Accepting You

Chapter Thirty

"Yusuf," Asiya called groggily, "You need to get up."

Yusuf peeled his eyes open. His vision was smudgy, and his limbs felt like they had been injected with lead.

"Yusuf!" Asiya snapped. "Olivia's waiting outside."

"Yes, I am!" Olivia sang on the other side of the door.

Yusuf sluggishly pushed his body upwards. His brain was still buffering.

"The other room should be ready. You can collect the key before breakfast," Asiya said.

Yusuf slowly lifted his thumbs.

"Hey." Asiya brushed her fingers against Yusuf's shoulders. Her touch had been too quick to leave a lasting impression, but it snapped Yusuf awake.

"Are you feeling okay?" Asiya asked.

"Yeah. I'm just tired," Yusuf replied.

After he and Asiya had prayed Fajr together, they returned to bed.

Asiya was a messy sleeper. She stirred and tossed under the sheets every few minutes without disturbing her sleep.

Yusuf had watched Asiya for most of the night, lovestruck, and treated moments of Asiya's sleep cycle like a game.

He lightly blew air on Asiya's face, competing with the tension that liked to tighten her eyebrows and shyly soothed her back into a deep sleep by stroking Asiya's bare arm whenever she babbled incoherently.

Yusuf stood up. He haphazardly piled some of his things into his arms; underwear, a shirt, his folded abadga and flattened cap, perfume and two bottles from his new skincare routine before approaching Asiya.

He felt greedy. The splash of tickles Asiya's fingers had injected into him wasn't enough. Yusuf was craving more of Asiya's touch.

Yusuf twisted his torso slightly. "Can I give you a kiss on the cheek?"

"Uhm, yes," Asiya said as a small smile sneaked onto her lips.

Yusuf quickly licked his lips before he pressed a firm kiss on Asiya's skin.

He felt stupidly giddy and like cheering, but he kept his mouth shut, not allowing any sounds to escape.

He gave Asiya a lopsided smile as he drew away. "I'll see you soon, wifey."

Yusuf opened the door. "Hello, Olivia," he greeted before stepping around her and walking down the hall.

-

Yusuf balanced his tray as he looked for where to sit.

His walima was being held at the hotel. Some of their relatives had spent the night in the hotel, too, but the restaurant was empty of familiar faces, so Yusuf sat in a lonely booth tucked in a corner.

He had about four hours to kill before he needed to start getting ready, and Yusuf silently planned how to spend them.

"Yusuf," aunt Hina cooed as she sat opposite him. She grabbed his cheeks and used her hands to squeeze them out of shape. "It's so good to see you," she said.

"Asalamu alaykum khala," Yusuf greeted.

"Yusuf." Rahimah's dad squeezed himself into the booth next to him.

Rahimah's dad was shaped like a bauble. His round cheeks ate up his jaw and pinched into his eyes.

Yusuf had avoided him when he was younger. Rahimah's dad was animated, speaking twice as much with his hands as he did with his mouth.