Faith (Islamic Fic)

Chapter 38

~Iman’s P.O.V~

  After I cleaned off the table with the girls, I told Auntie Lea and Yasmin to go join everyone else in the living are while I cleaned up the dishes. Auntie Lea tried to get me to join the conversation out in the living room but I refused saying I would feel too guilty leaving her to deal with this mess.

  As I dried the last dish, I gazed at the living area just to see the mood over there. Everyone was talking and smiling, they all seemed to be enjoying the dinner which was good of course but still, I felt a little weird.

  Was it normal for my boss to be friends with my entire family like that?

  Maybe it wasn’t, especially that Mazen is such a nice guy, always polite and well mannered, my family’s favorite type of people. But it just felt a little off to me.

  Taking a deep breath, I dried my hand on the table cloth and decided to join everyone in the living room.

  “Look who finally decided to join us.” Auntie Sana beamed when she noticed me walking next to her to take a seat.

  I smiled a tight lipped smile at my aunt, I didn’t know what to say so I just sat down next to Yasmin. Not a second later the conversation continued, Uncle Adam was telling them one of his famous stories about his rebellious days back in Egypt and as usual laughter filled the room.

  “It’s funny now that he’s telling the story, but back then Adam Always gave dad a rough time.” Auntie Sana said holding her stomach from laughing so hard.

  “Ali was the master mind behind everything, he was just too smart to get caught leaving me to take all the blame.” Uncle Adam scoffed in the funniest way possible making everyone laugh even harder than before. I tried my best to smile but the mention of my father’s name made my heart sink a little.

  It had been a while but I still find it hard to talk about him. I don’t know if that’s normal or not but it just doesn’t feel right to listen to all those stories and hear them laugh about the memories they had with him, memories he never had the chance to mention to his own kids.

  “Yeah, Ali was a smart one. Just like this one over there.” Auntie Sana said pointing her head to me snapping me out of my daze.

  “She definitely is smart but she is nothing like Ali, thank god for that. He was a prankster.” Uncle Adam chuckled referring to his story as everyone else chuckled along but me and Ayman. We both just looked at each other with a timid smile on.

  “He seems like a great man.” Mazen said after the laughter died down. I almost forgot he was here with all the talk about my father, which made me feel a bit uneasy. I didn’t like the fact that Mazen was hearing all of this. It was too personal, and although Mazen was a lovely guy I still felt uncomfortable with him hearing all of this.

  “He certainly was a great man and a great father.” Ayman smiled at me and I replied with a smile then looked at the ground still feeling uneasy about the whole topic. I just wished we talked about something else.

  Looking back up, I noticed Mazen’s eyes on me. He had that look in his eyes. A look of sympathy. I hated that look! But the second he noticed I was staring at him he kindly smiled at me showing off a hint of a dimple that perked off his bearded face, which I replied with a tight lipped smile out of politeness.

  Silence filled the room for a few seconds which normally I wouldn’t have minded put for Mazen’s looks at me. It wasn’t that sympathetic look anymore, he was looking at me in a way I couldn’t translate. A look you would give a piece of art in a gallery. It made me feel self-conscious and I didn’t like it.