We Belong Together

Chapter 16

"Hey darling," Zaid smirked at me before plopping down on the only chair that was free.

The one right next to me!

I glared at him and Sarah seemed to notice how he had entered the danger zone. So she quickly piped in.

"Not fair bro. We are your friends too." Sarah whined.

"When the shining star is in front of you everything else seems dull. Sorry guys." Zaid said and threw a wink towards me. He used a lame pick up line on me.

How incredibly stupid!-.-

"So Zaid what are you doing here?" I asked him trying to sound nice.

"Karen invited me." He said shrugging and I turned to glare at Karen.

She put on a sorry face while I just smirked at her. She doesn't know what she has gotten herself into.

"So what were we talking about before this idiot came?" I said turning away from Zaid.

"We were talking about him," Sarah said gesturing towards Zaid and my eyes widened. Oh yeah! We were. Shit!

"Really ladies? Don't flatter me." Zaid said smirking at me.

I rolled my eyes at him and decided to ignore him for the rest of the time. But this was impossible since the jerk was sitting right beside me.

"How's Ryan?"

"I don't know," Karen said rigidly.

"Why what's wrong? Did you guys have a fight or anything?" Sarah asked her concerned.

"He thinks I am not spending enough time with him. Like really? That's what my mom keeps telling me that I don't spend enough quality time with my family and then Ryan starts complaining as well. I am seriously fed up man!" She said exasperatedly.

"K, you are so important that everyone wants you!" I exclaimed to cheer her up.

"Yeah, thats one way to put it." She chuckled.

"That's the best way to put it." I corrected her.

"There comes the positive Fareesa!" Sarah said and I just smiled.

"That's what I love about you," Zaid said placing his hand on my thigh. I immediately threw his hand off me.

"How dare you touch me Zaid?" I turned towards him with a glare.

Anger was literally radiating off me right now. I was always known for my short temper.

"Why are you so uptight about it?" He asked confused and looked at me as if I had grown two horns.

"Excuse me?" I screeched at him and noticed that Sarah and Karen were sitting there watching everything.

"Can you two please excuse us for a minute? I need a word with him." I said without even looking at them.

They both got up silently and left. That's what I loved about them. They were never offended by anything like that and we respected each other's privacy.

"Fareesa comes on," Zaid said and touched my hand.

"What did I just tell you about not touching me?" I hissed at him taking care what the onlookers might think of us.

I know that you should never pay attention to other people's opinions but I never understand that statement.

"We are going to get married soon, aren't we? So there's nothing wrong with us touching each other."

"Excuse me? Who the hell told you that I am going to marry you?" I almost yelled at him outraged.

"We are aren't we?" He asked confused.

"No. I'll marry you when hell freezes over which means never in case a slow poke like you doesn't understand," I said to him.

"But I thought that you liked me. Don't you?" He said shocked.

"No. Who the hell gave you that impression? Just because we had a good understanding doesn't mean I like you. I always thought of you as my brother for Goodness sake. Stop creating opinions by yourself!"

"You. You always gave me that impression Fareesa. I can't believe you played me." He said with a hurt look on his face.

"Stop it Zaid. Enough already. Just because another girl never talks to you politely and I did does not automatically mean that I like you. Why would I even like someone like you? You clearly have no respect for other people's boundaries."

"No, you shut up Fareesa. You always sent me mixed signals. Whenever I was late or I wasn't there you would threaten me to come to our hangouts. You would say you missed talking to me. Remember the time when you argued with a girl for me? What the hell was all that then? Answer me!" He said with a demanding tone and gripped my arm.

I was too stunned to react. I didn't even notice his tight grip on my arm.

It was only when I felt a teardrop on my cheek did I feel the wetness around my eyes. I snatched my arm out if his iron grip and stood up from the chair.

"I hate you Zaid," I said and stormed out if the shop.

I rummaged for my car keys in my tote bag and fiddled with them to open the car. Once I had unlocked the car with my shaking hands I plopped down on the driver's seat.

I started the car and quickly drove out of the parking lot and onto the main road. I didn't even care that I had to drop Sarah and Karen back to their house.

Tears were streaming down my cheeks. Did, I really gave him that impression? Had I unknowingly played with someone's feelings?

That's why Islam forbade friendships between the opposite gender. It all dawned on me.

That's why there were certain limits you had to keep. I had bever crossed the limits on my part but you never know what the other person might be thinking.

I was crying because I realized how wrong I had been. I was always carefree around them because I thought they were my friends. I didn't understand that there was a limit to a friendship between the opposite gender.

These kind of misunderstandings were what our religion helped us stay away from. The whisperings shatan does in our ears.

Allah has given us these laws in order to guard us aginst the evil. It's for our own benefit. I failed to understand that and now it was too late.

I couldn't see properly through my blurry eyes. I was just driving straight at a very low speed and I just hoped that my car didn't bump into someone.

Suddenly I heard my phone ringing.

I applied the brakes with a screech to see who was calling. Before I picked up my phone from the dashboard I looked up to see a car in front stopped in front of me at a red light.

If I hadn't stopped I would have crashed I to that car. My eyes widened at that. This was a miracle. I could have been dead in a few minutes.

Oh my God. I was truly shaken. My heart was beating really fast now.

I wiped away my tears and wiped the phone to answer the call which had come as a blessing for me.

"Hello?" I said into the phone trying to let my voice sound normal.

"Salam Fareesa. How are you?"

This voice sounded like Asher's. I checked the caller's ID and saw that it was Asher. My eyes widened at that and I face-palmed myself for not checking the caller before answering the phone.

Just great! I don't need another idiot to make me cry.