Too Little, Too Late

22

Ibrahim Fahad – and the other members of The Hexad squad – did not make it back for Eid. What should have been a happy day for Ayra with all the plans she'd been making since Eid-el-Fitr was spent in tears.

She only smiled when she got to Plum Boulevard in the evening to celebrate with her family and Ibtihaj's while ditching the Fahad's Eid dinner. No one in the Fahad family called to ask what was wrong and Ayra ignored it although it hurt a lot. At some point, she ignored the texts from the squad too because their apologies weren't enough and she hated how she couldn't even hold on to Ibrahim's promise that he'll be there in time for her graduation; just as he'd promised – and failed – to be home in time for Eid.

Ibtihaj was livid and she made sure she let each member of the Hexad squad know – via text because she couldn't reach them over the phone – just how mad and disappointed she was. She then told Ibrahim that if he didn't show up at their graduation and he broke Ayra even further, she was never going to forgive him.

Salama knew something was wrong with Ayra but she couldn't force it out of her daughter so she let it go, allowing her husband – Muhsin – convince her that Ayra would reach out when she was ready to.

On the 22nd of July, their graduation fits arrived. A second time, they'd patronised Binta Badmus – Bintabadmuslady – and she didn't disappoint; once again using pink and white (ivory, to be precise) to make dresses for both of them. This time, Ayra was to be in hot pink while Ibtihaj was to be in ivory.

Both dresses, just as they'd asked, were the same just in different colours: silk effortlessly sewn into elegant bodices with long sleeves that joined with a maxi skirt that flowed down to an inch below their ankles so as to not completely cover their shoes. The accompanying veils were cut out from premium jersey fabric in both colours; hot pink and ivory. Glad that the dresses fit, Ayra and Ibtihaj went shopping for accessories.

On their way back, Ibtihaj's hand found Ayra's and she gently squeezed. "You good?"

Ayra managed to smile, nodding. "In Shaa Allah I will be."

"Let's forget about Ibrahim and the squad until after the graduation, okay?" Ibtihaj squeezed her best friend's hand again. "If you weren't married to him, you would still be graduating and you would be over the moon because our efforts weren't in vain. You had plans for this degree even before his proposal came so do not allow him and the squad take away the happiness of hard work paying off. We're graduating with honours, Ayra, and we deserve to be happy. He doesn't get to take that away from you. He shouldn't take that from you so don't let him. Okay?"

With tears in her eyes, Ayra nodded. She engraved the words in her mind. "Okay."

"We'll be fine, love. We're going to be alright, I promise."

On the 23rd, Ayra resent the graduation invite to her in-laws, reminding them that the event was the very next day. After Jumm'ah, Salim called and once they'd exchanged greetings, he let the bomb drop.

"Fareeda and I have to be in Cape Town tonight so we'll have to rain check tomorrow, sweetheart. It's not something we can postpone and there's no way we'd make it back in time to even catch the end of the ceremony. I'm sorry, love. Why don't we have a dinner or lunch to celebrate when we get back?"

Ayra, feeling weak underneath the heavy baggage of disappointments she'd gotten the entire month, leaned against the nearest wall in the kitchen. She used every ounce of power to push the tears back. "Sure," She lied. "I'll look forward to it. Have a safe flight, Dad. Say hi to Mum for me."

"I will. Congratulations. I'm proud of you."

For the first time in her life, Ayra wanted to be rude to him but she pushed it down, told him thank you, and then hung up. Ibrahim's text came in almost immediately.