Love, Law and Crime

Chapter 15

Now, it's 23:00 p.m, Thursday night and I'm wide awake. Tomorrow's Jummah (friday); its my favourite day  I love jummah. I wake up earlier than usual on jummahs and I try my best to perform the sunnahs [the things that Prophet Muhammad (S.A.W) used to do] like I shower, I do ghusl, I recite the Holy Qura'an, recite surah ka'af and surah Yaseen too, try to do some charity; well all in all its the best day of the week for me but right now I'm nervous as to what is to come tomorrow as I have a meeting with Mr Judgy Zuabir Sahab. His hazel eyes has occupied my mind, I don't know what to make of it?! I'm so confused and nervous and his eyes..oh so beautiful hazel eyes of his.....masha'allah I've never seen such beautiful eyes. Shut up Aminah! Stop thinking about him! I scolded myself for once again drowning in the beauty of those hazel orbs.

Next Day Jummah (4:15 p.m)

At the restro, I, mummy Amir bhai and Arwa auntie are all seated at a table nearby the window. I was supposed to meet Zubair Sahab but there's no sign of him. Maybe he came to a conclusion that the meeting is going to be a disaster and that's why he hasn't shown up yet. Its 15 past 4:00 in the eve...meaning he's 15 mins late. I can see that Amir bhai's mood is getting bad, he hate late comers because he's an extremely punctual man. Yippee! You are doing such a good job at pissing my brother off Mr Zubair. Arwa auntie has called him 5 mins ago and he had informed her that he's a bit occupied in work. Just as Arwa auntie Dailey him again while mumbling apologies to us, we hear a ringing of phone and as I turned to find the source of the noise, my eyes collided with those beautiful hazel orbs once again. We were both in a trance for a moment until someone or to be precise Amir bhai; whis seated right next to me cleared his throat and we both quickly averted our gazes mumbling astagfirullah under our breaths.
"Assalamaleikum." He greeted. "Waleikumassalam." All of us replied simultaneously. "Zubair beta, you are late." complained Arwa auntie. "I'm so sorry Amma. To everyone I apologise for being late . Trust me I was about to leave on time but a very important client of mine came and he told me that he won't be able to visit again as his daughter is coming back from the States and taking him for Hajj. I have a very goof relation with him apart from the professional ties, he has no son and he considers me like his own son...so, I was with him from past half an hour. I'm sorry everyone." He explained sounding so genuine.. I believe him. His voice showed his sincerity. He took his seat between mummy and Arwa auntie making him seated directly opposite to me. Oh boy! I can see Amir bhai is not very happy with him already and now he took his seat opposite me. I know its not his fault because that's the only vacant spot but my brother doesn't think much about logistics when he's pissed.
" How are you auntie Suhaila?" He asked mummy. "Alhamdulilah...Zubair beta, I'm good. What about you son?" She asked back. Ughh!! Why's mummy so friendly with him?! "Alhamdulilah....I'm perfectly fine....bss aap log ki duaien hai (just your prayers)." He replied flashing a smile which shows off his dimples. Ya Allah! He has dimples too when he smiles...uff! His smile is very contagious. Lower your gaze Aminah...reminded my inner voice and I quickly closed my eyes scolding myself for drooling over a non mehram.. Astagfirullah!"what's up Amir?" He asked bhai while shaking hands with him. "All good Zubair. You?"  Said bhai.. "Alhamdulilah." He replied. Hmm...he and bhai had a very formal exchange..I guess they are not very fond of each other. "Zubair beta, here, have some water. You must me very tired na."my dearest mother said to him while passing him a glass of water along with her untouched sandwich. Wow! She's already treating him like her son-in-law. Astagfirullah! He? My hubby? Nay! "Thank you auntie. Just water please." He replied politely and took the glass of water which was on the table infornt of him. He drink the water in 3 sips which is a sunnah and then very politely asked "shall we proceed with what we came here for...umm...actually....it will be time for Salat-al-Asr in...
" he paused, glanced at his watch and the continued " exactly 35 mins from now on." Dude might be desperate... I guess. "Sure. Ammu beta go with Zubair to that table." Said mummy while pointing at the table which is 2 tables next to our current seating place. "What?!" I asked in disbelief. And now Arwa auntie and mummy are looking at me like I've grown two heads meanwhile bhai has a grim expression on his face which clearly shows that he's not happy and for Zubair Sahab, it seems like he's trying to suppress his laugh.
I looked at bhai pleadingly, he was about to say something but Arwa auntie beat it to him and said "Aminah, sweetheart, calm down we are only telling you to go and sit at that table because we know that you both are mature people and deserve to have a tiny bit of privacy, however, don't get too comfortable because we are only two tables away." She added the last sentence jokingly making mummy chuckle and Zuabir and I ducked our head lower feeling I guess shy? Maybe.

Mummy signalled us to go further through her hand and we both nodded our heads making both the mothers chuckle. Zubair sahab stood up and ushered me to the table signalling me by his hand. We both sat in silence. No one ready to break it. "Umm..." he cleared his throat maybe to wash off the nervousness or akwardness..I don't know. "Assalamaleikum. How are you?" He asked politely. "Waleikumassalam. I'm fine. You?" I said back. "Alhamdulilah..I'm good." He replied. "So....um...miss Aminah...I.." I cut him off mid sentence and said "Aminah is fine."
"Ok." He said and I took a moment to look at him as he's going to be my spouse, maybe. I noticed how irresistibly handsome he is in his crisp white shirt and white trousers. His black blazer which was hanging on his arm a while ago is discarded on the chair next to him. He has a well trimmed beard. He definitely came here from work...his face even though perfectly handsome shows some signs of tiredness. "So, Aminah....ummm...." he said bringing me out of thoughts. Stop admiring him Aminah! I scolded myself for the nth time today.
I hummed in response and he continued "I wanna start with apologising to you. Please forgive me for judging you so brutally. When Mina told me about all that stuff...you know about the guy...what's his name? Umm?...yeah! Naseer. Yeah, him. I felt so ashamed. I know what I did was totally wrong and as a lawyer I should have thought about it before drawing a conclusion and opening my mouth but I didn't and for that, I'm extremely sorry. Although I shouldn't had said anything in the first place. Actually that day something happened with my friend's sister and I was slightly disturbed and after that seen I lost it and said all those things. Its not an excuse...I'm just...telling you the reason for my not so smart move. I'm again apologising to you.  I'm so sorry, please forgive me." He said with so much sincerity that I couldn't help myself and said "it's ok. You are forgiven Zubair sahab." A small smile graced my lips and then his lips also curled into a small but genuine smile. "Really?" He questioned like a child and I replied while nodding my head "jii(yes)....Zubair sahab." He gave a throaty chuckle and said "Zubair sahab?" I just shrugged in response earning another chuckle from him. "Hm...Zubair sahab....I like the sound of it." He said in amusement and again a smile graced his lips. Ughh! Stop smiling. Its contagious. Screamed my inner voice.
"Well..." he begins..took a deep breath and continued "do you pray five times a day?" I just nodded my head in response. "Ok..do you fast during ramdan?" He question further and again I nodded my head. "Good." "Well, I'm gonna be honest with you, I found a compatible partner in you. Mina praises you a lot and so does my mother. To be honest with you I admire your confidence..the way you delivered the speech in that function  was mind blowing. I always wanted a girl whose able to correct me when I'm wrong because sometimes I'm very strong headed. A girl who's strong minded, confident but compassionate and caring at the same time, who's not only able to stand next to me and look pretty but also who's able to stand beside me when I'm struggling as a person. I'm glad that you are practicing because Aminah trust me when it comes to my deen..I'm very serious. I found all these qualities in you...so, its a yes from my side. Well, do you Miss Aminah Akram Ali accept my proposal?" He concluded his mind boggling confession.
Ya Allah! He's so straightforward. I don't know why my cheeks feel so warm all of a sudden. He rose an eyebrow waiting for my response. "I....umm..I...I...." I stutter unable to form a sensible response. He sensed my hesitation and said "I know you are thinking that I'm very straightforward, right?" He said again taking me by surprise. How did he? And then he again voiced out my thoughts by saying "you are thinking how?" My eyes became wide while I nodded my head in astonishment. He chuckled and replied "I'm a lawyer. A criminal lawyer. Since the day I had started my graduation..I learned to read people. Infact I'm still learning. Its very complex..but you are easy to read." Wow! He's actually pretty smart. Wait a minute! He said I'm easy to read. I scowled and then he clarified "I don't mean it in a bad way.. what I mean is that you are a normal person and it's often hard to read a criminal..that's why reading you is comparatively easy." "Oh!" I said and chuckled. "Jii(yes)" He replied politely making my cheeks go warm again. He's definitely a charmer.
"Soooo...?" He emphasised. "Umm...well, yes, you are pretty straightforward...which is actually a good quality  but I barely know you...I know you also barely know me but you know I'm a woman and I think differently...I hope you are getting my point...plus, I really need some time to come to a decision." I said in one breath.

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