Gravity

Chapter 11.

“Did you see the way Omar looked at you when you were entering the living room?” – Hafsa, Gravity.

Chapter 11.

 

☻Safa Muhammad ☻

“Smile Safa”, Haneen whispered in my ear and I couldn’t help but glare at her. She quickly backed away and stood with Hafsa, who was busy in taking pictures. I moved away from Omar a bit but as much as I wanted to, nobody was letting me. Mama immediately came and sat beside me and so now Omar’s arm was rubbing against mine again. I swear everyone took like a million pictures. And they were still not stopping.

When the dinner was served, the crowd moved over to the dining table and I immediately got up. I was trying to go up in my room but as long as my mom was watching, I couldn’t. I sat down on a couch as everybody got the food and sat down in the backyard. After everything I tried, I still couldn’t get to my room. And unwillingly, I went and filled my plate with food.

“Safa, did you see the way Omar looked at you when you were entering the living room?” Hafsa said as she put a spoon full of rice in her mouth.

“Omg really?” I said sarcastically. She narrowed her eyes. “I’m not lying. He did. He was staring at you. Literally”, she said.

“Yeah, everyone was. Why is he so special?” I said, not caring at all. She rolled her eyes. “Do you really don’t know or are you just acting?” Hafsa looked annoyed. I pinched her cheeks playfully. “I’m just acting”, I laughed and she wiped off fake sweat.

“Phew. Good. Ok so let’s do this again. So you blushed when I told you that Omar was looking at you?” she asked and I raised an eyebrow.

“What do you mean?” I asked.

She rolled her eyes. “Nothing.”

I couldn’t swallow anything after Hafsa told me that. Why was Omar staring at me? Did that mean he actually…? No! Please no. The worse that could happen right now was that I found out Omar actually liked me. I didn’t want him to like me. I wanted him to hate me as much as I did. I just didn’t want any contact between us. And even though it seemed impossible, I wanted to live the rest of my life without talking to him.

☮ Omar Zohair ☮

I woke up the next morning at 10 am. I looked up and the curtains were open and a black coat hung on a hanger. I rested my head back on my pillow and closed my eyes.

“Omar get up already. Mama’s calling you for breakfast”, Maryam said and got the black coat off the hanger. I sat up and rubbed my eyes.

“Who’s that for?” I asked.

“For you”, she replied.

“For me?”

“Yes for you.”

“Why do I need a black coat all of a sudden?”

Maryam stared at me in disbelief. “You’re getting engaged in 2 days! Did you forget?” she said in a loud tone. And then it all came back to me. Oh yeah! I was getting engaged. I didn’t know if it would be a bad day or the worst day of my life.

“Lower your voice please. You’re not older than me”, I told her and she rolled her eyes. “Who said I was?” she replied and left the room.

I ran a hand through my hair. It had all come down to this. I was getting married to Safa after all. Only a week ago I didn’t know I would be getting engaged in 2 days. Life is truly unpredictable.

I went and sat down on the dining table. Everything was getting cold but I didn’t want to eat anything.

“Omar, are you here to stare at the food?” Maryam commented and I looked at her. “Maybe”, I replied.

“Omar, your aunt Zainab is arriving today at Ahmed’s house. So we’re going to go and meet her”, Baba immediately changed the topic. He knew what was coming next if he didn’t stop it there and then.

“Ok”, I nodded. What else was I supposed to do anyway? It’s not like they were going to listen to me if I said no.

I felt my stomach growling so I took a piece of bread and put some butter on it. That was the only thing I ate at breakfast that day.

After breakfast was done, I went and stood in the balcony. It was a hot day as usual but still, I was enjoying my peace and quiet time. I heard someone’s door slide next to mine and out walked Fareedah. She was talking to someone on the phone. She wasn’t wearing a hijab, probably because she thought no one was looking. I quickly looked away. I respected women who covered themselves and didn’t expose their beauty to strange men. And again, Safa didn’t even think about that.

“Days are getting worst Javeria”, she was saying.

I wanted to go inside and not eavesdrop on her private conversation, but I couldn’t help it. I wanted to know what was suddenly up with her life. Maybe that could be the reason she was crying last night.

“No I just want to go home. I want to get away from everyone”, she continued. “Yeah, no my cousin’s getting engaged so I have to stay. I can’t leave.”

“Yeah the same cousin I told you about. No one understands how much I-

She stopped talking when she saw me standing there. I wasn’t looking but I could tell she was staring at me.

“No nothing. I have to go”, she said and hung up. She immediately went inside and closed the door behind her. I sat down on a chair. Forgetting Fareedah’s conversation, I went back to my peace and quiet mode. Suddenly my phone started ringing which startled me. I got it out of my pocket and read the phone number. It was an unknown number and there was no name. I decided to answer it.

“Hello?”

“Hi”, someone said on the other end.

“Yes, Hi. Who is this?” I asked.

“Oh um… it’s Safa.”