A Good Man for a Good Woman: He Thinks, She Thinks Series

A Good Man for a Good Women

Chapter 1: Meet Cute

Azrina

The sound of birds chirping and nature music filled the room, breaking the silence of the dark. I stirred in my sleep, then jolted right up realising that delaying my wake would result in me missing out on my tahajjud prayers. God knows how many times I had pressed the snooze button on my phone that morning. I had been up late, chatting with Mama and Abah. They were both leaving for Tokyo in the afternoon. That was their home for Abah's second posting in the diplomatic service. I would be joining them as soon as the school holiday starts, which wasn't too long now.

I forced myself to get up as my eyes adjusted to the dark. I made my way to the bathroom to wash up and minutes later I was on my prayer mat, in my prayer garment. The recitations and movements in the solat or prayer calmed me. The solat for a Muslim is our private time with our Creator, Allah. The moment for us to converse with Him and He answers. The time for us to ask in prayer and He listens. I pray that Allah always keeps me on the right path. For Him to guide me to heaven and build me a home in the highest of heavens, the Jannatul Firdaus.

Like all school mornings, I would be ready to leave the house by 7.00 am. Mama saw me out of the door. I hugged her long and tight, while inhaling her sweet scent. She always smelt of Anais Anais by Cacharel. I was going to miss her and Abah and my two younger brothers when they leave. How envious I was of them returning to Tokyo while I had to remain in Kuala Lumpur. But alas... I needed to prioritise my education first. It was important for me to learn Bahasa Melayu or the Malay language, our mother tongue and also Islamic Studies. Both of which were lacking in the previous International Schools I had attended. I am a diplomatic kid through and through. But I also needed to get in touch with my roots. For that reason, I allowed myself to be satisfied with my current situation. I was fine just staying with our live-in helper, Kak Mah. She took good care of me and the house. She also cooked the most delicious meal, second best to Mama's cooking, of course.

My secondary school is a good 15-minute walk from home. An Islamic International School which suited me really well. For 10th grade onwards, there are separate classes for boys and girls. So less distractions and no disturbances caused by raging hormones that are common in teenagers. I was grateful for that. It made me feel more peaceful and at ease, as well as less self-conscious. I see myself as an introvert. Being around large groups of people drains the energy out of me. I need time to myself. Just quiet moments for me to think and recharge. That said, I am not antisocial either. Back then, I had my tight-knit group of like-minded girlfriends. They always have my back - Inaz, Afrani and Amalinda.

My girls and I, we didn't always walk together to school. We all lived in different neighbourhoods. So we'd usually just meet in class and after school for our archery practice. The four of us, we've been representing the school in archery competitions for the past 2 years and that year would be our last year before we graduated from secondary school.

There were occasional days where we'd meet up at my house in the early morning and we'd walk to school together, all four of us. On those days, we liked to play catch up with each other after the long weekend apart.

That morning, Inaz had dropped by my house so we could brisk walk to school together. It was 7.20 am when we sauntered past a neighbouring school before reaching our school gate. I always felt uneasy walking past our so-called 'rival school'. For some reason, the students there seemed less polished than those attending my school. Mostly, it was due to these boys hanging in front of their school entrance, looking like they were up to no good. Not just in front of their school, but across the road from both our schools too.