True Purpose

c h a p t e r 31

"Yahya, get Yasir's thobe and give it to Hadid. Hadid, go and iron the thobe!" Hassan ordered his brothers.

"Chill bro. I'm the one getting married but you seem more stressed!" Yasir told Hassan with a chuckle.

"Dude, I am supposed to be more stressed. You on the other hand are supposed to be nervous," Hassan told Yasir, giving him a pointed look.

"Yeah, that I am," Yasir muttered.

"Is your keffiyeh ready?" Hassan asked.

"Yes. There it is," Yasir replied, pointing to his keffiyeh and egal which were laid on his bed.

"Good. Now, once Hadid brings your thobe, put it on. I've kept some 'Itr on your dresser which you've to apply," Hassan said.

"Bro, I already have 'Itr. What'd you get me this for?" Yasir asked.

"Come on, Yasir! You're getting married! Surely you don't expect to put on some regular 'Itr that you put on daily! It's your wedding!" Hassan said, raising his eyebrows.

"Oh. Right," Yasir replied with a nod.

"Now, do you have your -" Hassan began to say but Yasir cut him off.

"Yes! Everything's ready, Hassan!" Yasir said, exasperated.

"Good. What about your shoes?" Hassan asked.

Yasir rolled his eyes as he pointed to a new pair of open sandals.

"It's your wedding yet I'm feeling panicky here!" Hassan said.

"Exactly my point! You're doing nothing to calm my nerves!" Yasir said, rolling his eyes again.

"Why don't you tell Huda to "calm your nerves"? I've too many things to worry about here to "calm your nerves"!" Hassan said, using air quotes when he said 'calm your nerves'.

"She'll make me more nervous with all her teasing!" Yasir said.

"Whatever! Do whatever you want to do, I really don't care. But first, go put on that thobe!" Hassan said, pointing to the thobe that Hadid just entered with.

"Where are you going?" Yasir asked Hassan who was beginning to leave.

"Dude, just because you're the one getting married doesn't mean the rest of us don't have to get ready, you know!" Hassan said. "But I'll be back shortly to supervise," he added with a grin.

Yasir nodded. "Fine, I'll get ready in the mean time," he said.

Hassan left the room and went upstairs to his own. And as soon as he did, he was hit by Zaynab's absence. It had been three whole days without her! At least after Yasir's nikkah, she'd be back with him. And then he can finally tell her that he loved her and that Zaynab shouldn't worry about anything coming between them.

He put on his own collared thobe which he had learnt that Zaynab liked so much. He hoped that seeing him in it would make her happy. Once he was done, he put on some 'Itr and wore his watch. He ran a hand through his hair, feeling a huge weight on his shoulders which he knew would not be lifted until Yasir's wedding ceremony would successfully be over and that he would confess to Zaynab that he loves her and she would come back to him.

♡♤♡

"Mabruk!" Zaynab said, as she hugged Arwa. "You're now a married woman, Arwa!"

"Alhamdulillah," Arwa replied, shyly. "Thank you, Zaynab. JazakAllah. And tell your hubby I said JazakAllah to him too."

Zaynab felt a pang of guilt at Hassan's reference. She realised how ridiculous she was being. Hassan hadn't even done anything wrong yet she had run away from him for three whole nights. She had even purposely left her phone behind so that he couldn't call her. She missed him so much, her heart ached. And she felt guilty for the way she had treated him. It wasn't fair seeing as it wasn't his fault at all that a girl was crazy about him to the point that she'd send him love letters. And that was four whole years back!