"forgive even if you're broken. the kindness in it will give you the strength to move on - inaya"
It had been a few hours since the family had been sitting together , immersed in conversations ranging from Afra's marriage to her future kids to what their names would be to the realistic harsh topics that brought tears to everyone's eyes.
After having it enough â she got up from her place â and walked out of the room.
It was already quarter past six and in a few Hours , Sulaaymaan's birthday ceremony would commence. By the time they'd be finished with the celebrations, it'd be after midnight.
What clicked her rather abruptly was that she would have to shift to Sulaaymaan's room now. All of her clothes and necessities were arranged in this room and to shift them all after the party would be impossible.
Tomorrow , they would probably be too exhausted by today's events to barely be able to even carry out the household chores.
Keeping all that mind , she lifted her gown and stepped outside the room. Tiptoeing across the railing , she skimmed her gaze sharply across the men seated downstairs.
It took her a minute to find Sulaaymaan huddled with his legs crossed and laughing loudly with the boys. They seemed to have loosened to each other and Afra couldn't keep her childish grin in.
Contemplating on how or what to do gather his attention , she gripped the metal of the railing and bent a little.
From this angle she could visualise three pairs of legs swinging occasionally.
She moved back , crossing her arms and scrunching her face to think of how to call out to him.
Sucking in a gulp of air , she stood far enough to not be seen.
"Sulaaymaan ?"
She waited for a few seconds and strained her ears to listen to any sound hearable.
Pausing for another few seconds , she decided to call out for him a little louder.
"Sulaaymaan ?"
She waited and after a few seconds later , she found him hurriedly climbing the stairs and walking to her side.
"Are you alright ?"
He questioned and she nodded.
"I'm fine , don't worry. Actually I wanted some help."
Sulaaymaan nodded a little slowly , his brows furrowing.
"Sure what is it ?"
She swallowed , humming a hesitant response. Pushing her hair away from her shoulders , she met his gaze briefly.
"I have to shift my clothes and necessities from my room to yours now. I was wondering if we could get it done ? Later could prove difficult and quite frankly , we will be too exhausted at the end of the day to carry it out ."
Sulaaymaan patiently listened and nodded as her words softly murmured.
"I have everything packed and ready. All we have to do is take it from my room to yours. Some of the luggage is quite heavy so....â"
He smiled and raised his head to finally look at her for a little longer than before.
He looked at her with such delicacy and sensitiveness that she often felt herself being engulfed in some form of mature love and affection. It didn't look like he had any lustful thoughts and that touched her the most about his attitude.
For the most part , she was beyond frightened to be confronted by him and find him examine her. Much to her astonishment though , he had barely even looked at her properly but had complimented her by smiling innocently.
That â as a factor â greatly impacted the way she judged him. For the majority of the times he had proven to be somewhat original in his uniqueness.
He hadn't â unlike what she thought generality of the men would do â looked at her any longer than a few short moments.
It was like he was happy to see her as a wife ; not a woman.
And that â she found â chiefly chivalrous.
"â so I'll help you out !"
He exclaimed , his smile widening for before he turned away from her.
She instantly hurried to his side and watched him , straining her neck a little.
"How about you pull the luggage till outside the room and I'll manage it from there ?"
He twisted his neck to look down at her for an approval and she snapped her head towards the door almost immediately ; avoiding his gaze.
"Sure , that.... um....would be nice. Thank you."
He shrugged , pulling his sheer coat tighter around his chest.
"Anything for you."
She attempted a small smile and his face brightened up like it normally did whenever she gave him any sort of obligation.
He turned around and adjusted himself over the railing giving her the benefit of privacy. She took her time in pulling the bag out through the doors and positioned it over a corner.
"Sulaaymaan....the bag is here."
He turned around and his eyes fell over the back besides which she was leaning. He hurriedly strolled over , making sure to Keep his injured arm in check. Looking down upon the bag , he curled his fingers around the handle and lifted it up.
She watched him slowly carrying it to the other end. He pushed open the doors with his feet and that is when her eyes widened with discernment.
Groaning and slapping her forehead for having to deal with the weight of her dress , she tried hopping about her feet.
But by the time she reached his room he had already settled the luggage down near his closet's door.
"Sulaaymaan ?"
He positioned the bag to a nice corner and turned around , smiling.
"Yes ?"
She pursed her lips , her eyes travelling over the arm he had hidden under a bunch of clothing.
"How has your arm been ?"
Sulaaymaan's face fell over his arm and lingered over it for a minute. He remained silent for a long time before his words meekly came out reluctantly.
"Don't you worry. It's healing well by the mercy of Allah."
She gave him a tight smile and when he didn't add anything more â which she just thought he would â she stood there twirling a strand of her hair around her forefinger.
"So , uh , you continue bringing in the rest of the luggage and I'll be here until we get it done ."
She nodded and turned around to quickly exit before things between them could get any more stressful.
After getting into her room , she almost ignored everyone and barely answered them back to avoid getting involved in some random gossip.
Positioning all of her things outside the doors , she rested her hands tiringly over her hips and tried to catch her breath. It had been fairly a lot of stuff and to move ahead with getting them transferred was going to be one strenuous task.
However she wouldn't give it to Sulaaymaan at any cost.
If she â even barely â made it seem like she was unable to handle all of the stuff because of her abdomen ache , he would hardly bother thinking twice about it.
Sulaaymaan was leaning against the railing with his back to her. When her gaze fell over his back as per her thoughts , she froze for a minute. He was so tall that she was afraid he might topple over unknowingly.
However â with a hopeful heart â she decided to let him be and not go about and have a panic attack and save them some time.
He was not a kid to be reminded of the silly matters.
As she strived to not get too indulged with his thoughts , she let the plastic  bags drop to the floor and sighed heavily. She casually looked up while relaxing her muscles and found herself squinting at the back of someone.
She gasped , her palms across her agape mouth. He had on a black mask shielding his whole face except for his eyes of course. The same black clothes accentuated his already lean figure and under some good lighting , she took a moment more to study him well.
He had ruined their lives.
She , however , frowned. What was he searching for in his desk without even noticing her arrival ?
He was that someone who had destroyed their peace of mind.
Someone who hadn't yet put their attention on her.
Someone who was quite familiar.
Someone who boiled her blood unlike the last time he'd met him.
She tiptoed carefully behind him gathering her gown into a ball in her palms and making sure to not let her presence be known.
Her eyes wildly skimmed across the room to find anything of assistance in defending herself. In doing so , she occasionally cast glances over what he was basically upto and couldn't figure out as to what exactly he was trying to look out for.
It was of much peculiarity that he had been snooping around. Whatever it was didn't seem easy to find.
She grumbled in urgency and exactly at that moment her eyes fell over a mug that rested over the side table by the bed.
It was a few steps away and to get to it she might end up creating some unlikely sounds.
Flickering her gaze between the guy who was slipping towards the balcony door and the mug , she cautiously took a step , leaped a little and slapped her hand over the table in an attempt to grasp the mug.
It was probably something she had never even thought she could even dream of , let alone perform in reality. Once she grabbed it , it didn't take her long to quickly get behind him.
Uptil now the plan was fine.
But now was the real deal.
Her heart accelerating with every minute , she sucked in a breath , gripped the handle tight , shut her eyes just for a second and threw the mug forcefully to the ground.
The moment she opened her eyes and grabbed the largest broken part , he had already moved quite far away.
"Hello there. Pleasure to meet you again Mr black. I presume we've met before."
She paused feeling her blood enrage with fury at the mere sight of him but also create some rather disturbing fears in her heart. Certain images flashed back into her mind of the assault she had suffered at his hands and she was distracted.
However it didn't take her much longer to understand her priority and stand her ground.
"Nice to find you like this again. Congratulations on your wedding love."
She took notice of each of his steps , making sure to not let him get out of her sight.
Afra's lips confidently curled into a sinister smile.
Edging causally towards him , she found him glare hard upon her.
"Ah ! Thank you. However why are you late ? We've been looking forward to meet you. I wonder what you're searching for by the way."
He kept backing away , his palms grazing against the walls as he cleverly mastered each step.
Afra â during that indecisive moment of eye contact â didn't know what it was that controlled her fear. She neither felt the familiar anxiety affect her advancement nor felt her fear restrict her eyes piercing into his.
Admittedly , she didn't quite comprehend much about the situation. Although her plan was rapidly taken into consideration , she still didn't believe that she could talk or even treat him like that.
Normally she would be shivering in her place at the mere sight of those eyes.
But within her a new ray of strength and braveness made some impossible changes that didn't really were characteristic of her personality.
She felt the power of her spirit. Something so strong and unlike anything she'd experienced before. And the proof to it was held in the very eyes of her enemy.
He wasn't careless in his moves or shaky in his steps , she had noted that. However today be neither looked like he was in the form to make a move or rather even hurt her.
It also could be that he had not prepared to witness any drama and slip away after finding the object he was there for.
She was bare armed , let alone for a thick piece of the mug that wouldn't possibly do much than bring upon a dark scar.
Why , then , had he not attempted to harm her as the last time ?
She smirked , taking confident steps , with her eyes glued to him.
Not hardly did she stop until her steps loudly resonated in his ears and he carefully backed away.
When she stopped right in front of him , smirking menacingly , he smiled slyly.
"You're such a sick bastard , do you realize that ?"
The amusement in his face disappeared into something more severe and frightening.
"You know what ? I am not going to destroy your lioness moment and take my leave."
Afra half smiled , turning her head and chuckling in the air.
"I've not seen you leave me alone so easily Mr Black. How about we make an amendment ? Or are you so afraid of the lioness that I've become that you can't even meet my eyes ?"
He chuckled , rubbing his neck. In that time , she sharply analysed his fingers and hands and the warm brown of his eyes.
She was sure and confident enough that those eyes could be the strongest evidence she'd hold against him.
Lifeless , cold , menacing and deadly.
"Oh c'mon ! How much more cuter can you get ?"
Staring stronger into his eyes , she steered away from him. Walking leisurely around him , she felt from his peripheral vision that he had attempted to catch her off guard by reaching out for her abdomen from the behind.
How precise of a decision she had made.
She smiled contently. He had fallen for it.
Whirling around and ducking in an instant , she caught him off guard in confusion and taking advantage of the situation pierced the piece of shard into his left leg.
The one that prominently was closer to her.
He did scream but not as loudly as she had anticipated.
Holding both of his legs in place by wrapping her arms around them , she yelled as loud as she could.
"Sulaaymaan ! Sulaaymaan ! Get in here !"
"Damn you !"
He seethed and slapped her across her cheek , making her loose her balance and fall to the ground.
After the shock had died down , she swung her head about the whole room.
"He slipped away."
Sulaaymaan had never been in the company of such smart and funny people. During the start , Gabriel and Derek had mainly ignored him and most frankly , he didn't mind that even for a minute.
Initially during the course of their interaction , he had made sure to glance at them occasionally and give them his best smile. It continued to go along for a few hours until they finally â in a silly way â joined him and Faaris.
And now they were enjoying some silly childhood games from both London and Saudi Arabia ; laughing with glee and nostalgically reminiscing the moments of their childhoods.
It was hard to ignore Afra's cute smile and shyness. He had only barely even looked at her properly but the image that had lain itself fixed in his head often left him spellbounded and unaware of his surroundings.
A point had come where he could even feel like she was calling out for him.
It wasn't until the boys brought to his attention that Afra was seriously calling out to him that he had sloppily ran to her attention.
Now he was bending down against the railing , feeling her move behind him back and fro between the rooms.
He didn't mind her wanting some time to get accustomed to his presence.
How much he loved her , only he could say it.
What was true love ?
When you pray for the person in their absence.
That was love.
When you pray for their happiness.
That was love.
When you prevent them from indulging into haraam activities.
That was love.
When you wake them up for Fajr.
That was love.
When you remind the other to take out time and recite Qur'an.
That was love.
And now that he had taken the first step in building a place in Jannah , he was ready to guide her and assist her in becoming a better Muslim.
He thoughtfully turned around , wondering what was taking her longer this time. Shrugging it off , he placed his eyes over the door in order to await her arrival.
Two minutes.
Four minutes.
Ten minutes.
He couldn't wait any longer.
Something wasn't right.
Lifting his thoub , he dashed for the door. Not trying to sound too desperate or worried , he lifted his fingers over and tapped the door with his knuckles.
"Sulaaymaan ! Sulaaymaan ! Get in here quick !"
It didn't strike him the moment she did yell his name , but once it made sense to him he blinked in confusion.
Was she in trouble ?
He gasped and threw the doors open almost instantly and moved his eyes across the room to find her figure.
She waved her arms in the air and caught his attention. He gasped loudly and came forward to her calling out his name.
She was huddled on the ground , her face in a painful smile.
"What happened here ?"
He almost shrieked with worry , snaking an arm around her waist and pulling her to her feet.
His gaze scrutinised her from head to toe and when it landed casually over her hands just as he was about to divert his attention , he stepped back with his eyes widened and his palms to his cheeks.
"What happened to your hand ?"
He took her hand in his carefully and grimaced at the sight.
"Sulaaymaan , relax !"
She tried pulling her hand out and drop the shard. It had â somewhere along the way â slashed the inner part of her hand and blood seemed to oozing out.
"Thank Allah it didn't destroy this dress. Queen Basmah would be so disappointed."
Sulaaymaan gazed hard at her , hurt lingering in his eyes.
"Is that really the main concern here ?"
His voice raised and she kind of felt uneasy. It wasn't many times that his voice raised and he felt offended or hurt.
But majority of those were when she were targeted.
"Whatever happened here by the way ?"
He questioned loudly and Afra pursed her lips.
"The threatener was here â"
His eyes widened.
"And you started to deal with him alone didn't you ?"
Afra dropped her head low , feeling his gaze pierce into her accusingly.
"I just didn't want to let him slip away like he had the last time. And if I attempted to call you , he would probably have just run away too."
He huffed his chest out and crossed his arms tightly , staring at her with a severe expression.
Walking up and down the room in a frenzy , he informed all his guards about him making sure to specify intensely that he had a fresh cut on his leg.
Now and then he would gaze harshly at her and she would feel even more disappointed.
Finally after informing Aasiq and his mates , he pushed the phone into his pocket and turned to Afra.
"Oh yeah ? And what , may I ask , did you accomplish ?"
Afra slumped and raised her bloodied hand up , emphasizing the cuts.
"I stabbed his left leg with this ."
Although a triumphant smile â as childish as it could be â lined her lips , Sulaaymaan didn't seem amused.
His eyes briefly examined the blood before moving to her face. He stared hard as she remained blinking at him , before sighing tiredly.
"Afra , you don't go about dealing with crooks like him. If you felt like he was here flung something , you should have turned out and notified me about it. We both could have done more than what you did all alone."
He explained as gently as he possibly could in his panicky state.
When she didn't answer back and kept her head low , he sighed and looked about the room.
"Which way did he go ?"
"The balcony of course."
He began to move about the balcony and wandered over the railing. After strolling around for a few minutes he returned back , muttering under his breath.
"I'm sorry. I just wanted to get my revenge. He had ruined my sleep of fifteen days.....no , more than that actually. So of course I had to do something about it as a woman. He's a man , so what ? I'm a woman !"
She spoke rapidly , earning an impressive smile from Sulaaymaan. He watched as she kept blabbering on for another few minutes until her gaze fell over him and the way he was smiling down upon her.
Almost stumbling back with colour racing to her cheeks , she raked her eyes wildly across the room with sudden silence.
He looked down upon her a few more minutes with a cute smile until she frowned and shrugged.
"Um , stop staring please."
Sulaaymaan backed away , shrugging and thrusting his hands in the pockets of his dress.
"Why ?"
She frowned , looking at him smile mischievously.
"Because you are being rude."
Sulaaymaan frowned slowly , the smile growing wider.
"Don't you think I can stare all I want at you ?"
Afra frowned and pushed her head up to look at him sternly.
"Don't you think I haven't yet given you the permission ?"
He nodded , pondering over her words.
"True that , hopefully I'll be given the honour soon."
« Assalaamualaikum Princesses â¤
I hope you all enjoyed the chapter. Jazak'ALLAHU QAIRAN KATHEERAN for being by my side and keeping me happy all the time.
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May God bless you all.
Much much love ,
Me ;? »