Echoes of Agony

Chapter Fifteen

Today was a hectic day for Zaytun since morning. She was preoccupied with planning a memorable surprise for AbdulJalal's upcoming birthday. As a result, she found herself standing in front of Zahra, her younger sister Ameenah, Usman, and her other friends, holding a note in her hand and trying to come up with the perfect plan.

"How about Usman, Zahra, and Ibrahim pretend to be out of town, and then we surprise bro-in-law at home on the same day?" Nana suggested.

However, Usman pointed out that this plan wouldn't work since they worked together, and AbdulJalal would ask a lot of questions.

After a few minutes of silence, Asma excitedly suggested her plan.

"How about Zaytun suggests they go for a small vacation, and once AbdulJalal agrees, we can prepare the birthday venue in a nice scenic location and surprise him." Everyone loved the idea, and Usman complimented Asma on her genius idea, which made her so shy afterward. Habeebah smiled at them knowingly.

However, Zahra proposed a more performative plan. She suggested convincing AbdulJalal to go alone to Adamawa to visit his aunt, something he wanted to do for a long time. Then, they would prepare the location and everything in between before he arrived, making the birthday surprise even more special.

After considering both ideas, they all agreed to Zahra's plan since it would make the surprise more performative. Zaytun felt proud of her friends for coming up with such great ideas, and the group was excited to execute the plan for AbdulJalal's special day.

~

It was a beautiful Friday morning, and Asma decided to attend her morning Qur'an classes, which she had been neglecting for a month. After her classes, she found a peaceful bench and sat down. She took a sip of water from her bottle and gazed at the rising sun, admiring the orange light of the early morning.

As she sat there, her mind started to wander. She suddenly began thinking about Zaytun. Lately, she noticed that her friend seemed to lack warmth toward her. Every time they met, Zaytun's eyes seemed to lose a certain warmth that they used to have. Asma could read Zaytun's emotions just by looking at her face, and even though Zaytun assured her that everything was fine, Asma couldn't shake the feeling that something was off.

She wanted to help Zaytun, but she didn't want to push too hard. She couldn't tell if the issue had something to do with AbdulJalal or not, but she was determined to find out. Asma knew she needed to be patient and keep pressing her friend to talk until she could help her. She wanted to know more so that she could offer her support and be there for Zaytun when she needed her most.

~

AbdulJalal was going nuts. The CEO found himself completely consumed by thoughts of Zaytun. Every day at work, he went through his usual routine of looking through reports and financial analyses, calling in managers, and receiving feedback from partners. But lately, even when his employees and partners shared their views and explanations, his mind drifted off to thoughts of her. He couldn't stop thinking about Zaytun's big, shining eyes, which lit up every time she was around him. He also couldn't seem to get her soft, pinkish lips out of his mind.

"CEO AbdulJalal, is it alright if we process it this way?"

He just hummed, his mind still on Zaytun. He didn't even hear a word spoken to him.

The project manager looked at AbdulJalal's assistant with a weird expression, but the assistant just shrugged. Both of them couldn't believe that their boss didn't comment or object at all. The project manager simply retired after taking all the sheets from the table. Once outside, he frowned.

"Is the CEO inside?"

"Yes, but I don't think he's okay."

"Why?"