Accepting You

Chapter Thirty Five

Yusuf covered his mouth, preventing a yawn from escaping as he trudged towards the canteen. 

He had barely been back a week but was already on the verge of collapsing from exhaustion.

If Yusuf wasn't a Muslim, he would've delayed his wedding so that he could've started working with the rest of his cohort.

Doing so would've meant he had an induction, a grace period, some leniency, and time to make mistakes and find his way. Starting later had stripped him of those luxuries.

The employment department Yusuf had qualified into was busy. Too busy for people to explain things more than once. Deadlines had to be met but were essentially a fallacy. Work had to be submitted before the deadline.

"You look like you're eating good," Matthew said, eying the leftovers Asiya had boxed up for him.

"My wife made it," Yusuf boasted.

Asiya. 

Yusuf felt like he had been playing a losing game of charades with Asiya all week. 

He tried to decipher how she really felt by scrutinising her actions because she wasn't being honest.

She kept saying everything was fine, but her behaviour was screaming the opposite.

She rejected Yusuf's apologies and insisted that they weren't necessary, but she was barely allowing Yusuf to kiss or touch her. Asiya was reeling herself in and acting like Yusuf's touch would make her unravel.

Asiya hadn't even tried to give him a proper goodbye this morning. She had just shouted, "I'm going," as she walked out the door, making Yusuf run after her like a dog chasing a ball.

Yusuf knew he was partly to blame for her behaviour.

They had barely spent time together, but the work expectations placed on Yusuf seemed unreachable. 

They were miles in front of him, and he was still at the starting line, fingers fumbling with his laces. 

He would never catch up if he only worked between 9 and 5.

Plus, work was white noise for Yusuf, something he had needed more of ever since he and Asiya had returned from their honeymoon.

"I need all the energy to whiz through my tasks. I have got to leave early today," Yusuf said.

"What time did you leave yesterday?" Matthew asked.

"Around nine. I got home at past ten."

"Day before?"

"Same time. I've left work at the same time every single day."

"What does your missus think?"

"I don't think she's happy," Yusuf answered with a slight frown.

"I wouldn't be," Matthew said.

"That's why I'm leaving work early tonight."

He knew Asiya had been making concessions for him. He felt like it was all she had done since meeting him. Yusuf was too afraid to ask her if he was using his last ones, but he could tell her patience was thinning.

"Don't choke." Asiya had actually said that to him one night. Yusuf would've thought that her sentence was as innocent as it had sounded if she hadn't been strangling him with a glare.

"Are you bringing her to the movie screening?" Matthew asked.

"If we're still married by then, yes," Yusuf joked weakly.