Twice Upon Qadr - A Shot At Love **EDITING**

Chapter 20

“Why wouldn’t it be?”

“I was awful to him Hana.” Yusra whispered, and Hana couldn’t resist smiling.

“Yusra, Amir loves you so much that I am certain you wouldn’t even get past ‘I’m’ and he would forgive you.”

 “Really?”

“You don’t know that? The man lives for you. More than once I felt like screaming at the two of you to get a room!”

Yusra gave a half laugh, half sob.

“It’s just been so hard lately with this illness and instead of bringing us closer I feel like its driving a wedge between us. I don’t like feeling like this. I miss him. I miss him so much.”

“Then tell him that,” Hana said gently. “He can’t read your mind.”

Yusra was silent as she pondered Hana’s words. She was right of course.

“Okay. You have a point.”  She paused to dab at her eyes again. “Thank you Hana. I’ll talk to him tonight.”

“Do you want me to keep Kareem with me? You know, give you some time alone?” Hana asked with an arched eyebrow and a mischievous smile on her face, and Yusra blushed slightly.

“Be quiet.” She said giving Hana a shove, and the two ladies laughed. “It’s okay, he goes to sleep early.”

They were quiet for a few minutes as Hana prepared their tea cups and some snacks, and as she came back into the kitchen from taking a cup of juice and some animal crackers to Layla, Yusra took a sip from her cup, and patted the chair next to her.

“Now it’s your turn to tell me why you were crying.”

Hana took a drink of her tea, avoiding Yusra’s gaze.

“I wasn’t crying.”

Yusra’s eyebrow quirked up.

“Don’t lie to me. You were crying.”

“Fine. I was crying. But I don’t think I can talk about it. Thank you though.”

Yusra took another drink and began to tap her fingernails on the table. She didn’t want to push Hana, she wasn’t one to open up too easily. But it was obvious the girl was hurting, and needed someone to confide in.

“Okay. I will respect your wishes. But if you need to talk to someone know I am here.”

“Thank you.” Hana said, and Yusra patted her leg before going into the kitchen and beginning to wash the dishes. Hana watched her from where she sat in the dining room, before nervously clearing her throat.

“Yusra, how do you get over someone you like?”

Yusra paused, her eyes flickering over towards Hana.

“That’s a heavy question.” She sighed, running a dish under the stream of water. “Is there anyone in specific you are trying to get over?”

There was a beat of silence.

“Maybe.”

When she did not elaborate any further, Yusra turned off the sink, wiped her hands on the flowered towel, and leaned against the counter.

“Habibti, I wish I could give you the answer. I really do. But I am probably the worst person to tell you how to get over someone. When Amir and I,” she hesitated for a second, “um, before we got married, I tried to get over him. Allah knows how much I tried. But I couldn’t. Because I loved him with all of my heart. Every single fiber of my being loved that man. Perhaps the reason you can’t get over whoever he is, is because you are meant to be.”