Only In Jannah

21: Patience

Khalil and Hidaya maintained absolute silence for what seemed like hours but it had only been ten minutes since Khalil returned from the masjid having prayed both magrib and isha, it was going to rain and he needed to leave before it started.

"I want to go to Katsina" Hidaya blurted before she could finish processing her thoughts causing Khalils eyes to grow wider than usual as he sent a questioning look her way.

He cleared his throat running his tongue over his lower lip, she had put him under so much pressure he was getting dehydrated "Katsina? What? Why?"

"I want to visit Umma" she paused thinking of a few convincing words to finish her incomplete sentence "a-and Kamila" she quickly added. Khalil played with his mustache squeezing his upper lip to the side in the process, he moved his hand up to caress his temples, he could feel a headache forming.

"Do you uh do you really have to?"

She crossed her arms across her chest "Do I really have to visit my grandmother?" Hidaya corked an eyebrow at him "Seriously?"

"Okay...come back" he could feel her almost going off the edge and he wasn't sure he could deal with an angry Hidaya, he hadn't figured that part out "Listen, what if I fly them down here? You get to see them and you wouldn't even have to travel"

Hidaya muffled a laugh "What? No, I don't want you to do that. I want to go"

It was starting to drizzle and as the small droplets of rain started to hit the ground all Khalil wanted was to be home cuddled up with his wife, was that too much to ask? But instead he was here looking for the best words to bring her back home while she had the craziest idea of going even further away from him. Did she not understand that he needed her? That his life only had meaning because of her, that she was the light at the end of his tunnel, and that his peaceful existence now depended on her being close to him.

"When would you like to go?" He asked unconsciously, he would compromise. He would consider her happiness over his, he would let her go with the hopes of that making them stronger; better.

"Saturday"

"Good...good. Saturday is two days away" he rubbed the back of his itching head "We will go home until then, right?" Hidaya threw her head back a bit suddenly forgetting the reason she was mad at him, Khalil had placed one hand on his thumping chest awaiting her reply.

She sighed looking up at him continuously staring out through the window at the thousands of droplets of rain that dropped from the sky, she watched him run his hand up and down his chest.
"Okay" she carried a faint smile.

Convinced she would refuse his request Khalil opened his mouth to speak "Listen Hidaya staying apart-" then her reply had registered in his brain "wait, what?" He asked raising a quizzical brow at her with his head slightly tilted to the side "Are you serious?"

She shook her head gently rolling her eyes at him.

"You just had to wait till it started to rain..." he muffled under his breath "Please shall we?"

She nodded pushing herself up with her hand "I'll just get my bag"

Their drive home was silent except for the heavy raindrops and occasional thunder that shook the sky, on getting home they both retired to their rooms, no questions asked.

Hidaya took a shower pulling on the first pair of pajamas she laid her hands on, after getting ready for bed she had doubts about what she was wearing but ignored any second thoughts, it was already late and she believed she had the room to herself, at least until morning.

While Hidaya took a shower, Khalil took off his clothes and put on pajama pants after asking one of the maids to bring him a cup of Lemon and Lime Ahmad tea which he slowly sipped on as he watched the rain hit his closed glass sliding doors. He always loved watching the rain drop.