The Heart's Needs

THEN
Since childhood, every Juma at the local masjid, Zainab sits in the corner by the wooden barrier that separates men from women, everyone knows it's her spot.

She doesn't know when it began but every Juma she gets notes through the small gap under the barrier from the men's side. They're her little secrets.

She doesn't know who sends them, but she's holding onto them because they're the closest thing she has to romance.

NOW
Zainab has flown home after leaving for university.
Her parents have already chosen a man for her. He ticks all the boxes except, he's not the one her heart wants.

And the heart wants what it wants, and her heart wants her mystery man, even when she doesn't know him.