Cinderella? NO

MARYAM

"I really dislike this job Zahra, I need to quit..." I cried. "But you are earning much and it keeps you occupied, besides you just have lectures two days in a week." Zahra tries to persuade me "I know that but you know earning is not enough. And the money doesn't make me happy. Zahra I don't have time for myself, for the pigeons, for friends. I am always hungry and sleepy." Zahra hugged me and said I should have sabr(patience) that everything is going to fall in place. She told me I should do what makes me happy, and quitting that job is no.1 on the list. On Sunday morning I went to my boss and explained, he understood, paid me and bid me farewell. I was so excited, I went to Hummingbird and bought a red velvet cake for me, my friends and my pigeons. They wrote 'Friends' on the cake, I cut a bunch and scattered it for the pigeons.
My days became normal-- from school, to dorms, to the mall. I also got enough time to stalk Ahmad and talk about him with Zahra. I went to the library in the evening with Zahra, she left me to get some stuff from her class. I was alone on the roll when Ahmad came pass me. He looked at me and said salaam, before I could respond Zahra came in, she said salaam and asked him about some course work. They were talking while I pretend to type words on laptop that have no meaning in English, Chinese or any other language. Ahmad is not hot but he is cute and very clean. Whenever I look at him, I feel a normal calm. His clothes, nails, hair are always clean. His afro is beautiful. He wears loose clothes, has a beard and his trouser is cuffed. Zahra told him she needs to talk to him when we go back. We took the bus to the dorms and they stayed to talk while I said salaam and left.
I was in sujood(prostration) the whole time she was talking with Abdul. I promised Allah to accept whatever answer Zahra comes with (acceptance or rejection). Zahra came back and told me everything—from their salaam, to his facial expressions to his answer. After Zahra told me his answer something strange happened. I thought I was going to break down and cry but wallahi I felt calmer and the feelings I had for him disappeared in thin air. The only feelings that remained were those that Muslims have toward each other. I moved on. 
Aisha;my friend called me and said she has boarded a plane to Dubai. I was so excited, called Zahra and told her my friend is coming to buy furniture for her wedding. I went together with Zahra to the airport to pick Aisha up. Aisha landed and the first thing she said before salaam was "Maryam your eyes are still white and beautiful." I met Aisha after a year and the first thing she noticed was my eyes not the weight I gained. We went to Sharjah together and Deira.  In a week she got all she needed and left. The whole week was tiring so I needed time to put everything in place. Zahra followed me to the garden close to our dorms after Isha prayer. We went there and talked. We talked about creation, Qur'an, Islam and we thanked Allah for His blessings on us, did zikr and tried to make sense of everything, including why a Muslim needs solitude zone and why Muslims are being harassed. Before we knew it, it was 10pm. We left and went straight to bed.
Seven days after Aisha left I got time to repair my sleeping pattern, now I sleep 10pm and wake up 4am. I love it. Zahra is a night girl so no matter what she does, she cannot sleep at night. Sometimes she tries to, and it works for her for seven days or 2 weeks but spoils again. I pity her because she is always sleepy in class and lacks concentration (poor child). Zahra was sent to me from Allah(swa). She is always there for me and the reason why I go to her is because she always solves my problems giving Qur'an and Sunnah as reference. I love her so much. Wallahi whenever I feel down I go to her and she gives me a passage to read from the holy Qur'an. Zahra would leave her comfort zone for me, spend her last dime on me. The best thing I like about her is she is like that with everyone.