The Hooded Hijabi

Stroke of Comfort

Ya Rabbi,help! "There was that one place I always thought about and I just wanted to be there with you..place that..." * My phone rings and I look at the name on my phone for a second until I answer.

"I just heard about it all from Rachel. You do have a backup file, right?", asks Mustafa from the other end of the line. His voice deep and resonating with concern.

I remain silent for a moment and reply under my breath, "No. It's all gone."

"What do you mean?"

"It's gone."

"Amina? Tell me very clearly, what happened?"

"I had it in my laptop but there's a virus in it now, apparently."

"Apparently?"

"Ali's friend, Donal, borrowed my laptop."

"Let me call you back." He ended the call without waiting for a response.

I walk back to my room and lay on the bed, staring at the roof.

Ten-thirty three. I wake up with a jolt as my phone rings. "Come out", Mustafa says before I could even say Sala'am.

Confused, I go out of the main door and see him standing with his hands in the pockets of his brown jacket. "What's the matter?", I ask.

"Nothing, just trynna save your life", he replies with a smirk.

He removes his backpack from his back and carefully takes out his laptop. I look at him cluelessly while he types something. After a minute of patiently waiting he finally speaks, "Here's your dissertation."

"What?", I cry out.

I look at the screen shining brightly and am left speechless. "But this isn't mine", I say.

"It is now. Just upload it on your portal. Quick, now, kiddo."

"But how did you..."

"Just upload it, Amina."

"No, first tell me where'd you get this."

He sighs and replies, "My brother had an extensive research on this topic and had written a pretty long article on it ages ago but never got the chance to publish or share it. All I had to do was ask for his permission, edit it as per the dissertation rules and add a couple of thousand words. That's all."

"That's all? Mustafa, I... I don't know what to say, really! I'm just so overwhelmed with relief and guilt right now."

"Guilt?"

"It's your brother's hard work. Plus, you had to go through so much trouble because of me. If only I had a backup online. It's my mistake. I..."

"I didn't come here in this cold just to hear you whine. Upload the file so I can leave. I'm a pretty popular guy so I have other places to be."

I give a chuckle and take the laptop from him. I type in the password and open my portal. I feel Mustafa's gaze on my face. I glance at him and he diverts his eyes right away. Moments like these always make me feel uncomfortable but I try my best not to show it. I don't want to hurt Mustafa but something inside me tells that I'm already hurting him. Always hurting him. I return to the computer screen and click at the submission bar.

Ten fifty. My dissertation is uploaded and my scholarship saved. "And the day is saved, thanks to the powerpuff Mustafa!", I sing. We have a good laugh and Mustafa packs his laptop.

"Thank you, Mustafa. I owe you a big one", I say with a smile on my face and gratitude in my eyes.

"Buy me ramen then." He wears his bag on his back. He runs his fingers through his hair to fix it.