"you fuss over little things, over little situations, over little fights, because you care for everything little - sulaymaan."
Afra had always been lonely .
She had no siblings to spare her time whilst her parents remained engaged in an insane amount of work .
Her father worked for the leading producers of petroleum and diesel - The Aramco Organization . On the other hand , her mother had hired as a professor in a university right along the corners .
While living alone and devoid of any human contact , she had somehow fallen victim to mild depression . Other than that , after her bullying period , things drastically took a very unpredictable turn in her life .
She had grown self conscious of herself .
To the extreme point of being readily available to taking crash courses to reduce her hundred and twenty two pound weight . The bullying had initially made her cut her hair because it looked like straws . That was only the surface that one caressed . No one - if there were any people around her - cared much about the deep scars that had been as fresh as the leaves on trees .
"We give you about two options now , Miss Inaya ."
Samantha's voice almost echoed in the clothing section of Forever21 , where a few workers shot them all furtive glances .
A few hours ago , she had met her cousins for the first ever time . It was , to some extent , very unfair of her parents to have kept her uninformed of their existence . All she had ever known were a few of her father's relatives who dropped by every weekend . They all were either divorced or not married at all , which clearly was a dead end .
They could have atleast let her introduce herself to them . She was very self conscious about herself around anyone - even Inaya a few times - so she had drawn up a conclusion that no matter what she'd be having the worst time of her life around cousins she didn't know about .
"Sam , you don't understand . Atleast I don't need these clothes . I mean I already have a good amount of them at home , Alhumdulillah ."
Inaya was almost shrieking with disbelief at Samantha or Sam , who had started to pick out random pieces of clothing for her . She was doing a very good job of ignoring Inaya's protests and was piling up the trolley .
"Sarah , you get going with Hafsa . We have to deal with them in this manner ."
She paused and gave Afra a look - almost as a gesture - to which Afra instantly reacted .
"Afra , where are you heading to ?"
She heard Inaya shout behind her but all that was history as Afra quickly moved across the accessories and footwear sections .
Gabriel - she didn't like him for a part - had come along and was casually walking around while taking a tour of the mall . She snarled at him and almost wanted to throw a pair of shoes on his eyes for having taken an interest in Hafsa .
Others may have been occupied in choosing clothes and arguing over the colours , but him staring at her with a soft expression in his eyes hadn't gone unnoticed by her . Whilst glaring with narrowed eyes in his direction , she gave every accessory she put into her cart a once over and threw it almost immediately depending on its attractiveness .
"Sarah , no ! Not the lingerie too ."
She stopped in her tracks , spun around on her heel and watched as Sarah dragged Hafsa along the racks if clothes while pointing at a lingerie store a couple of steps ahead .
Hafsa caught Afra watching her and pleaded with a helpless face . Afra dwelled into action at once . Pulling her cart along with her , Afra stomped her way to bkicn Sarah who gasped aloud .
"Oh My God , Afra ! You scared me !"
Sarah squeaked with a hand at her heart with the another holding Hafsa's wrist .
"I scared you ? You scared me !"
Afra accusingly pointed a finger at Sarah who looked confused .
"How can you do this to Hafsa ? Just stop being so forceful ."
Sarah seemed to take her words seriously as she dropped her head and almost let go of Hafsa's hand regretfully .
"Gurl , be more forceful ! You need to do more than the lingerie part . These sisters need some serious attention and we need to work harder at buying them a year's worth of everything ."
She had shaken up Sarah a lot for a mere second . Much to Afra's relief , her smile grew wide and she nodded curtly with a determined look .
"Yes sir !"
And with that , Hafsa was pulled along but her glares still kept creeping Afra out .
The sisters hardly shopped , let alone even get out of their house pray for that hour everyday in which Inaya walked and jogged a little whilst forcing her to do so .
After having picked out a cartful of accessories - she definitely went overboard - she headed to the cash counter and paid her bill . What she liked about shopping at work hours on weekdays was the convenience and the ease of being able to move without being jammed in a crowd . Besides that , it felt fairly calm and quiet and Afra had the chance to think out her choices deeply .
As she headed out - carrying the bags that had weighed heavier than she had looked ahead to - she watched Samantha pile up the last of the cart while Inaya groaned and groaned until finally she crosses her arms tightly over her chest and hissed about how she was just never going to accept all that .
She was having a difficult time - with the abaya , scarf and niqaab while trying to hold on to the bags - and for that reason , she wished she could find Gabriel . The last time she had gazed at him he was roaming around the opposite end of the floor .
"Allah , Gabriel where are you ?"
She groaned , toppling the bags on the ground . With a hand at her hip and the other on her chin , she carefully glanced across the whole floor to look out for Gabriel .
"You were brought along for a reason , damn it !" She hissed under her breath , keeping a close on the crowds to not miss out on anything .
When it seemed like she could hardly point him out , Afra picked the bags up with a sigh and practically pulled the bags along the grounds .
"Do you need any help ?"
Afra didn't know why , but that unfamiliar voice made her jump a foot in the air before she abruptly turned around on her heel .
She was met with a pair of warm eyes - the colour something between a brown and black - with a hand at his heart and a bow of his head , he looked genuinely interested .
She regarded him suspiciously for another second , quickly going through in her mind of the possible list of self defense moves if she would have the need to use them . She assessed her surroundings and noticed that the crowd had gotten thicker over the last hour or so and that she could take down her guard to an extent .
"Hmm , actually , I was searching for my brother whom I can't find ."
Afra also did not miss that she had worn her slightly heeled picadilly shoes - which in times of need could fare very well - which was an awesome idea .
"Did you try calling him ?"
He asked as he kept his hands clasped behind his back .
"Er , I....did . But his phone is switched off ."
Afra lied not wanting to let him know the truth .
"If you'd be comfortable , I could carry your bags with you while we search for your brother ."
He offered with a genuine smile and Afra saw his eyes glisten . The guy was weird , but he didn't seem to pose any serious theat and in the moment , she really needed help .
"Jazak'Allah brother ."
Something in his eyes changed and his smile flickered for a good second . It was evident that he had not been wanting to hear that . But Afra was not letting some stranger flirt with her in the name of trying to help her out .
And without another word , she moved ahead and heard him shuffle closer to her after gathering the bags in his hands . As they walked , Afra was bombarded with a lot of questions and sensibly enough , she didn't fancy disclosing her information to him .
"Afra , is that you ?"
She almost cried in happiness , trying to figures out from where she heard him .
But before she could react , he had tapped her shoulder and Afra had turned around , almost highly grateful that she had a reason to ignore the questions from him .
"What are you doing here ? Are you done with your shopping ?"
Gabriel asked , taking her arm and pulling her to a side before she could ask what he was doing .
"Who's this guy ? And what's he doing with your bags ?"
Gabriel pointed a finger at the helper as he came forward , looked at Afra and turned his gaze back at her cousin .
"Hello , name's Waasay . Your sister was struggling with the bags and as a human , I was compelled to help her out ."
He had extended his arm towards Gabriel who gave it a disgusted look , took more than a minute to consider formalizing with him and curtly shook his hand just once .
"I'm glad you helped her out ."
Gabriel's tone was harsher than Afra had imagined . Waasay seemed to give him a doubtful smile but stood rooted to the spot , until Gabriel gathered all the bags in one hand , took hold of her hand and almost dragged her along without as much as sparing Waasay some gratitude .
"Thank you for your help ." Afra shouted , waving a hand to which Waasay cheerfully waved back .
Once they'd reaches quite far enough - with Gabriel looking over his shoulder every minute - before he stopped near the store she had shopped at , let go of her hand and stared at her sincerely . Too sincerely to make her almost feel endangered .
"God , Afra , don't go about with unknown guys . Especially the ones who offer help ."
There was a deep sincerity in his voice and Afra did not think he was joking about whatever it was .
Without as much as a second glance at her , he gracefully carried the bags in one hand with the other shoved into the pocket of his jeans .
Afra stared back at him wondering how he had drawn that conclusion .
"The guy's a hulk !"
Hafsa had been sitting in the lounge of a coffee shop after a disastrous shopping spree . Aunt Elsa insisted that they hurry up and get themselves a good lot of stuff so that it could make up for the years they hadn't met .
A series of arguments had taken place and while Inaya and Hafsa were the only ones trying to back out - with Gabriel siding with them because he didn't want to spend hours in a mall - Samantha, Sarah and even Afra had ended up together as a team .
The reason Afra wanted to get them a whole wardrobe full of clothes was because she felt they needed to upgrade their lives with latest fashion .
Hafsa pinched her temples with her index and thumb . The light throbbing had left her pretty speechless and that was the reason Gabriel had hurried off to get some refreshments and a good amount of food to energise them . It was a major shock to Hafsa though , that despite having a lavish breakfast , she had started to fall short on her body fuel within a couple of hours in the mall .
It stunned her like a blow on her head since she did work out and deemed herself relatively able bodied . She was the captain of her college's girl's sports team and nothing held her back , sometimes not even the heavier sports .
"Shopping really must be something . I haven't felt so drained out anytime before ."
Hafsa chuckled lightly , getting snickers and chuckles from Sam , Sarah and Afra .
Inaya had basically fallen too short on her energy level to even raise her head up from the table she had laid on .
"Well , that's the only reason I'm in shape ! Even if I am broke from all teh intense shopping , I still go roam around the mall just as a workout routine ." Sam commented , making Hafsa to giggle loudly .
"Hmph !"
Inaya remarked , holding a thumbs down .
"You guys are weird ! What has humanity come to ?!"
Inaya's dramatic comment had come out rather muffly , leaving everyone giggling with delight .
Gabriel walked down , carrying a tray of coffee in one hand and another paper bag of food that smelled heavenly and uplifting .
"Wassup ?"
He commented , taking a seat between Sam and Sarah who pinched his cheek fondly .
"Aw , my brother got us food ."
Sam spoke in a shrill voice , imitating someone they sort of recollected .
Gabriel banged the coffee cup on the table , pushed back his chair , grabbed a cinnamon roll and his coffee and stomped off somewhere , with them all shouting behind him .
Hafsa looked dumbfounded at Sam .
"Gurl , why would you do that ?"
Sam shrugged , a mischievous smile lurking on her face .
"I love teasing him . The nun in the church by our house in London basically saw us all grow up . So anytime she sees Gabriel , who's her favourite , she speaks that way and never fails to pinch his cheeks ."
Sarah smiled widely , fiddling with the straw in her cappuccino .
All the while Inaya had been gobbling down the food with her cheeks protruding , even from the sides of her niqaab .
"Gosh , someone's going to gain all the calories back again !"
Afra chuckled and playfully hit Inaya's shoulder .
Hafsa continued on chewing on the warm rolls and a cookie that had given her enough - if not complete - energy to help her legs carry her body to the car . Inaya had finished nearly three in a minute and was reaching out for another when Afra simultaneously reached out for one too .
It would be slightly unfair to not bring to your notice that Afra as well as Inaya may have been the bestest of friends , but when it came to food , they played by odd rules .
There were still a lot of rolls left but neither of them were ready to leave the roll that they had put their heart on . Apparently , food talks to them and it was against their rules to let go of pieces that specifically caught their eye .
"Rock , paper , scissors !"
Afra scissors cut Inaya's paper and she triumphantly held up the index of her free hand .
"Rock , paper , scissors !"
Inaya's rock broke Afra's scissors this time and she cried with thrill .
The game went on . For Hafsa the drama had yet to come . But Sam and Sarah were already watching them intently , their gazes fixed on their hands as they displayed the play tools .
While the game ended a few minutes later - with Inaya having won - Sam and Sarah settled comfortably into their seats , anticipating Inaya to grab her roll and devour the sweet taste of victory .
"Just eat it ."
Inaya pushed the roll towards Afra with a resigned sigh .
Afra shook her head with a sweet smile .
"Nah , I wouldn't be able to digest your hard work ."
She replied back with a slight push of the plate .
As looked upon , Hafsa stifled back her knowing grin while Sam and Sarah were alerted again , confusingly watching the denial step up from being a friendly and cute argument to a full fledged fight with each one shouting at the other while hardly pushing the roll about the table .
"God , Afra ! I'm elder to you , so take the roll and stuff your mouth with it !"
Inaya almost threw the roll on the other end of the table , with Sarah and Sam helplessly glancing at Hafsa's direction for obvious help . She being the cool breeze of the group , raised a hand and nodded her head in reassurance .
"Inaya , eat the roll dammit before I shove it down your throat !"
The fight only intensified and when Hafsa figured Sam and Sarah had enough of the fright , she pushed the two raging bulls to polar ends and banged her fist not too harshly on the table .
"You know what you guys ? I'm taking that roll !"
With a swift move , she grabbed the roll . Afra and Inaya tried to open their mouth in protest but their hands fell down by their sides limply when Hafsa had almost eaten half of the roll in a single bite .
Sam and Sarah helped find Gabriel while Hafsa led the two depressed souls follow her lead and not get lost .
"Boy , was that some argument there !"
Sam exclaimed from over her shoulder , giving Hafsa a look of disbelief with her eyes widened .