Once Upon A Lifetime

Chapter Twenty-seven ~ There is no promise anymore

Taalia's POV~

Misha and I had completely stuffed our faces with the food she and Saqib made. After we prayed, we sat in my room and just did random things. After Saqib came to pick her up, I lay in my bedroom trying to take my mind off things. Suddenly my mom came into my room and sat on my bed next to me. I sat up.

"Ammu? What's wrong?"

"Honey, I would like to talk to you a bit."

"Okay..." I said, unsure.

"Habibti... why don't you want to marry Daiyan?" She asked, getting straight to the point.

"Ammu, I thought we've been over this. I..." I couldn't finish. I forgot, we never really got to talk about this.

"So I was right. There is someone else." I looked away. "Habibti? Who is he?"

I shook my head.

"You can tell me anything. If you really like this guy then we'll consider him for you. But you've got to tell someone first!" I sighed and closed my eyes.

"Okay... it's Aasim." I said and opened my eyes to look at her. I immediately regretted it when I saw the look on my mother's face. She started tearing up and she pulled me into a hug.

"Oh, sweetheart, I'm so sorry." She pulled back and wiped her tears. I was surprised I hadn't broken down with her. I guess I was just so tired of crying and feeling weak my feelings had become numb at that point.

"It's okay. What's happened has happened." I said.

"But, honey, let me tell you something. You're going to have to get married someday. Yes, you are going through a rough time right now, we all are. But there is a man out there who is waiting for you. A man who is waiting for a wife to spend the rest of his life with, to raise his kids with, a wife to be with forever and always even when times get tough. And that man is Daiyan. And he is thinking of you as his life partner."

"Ammu..."

"Think about it some more. Please. Do it for me. No, not for me. Do it for the man who's waiting for you." I sighed then nodded. My mom have me a small smile and kissed my forehead. "Thank you, dear. Now come down to eat."

"No, I'm not hungry."

"Habibti, you haven't eaten anything since hours before Misha left. You need to eat. Have some food then take your medicine." I nodded again and she left, telling me to go downstairs in a few minutes.

Daiyan...

He was definitely husband material. He was sweet, funny, and the type who wouldn't judge you no matter what. But he still didn't know about my brain tumor. And I was too afraid to tell him. Would he end up backing out? But it wasn't like I was going to say yes... I think. He was an amazing person who had a good deen and job. I guess you would have to be pretty dumb to not say yes to him. Dumb or crazy in love with someone else.

But I couldn't do anything about him. He was gone, he wouldn't be marrying me, we couldn't carry out a future together, we couldn't have kids together.

Daiyan was the only one left. And my mom was right. He was waiting for me. And for a long time too. I realized that it had been way over a month since he proposed. You would expect them to just cancel the proposal and go look for someone new. But he didn't do that. He waited... and still was.

I paced around my room, all these thoughts whirring around my head. My head started hurting and I stopped at my desk, gripping the chair as the pain finally ceased. I opened my eyes, my gaze falling upon his card. I picked it up and read the words for the millionth time since he left. I closed my eyes as they started to water and held the card to my chest, breathing deeply, in and out, trying to calm down.