I Chose You💕

VII.

VII.
Jam, Mikhail and I were in one of the boutiques in a famous shopping district, shopping and looking around. Jam had forced Mikhail to go with us because he never took me out with him unless we're with the family.

When Jam was done, she purposely left us alone, saying she had to go elsewhere and would be back soon. Mikhail and I both knew what was on her mind so we let her go. When she was gone, Mikhail went to the opposite direction, leaving me with no choice but to follow him. We ended up in another clothing store, him proceeding on the men section.

I watched him as he looked on the hung shirts, carefully assessing if it suits his taste. He'd face the mirror holding the shirt in front of him.

"I liked the white one," I voiced out.

He observed himself on the mirror with the white shirt. He seemed to like it so he took it with him and didn't say anything. Well, at least, he liked my taste on clothes.

"Why don't you go look around for yours?" He asked when I followed him to the counter.

"Not my kind of store," I said. "I wear black."

He looked at me, head to foot. "Don't you feel hot?"

I was wearing a plain, black dress and black blouse on top of it.

I shook my head in answer, thinking Hell is hotter than this worldly weather. "Black is timeless and classy. Besides, it makes me less noticeable."

"Don't you want to be noticed? Most girls liked to be noticed," he said.

"I am not most girls," I countered. "And I should ask you your question. Do you want me to be noticed?"

He eyed me with a raised eyebrow. "You sure liked to be m- a wife, you're playing it very well."

I smiled to myself. Even if we bicker like this, it's still a conversation.

"Hey, Mike!" A group of people gathered around us when we got out of the store. I automatically covered my face with my hankie, out of habit. The voice was owned by a girl.

"Hey, you...where'd you all come from? I wasn't told there'd be an invasion today," Mikhail said to the rest of them. They could be his workmates.

"We just planned it out last minute, didn't you receive a text?" Said one of them.

"Oh, I actually left my phone," he said.

It was probably because Jam was practically pulling him out of the room. So maybe in haste, he forgot to grab his phone.

"So who are you with?" Asked the girl.

Finally remembering me, he looked at me, squinting his eyes at them. "My..." He groped for words.

"Sister," I provided. He looked at me bewildered.

"I thought you only have two sisters?" Asked the girl. She seemed to know much about Mikhail.

"I have...three," he said, in the end going along with what I said. "Guys, this is Kenzie. Sorry, she's a bit shy," he said when I had not removed my hankie. "Kenzie, this is Johairah, Lucky, Kristel, Eric and Suzy."

I smiled at them. They smiled at me back. They seem friendly.

The guys attempted to shake my hand but I declined. "Sorry, I don't shake hands with men not my relative," I explained.

"She's a bit religious," Mikhail explained.

"Yeah, so have respect," defended the one named Johairah.

I didn't think she was a Muslim because she wasn't wearing any headscarf. And she dressed rather...tight.

The guys apologized while I offered them a kind smile.

"Well, how about lunch?" Asked Lucky.

"Yes, please....I'm so hungry," said Kristel.

"What do you say, Mike? You can bring your sister," said Johairah.

Did she think Mikhail would leave me alone? He wouldn't, would he?

Mikhail smiled nervously. "Uhh, I think I'm going to skip this one out. My other sister is with us and she might look for us."

"Aww that's sad," said Suzy.

She clearly have a thing for Mikhail, the way she subtly touches him since they came to view. I could say that Johairah too has something for Mikhail but she was a bit reserved on that, waiting maybe for him to make his first move.

"Next time?" Asked Mikhail.

"Well, yeah, sure," said Eric. "Your treat, though."

Mikhail laughed. "We'll see," he said.

Finally, after few goodbyes and longer ones, they left. I sighed grateful that they were gone. I'm not good with meeting people for the first time. I'm a bit stiff. I don't respond willingly. And I was always assumed by others to be cold and snob.

"Sister?" He asked later on.

We were at the food court, waiting for Jam who texted me that she just got out of the salon. She got herself pampered while she left us to be alone apparently.

"I got the feeling you don't want to introduce me as your wife so I made it easy for you," I said.

I have to admit that it hurt me when he couldn't say I was his wife. It pricked my heart and I felt insignificant. I hadn't expected the feeling.

He didn't say anything for the following moments, I was hoping he would feel embarrassed. But that would be harsh. I closed my eyes for a moment to clear my mind of it. It would just be one of the trials I'd face now that I'm with him.

"Why sister?" He asked.

"I did not want to lie. We were never friends, we're not cousins or somehow related," I said. "I could at least be your sister...sister in Islam," I explained.

"Oh," he said dumbfounded.

"I just used one of Prophet Ibrahim's three lies, that were not really lies," I started.

"How?" He asked in interest.

"Well, it was said that the Prophet Ibrahim was an honest person. When they reached Egypt for a mission, with his wife, they found out that the people there had a habit of taking someone else's wife. So to protect Sarah, his wife, he had to say she was his sister, which was true because she was indeed his sister in Deen. If he had said she was his wife, people would take her away from him," I narrated.

He nodded in understanding. "Well, that was clever."

"Yeah," I agreed, happy that he appreciated that.

Finally, Jam arrived with a huge smile on her face. "Sorry, took me so long."

Mikhail snorted and went ahead. "Let's go, I'm hungry."

Jam giggled. "So, how was your alone time together?" She asked as we trailed behind Mikhail, a couple of feet away.

"Productive," I answered with a smile on my face.

Mikhail turned to look at us at that moment, my smile still glued on my face. Surprsingly enough, he smiled back a little bit then went on ahead.

I felt my cheeks heat up at that small gesture.

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