Muslimah in love

25. The guest

I apologize about the delay, but work, life and university life is pretty busy! Thank you all for your patience and support xx

I stopped for a moment. I obviously knew her and had to let her in. It was important to be hospitable and caring. I couldn't turn a guest away no matter how they behaved towards me. I t couldn't help but check my appearance in the mirror situated in near the door. I quickly put my scarf presentably on my head, put a dash of lip gloss which i left on the chest of drawers underneath the mirror. I took a deep breath and opened the door.

'Asalamualikum.' I said greeting her in. It was Sonia, my childhood nemesis; the person i least expected to ever come to my house, was now outside my door.

'Walaikum asalaam, are you going to let me in?'

'Oh yes of course.' I said ushering her in. Her scarf was neat as ever, along with the immaculate make up, but the creases at the back of her mid-length dress told me she had been somewhere.

'I got some Thai food.' She said as she showed me the two white paper bags with the aura of confidence oozing from her.

'Oh, thank you. That's lovely of you.'

'You do like Thai right?'

'Yes. But the Thai rice crackers can be a little strong at times.' I said. She sat down as I brought out some plates and utensils.

'Who decorated the house? It looks great,’ she said, taking a tiny portion of the food onto the plate.

‘Er, i did.’ I said hesitantly. If there was one thing I was shocked about it was the fact that she was complementing me.

‘What Zaid let you, all by yourself?’

‘Yes, he did.’ I asked. 'I enjoyed it to be honest. If i didn't choose teaching as a career then i woudlv'e chosen Interior designing.'

 ‘Well my husband wanted a hand in everything when we moved houses.’ She smiled at me a little too smugly for my liking.

‘So, what brings you here?’

‘I was just passing by.’ Passing by? I didn’t believe her.

‘How did you know my address?’ I pressed on. 

‘Oh auntie,’ meaning my mother, ‘she gave it to me.’ Argh, I secretly thought, my mother could’ve informed me that she had given my address to Sonia. We ate in silence. I didn't have a clue as to what to say to even make conversation.

 ‘So, tea coffee?’ I asked being the host.

‘Do you have any drinks? I feel rather hot to be honest.’

‘Ok, sure. Just hold on a second.’ I rushed back to the kitchen and poured some lemonade along with getting out some Belgium chocolate and blueberry muffins. In my mother’s house it was samosas, kebabs and other fried food. But I guess for us, the younger generation, it was more the bakery and desserts and less of the fried food.  Placing it neatly on a plate, and then everything together on a white tray, I took it into the living room.

'Oh you shouldn’t have,’ she said. But obviously I would’ve. It was just hospitality to pile on extra things, no matter if they rejected it or not.