Under the Olive Tree

19. Tis'a T'Ashar

Amani and Muhsin were officially engaged in her home the next day, but they had no celebration by an agreement between her aunt and Um Muhsin. It would have been improper to throw such a celebration through the multiple civilian deaths by way of the Occupational Soldiers.

Personally, Amani hardly cared less for a party. She only knew one person who would come and Reema had arrived at her house earlier than Muhsin's family had. With Fayza, Reema, her aunt, Muhsin, and the remainder of his family, the day they spent within the walls of her home was perfect on its own. It was Muhsin who she worried may feel disappointed by his mother's decision.

But when they were left alone at the dinner table, he assured her he had not wanted a party at all. His reasoning consisted of his natural dislike for loud music and excessive dancing. He said he would prefer the larger celebration for their wedding and Amani had choked at the statement. It was still unreal to think she might be marrying the man sitting in front of her, trying not to grin at her body's reflex as he took a bite of the bread.

Her eyes continuously wandered to the ring that now sat on his right ring finger. It matched the one she wore on her right hand. Amani forced down the butterflies fluttering in her abdomen and ate.

Once Muhsin left to go pray, Fayza and Reema connected their phones and raised the music's volume. They'd dragged Amani off the couches to dance. She'd been surprised by Fayza's energetic expertise, screaming at the girl who twirled around her and rocked her body to the melody of the songs.

They danced until it was dark out.

The next day, word traveled quickly of Muhsin Awad's engagement to the foreigner though the only confirmation came once Muhsin opened the bakery. It was as he worked that the ring on his finger could be seen by passersby.

Amani only realized the news had somehow been dispersed while returning from her Koran class. Once Reema had returned home and she'd walked the streets alone, all the eyes that had hidden their interest from her cousin suddenly refused to leave Amani. She could not make it a point to meet every person's gaze because there were so many. Most of them, she noticed, pointed at her right hand.

Through their hushed whispers, she nearly missed the familiar face whose smile was bright as he served a bag of bread to the older man she'd seen with him before. The tension in her body eased at Muhsin's unbothered expression. He hardly looked to anyone else while laughing at the man's humor.

"...ybarek feek ami," he nodded.

She dropped her coins onto the table as the older man walked away. "You'd think nobody in this town has ever been engaged," she murmured, holding a passerby's gaze. "I feel like a circus animal."

Muhsin picked up the money and dropped it back into her palm. "You do not look like a circus animal," he replied.

"I know that," she admitted.

"Don't pay them any mind."

Amani glanced back toward the empty balcony of her cousin. "Reema says their envious. Envy is a sin, don't they know that?" She frowned at the girls who pointed at them from across the street then turned to whisper to themselves.

Muhsin kept his smile low. "They're only curious," he offered. "Usually, these things can be foreseen but I do not think anybody could have expected today to suddenly bring news of our engagement. Don't let their interest bother you, it's from a pure place. It will fade soon."

She turned to him as he flipped bread on the stove with his bare hands, her lips pursed in a subtle frown. "You're so cute sometimes, you know that?"

When he heard her bothered tone, Muhsin lifted his attention off the bread to meet her gaze. "What did you learn in your class?"