The Scars They Hide

Chapter Twelve - Family Reunion

Chapter Twelve – Family Reunion

Lutfiyah was so excited to see Sara that the entire week seemed to drag by on its toes. May got along fabulously with her aunt and Lutfiyah just knew that a weekend with one of her most favourite people in the world was going to be epic.

Thursday finally came to an end and Lutfiyah made supper with a smile. She hummed her way through dicing carrots and grinned her way through all the stirring. May even seemed to pick up on her mood and was babbling away happily when there was an unexpected knock on the door.

Frowning, Lutfiyah got up and adjusted her hijab before heading for the door and peering through the peephole. All she could see was black so she opened the door slightly; making sure to keep the door chain on and what she saw shocked her.

She slammed the door closed, took out the chain and opened the door with a frankly embarrassing scream. The person behind the door greeted back with an equally high-pitched squeal.

“Sara! Oh my god. What are you doing here? Assalamualaikum! I thought that you were coming tomorrow!”

The bright-eyed brunette grinned at her. “Surprise!”

And thereafter ensued a screaming match of fangirl proportions.

They were rudely interrupted when the flat door behind Sara burst open to reveal a panicked Jaafar in sweats, water droplets and nothing else.

“Ms Abbas! What happened! Is everything o-

He stopped short when he saw two gaping women in hijab staring at him. His mouth closed with a snap and a confused look crossed his face.

“I thought that you were being attacked.”

His eyes flitted to the floor and he stepped back into the safety of his apartment, the alarmed look on his face slowly subsiding.
Lutfiyah cleared her throat.

“I’m sorry about that. We just got a bit over excited. I’m sorry for interrupting your...” she trailed off, trying to keep her gaze downward, sideward, anywhere-ward that was not his dripping chest.

“Shower,” he supplied, his voice dropping deeply.

Lutfiyah swallowed audibly. “Yes, that. We apologise.”

He gave a short nod and closed the door with a click, leaving behind a pregnant pause.
Sara saw fit to break it.

“Who, in the world of spicy jalapeños, was that?"

Lutfiyah smiled. “My new neighbour. Jaafar Abdullah.”

Sara crossed her arms. “You, my dear, have been holding out on me.”

# # #

“What do you mean ‘he looks familiar’?”

Sara shrugged, popping a morsel of food into her mouth, chewing slowly before swallowing. “I don’t know. That face and that name. It’s like I’ve heard it before.”

Lutfiyah shook her head and stood up to start clearing the table. “That’s not possible. He does nothing. I hardly think that he would run in any circles that you or Riyaad run in.”

Sara frowned, her hazel eyes glowing with suspicion. “He does nothing?”

Lutfiyah paused in her cleaning up and turned her head slightly to face her cousin. “Yeah. He’s in his flat the entire day.”

Before Sara could answer, May walked in holding her pink toy phone tightly to her ear. She mumbled into it before holding it out to Lutfiyah.

“It’s Uncle Jaafi. He wants to know when he can come over to play again.”