The Shades of Spring

The Fall

"I'm never ever giving the house to you men again!"

"Habeebti, I'll-"

"Hush you! Don't habeebti now. Look at the carpet!"

"Look look. I said I'll clean it."

"Like you cleaned the sink yesterday? I was gone for what? Three hours? And look at my house now."

"Our house. I'm also cleaning."

"If you had had one teeny weeny concern that this-" Hafsa's words were muffled by Musa's chest when he grabbed her and hugged her tight. She struggled a little to break free of his grasp, but Musa expertly began to sway about with his wife still in his arms.
"Shush shush you Angry Bird. Breathe in breathe out."

Hafsa pinched and twisted Musa's belly till he let her go and complained, "You're holding me so tight, I can barely breathe."
Her husband rubbed his belly region gingerly but was quick to hug her again; albeit more wary of her quick fingers. "Sweetie, had you drawn blood, it would've stained this lovely dress I bought you. Think about how gorgeous you look in this."

"All you men are like this--" she crossed her arms over her chest but laid her head against his side all the same "--you do all the stupid stuff there is to do, then come and cool us with the flattery."

"Did it work?" he asked hopefully. She went in for another pinch, but once bitten twice shy Musa caught her hands, locked them both with his strong palm and hefted her in a bridal lift. "No more pinching."
She tried to make him let her go, but he carried her like she weighed nothing and deposited her on the kitchen counter. "You're going to sit here like this until I cook some breakfast. Understood? I'm so tired of seeing you whirl around like a complaining tornado. And absolutely very hurt by my gut injuries you inflicted. So as a trade off--" he tossed her a plastic jar of cookies "--you're going to munch this like my good little doll while I get some work done. Deal?"

Hafsa tried her best to remain grumpy but her husband's sugary sweet with cherry on top kind of smile stripped her of that pretence. "Fine," she tried to stop the smile, "make it quick though."
Smiling, he turned to the cabinet singing loud enough for her to hear, "It worked...."

__________________

"You won't believe the state of the garden," Hafsa was saying while they waited for the shift to start. "And my Turkish carpet was blotchy with mud."

"They're like kids," laughed her friend.  "It's kind of adorable."

Hafsa leaned closer, "Don't tell him I said that, but, even I think it's adorable how they're bonding."

"Barakallahu alaihum. But it still bothers me where Kevin is headed."

"Me too. I just ..... I still can't digest he's going to be a soldier. Like, our clumsy, funny, Kevin who can't keep a straight face for ten minutes is actually going to go somewhere he could potentially get killed??! Why?"

"We all know why. His parents' divorce has hit him hard. And his cousin's death. And the fact that Tessa dumped him over his mental health. You do remember Tessa being depressed a few years ago, right? And Kevin put that smile back on her face. Ugly, ungrateful world we live in."

They lapsed into a sad silence; Hafsa saw Sidra wipe away a tear. Though she was the more talkative of the two, Hafsa would admit with no regrets that Sidra is the one who formed meaningful bonds. She cared deeply for Kevin and much like Musa, was hurt he'd chosen to hide it from her as well. Kevin too had a soft spot for Sidra because he'd hang around at a distance every night until the girls got picked up, and he was doing it for Sidra in particular. He saw her as the sister he never had and accepted her limits whole heartedly and did all he could do make sure she was safe and happy. So surely this news of his career choice had hit her very hard. And that is why the usually collected Sidra couldn't stop the tears at a place as public as the library. Eventually, she put her head down and let the tears flow with Hafsa gently rubbing her back.
"It's okay. It's okay. He'll be safe. In Sha Allah."

A few concerned staff members made to come toward them but were quietly sent away by Hafsa. "Sid? Hey, Sidra. The people are looking. Come let's get you to the toilet."

Quickly they entered the washroom where Sidra washed her face, took some steadying breaths and fixed her hijab again. They were going to be about five minutes late, but she needed those five minutes to get through the day.
"Hafsa. You go now. I'll catch up."
"No I'm staying."
"Child, it's better that one of us is there and covers for the other than both of us going late. Go go."
"I hate how bold you sound. Give me some of that voice."
"Ursula, this is land. Go."
"Nerd!"

After sending Hafsa away, Sidra took a little longer to collect her wits about her. She hated hated hated Kevin for his stupid decision but she understood where he came from. Oh wouldn't something pull him out of this one-way street! Or wouldn't another girl manage to make him stay! He was such a gentleman to all the ladies at work she couldn't believe not one girl rushed to fill the place Tessa left. Twisted mindsets. Only there to feed off the good. What if the pillars needed a support system? Let it crumble? Then the world would burn. Stupid human kind.
Finally, she came out of the washroom looking perfectly normal and took the elevator to her floor. The doors opened emptying her into the third floor foyer. She stepped out just in time to see Ayaan's back disappear down the stairs.
Unknown to her, a small smile graced her face and little butterflies in her belly sucked away the grief; replacing it with an excitement she didn't understand. That was the effect he had on her now. She always had to double fortify her self control when in the library because her eyes always searched him and her ears strained to pick his footsteps out of the whole crowd.
Gladly, he didn't run into her as long as he could help it, because obviously he had the same cardiac and sensory problem around her as she did around him. But if they did meet, they'd both act ordinary which baffled Hafsa and annoyed her endlessly. And that sort of made for a good distraction from their palpitations.

Later, while Hafsa found Sidra stacking books by the banister to make a pyramid, she sat down to help. Except she wanted to know about the Nikah and not the correct angle at which to pile them so the pyramid held.
"No wedding. Nikah at the masjid next month, In Sha Allah and the Waleema when we can afford it on our own."

"How long will it take?"

"Allah knows. But we can only say we'll try to make it as fast as we can."

"May Allah make it easier than you think."

"Aameen. Pass that blue book."

"Here. And also--" Hafsa's eyes deviated down to the mezzanine where something caught her attention and made her smile "--look down."

Questioningly, Sidra peeped down to see what had cut her friend off.
Below her, Ayaan was messing with Hamza who read at the same table as him. Long ago, one day, Hamza had told her Ayaan was his reading buddy because he had a hard time searching the correct books. So Ayaan had volunteered to pick three books every week from which Hamza chose one to take home. Sidra checked the books her brother borrowed for the first few weeks and concluded she didn't have to re-censor what Ayaan picked because the guy had good taste.
Only now did she actually see them reading together. Hamza had a whole lot of doubts as he always had and Ayaan had shut his own book to sit and listen to the little guy's opinion on the books he read. From how it appeared, he was testing Hamza's patience by acting exceptionally dense. She didn't know how long she had been watching, but the merry laughter that suddenly exploded from Ayaan's chest and made him throw a startled look around the atrium, pulled her out of her staring.
She turned her eyes away seeking repentance and met Hafsa's honey irises that sparkled with an unvoiced laugh.
"What?"

"Nothing. Just observing."

"Observing what?"

"That look on your face. He genuinely makes you happy. And I can't wait to see you both able to stare at each other all you want. May Allah make this love and bond eternal."

"Aameen Ya Hayyu Ya Qayyoom," prayed Sidra from the very bottom of her heart.