"just because you didn't win, does not mean you failed- faaris"
Hafsa may not have been the most bravest girl , but she certainly knew where she had to behave and be polite . When Faaris had first come into their life , she had developed an instant dislike towards him . Not that he had any strange aura around him or he was rude or had behaved oddly around them . It was just a precautionary measure . After all that they had gone through , Hafsa didn't think she could trust any man as easily . But Mariam was resolved in her decision .
Now a few months later , she could tell that her mother was right . What Mariam had seen in Faaris , she couldn't say . But she sure was wise and intelligent in figuring out people . Inaya was very badly shaken up with the idea of marriage with a man whose words she did not believe . Let alone think of accepting him as a husband .
But one fine day , her perspective changed . And it was very fortituos .
She had been unable to sleep that night . Under such situations , she would normally just toss and turn around on her bed and eventually fall asleep . That might , however , she felt the urge to sit back in her verandah and admire the countless stars that had lighted up the dark sky .
After pulling her abaya and scarf , she had put on some woollen socks and slipped her feet into her comfy bed slippers as she made her way out .
As she passed along the living room , she heard some noise .
Ignoring her instincts to just mind her business , she had trudged against the wooden floor . As she neared what seemed like Faaris' room , she gasped and almost stumbled a few steps .
Faaris' door was slightly ajar and while she didn't mean to peek into his personal life , she couldn't exactly step back after what she had caught him say .
"Ya Allah ! I know what I am going to do is wrong . I know very well , that my way of trying to correct things is wrong . It certainly is . But I don't know what else to do . I am nothing but a human . A human who can't think of anything more than a limit . But you Ya Allah , you are the lord of the universe . You know what's wrong and what's right . You know what is the best for us . I ask of you to guide us and help us out . My decision is to anyhow marry Inaya so as to be a son and help this family out . It was also my dear friend's last wish . Please help me Ya Allah . And I don't know if what I feel for Inaya is true . I know that it is something more than lust Allah . I know it's sincere . It's been for a long time now . Please help me out . I really wish to see her happy and that's all ."
Hafsa watched as he kept his hands raised up and silently kept praying . She had stood there , still gazing at him as traitor tears slipped down her eyes quickly . She wiped them away and kept looking at him .
She had wronged him greatly .
"What are you thinking ?" Faaris questioned glancing over at her from the wheel .
Hafsa didn't answer . "Just things ." She shrugged , her back still facing him .
"You've been zoned out . I've been talking for the last few minutes ." He told , glancing over her again .
"Care to tell me ?" He asked , his gaze fixed at the road .
"Nothing much ." She said quietly and he cringed internally . He sort of had made a guess , but it wasn't polite enough to be said aloud .
"I can't believe Inaya still hardly talks to you ." She confessed a little softly .
"It's Qadr Allah ." He managed to blurt out , trying to break the defeaning silence by saying anything .
The rest of the ride was quiet and without any discussion . Hafsa knew her words could have pricked him . Could have made him feel bad about it . But she couldn't exactly frame the words in a more polite manner .
She wished he made an attempt . But he only just decided to let her take the first step , and he wasn't about to change that .
As he pulled at the parking space towards the backyard door , Hafsa turned to Faaris .
"Jazak'Allah for the ride , akhuya ." She smiled and he gave her a curt nod . She swung the door shut after her and watched till the car disappeared down the road .
The backyard door was not let open most of the times and while she didn't want to walk all the way to the front she had no choice .
Grumpily , she slumped her shoulders and started to walk all the way around the house . She lazily kicked a small pebble on her way and as she lifted her leg to do so with another one , her eyes fell upon two girls and a guy arguing over some luggage bags on the sidewalk .
A few minutes later , the guy reeled a hand through his light brown hair huffing at the bags beside his legs .
He already had two large ones in his hands and then three other scattered around . The girls just walked in , and he sighed .
She didn't think she had any idea of who they were , but Inaya had called her at home to tell that Afra's aunt and cousins were arriving soon . She wasn't sure about it yet , but when she saw Elsa welcoming the girls in with brief hugs , she sighed with relief .
"Excuse me ?"
He turned around on his feel to face her . She was met with confused brown eyes that had a beautiful sparkle of gold twinkling in them as the sun rays illuminated his face . She didn't take long to study well . He had thick caramel coloured hair , a long nose that seemed too pointed out and thin pale lips .
"Assalaamualaikum ." She greeted , only realising a minute later that he didn't seem like a Muslim .
Her guess was right when he just stared back at her with a tilt of his head .
"Let me help you with those ."
He didn't seem to protest or even attempt at answering back so she quickly bent down to lift the bags up . The bags were not as heavy as she had expected them to be considering they were luggage bags . But the other girls who had walked in seemed to create quite a commotion .
Maybe they were just tired .
As she started to walk with them slowly , she felt him look at her direction .
Hopefully he isn't a jerk .
As she walked into the house , she was greeted by a lot of people . Two tall girls , one fairly tanned and the other almost like a ghostly pale stood almost at the entrance blocking her way .
When she tried squeezing through them , the tanned girl turned around with a quizzical look . Almost instantly , a smile beautified her thick lips . Hafsa noticed she had a pair of brown eyes ; which she personally loved .
"Hi ."
She exclaimed and extended her hand .
Hafsa noticed that her enthusiastic greeting had made all the others turn their heads around to face them .
She awkwardly glanced at the girl and pushed her hand into hers , firmly shaking it .
"Hello , I'm Hafsa ."
She regarded the name with a larger smile .
"Hafsa ? I like that ."
She exclaimed again and pulled her hand back .
"I'm Samantha ."
Before Hafsa could have the chance of getting away , she was engulfed in a big hug . A whiff of perfumed scent reached her nostrils and she shut her eyes .
"It's so lovely to meet you ."
Hafsa chuckled at her easy going and bright personality . Though she thought she exclaimed a tad bit too much .
She moved to the other girl's side and introduced her .
"And this here is my elder sister by two years , Sarah ."
Hafsa found the latter very shy as she gave a small smile and look through her lashes for a quick moment .
Hafsa thought she was cute as she tried to push a lock of her dark hair behind her ear .
She stretched her arm towards her and Sarah looked sheepishly between the hand and her .
A quick moment of hesitation passed between them and finally Sarah pushed her hand into hers .
"I'm Sarah ."
She spoke so softly that Hafsa had to strain her ears to hear her .
She pleasantly shook her hand and smiled warmly .
After they let go of each others hand , Hafsa stunned the girl out of her soul when she pulled her into a quick hug .
After letting go of her , she gave her a toothy grin and held onto her arm while Samantha grabbed her other one . They laughed and relaxed feely .
Valerie cleared her throat and got up from the couch . As she approached closer , Hafsa asked the girls to take a seat and turned to smile at the middle aged woman .
"Hello , I'm Hafsa ."
The woman smiled and Hafsa could unmistakably take notice of how similar her and Sarah's smile looked .
"Hello there Hafsa . I've already heard about you from your sisters here ."
Valerie shook Hafsa's hand , while motioning to Afra and Inaya on the other couch .
As they engaged in a light conversation , Valerie and Hafsa paused as a figure walked through the door . Valerie shook her head at the large guy who walked in wearily .
"Gabriel , son , this young lady here is two sizes smaller to you yet she brought in the bags like a heroine . What's wrong with you ?"
Valerie rolled her eyes at him and looked back at Hafsa who was stifling back a laugh .
"Please excuse my son . Growing up with two sisters , he forgot how to accommodate his manliness into his daily routine ."
Everyone around laughed loudly as Elsa came from the kitchen , holding a large tray of refreshments . Setting down the tray , she ordered everyone to get refreshed .
Valerie offered Samantha and Sarah to get going first . Gabriel set the bags at a corner and decide to rest a few minutes .
"So , dear Hafsa , it is a pleasure to have met you ."
She started to walk away with a large smile , but stopped midway , turned around on her heel to look at Hafsa again .
"Please excuse my girly son ."
Hafsa found it would be rude to laugh but as Valerie's booming laughter echoed in the still room , she couldn't stop herself . Gabriel shot up from his postion and dashed out of the room , taking long and fast strides .
"Now now , honey , don't you think you've done enough harm to him already . Let the boy breathe ." Victor got up from his seat and ignored Valerie who was glaring at him and walked up to Hafsa .
"Hello young lady . I'm Victor ."
He held a hand at his heart and bowed his head a little .
"It's a pleasure to have met you too ."
She was already starting to love the family .
"Oh and incase you wonder how to address us , please do call us aunt and uncle ."
Valerie shouted from wherever she had already gone too and Hafsa shook her head in amusement .
Her smile was genuine .
You are taking things very lightly . If you value your life and intend on protecting your family , take my precaution seriously - Anonymous
Sulaaymaan sighed in frustration , tossing his phone over the bed and it bounced a few times before coming to a halt at the edge .
He fell with his face first on the pillow and closed his eyes to ease the dull throbbing pain in his head . Every night the nightmares would return and he would shoot up in his head grasping for air and sweating profusely . This had been going on for a few years now . But as of late , it was getting much worse . To the point that the sleeping pills didn't work on him . He couldn't point out why his nightmares were guessing worser . Maybe it was just the haunting memories enveloping him every night . Or it could be the fact that he had been receiving threats from a number he had long forgotten . A number he didn't think still existed .
Baba Aa'raaf !
The case had ended years ago and he was trying hard to let go of his past and start a new life . However , the nightmares that he had been enduring refreshed his memory to the point that he could some days even see the whole scene replaying in front of his eyes . If that wasn't the only trouble he was facing , he had been receiving threats of that incident .
Mama Basmah had only been barely handling herself just so that she could take care of his sisters . She had her own dose of stress and anxiety . Even though he felt like this was something pretty serious considering it had been targeting him for quite a while now , he didn't want to disclose it to anyone . Especially not Queen Basmah . For all that could do was get Queen Basmah to be thrown deeper into her symptoms of depression and chances are that she would have to deal with an even harder blow . He couldn't and certainly would not inform the cops about it . Once they knew , there would be no way it could be kept as a secret from the Queen .
Queen Basmah had advised him to either pray or recite Qur'an . His head was throbbing and he felt irritated and knew that it would be wrong to pray at a time as such . Instead he chose to indulge himself in Allah's remembrance and divert his train of thoughts .
Subhan'Allah .
Praise be to Allah .
Alhumdulillah .
All thanks be to Allah .
Allahu Akbar .
Allah is the greatest .
He kept reciting . And after each set , he took in a deep breath and tried focusing on his breath rather than on the thoughts that kept pushing through his pain .
After a couple more sets , he found his headache ease a little as he slipped into a peaceful slumber . Welcoming some darkness into his life .