“Soo”, Zara dragged out as she sat across Aaliyah indian style, while she was texting on her phone, “Smiling while texting, sneaking to answer phone calls, singing with the birds while cleaning, I can’t help but notice that someone has been extra happy these days.”
“Well, why be sad when I can be happy”, replied Aaliyah joyfully with a wide smile brightening her face.
“So are you going to tell me who he is or do I have to beg?” asked Zara getting excited
“He’s just some guy. You don’t need to worry yourself about him”
“That is absurd. My best friend is falling for a guy and you think that that is nothing to worry myself about? Start talking before I smack you” she said, sending her a glare.
“Calm your horses lady. Just.. don’t judge okay”
With a look of hurt, Zara replied “ Aaliyah Abdulhamid can you tell me one time in your life when I have ever judged you? Just one! I can’t believe you can even think me judging you is a possibility. You know what? I don’t even want to snow anymore” and she got up to leave.
Regretting her statement once she saw the look of hurt in her eyes, Aaliyah quickly got up and grabbed Zara’s arm. “I’m so sorry Zara. I didn’t mean it that way. It’s just that I know that a lot of people will judge my decision about him and that’s why I generalized. I really am sorry. I know that I can trust you with anything” she said with tears welling up in her eyes.
Calming down Zara said “Aaliyah I’m sorry too. I shouldn’t have snapped at you. Look now I spoilt your mood” she said wiping away the stray tear from her friend’s cheek.
“We’re silly”, Stated Aaliyah.
“So do I know this mystery guy?”
“As a matter of fact dear friend you do”, replied Aaliyah, her previous joy evident on her face. Even a blind man could see that she was falling, and falling hard. Suddenly feeling shy, she tried to hide a blush as she continued. “It’s suhail”, she stated simply.
Taking a second to process this information, Zara suddenly squealed “I knew it, I knew it. Oh my God. I should be mad at you for not telling me the minute it happened but I cannot be mad right now. This is incredible news. So what are you doing about this new revelation? Wait, are you guys together or something? How did it even happen?” Zara rambled.
“Sweetheart calm down, you’re going to choke on air.” Aaliyah patted her laughing at her friend’s reaction. “First of all, I’m not going to do anything about it. He doesn’t even know it yet. We’re just talking. At first it was just us bumping into each other in the halls and then we started having conversations here and there. I was surprised when he called me after he left. I would have been surprised that he had my number but I realized the culprit was none other than la you”
“You know that is terrible French right?”
“Yes I do. It wasn’t supposed to make sense. Anyway, we’ve just been texting for like the past month and talking once in a while”
“Well that’s good to know. But please be careful” Zara added seriously. “I’d hate for something bad to accidently happen to him if he hurts you” she said suggestively
Laughing, she replied, “I’d also hate it if that accident was carried out by me”.
The end of the semester was near and they had to start preparing for their exams soon. No matter how many times Zara tells herself at the beginning of a semester that she will study as the term goes on, she always ends up leaving it all to the last moment. That’s a student’s life for you. Just as she was about to go to bed, she received a phone call. Glancing at the caller ID, a wide smile spread across her face.
“Assalamu alaykum mamma”, she said happily
“Wa alaykum salam my dear. How have you been?”
“Very well. What about you?”
“I’m good Alhamdulillah. I hope your studies are going well”
“Alhamdulillah it’s not more than I can handle. Doesn’t mean it’s not annoying. A lot of times I just wonder who comes up with this stuff. But I have my exams soon so I get a break from classes for a while. How are ruqs and Farrah?”
“May Allah make it easy for you. And they are doing well. Farrah is given her mother a bit of a hard time which I told her she deserved. I remember when you both would make me want to pull my hair out.” She said laughing.
“We were only very curious, as I believe every child should be” Zara replied smiling.
“Just wait till it’s your turn. By the way, you remember your old friend Firdous right?” Her mother asked? She had a feeling she knew where this was going, but she replied a suspicious yes.
“Her mother came over today and she was so happy. When I asked her what was the reason, she said they received a proposal for Firdous a few weeks back and she had just accepted. She said that now finally all her daughters will be married. She must have felt so proud”
“Really? Well I’m happy for both firdous and her mother. Send my regards to them. But mamma, exactly where are you going with this because I know there is a point you’re trying to make.”
“Sweatheart I’m just saying that I won’t oppose to you thinking of getting married now. Or if you have anyone in mind, it would be nice to let me know. I know you’re young and you’re trying to focus on your education but education should not be a reason for you to put off marriage if you find the right person. Do you understand what I’m saying? I only want what is best for you.”
“I know you do and I love you for that. But right now I don’t have anyone in mind. And I don’t mean you should start playing matchmaker. In Sha Allah you will also be able to say one day soon that both your daughters are married happily. And if anyone pops up, I’ll let you know.”
“Okay. Just keep an open mind. I know how you can be. It’s getting late though so you should go to sleep. I just wanted to see how my baby was doing. Good night. Assalamu alaykum”
“Thanks for the advice mamma. It was nice to hear from you. Good night. Wa alaykum salam.”
She dropped her phone and heaved a sigh. The inevitable marriage talk. She had nothing against marriage. Actually she loved the idea of it, but she just had a problem figuring out how to go about it. Living in a different country, she didn’t know if she should get a guy here and marry him, or if she should go back home and be with someone from there.
She knew that the second option would be more appealing to her mother because she could have her close. The problem with that was that a lot of guys who haven’t travelled or experienced a different culture tended to be close minded about a lot of things. She knows loads of them who tend to think that an educated woman will be too independent for them. Another thing is that they tended to follow culture more than religion which was a fact she wasn’t comfortable with.
Thinking about all this was given her a headache already, so she decided to just tune it all out and go to sleep. But like almost every other girl on the planet, going to sleep meant coming up with perfect scenarios in her head till darkness overtook her.
YOU ARE READING
Rapture
Romance“A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies. The man who never reads lives only one”. George R. R. Martin. We all know the stories. Boy loves girl, girl loves boy. Something happens and a problem arises. They get over it and love each other aga...
