please pray if you haven't already x
[1438 words]
'is hakim well?' her mother asked over the phone that iman had on the kitchen table. she was on speaker, but iman was in the process of picking it up and placing it to her ears. the baking sheet covered in batter in front of her prevented her from doing so.
'he is good.' she replied as colourfully as she could, trying not to make it seem like there was a problem. which there wasn't, right? iman shook her head as she tried to convince herself and her mother everything was fine.
'no. with you. is he good to you?' her mother followed up, and it had iman pausing. hakim, stood outside the kitchen, hearing the question his mother in law posed to her daughter, and out of curiosity stood still.
'alhamdulillah mama. he's very nice.' iman replied after a second delay.
'it doesn't sound like it.' hakim changed his stance, wondering why iman was being so stiff and awkward with her mother, someone who he assumed her to be very close to.
'everything is perfect mama. hakim's mother is coming over today, so i need to get busy with baking some sweets. i'll talk to you later.' her attempt to change the subject once she saw hakim's figure standing in the open front of the kitchen. she wasn't hiding anything from him, but didn't feel comfortable with sharing the conversation either.
although, she had a sneaky feeling he had already heard what she was saying.
'i won't keep you long darling, just promise me if there's a problem, you will tell me.' she kept her eyes on hakim, narrowing them once they both heard her mothers words.
iman considered if there was anything bad enough to be considered a problem to begin with, and the answer being ambiguous had her giving empty words to her mother. 'mama there is nothing wrong. i promise.' the words were as empty as they sounded.
a few pleasantries were shared and she cut the call.
'are you eavesdropping on my conversation?' she said with a slight anger in her tone,
'no.' his shrugging tone made her angry.
'then?'
he took a misplaced apple on the island and placed it in its basket, distracting her from the conversation at hand. 'are you okay? you seem upset.' he said rather simply.
there really wasn't anything wrong, she convinced herself. 'nothing much. i miss my mother.'
'you can go visit her.' he replied, wondering why something so simple could be bothering her.
'no. she'll think there's something wrong, between us.'
hakim raised an eyebrow, as if to test her words. 'but there's nothing wrong.' he didn't know what kind of response he expected from her.
'is that how you see it?' she wanted to say, because nothing was normal between them. they got married under unfortunate circumstances and were now feeling the effects of it on an equally cold marriage.
she nodded her head, and hakim walked away, unknowingly lost for thoughts on what to do about all this awkwardness.
—
'ever since you got married you two have been cooped up inside this house. i cant remember a single time where i've seen you both outside.'
iman tried to reason with her mother-in-law, who seemed to be critiquing her son with the look she was sending him. 'well hakim is busy most of the time. with training and travelling.' she was on auto-reply, thinking of the best excuse. she didn't want to say the truth, which was that the two hardly saw each other even if they lived in the same flat, let alone going outside.
