Taking Chances

Page 12

'This is my son,Khalil.' If she was shocked to find me there,she was good in hiding it. She's a perfect poker face.

'Khalil here,is a surgeon. He runs his own hospital uptown. It's a charity hospital.'

I rolled my eyes. Mom was like all the other old ladies here.

'I know. We've met.' She said.

My mother's eyes snapped at me. She looked confuse for a moment but recovered quickly.

'She was in a team we hired for improving the hospital system.' I tried to explain the situation. 'I'm sorry,I have to go.' My steps were as fast as my heartbeat. I walked inside the house and stood at the kitchen. Dina followed me.

'What was that?' She put her hands in her hips.

'What?' I didn't look at her. Instead,I looked at the garden and saw Zahra and my mother engaged in a conversation. She talked to Zahra. Zahra looked down and smiled sadly.

'You don't like her being here don't you?'

What? 'No.' Of course not. 'Why would I feel like that?'

'I don't know. First, you didn't smile when mom introduced Zahra to you. And now you ran away.'

'What do you mean? I didn't run.'

She snorted. 'I don't care. I want you to go back there before mom feels sad thinking you don't like her new friend.'

Dina is my little sister,5 years younger than me. But when she used the authoritative tone,I didn't have any choice than to comply.

I walked out at the garden and sat beside my mother.

'So,what do you think about working woman?' My mother asked Zahra.

I coughed so hard. I knew what my mother was trying to do. She's interrogating her. She did the same thing to Katrina long time ago. 'Mom!'

'What? I'm just asking. It's okay if you don't want to answer it dear.' She tried to assure Zahra,but I knew what she's doing.

'Your mother likes to interrogate people,doesn't she? I don't mind. I like her for being herself.'

My jaw dropped open at her statement. It was the truth about my mom,and the way she mentioned it made it the most beautiful one.

My mother turned her gaze at me. 'See? She likes me.'

Out of habit,I would bounce my knees up and down when I got nervous or anxious. Something I didn't realize I was doing it until my mother grabbed my knees under the table. I looked at my mom. She smiled and my anxiety slowly disappeared.

'There's nothing wrong with it. As long as her parents allow her to work. When she married,it depends on her husband.'

'If a woman married,her husband asked her to quit working,what is she suppose to do?'

'If he already fulfilled all of the family financial needs,there's no need for the wife to go out and work anymore.'

'What about her education? Her career? It would turn to waste,useless.'

'No one should pursue their degree and career because of money. They should pursue the degree because Islam told them to keep learning.'

'What's your reason of pursuing your career?'

'I pursue my career because of ... Um well ... I'm not married yet,so I think it would be best for me to do something with my education. If it means career,so be it.'

'So you would turn down any opportunity for better career once your husband ask you to quit the job? Surely it won't be that easy.'

There was a long pause before she answered. 'I didn't say it's going to be easy. But I'll tell you this. My parents didn't told me to go get my degree because of money. They didn't want me to be a money-oriented person. So,this is me.'

I got stunned by her words. Thohir clapped her hands. Dina hugged her from a side. 'I've never heard an explanation like that. You are different. I like you.'

I looked around and didn't realize that lots of people had gathered around us. When I looked at Zahra,I knew she didn't realize it too. She looked down and her cheeks blushed. I found it cute. I looked at my mother,she nodded,but I shook my head.

We ate. We laughed. We told stories. When it's time for Zahra to go,I felt sad again. I would never know when fate would make us meet again.

'Why not now? I thought you've known her.' My mother asked me once Zahra went home in a taxi.

'I do. But our project hasn't finished yet. If we got married,there would be conflict of interest.'