A tale of love, loss, and new beginnings.
Hareem wants to start over, Momin is stuck in the past. Can a newly wedded couple learn to love and accept one another while also dealing with an uncertain future and a haunting past?
Trigger warning: ptsd...
"..Indeed, it is not the eyes that are blind, but it is the hearts in the chests that grow blind." (22:46)
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Chapter Twenty Two
On Tuesday morning Hareem settled down next to Layla in the third row of the long rows across the podium of their Calculus classroom.
"Assalamu Allykum," she greeted cheerfully as she set away her bag.
"Wa'Allykum Salaam," Layla mumbled, taking a sip from her coffee traveler.
"How are you?"
"Same as any other person would be at eight a.m. on Tuesday." Her sarcastic response made Hareem chuckle in reply.
"You're right, it isn't always fun having Math first thing in the morning," Hareem commented, still laughing.
She placed her baby pink notebook onto the desk and took out a purple pen. The rubies in her ring sparkled in the light as she opened the notebook and turned to a fresh page.
After her and Momin's trip to the mall on Saturday, they had been texting continuously. She was finally losing her shyness towards him, and he was learning exactly what made her laugh and loosen up. The things they had talked about in the souvenir shop hadn't been addressed again, but she was starting to think that there was some truth in Momin's words.
Having kept her thoughts inside her for years, she had come to rationalize everything in a way she found suitable, which wasn't necessarily the correct pattern of thinking. She had only confessed to Aima about the incident, but she hadn't told her the aftermath of it, or neither the methods she had employed to cope. Her family on the other hand were aware of her coping mechanisms, but clueless of the incident, so no one other than herself knew everything that had happened in the past seven years.
A shiver went down her spine as she recollected the time before she had started harming herself. Every person who had reached out to befriend her despite knowing her truth was mentally poisoned and warned by Elena, who wanted to remind Hareem that she was nothing without her help.
Hareem clenched her fists and glanced over at Layla. Things had changed, she told herself. She was now capable of making friends and maintaining relationships.
"Thank you," Hareem gratefully said, blushing as she glanced at the ring.
"Where did you get it from?" She asked, her voice as tight as her smile.
"The mall a few kilometers from here. It's an Eid gift," she told, turning the ring on her finger. Layla studied the ring, boring holes into Hareem's finger as she stared. Minutes passed before she spoke again.
