma wanted more than just a contract, but he simply was not interested then? and he definitely wasn't interested now.

he sent andres a text, stating that he had spoken to her and should hear from elma's agent soon.

iman finally found the time to come upstairs, and raised her eyebrow as if asking him what had happened. he sighed and ushered her into the room.

she sat thoughtfully while he recounted the entire situation to her, chewing her lip in concentration.

'i'll speak to manal about it.'

'you will speak to manal?' she emphasised the 'you', wondering where the sudden confidence came from.

'why not? i can talk to her now.'

'oh wow you guys progressed past the letters very quickly. just don't let anybody catch you or else they'll ship you back to madrid.' she teased.

'it doesn't matter, she's my wife. i can talk to her and see her if i please- also how do you know about that?' she started smiling at her brother who seemed to have an air of possessiveness around him.

'my boy sufiyane cannot hide a thing from me.' she said proudly, fanning her face with the paper fan. 'obviously i intercepted his message and he had to tell me who sent it, duh.' she rolled her eyes as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. he figured it was, considering this was iman they were talking about.

'anyways, you can go talk to manal about it -i'm assuming you met her at the school.'

'iman wait,'

'yes?'

'your visa was approved, by the way.' her dark brown eyes went wide in excitement.

'i thought that was a joke.' she rushed forward to hug him, and then stopped midway before she could wrap his arms around him, 'it's not a joke, right?'

achraf just laughed. 'such a silly girl, why would i joke about that? it's for you and aunt laila for a few years.' she jumped up at him, and he almost toppled over at her excitement.

'thank you thank you thank you y'a Allah thank you.' she had always found it lonely in the town where their whole family used to live. slowly slowly people left for the city, or spain or france, and eventually it was only iman and her mother left in their maternal town. they took solace with the faez family, who had never let them feel less than family.

this was exciting.

her sandals letting out a loud sound as they hit the cement of the stairs, her pattering feet running to give the news to her mother and her aunt.

achraf looked on from the balcony, his mind wandering to manal and the problem at hand.

how was he going to solve this?

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triple update? yes.
i'm sorry it's not as manal focused as the last chapter but there's more where that came from!!
please comment and vote it absolutely makes me day!!

love you all,
author 

he just looked on