Beloved

3. (Hamza's POV)

'How did it go?' Jalil answered my call and fired a direct question my way. Jalil and I met when we were in middle school, we were neighbors, best friends and considered each other as brothers.

'Great' I said sarcastically.

'Told you it was a terrible idea. There are other ways to deal with a heartbreak...I could have just taken you to Vegas' He added and no he wasn't joking. He actually offered to take me to Vegas.

'How is Maryam? Still dealing with your bullshit?' I asked him about his fiancée, soon to be wife.

'Yeah she is still with me surprisingly' He confirmed. Jalil and Maryam were so different from each other. I still remember the first time he told me about her, I told him they weren't going to last...she was too good for him and Jalil was the kind of guy who never took anything too seriously, then a few months later into the relationship, he called me one day and told me he proposed her, and she agreed. They were about to get married in a few months time.

'You got lucky' I told him.

'You will be too. You just need to forget about her first' He told me.

'I have an interesting girl in my group' I changed the subject. Not sure why the thought of the girl I met in the market popped into my head suddenly.

'Girl? They have girls there?' He was a dick.

'So...how is she?' He asked me.

'Strange...not like most girls...she has a different way of looking at things' Like how she told me about her sister and the way she speaks up for the things she believes in. I wasn't too keen on the way she spoke to me, but nonetheless, I was impressed with her. She was brave, there was some spark in her eyes. 

'Interesting...so did you talk to her?' He asked a question that snapped me out of my thoughts.

'No...it's not like that. She is one of my trainees that's all' I ended the topic and we started talking about other things. The rest of the day went by quite fast, I talked to my parents, tried to wash away the coffee stain from my shirt but it stayed strong as a rock. I set up my tiny apartment as best as I could, bought some plants and put them out on the balcony to replicate my room back home. I also cooked today, with the help of my mother through video calling of course. The food turned out not so bad, so I actually ate it and ended the day with a cup of coffee on the balcony. I had a feeling this was going to turn into a daily ritual.

'You are here quite early' Karim greeted me as I entered the staff room.

'I just wanted to get everything set up' I told him as I sat down on my desk.

'Akram came to my office after you left yesterday, he missed the orientation yesterday. I told him to connect with you before class today.' He told me.

'Did he tell you why he came late?' I asked him.

'That's not part of job anymore' He shrugged.

'Did you talk to Ayat?' He asked me after a while.

'Yes.' I answered.

'She is one of our top students.' He told me. Not that I cared.

'Sounds like she is one of your favorites too' I looked at him.

'Her father used to be my teacher back in the day' He said to me.

'Oh' Why was he telling me all this?

'You like her or something?' I asked him. I couldn't help it. Karim was young, maybe he had feelings for her.

'What? No man. What's wrong with you? She is like my sister' He sounded horrified.