"your love shall taste tests - sulaymaan."
Afra had been gazing out the window for as long as she'd taken her seat . She had been staring without blinking her eyes , her gaze set on nothing specific .
Every now and then , she would flip out of her thoughts and peek at Sulaaymaan .
She would be marrying him , a little too sooner than she had wanted to . Everything was occurring all together leaving her feeling claustrophobic and out of breath .
She needed time .
When the facts were revealed , Elsa and Alexander had fallen quiet . Once they were convinced that it wasn't a joke â as they had concluded â Queen Basmah slowly explained to them the detailed events that led to the revelation .
Every time the Queen paused , Afra would be surrounded in piercing gazes from her parents . Obviously they weren't buying the story â neither was she â but it was all but the pure truth .
Understandably it was ascertainable that they were absolutely blown away hearing her talk about marriage . She wasn't against the Spiritual bonding between the opposite gender , but it wasn't something she would go for before building a career .
But - fairly - she had ended up agreeing to their decision of organising the Nikaah after Isha .
She was regretting not paying attention to them while they discussed matters seriously .
Her parents had been informed to keep the news secretive since Sulaaymaan wasn't willing to fight the media that would mostly suffocate him .
She did agree to that .
Especially since she was already taken aback and perplexed over their marriage pact . She was definitely sure that dealing with a million cameras and neverending flashes would not only paralyze her but also affect her eyes .
"My kids are getting married !"
Afra's head almost hit the bonnet when Queen Basmah squealed and jumped in her seat .
She sat frozen , rubbing the crown if her head . Things took a little while to make sense to her and when they did her lips widened into the most goofiest grin .
The Queen was having hallucinations and now and then , she would jump up in joy as the events of the last few hours alerted her .
Sure her life wasn't very considerate and perhaps was venting out it's anger of being uneventful all along . But either way , she felt joyous and positive .
"Sulaaymaan , can we switch the AC off and instead pull down the Windows ?"
The Queen slapped her cheeks , her face so unbelievably shocked that Sulaaymaan almost pulled over with fright.
"What's wrong mama ?"
She steadily turned to Sulaaymaan , as Afra leaned over to watch what had caused her to look so stunned .
"You both are getting married !"
The Queen whisperer and Sulaaymaan moved away , throwing his hands up in the air .
Afra cracked into loud giggles and it sort of relieved her mind quite a bit .
"Mama , you're terrifying me !"
Afra shook her head humourously .
Sulaaymaan remained silent for a minute before sighing .
"Mama , please , it feels like you're being stung by a Scorpion when you're squeaking like that ."
The Queen watched him guiltily and nodded in agreement .
"Fine . I understand ."
She whispered and slumped heavily .
"But what can I do ? It's too exciting ."
Sulaaymaan looked at her for a few minutes and smiled warmly .
"I can understand mama . I love you ."
He pulled closer and pecked her cheek .
Afra couldn't keep her fan moment in . She had never seen any man as affectionate as him . True to her recent thoughts , he was a gentleman at heart . Thoughtful and considerate .
Unsure of her feelings , she decided it would be wise to listen to her heart and shut down her mind .
Because her head was creating illusions and complicating her real feelings .
Sulaaymaan had always been patient and nurturing . He considered others worthy of being put before his personal needs . If anything at all , he could even die to let others give another chance to live .
Whether this was the affect of his journey or if he was like this naturally , she couldn't comprehend even now .
But she knew that deep within the crevices of the smile that his heart showcased , there was a paradox that often was securely concealed .
"Miss Afra , you can pull down the Windows ."
She saw him smile through the rear view mirror .
"Thank you ."
After whispering to herself , she quickly averted her gaze to the window . A button lay against the door handle and she pressed down on it .
From the mirror , she felt his gaze occasionally fall over her . But it never landed long enough to make her shuffle around .
As the wind forcefully slapped her palms and passed through her fingers , she tasted the immense force of the wind .
The power it portrayed , the sharpness it held , the freedom it encouraged and the natural beauty it established always delighted her soul .
It was an empty road ; a car here and there . When it did feel like a truck passed too quickly by their side , she pulled her hand in and patiently awaited .
When the large truck paved way , the sun falling over her niqaab again , she froze for a second .
The driver of that truck resembled someone she'd seen .
She gulped , feeling constricted .
Something didn't feel quite right .
Sulaaymaan returned to his room , his gaze automatically travelling all the way to the medieval clock hung over a calendar .
Two minutes past ten .
He removed his shoes and set them at a corner by the door . Once he'd shut himself inside , all he wanted to do was lie down and calm his nerves .
The most important part of convincing both the major parties was done . But what lay ahead frightened him to even think about .
Positioning the pillow the dashboard , he set his back against it and fixed his eyes on the ceiling .
Arranging an appointment was done . At sharp noon , just after Zuhr , they'd be commencing the Nikaah .
In shaa Allah .
All he needed was some strength and pallor to prepare himself for another person in his life .
That had all been sorted out .
But now came the time to fulfill one of the worsest nightmares he'd experienced .
Check the CCTV footage .
He got up from his position and slipped her feet down to the floor . Massaging his temples , he muttered to himself that it would be all okay and that he needed to go through it .
Rubbing his palms together , he scurried past the numerous thoughts plunging him into a Lightless pit of anxiety and distress .
He switched his PC on and waited for it to boot up while he positioned himself in the chair before it .
With his fingers interwined , he laid back in his chair and focused hard on trying to not give into his gut feeling that something had already occured .
Much to their ignorance .
As the desktop lit up , he immediately shot straighter into his seat . His eyes skimmed rapidly through the lighted screen and fell across the one icon he had been targeting .
After clicking at it several times in a row with shaky fingers , he began to focus his mind one last time on Allah and his plans .
Once the CCTV footage came up , he licked his lips and realized to his dismay how paralyzed his mouth was .
It registered him that beginning with today would be the best option .
Pushing his bangs behind , he took his time in visualising each part of the video with careful examination .
All he managed to see was the lightly lit up room , showing Afra's closet doors and the adjoining half of the balcony .
Hours passed by and nothing popped out of the dark as per his imagination .
When the footage ended , he released a breath he didn't think he had been holding until then .
Relaxing a little â as he knew he still had two days of recording left to finish with â he developed a little hope and kept praying constantly .
As he tapped his feet nervously , while watching the last day's footage , a part of him anticipated something .
He had come so close to the screen at this point that his head was almost over the keyboard .
For the few hours in the morning nothing happened . He could see the lower half of Afra's abaya as she searched for clothes .
Since that , nothing took place .
Just as he felt confident that for now they would be safe , a movement in the closet doors caught his attention .
By now , it was three in the morning . Almost the entire day had passed and there was someone .
The threatener .
A few seconds of still stiffness in the footage almost made him topple to the ground with agitation .
The closet doors were ever so carefully pushed open . Sulaaymaan had to squint his eyes to follow every single movement as it was pretty dark .
What made his heart almost leap to his throat was that Afra would be probably asleep on the bed .
He drew in a deep breath and his eyes remained stuck to the scene .
A leg popped out , covered in a thick boot that went a little below the knee . Once the other came out and the figure almost got down to the ground , Sulaaymaan clenched his fist with angst and followed it's trail .
It leaped down and stood still for a few seconds . Sulaaymaan tried extremely hard to try to visualise his face .
But all he could end up figuring out was his long leather coat and black gloves .
Sulaaymaan started gnawing on his lower lip at this point . The figure moved about the area . Eventually he reached so close to the bed that his boots could be examined pretty easily .
Not wanting to loose any opportunity to grasp clues , he studied the pattern on it and it resembled that of a snake drawn over them with a delicately positioned black rhinestone in its eye .
Weird taste .
Once that faded away and the biggest fear of the threatener that close to Afra struck him , he took to his feet and leaned over the desktop .
The guy stood ruffling the sheets and Sulaaymaan strained his eyes to understand that Afra wasn't there most certainly .
The sheets dangled right in front of the camera .
"Dang !"
He raked a hand through his hair with frustration and patiently waited to comprehend what the guy was upto .
The clock now read fifteen minutes past twelve and he hurriedly flickered his gaze back to the screen .
For another few minutes the guy did something on the bed before cautiously stepping back .
Sulaaymaan froze .
This meant he had been tampering with the bed .
Instantly , he pushed the chair aside from his path , pulled open his doors forcefully and ran as fast as his legs could take him to her room .
He came to a halt ; barely escaping hitting his head hard against the doors of her room .
Heaving heavily , he knocked urgently while licking his lips and biting them .
A few minutes ticked by and Sulaaymaan had started to get uneasily .
Just as he had raised his hand to knock again , the doors swung open with Afra wearing a long scarf that stopped a little above her ankles and the veil .
She inspected him from head to toe and her eyes crinkled .
"Did you win a marathon ? Are you treating me ?"
Sulaaymaan looked puzzled .
"Huh ?"
Afra rolled her eyes and waved a hand.
"You look like you bathed in sweat . What's wrong ?"
His eyes had travelled to her bed behind her .
Afra noticed him looking somewhere in her room . She shook her head with disbelief and snapped her fingers .
"I'm standing here ."
Sulaaymaan's cheeks reddened .
Afra crossed her arms and waited sternly for him to speak up . Sulaaymaan balanced his injured arm and looked up at her .
"I wanted to tell you that......you can't sleep in this room ."
Afra eyes squinted slowly .
"What do you mean I can't sleep here ?"
His gaze momentarily fell over the bed in the background again before meeting her gaze .
"I....I mean that â there's a little something that you need to know about ."
Afra nodded .
He made sure to sound as serious as possible .
"Aasiq and his men will be coming tomorrow early in the morning . About seven I'd say . We have decided to move about some furniture since there's a lot in this room to be fixed ."
When he ended by nodding his head , she looked at peculiarly and shifted on her feet .
"That's sort of weird...â "
She trailed off , her gaze flickering .
"I'm really very sorry I didn't inform you earlier . I guess I forgot about it ."
Afra held up a hand .
"That's fine . But where do you propose I sleep tonight ?"
Sulaaymaan sighed and smiled .
"How about with the girls ?"
She thought for a moment . He had began to reconsider his option when she looked into his eyes and nodded gleefully .
"I suppose a little girl time wouldn't hurt ."
« Assalaamualaikum Princesses ⤠.
As promised . Tada !
â¤â¤â¤ .
Again , I really really hope it was worth it .
I love you all so so so much .
Much love,
Me ;) »