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

Chapter 61

“Alhamdulillah there was a lot to do, and I wanted to make things easier on Yusra.” Hana said, taking a bite out of her lamb and groaning softly. She had forgotten how hungry she was, and Yusra’s mom was just an amazing cook MashaAllah! The room was lively as the guests all ate and talked, and Hana smiled to see the community together. It was always an amazing feeling when you could feel and see the strength of the Ummah.

“So are you going with us to Amir and Yusra’s tonight to say bye to Houssam?” Ilham asked breaking into her thoughts.

Hana froze, her fork halfway to her mouth.

“Bye? What do you mean?”

Ilham’s eyebrows pinched together.

“Um he’s going back home tomorrow.”

“To New York?” Hana asked in disbelief, and Ilham laughed.

“Well that is where his home is now.” She paused to stop Mohammad from dashing towards the dessert table, before looking back at her sister. “I thought Hisham would have told you?”

Hana shook her head.

“He didn’t say anything.”

“Hmm. I wonder why.”

“Well it doesn’t matter. I wouldn’t have gone anyways.

“Aw why not?” Ilham exclaimed, and Hana glared at her.

“We decided not to be together. I can’t just show up to send him off. What would I say? ‘Hey, I know I said I didn’t want to be married to you now, but well, have a safe flight!’”

Ilham shook her head in amusement.

“Since when did you get so sarcastic?”

Hana shrugged.

“Can we talk about something else?”

Ilham sighed.

“Fine. How did your interview go? Did you hear anything yet?”

“No not yet, but they said I probably wouldn’t until next month.”

Ilham took a bite of her salad.

“How do you feel it went?”

“Pretty well InshaAllah. I’m trying not to get my hopes up, but you know.”

“Yeah. InshaAllah Khayr.”

“Hana habibti, can you come help my sisters serve the cakes?” Yusra called, and Hana rose form her spot heading towards the kitchen.

The rest of the party passed quickly, and once the guests had departed, Amir, Yusra, and their family and friends all pitched in cleaning up. Once the room was spotless, and she had said salaam to everyone, Hana went up to her classroom to prepare for class. She sat at her desk, going over the lesson plan, and making up review questions, but she couldn’t focus, as she kept thinking about Houssam, and how he was leaving. She shouldn’t have been surprised, why would he stick around? She had replayed their conversations from last night over and over until she had practically memorized it, and it was all she could think about.

Her thoughts swirled like that for almost half an hour, so when her students finally arrived, it was a welcome distraction for her. Surprisingly class went by quickly, she had expected it to drag on considering how anxious she was for the day to be over, but when she found herself locking up and making her way towards the stairs, she felt a little spring in her step. She couldn’t wait to get home, change, maybe get some ice cream, and watch some Cake Boss.

However just as she was approaching the top of the staircase, a man filled her view, and she took a step back in surprise as he raised a camera.

“Smile sweetheart!”