"just because i don't show my pain, doesn't mean i don't have any. nobody in this world is born to be perfect individual or have a perfect life - gabriel."
Sulaaymaan had been very impatient regarding the girl he had seen . It had been two days and there was still no news from Haamid . Except that she was not a native Saudi . Which was rather easy to figure out since she didn't speak Arabic or gave any clue of her nationality .
Nonetheless , Sulaaymaan had been very disturbed about finding out a girl similar to her . What puzzled him more was she even behaved like her .
"Assalaamualaikum , Mr.Sulaaymaan ."
He had picked up the call very excitedly , after seeing the caller ID .
"Walaikumusslaaam Haamid . Did you get anything regarding her ?" Sulaaymaan questioned , tapping his foot impatiently .
"Yes , sir . I've found everything about her . Ana aasif , that it could me too long . She was difficult to figure out just with her eye colour ." He spoke excitedly .
Sulaaymaan shook his head , holding up a hand . "Maafi Mushkila , I'm glad you figured her out finally ."
Haamid let out a small laugh . "Sir , she is Afra Aazeen . The daughter of a very renowned engineer , Alexander Varghese . For now - "
"Her father is a Christian ?" Sulaaymaan exclaimed .
Haamid nodded curtly . "Yes sir , he and her mother , Elsa Varghese are Christians ."
Sulaaymaan was shocked . He wasn't in the least expecting such news to reach his ears . It had come off as a major shock and he had to take a minute to register it properly .
"Sir ?" Haamid questioned .
"Oh yeah ! Sorry , I'm here ." He replied quickly , taking a seat at the edge of his large bed .
"And she reverted a few months back . That's what was stated to the iqama office when they had come to renew their identity card . She is an only child and she has a best friend by the name Inaya ."
Sulaaymaan nodded thoughtfully , taking in all the information he had been notified of . It thrilled him to think that Afra was a revert .
Subhan'Allah .
He smiled to himself . Perhaps he had already had a crush on her . It had not even come off as a surprise , since the moment he laid eyes on her , he knew she was the one who could change him . He regarded her as a second chance life had offered him .
What was a plus point for him was that she was a revert . He felt blessed knowing that fact . She would need assistance and guidance with stuff related to Islam . Even though he knew her best friend would have been smart enough to have figured that out . Still , it doesn't hurt to have another person ready to assist you .
"She also had given the SAT exam for joining in the aeronautical engineering course which was held a month ago ." He paused for a moment ."Sir , can you make a guess about what rank she earned ?"
Sulaaymaan's face lit up with a toothy grin ."What did she score ?" He had a unknowing gut feeling that Afra had to be one of the most smartest people .
That was a fact he had discerned right that moment she had stood up for her friend . He had been feeling very down and his vision was blurred . Maybe he had a sun stroke . He did not mean to be rude but at that moment he felt awfully sick . She had just stepped into his life at the wrong time and most probably would have painted him as a villain in his head .
"She topped it sir !" Haamid exclaimed , followed by a light laughing .
Sulaaymaan stood fazed , staring into the air as the words ringed in his ears .
She had topped the country's most difficult exam !
That in itself explained a lot of things to him .
Perhaps , he would be given a chance .
Hafsa had tried sleeping but , somehow the night made her feel umeasier second by second . While she didn't wish to get out of her bed , fearing the unlikely dark and it's beholders , she still was ready to take the risk .
She quickly got up from her bed , smiling at her side as Inaya had cuddled into Afra who had her hands and legs spread out as a starfish and was occupying most of the space on the bed . Almost pushing her and Inaya out of the bed .
As she slipped her feet in her bedroom slippers , standing and feeling her feet dip into the soft and plush carpet , she wondered how in the world Afra's husband would sleep with her ?
Shaking her head amusingly , she grabbed her abaya from the coat rack and pulled it over her donuts and sheeps pajamas . It was midnight . But it was another thing to be on a lookout for anyone . She just didn't want to be caught with her pajamas and hair pulled in a bun . From what she had seen , some non mahrams were living in the same house as her . After typing her scarf and pinning her niqaab in place she sighed nervously .
She hurriedly closed the door behind her , making sure to not attract attention or alert the household .
Maybe she was feeling scared because of all those horror stories they had watched , because the moment she heard some cluttering in the kitchen downstaira as she was descending the steps , she had taken no effort in listening to what was going on and had run all the way to her room , panting for breath .
She had listened carefully , trying to concentrate on the different noises to figure out if she could make out the one she had heard earlier . When even after a few minutes she could not make out anything , she sighed and decided to go down .
Walking through the hallway , she managed to cast her eyes everywhere to take notice if anything looked out of place . She hurried over to the backyard open , unlocked it and swung it open .
The fresh night air , the cool breeze instantly awakened her senses and she walked into the dewy sand , feelings her feet dig into it .
Ignoring the crickets chirping , she focused on the sky , tilting her head and staring in awe at the night sky . Millions of stars twinkled at the moon shone over a corner .
"Excuse me ?"
She stood stuck unable to feel her limbs to react , the pit in her stomach growing and her heart thumping wildly .
Her guess was right . There was probably some intruder waiting for a victim or a possible kidnap material .
She was still contemplating on whether to attack him like a wild animal or just throw a punch , when he walked past her and stood right in her front , smiling softly .
"I'm really very sorry to have scared you like that . I didn't mean to frighten you ." She squinted her eyes and nearly toppled to the ground with relief . "You were literally shaking !" He held up a hand , glancing at her from toe to head worriedly .
Hafsa's eyes widened with realization ."You ?" She pointed at him , not believing her vision .
He pursed his lips in a tight line ."Sorry , I didn't introduce myself properly before . I'm Gabriel ." He bowed his head slightly and Hafsa immediately lowered her gaze .
"Um , Aunt Valerie introduced you before ." She almost whispered , not willing to stick to a conversation with a non mahram .
"And I think you're Hafsa ? Sarah and Samantha were shouting your name ." His voice held amusement . She noticed then that he had a pretty deep voice . A little raspy but it was very soft .
"Yea ." She averted her gaze to anything but him .
He had been gazing at her for longer than intended , observing her with a calculating gaze .
"Um , Hafsa , please don't feel uncomfortable . If you wish I could just leave ." He motioned towards the door , staring at her worriedly .
"No no !" She held up a hand , momentarily looking up at him .
He did look a little surprised , but quickly smiled thankfully .
"Thank you ." He softly replied , turning around to face the sky . After a few minutes , he rocked back and forth on his feet .
"Um , do you want to sit down ?" He gestured towards the two chairs over a small round table at the corner and she curtly nodded .
He had taken a seat opposite to her , his hands interwined on the table .
"Thank you so much for carrying the luggage earlier today . I didn't get a chance to thank you ." He smiled , looking over at her .
"It's alright . It was my pleasure . Samantha and Sarah may have been tired and I figured you needed help anyway ." She looked up at him , and there was a glint in her eyes .
"But I really appreciated it still ." He nodded his head , flashing her a full smile .
"It's very peculiar that you carried not just one , but two bags at a time . It's....so fantastic ."
She smiled , unaware of how to react .
"Er , I've always been an athlete . Running , jogging , weightlifting to a degree are some of the sports I've specialised in ."
"Mahn , that's amazing . You're.....amazing ."
Hafsa felt her cheeks grow hot under her niqaab , making her nervous .
"Also , don't worry please . Me and my family have no such thing against Muslims . Infact , mom and dad have a lot of musilm friends back there in London ." He paused , looking at her , "and one of my very close friends had reverted to Islam before she died ." He finished sadly . She snapped her head up to look at him and he nodded with a sad smile .
"She....died ?" Hafsa stuttered , suddenly feeling very uncomfortable as Daanish's face clouded her vision .
He nodded , his gaze lingering over his fingers . "Lucy . She was Lucy . She was my best friend and.....we had decided to get married too . For a few months , she had talked a lot about Islam clearing majority of my misconceptions . Little by little , we had liked to grow the religion ."
She could feel unmistakable tears blurring her vision . Nobody had talked so beautifully about Islam before . He seemed to be aware of it a lot . Along with his family .
"She had reverted the last day we had met . And after her reversion , she had decided to meet me to help me out with it as well ."
Hafsa gasped .
He was going to revert ?!
What stopped him was purely simple . After Lucy's death , he probably let go of Islam .
"But , she.....met with an accident ." He smiled sadly , and Hafsa could feel his eyes brimming with tears .
A tensed silence enveloped them and Hafsa decided to just let him have his time to recover .
It wasn't easy loosing some loved one all of a sudden . And she could feel him right then .
"Well , my point being , no matter what , we'll never have a problem with Muslims . So please be comfortable ."
Hafsa nodded her head , twirling the end of her scarf around her finger .
"If I may ask , why did you not revert ?" Hafsa questioned , curious over what may have stopped him . Changing faiths was a big step , but from how Hafsa had seen it , she thought he would do it at least for Lucy's sake . Since Lucy herself had reverted .
Thinking about the fact that Lucy had reverted just in the nick of time , Hafsa could only envy her luck . Lucy had reverted and had died just a few moments after that , making herself eligible for Jannah without any questions or efforts .
Hafsa knew that only people very true at their hearts were blessed with that opportunity . She wished she could meet Lucy .
"Um , after Lucy's death , I slipped into depression and sort of got detached from Islam ." He sighed heavily .
Hafsa hesitated for a moment . Fiddling with her fingers , she wondered if she was even in a position to ask the question lingering in her head .
"If you ever change your mind , please don't hesitate to seek my help . Islam is a true religion and that I am sure you may have figured out . It has never encouraged forcing people to believe it . You can always take your time . As a fellow Muslim , I'd be honoured to help you out ."
He looked taken aback at her words . She did not mean to interfere with his personal life or make him feel like he was being pressurised . She only just wanted him to be aware that he still had a chance .
He shot her a quick smile . "Thank you very much ."
She gave him a nod ."Also , I know how it feels like to loose somebody we love more than ourselves . You may feel like I'm just empathising with you ." She let out a chuckle ."But no . I've gone through a horrible phase myself . I'll just say that God is the best planner . Somehow he knew that the world and life ahead for Lucy would be very difficult . And he did what he thought would be the best for her . We are humans and we don't have the power to understand his plans for us . But he knows what he is doing ." She spoke , willing to help him out .
He seemed to have been listening with great attention , and that in itself felt like a major accomplishment .
"And right now , Lucy is probably looking down at you from heaven , wondering when you'd take the big step ."