manal | achraf hakimi [COMPLETE]

19.

please pray if you haven't done so already :)

tw: mentions to harassment.

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11/1/2023

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[1184 words]

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' dear achraf,

please find attached a notebook with a pen. i have written out some basic phrases that get harder with progression for you to practice writing.

i'm sure your reading and writing is sufficient, given that you can read these letters and respond to them. i fear it was another ploy of my mother's and iman's to get us to engage in conversation.

iman is tricking my innocent mother. she would be scandalised if she found out that you have had more than adequate 'arabic practice' wasting your time with me after school when no one else is around.

i see you are not immune to iman's deviousness, for you actively participate in them.

when do you plan on returning to germany?

i await your answer,
yours,
manal. '

she folded the letter in thirds and quickly put in in an envelope. she then put the very pen she was using, a white pen with a feather, and a notebook that had some of her scribbles in it as well as the arabic writing practice task she had given to him. she loved romanticising letters, so she put that in another brown parcel and then tied them both up with a thin white string.

'give this to him.' she turned to iman who she sensed had entered her room.

'to who?' she said, cattily taking the letter of her friend.

'to you know who.' manal rolled her eyes. when iman acted as if she did not know who she would be writing a letter to of all people, manal sighed defeatedly.

'iman. please, give this to achraf. happy? are you satisfied?' iman smiled an exaggerated smile, one that belonged in the dramas, and nodded her head. she then inspected the contents of the letter and made an unimpressed face.

'ish, you guys are so boring. writing letters. in this age.' she said.

'well i find it nice, much better than hurting my eyes and craning my neck texting and staring at a screen like you.' manal retorted. she was joking, obviously, but iman seemed to like the banter much better when manal got irritated.

'texting is useful, especially when that fahed calls and i get to curse him out without actually speaking to him!' iman blurted, her voice getting quieter as the sentence progressed.

'wait,' she asked, ' he's still bothering you? why haven't you told achraf?'

iman wasn't going to reveal that fahed had threatened her. he had touched her, and she knew how unrelenting society could be. if her brother got involved then everyone would know, and that would not work in her favour at all.

'i can handle it.' she said after a moment of silence. she was cursing herself for saying more than she needed to. the woman in front of her was no longer just her best friend, she was also her sister-in-law. situations change.

'iman. you have to tell him. what if-' manal tried to reason with her friend but she wasn't having any of it.

'what if what if? so many what ifs! i can handle it. besides, if you're so worried, why didn't you tell him about fahed?' iman knew she was getting defensive, but she wanted to move on from this topic that she had brought on.

manal went to a corner of her room and picked up a book, inspecting it. 'i didn't have to. he found out personally.' she said, as she flicked through the book for something.

'manal...' iman ventured off, not knowing what else to say. her brain suddenly connected the dots, remembering achraf's questions about fahed.

'what happened?'

'he was being a donkey as per usual, and alhamdulillah sufiyane and achraf walked in. and, achraf may have fought him.' manal shrugged, trying to not show how it had affected her, how small it made her feel.

'did he do anything?' iman shakily asked, putting the letter down and walked towards manal who seemed to be looking for something that didn't exist in the book she was fiddling with. she recognised that manal often fidgeted with things when she didn't know what to say, looking away from the eyes of the questioner.

manal stayed quiet, thinking about that day. he got so close to her, touched her face and her arms. it was one of the scariest experiences of her life and that was a superlative given that she lived in morocco, a country full of paranormal activity.

her thoughts moved to iman.

'has he done anything to you iman? you have to be honest with me. this is serious.' she felt hypocritical. she wasn't willing to share her experience, but was asking iman to.

iman shook it off, not wanting to have a serious chat right now with her best friend turned sister-in-law. who knows where this conversation will end.

manal sensed that she was not comfortable and realised her double standard, and then shifted the conversation to iman's impending spain trip.

'when do you guys plan on going?'

'after your wedding, which might move to earlier than december.' it felt strange to manal, to hear her own wedding be discussed as part of someone else's plans. 'that's not confirmed so don't hold me to it.'

iman sat down on the swing attached to the door of her room, like she had done so all her life.'and what about your application? you're going to have to move with achraf.'

'iman i'm sure you know this. it's not easy to get a visa for europe, especially to live there. it can take years.' manal wanted to add that she wouldn't count on it happening soon, so maybe it was best to postpone.

iman hummed in agreement, but didn't say anything.

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he opened the letter and observed the contents of it. it took some time to read, as his arabic wasn't as fluent especially with reading. he had to stop smiling before iman could catch him and then tease him into the afterlife. he reached the end, and his eyes zeroed in on the 'yours'.

she was his, and he was hers. officially.

there was no wait.

he then saw the pen that manal had attached to the notebook, and slid his fingers past the feathers. he picked it up and twisted the pen, noticing that there was no change in the feathers. she must have kept it clean.

he held it, imagining her using the pen to write the very same letter, and countless more documents with it over the past 9 years. he was still in shock that she had kept it.

nevertheless, he picked it up and positioned it in his hands, and started writing a response.

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apologies for the late chapter. i'm currently on holiday for a few days so didn't have much time for writing. i wrote some of this on the palatine hill lol

thank you so much for reading, i really appreciate it! over 10k reads you guys are insane!!!

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