Someone Else's Diary

03. Who's that in my balcony

The day dwindled into dusk, the nikkah ceremony was over, they had the Walima that time, but Mariam was too tired to go. She told her family that she would stay back home and have a nap, Amina offered to stay with her but Mariam shooed her off.

Everybody got into the car while Mariam shouted,"Allah Hafiz."
Now she walked upstairs into her room, she was cuddling with her cat and all of a sudden she got a text message, it was from an unknown number she didn't bother to reply.

Now she carried her cat and went to the second floor to her parents room, all she could see was her father's old kinds of stuff who was in Abu Dhabi he would be coming for Mariam's graduation day.

The huge room seemed very empty and lifeless without her mother. Last time when they came here it was with Mariam's mom and dad together.
Mariam noticed none of her mother's stuff was there and she didn't bear to think about it she just ran away to escape from those thoughts but she tripped and fell off.
The dim lit room seemed so strange and unusual to her.

She lifted her head from the icy marble as she got up pushing the floor with the inner sides of her palm, She could notice a ring below the brown wooden table, She stretched and reached for it, It was very dusty she blew it and wiped it with the corner of her stole revealing a huge marquise shaped ruby ring.

She knew whose it was, it was her mother's ring, It was a very beautiful ruby ring which had lost its sheen over the years, her amber eyes with untold sorrow filled up with pools of tears.

All the memories flooding inside her mind she turned off the lights and ran into her room and cried a river, She could never forget how her mother was brutally killed and it was Mariam who would have died but then her mother gave her life just for Mariam to live. Her mother was a strong independent woman who lost her life unnecessarily and left Mariam with an acute traumatic stress.

She was still searching the bits which were left unknown, Mariam wished secretly for her mother to come back alive but it all went in vain.

Mariam and her father decided to leave this matter as it only bought unwanted stress and problems, they both were helpless and lifeless without Wayeeza, her mother.

Mariam's mom was buried in Abu Dhabi and everyone from their family thinks it was an accident and before anyone could come there, they had already buried her.

Mariam's phone buzzed again she reached for it across the wooden chest. It was another message but now she noticed the profile picture. It was him, Zahran. He had got her number somehow through his cousins..it said

Zahran: Assalamu alaikum. (May the peace mercy and blessings of Allah be upon you) 7.45PM.

She felt her heart accelerate, she was not sure whether to reply or not, she sighed and replied finally.

Mariam: Walaikum asalam, who gave you my number? 7.56PM.

Mariam got a reply within a second or two.

Zahran: Do you really wanna know? 7.56PM.

Mariam: Of course. Is that even a question? 8.04PM

Zahran: Trade secret Miss. Mariam, you're always curious, Aren't you? 8.05PM.

Mariam: Excuse me Mr. Fancy pants, I can't waste my time talking to you. 8.15PM

Zahran: I see Miss. Mariam. In that case please open your balcony door.
8.18PM.

Mariam: What?!. Don't tell me you were here gawking at me. 8.20PM.

Zahran: Just open it Habibti. It doesn't matter anyway. 8.20PM

Mariam started shivering, She wiped the sweat which had formed at the sides of her face as he said those, but she wasn't sure whether he was really there or He's just fooling around with her but she made her way to the balcony and her slender fingers finally twisted the doorknob. The late winter air hit her blowing off her hair. She walked quietly and peeked down at the garden below.

There was no one.
Mariam sighed in relief and she turned to see the neem tree below their enormous house standing there enjoying the breeze, her hair flying gracefully.

Her eyebrows creased together as she felt a strange warmth near her body in that dark silent evening, just the birds singing and the leaves of the trees dancing.

She made a quick turn to see Zahran standing a mere hairbreadth away from her.
Mariam gasped and almost fainted not being able to believe what was happening but Zahran caught the sides of her hands as she nearly fell in shock but he didn't dare to touch her further because he knew that he would probably get slapped.

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Glossary:

Nikkah: Muslim's marriage is commonly referred to as Nikkah.

Walima: Walima or the marriage banquet, is the second of the two traditional parts of an Islamic wedding. The walima is performed after the nikah (or) marriage ceremony. The word walima is derived from awlam, meaning to gather or assemble. It designates a feast in Arabic.

Allah Hafiz: Muslims' parting greet to each other, which is Khuda Hafiz (meaning 'God be with you') should instead be phrased Allah Hafiz, since Allah is an originally Islamic word, while Khuda is a Persian word which became prevalent much after the advent of Islam.

Yours truly
~storiesfromahijabi