From Aliya to Hafiz

Thirty-eight.

Hafiz.

"Do you have any style in mind? Or should I give you the usual?" Elijah, my barber, said as he stood behind me, surveying my hair. "Are you sure you want to cut it? It looks good."

"I'm not used to it being this long," I shook my head making my hair sway. "It gets in the way."

"I think it looks good," Janan called from the couch behind me. Lia sat beside her, munching on the fruits they were served. On the seater beside theirs was Unaissy, sprawled with his leg spread and tapping away on his phone, looking bored. We still haven't spoken since our conversation earlier, and while I had shaken it off already, he was still noticeably pissed.

"What do you think Ali?"

She looked up at me from the distance, thoughtful. "It's not that bad, I guess," she said after a brief pause.

"I know!" Janan jumped up, her sage abaya fluttering and sending beams of refractive sparkles around the room. Aliya was dressed similarly, but hers was white that faded into soft lilac at the bottom. Both dresses had the common feature of fairy lights-like shimmer dusted all over. "How about you let Ali pick a haircut for you?"

"No," I said. "I'm not leaving such an important decision in her hands."

"It's cute that you think you have a choice," she giggled, plopping back down so Lia could share her phone screen with her. "Shall we Pinterest?"

I rolled my eyes. "You're not finding me a haircut on Pinterest. Do your thing, Elijah."

Shrugging, he sprayed my hair with rose water and placed a scissor against my hair but before he could start snipping, Janan called out as she ran over to him.

"Can you recreate this?" She showed him her phone.

Elijah mused. "It's doable. His hair is the right length too."

"Great, it's all on you now," she grinned before skipping back to the couch. Aliya met my gaze through the mirror and grinned, startling me.

"What kind of hairstyle is it?" I asked, suspicious. Because why were they both looking giddy? "So help me if it's a buzzcut," I warned.

"What's wrong with a buzzcut?" Janan asked.

"Yeah, Uncle rocks it. And it looks pretty hot on him," Lia voiced her agreement.

I had to spin around on my chair to face her, disbelieving. "Did you just call my father hot?" I asked, incredulous.

"Yes, 'cause he is," she nodded.

"That's your father-in-law," I glared at her, suddenly annoyed.

"So? Doesn't mean I can't appreciate how handsome he is right? Honestly, if I had a type, it would be him," she rubbed her chin thoughtfully, her expression the same as when we watched her shows.

This little boy crazy chipmunk...

"Are you an animal?" I gibed.

She sneered. "What, you get to sleep and kiss dozens of women but I'm an animal for complimenting my father-in-law?"

My mood soured, the same irritation I felt when Nine said he held her rearing its head. "At least they're not related to me," I quipped.

"Doesn't make it okay for you to stick your tongue and procreation meat into their crevices."

I choked on a laugh.

No, I think we all choked on a laugh because not a second after those words left her mouth, we all burst out laughing.

"Are you crazy?" I asked, wiping away a tear. "What the hell kind of analogy is that?"

"I see you're still unhinged with your vocabulary Ali," Unais said, chuckling. "It's cute."