Out Of Wreckage?

Chapter Seven

What had I gotten myself into?
I was going to say no then what made me say yes.
Aslam, he's strange. I'm certainly not attracted to him and I don't know anything about him.

One meeting and I'm confused. He made me confused. He didn't ask me anything neither did I but he didn't give me a chance to ask?

This was freaking me out. I'm going to spend the rest of my life with this strange man.

Why couldn't I stand up for myself?
Why am I so weak? My inner self was fighting against it but I couldn't bring anything out of my mouth.

Oh Allah! You know the best for me and I always have my faith in you.

I gazed up at the sky and sighed.

Abba was extremely contented with my decision. He wasted no time to let everyone know especially Maulana Saab.

And somewhere I knew that I had gave in this proposal only for him, to see him happy and relaxed like he is now.

He went berserk for a couple of days after tons of proposals were rejected. His health went from bad to worse and it pained me to see that I was the reason behind it. For the first time I realized that being a daughter was a burden to him. At every event or function, the only question he was asked about was of my marriage. He had waved it off casually but I knew that was one thing which was constantly bothering him.

Fahad had shattered his hopes and so had Rehmaan Chacha. Since Fahad's wedding, Abba had not spoken to him. He was way too upset with his own brother that he had not even called him once.

When Chacha called, he refused to speak with him.

But deep down I think he'll forgive him now.
Especially when I have given him my approval.

It was my computer exam and probably the last time I'll be meeting Hamza and my other classmates.

As soon as I reached the place, he was there at my computer desk, smiling widely.

"Assalam Alaikum." He greeted me.

"Walaikum assalam." I replied and placed my bag on the table.

I looked around to see others. I just couldn't look at him.

"What happened?" He asked, sensing my tensed tone and posture.

I was about to tell him everything but our teacher just came in and I shook my head, "Nothing."

My heart was heavy. My happiness was short-lived. The only place where I forgot everything and enjoyed an hour of learning is about to end. I don't even know whether I'll see any of these people. Especially my best friend who sat next to me.

I allowed all these thoughts to temporarily escape my mind and focused on the monitor screen in the front.

My exam went well.
And so did Hamza's. He couldn't stop blabbering about it.

I smiled. I'm going to miss him a lot. His lively attitude was quite inspiring.

I packed my bags and adjusted it on my shoulder.

As we were about to leave for the day, Hamza approached me again.

"Rabia, Are you free today for an hour or two at least?" He asked.

I raised my eyebrows. "Yes I'm but what happened?"

"I'm inviting you to my place. It's my sister's birthday and she is cooking a fabulous lunch. By the way, don't let her know that I praised her cooking. Anyway,  she'll be delighted if you'd join us." He was beaming.