Love and Letters ✔

Chapter 16

Love and Letters

Chapter 16

"Is-haaq is in love with you, Amani. I can't make it any clearer than that."

"I would like to deny that statement," I told her, grinning madly over my bowl of pasta. I had finished reading through all of the beautiful letters that Is-haaq had left me. By the time Suraya and I were through with them, it was close to supper time. We had decided to eat supper and then I would drop her off at home.

"The letters are proof of it." She rolled her eyes sassily and took a bite out of her pizza. "Not to mention the fact that he literally told you that to your face."

"Nowhere in the letters does he say that he loves me, Sue. Be real."

"Get rational!" she replies in response, grinning like a little child. It was an old mathematics joke; there was a negative one underneath the square root symbol telling the pi sign to 'be rational' and the pi sign responded to the square root to 'get real'. Suraya and I loved that stupid joke.

"Although, I would like to point out that no one would sign a letter to an acquittance 'with love' or 'with all my love'. Nobody quotes love songs and gives you love poems in their letters if they love you. The worst part is, Amani, we live in an instant gratification world. The idea of love is so readily available on basically every single social media app. Girls are half-naked, guys are so happy to share pictures that no one wants to see. Yet, here you are with a guy who has been sending you letters without fail for three and a half years."

I nodded and shoved my mouth full of creamy pasta, wanting to not have to tell Suraya that she was correct. "Yeah, I see your point," I mumbled unwillingly. "He is persistent and driven."

"And he won't give up when he knows what he wants," she reminded me after she sipped her juice. "That dedication deserves recognition, Amani. What you need to realise is that Is-haaq has been fighting his way to be with you, without you even giving him any hint. I don't think that any person in this dunya could be more suited for you."

I nodded. "You are right, but I actually think that I need a break. I really think that I need to leave everything in Allah's hands. He knows what is best for me and my life has already been planned, all I can do now is make dua for everything to fall into place as it is meant to be. I can only ask Allah that my life partner is someone who helps my Imaan rise and someone who I can help as well, I can ask that we help one another to enter Jannah together. Whether that someone is Is-haaq, or someone that I am still to meet."

"Are you giving up?"

"Not at all," I replied and looked at my food. "I mean, his letters are some kind of indication that he likes me, so what has stopped him from asking my parents for my hand years ago?"

"He might respect you enough to want your opinion before going to your parents. He might want to know that you at least reciprocate interest before going to them. He might be afraid of them rejecting him. There are so many angles to consider. Which we may never get to explore," she added quickly after her eyes darted around.

I was about to turn around and look over my shoulder to see what had caught her attention.

"Don't look!" she hissed.

"Amani!" Khalid called happily as he came to stand beside my table. "Hey Suraya!"

I looked up and almost lost my smile seeing Is-haaq looking like a model. He had a pair of light rinsed jeans on and a printed black t-shirt paired with a leather jacket. His hair was messy, and he was on the phone. I wanted to die because his letters were visible on the seat next to me. His brown eyes seemed focused on the sight of those letters.