Hana Saleh's life was a symphony of tradition and quiet contentment. At 20, she was a tapestry woven with the threads of her faith: the warmth of family dinners, the gentle rustle of her hijab as she walked through the bustling streets of New York...
After a long 5 hours of studying at the University I say my goodbyes to Hanifza, departing ways as she walks to her car and I began walking the Mosque. The reason I don't ride with Hanifza home is she has a part time job at the local chips and burger shop where I visit the Mosque then head to helping the family bakery.
As I walk down the path, a cold breeze ran through my body. I hugged myself and walked quickly to my destination. My eyes darted around me for any dangers. I don't know what it is but being a girl and walking alone is frightening for every woman, to prepare yourself for danger is sickening. I recite Ayat al Kursi for protection, repeating it till I reach the Mosque. I sighed in relief and entered, my nose smelling in the scent off ooud. This was my second home, a home that i could be free from judgment and belittlement.
I greet the aunties and began to teach the little children. I loved children, they were adorable, funny and I wanted at least 4 off my own. Studying primary education has also made me realise how children are soo important and they require the help and support which they deserve. I do anything I can for them by donating to charity.
"Auntie Hana." Zainab says quietly and she looks at me with her round eyes.
"Yes?" I reply back, curious to what she was about to say. Some of the children were mature while the others....you can say they were still children. Like me, i'm still a child at heart as I continue to watch Adventure Time. It's my comfort show, and everyone needs a comfort show when they're sad or even when they just need something to watch.
"Y - you know Hamza...? right..." My eyes widened at who she was talking about.
"What about him?" Hamza was also my friend who I knew since I was little. He also taught at the Mosque in the boy section. Everyone would ship us but I didn't like him like that and he probably didn't either.
"He likes you!" The girls start giggling and I cross my arms.
"Should we be talking about this in the Masjid girls?" I sigh.
"It's true Auntie Hana!" Amira chirps in, her abaya too big for her she nearly tripped over as she got too excited and jumped up. These girls and their gossips.
"No way! Auntie Hana needs someone better than Hamza! he's too skinny...a - and ugly too!" I covered my mouth trying not to laugh at Khadija's words. It was soo hard when they would act like this, but also cute. It reminded me of my times in the Mosque.
"Okay. Enough. Now practice your sura's." I butt in not wanting this conversation to go on any longer. They kept going on about how Hamza's eyes were wonky, his nose being too big. We did learn about talking about other people's appearances, but they were still young and Hamza wouldn't know anyway. Although, I did feel bad.
After an hour or so I say my Salaam to the girls and walked to the bakery shop.
"Hana." A voice i recognised calls out to me. I turn around and I come face to face with Hamza, well my eyes on his chest since i'm only 5ft 3 and him being 6ft 4. I raised my head to look at him, his light brown eyes looking into mine. Astaghfirullah Hana lower your gaze, I mentally say to myself.
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"Hamza." I say back, which he smiled too.
"You walking alone?" He looks behind me to see if I had anyone walking with me. I shook my head and tapped my feet on the ground as it got slightly awkward.
"Nope, just me." I say and looked anywhere else than him. He moves closer which I freeze. I hate men. Their proximity and frame scares the rainbows out of me. He noticed this and stops.
"Let me walk you." I knew he was sincere but having a man walk with me just screams haram and stupid, even if it's the person you knew since young. I also, didn't want any aunties phoning my mother and giving false information, but she would just decline the accusation anyway.
Hamza also knew this as I raised my eyebrow at him.
"Right...I can't." He scratches the back of his head nervously. "Well, just walk safe okay?" I nod my head and thanked him. I could feel his eyes sinking into the back of my head. He's not a bad person but I just didn't feel comfortable around him, so why would I walk alone with him too? you understand right? ~~~~~~~~~~⚜️⚜️⚜️⚜️⚜️⚜️⚜️⚜️~~~~~~~~~~
'Saleh's Bakery' stood before me. The building painted in sage with a golden sign above it. My family loved the colour green, last year we all decided to dress green for Eid. It was crazy but the outfits were stunning as always. But brown will always be my baby.
As I walk in, the chime hanging from the door jingles, declaring my entrance. On display were different pastries and deserts. My mouth watered looking at them all, I knew after the bakery closed I could devour them all. The bakery wasn't a big one, just like most. The inside were painted in cream and the soft leather chairs in sage. The tables were round and a white mandala tablecloth covered them.
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"Oh habibti." My mother smiles as she notices me from the counter. I walk behind the counter and wear my apron. It had a cute cat in the middle saying 'life is never dull without food' One of my favourite quote which I came up with and had my mother stitch up for me.
"Salaam Mama." I say to her and took over the cashier while she takes a break. My mother would work from 9am till 3pm and right now she was getting prepared to leave. I would normally take over from 3pm to 5pm and close up the bakery.
The door chimes and I wait for the person to walk over to me. It wasn't a regular customer, I could recognise everyone that would come to this bakery for the past 2 years.
"Hello, what would you like?" I smiled to be polite. The man was quite handsome but not my type. He smiles back at me, his white straight teeth shining in my eyes. You may think I'm exaggerating but I'm not. I knew he took good care of teeth...I should probably stop staring.
"One black coffee, a cappuccino and two muffins." His voice definitely gave it away he wasn't from here.
"Alright that'll be $18.93." My eyes widened seeing him tap out his money with a black card. I haven't seen those in real life, just in movies or Turkish dramas.
"Thank you and may I have your name?" I looked at him, waiting for him to say his name.
"Luca." I nod my head and began prepping his order. From the corner of my eyes I could feel his eyes watching me, I try ignoring it and continued wrapping up the muffins. I walk back up the counter and smile as I place his order in front of him.
"Enjoy and are you a new customer to this bakery?" He nods his head, waiting for what I was going to say next.
"I thought so. Here's a piece of red velvet cake. We give it out to new customers." I hand him a small box that had a cat sticker on the front. You could tell I loved kittens.
"Thank you...." He looks at my name tag. "Hana." He smiled and walks away, once again hearing the bell jingle.
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I hope you enjoyed the fourth chapter...now it's getting more interesting as Luca meets Hana. Is it a coincidence?
