Family Matters•••[COMPLETED]

Chapter Twenty-One

Aatikah's POV

"You've been calling my phone for the past thirty minutes! There's presently no light in my hostel madam, I'm trying to save my battery. You should have just come at once"

I said locking the door behind Sumayyah as she walked in and dropped a bag full of stuff on my bed.

"Well, Asalamualaykum to you too!... you know if you'd picked my call on the first ring, we'd have been half way into our discussion by now"

"What discussion?... what's in your bag by the way?" I asked as I tossed her bag to her, making some space to sit.

"Its just some stuff I got on the way here, that's by the way Tik. I'm here for something else and you know it"

May said as she pushed the bag aside and turned to face me, folding her long legs beneath her.

"Almost everyone that graduated has left school already. What's so important that you had to stay back?"

"Aamir said he wasn't coming to pick me till Friday. You can't not be happy to see me. You're happy to see me, aren't you?"

"Of course I am. What sort of a question is that? When haven't I ever been delighted to see you?"

Since we'd entered our second year, it'd been really tough keeping in touch with my friends. We were still as close, but we weren't having classes together anymore, except for Tina and I, so seeing each other was more than a struggle. It became even worse in fourth year when we began clinical postings, I barely had time for myself, but we tried hard to find time for each other still. Alhamdulillahi for this age we even lived in, cos we had our phones, it wasn't all so bad.

"Now, I can see you're stalling. What exactly are you thinking about!?"

"Old times, my dear... old times. Plus, you're right. I really was stalling. I don't even want to think about what it is you came here for. I'm afraid I know it already, and it really hurts just to think of it. Can't we discuss something else?"

"Tik, Today's Tuesday, I'm here till Friday we' gonna talk about this whether you like it or not.
Plus, you wouldn't even be around most of the time. You're here now because of the ceremony today.
Look, I might not know how much it hurts, or understand what Jibreel's up to, but I have a feeling that the whole thing is just a charade. Astagfirullah, I'm not saying that it's okay for someone to joke with such an issue, but then he didn't even tell you. He didn't tell Umar too, maybe something's up and we just have to be patient."

"Well, "patient" is what I've been for the past five years now, I guess I'd just have to remain that way for the rest of my miserable life. Plus, he did say she was pretty... how come he was able to say that to my face May? I'm really pained, trust me. I'm thinking of so many ways to butcher someone right now. Oh Astagfirullah! WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME?!... Which responsible guy would want to play around with a lady's heart? You know what Sumayyah? Let's not talk about this, at all. I know I shouldn't be mad at him or anything, cos I stopped him from calling me. I told him to accept Allah's Qadr, to take whatever came our way and just move on with whomever we ended up with. I guess most of the advice was for me at the end of the day"

I was getting really tired of thinking about this. I couldn't explain the feeling in my heart. My chest was constricting so painfully that I felt like it was going to shrink right inside of me and there was nothing I could do to about it. I felt really helpless, and I hated myself for it.

It's too late now, to start wishing I'd never known him, to wish that my brother had never been friends with someone that seemed so perfect that it didn't even seem right to think that someone could be so perfect.