Unanticipated Turn

EPILOGUE

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With the evening sun pouring through the window, Meenah could make out every scratch in her room. There was few lines by her desk where her chair scratched over the wood every time she got up. There was a stain where Aurora knocked over a bottle of nail polish a year ago.

It was all there, her entire childhood ingrained in the room and the longer she looked, the more she could find, memories marking every square inch of the room.

Now, lying on her back in the middle of the room, surrounded by cardboard boxes labelled by her mum's neat handwriting, the air tasted like the beginning of something new. For once, that thought didn't scared her much.

As Meenah walked down the stairs, wishing she couldn't meet anyone. Instead, she was immediately greeted by her mum.

"Meenah!" Nuwaira exclaims, smiling at her. She was standing at the edge of the stairs like she was just waiting for her to come down and jumped up as soon as she heard her steps, her blonde curls spilling out of her bun and her hands fiddling with the bow at the back of her kitchen apron."You came at just the right time, dinner will be ready in two minutes."

Meenah nod and force the corners of her mouth to lift into a sad smile as her mum ushered her to the living room. After the quietness of her room, the rest of the house is so loud, in the sitting room, the twins and Aafiyah are fighting over whos allowed to use the iPad, Anwar is listening to music at a volume that made the floor vibrate beneath her feet, Ameer babbling nonsense, and the kitchen was filled with the banging of cupboards and dishes. The smell of spices and garlic that's hanging in the air only got stronger as she trudged through the kitchen door.

"Hello, Granny." Meenah murmured.

Her grandmother doesn't respond, too busy alternating between stirring in one of the large pots and frying in another pan.

"How was packing?" Nuwaira asked while they set the table.

"Fine." Meenah mumbled.

She nodded with a smile, and gently pushed her down on one of the chairs. A moment later her siblings stormed into the kitchen, The twins and Aafiyah still bickering while Anwar looking mildly annoyed.

"Sup." He said as he plopped down next to her."How was packing up?"

Meenah tried to suppress the flare of annoyance that ran through her at the question, but her voice came out sharper that she intended when she said,"Fine. You don't have to ask."

He rolled his eyes, raising his hands in surrender,"Sorry for caring about my baby sister."

A wrinkled hand suddenly came into view and set a plate that's barely visible under the mountain of food on it down in front of her.

"I'm not eating all of that." Meenah murmured and passed it on to Anwar.

Granny shakes her head and braced her hand on her hips."Meenah, you need to eat! You're leaving in two days!"

"I'm really not hungry. Sorry."

"It's alright, dear." Nuwaira said as she pushed another plate her way, this one half as full.

While everyone around her began to eat, their voices loud, she pushed the food on her plate back and forth and stared at the wall.

Before she could say anything else, the ringing of the doorbell cuts through the chatter at the table. Meenah quickly jumped to her feet, sending the chair scraping across the tiles."I'll get it."

Nuwaira's eyes followed her as she crossed the room and made her way into the hallway, where she quickly ran a hand through her hair. Then, she opened the door.

"Buenas noches." Aurora and Fariq said together. Fariq was standing in the doorway with a toothy grin, while Aurora twirled Fariq's car key around with one finger."Are you ready to go?"

"To?"

"Airport, to say goodbye to your boyfriend and say that you forgive him." Fariq said with a wink.

"I don't remember saying something like..."

"Ask Fariq if he wants some croissants!" Granny shouted from the kitchen.

"I would love some." He laughed and stepped past her into the hallway, with Aurora behind him.

Meenah and Aurora hovered by the kitchen door while Fariq strolled inside. He talked to Nuwaira and Anwar before he walked back over to the two girls, triumphantly clutching three croissants, which Granny wrapped in a napkin, in his hand.

"Thanks, Granny." He said. Slinging an arm around Meenah's shoulders, he added,"We're gonna be on our way then."

Nuwaira looked like she wanted to disagree as she shot a looked at her plate, still half full, but because it was Fariq, she nodded."Be home by eight, okay?"

"Kay. Bye." Meenah replied.

Aurora's arm knocked against Meenah's as they made their way across the yard to her car.

"I'm driving." Fariq said while Aurora threw the car keys while rolling her eyes.

Meenah settled in the passenger seat, with Aurora in the back as Fariq pulled away from the curb.

"Hey, give me one of those." Aurora said, Fariq briefly took off his hand from the steering wheel to collect the croissants too.

Laughing, Meenah handed one to Aurora and unwrap another one and held it near his face for him to take a bite. He scowled when she pulled it back before he can reach it.

"Okay, okay." Meenah said and held it closer to him, only to pull it back again.

"Meenah." He said, unable to hold back a laugh.

"Do you want us to crash?" Aurora asked smacking her.

Grinning, Meenah stopped playing and fed him the two other croissants. When he was done, she stuffed the napkin into his glovebox and looked out the window again.

The sun was setting, bleeding pink and orange into the sky as the drove down the same never-changing tree-lined streets.

As they reached the airport, Fariq parked his car."Aren't you coming with me?"

"No, you should probably go alone. We don't want him jealous. Now go to the private lounge" Fariq said.

Meenah stepped out of the car and took a deep breath."Okay, I should only tell him I forgive him." She said to herself as she ran into the airport.

"Go get your man Meenah!" Meenah heard Aurora shout. As she reached the private lounge, she could see the Fawaz Family leaving Muneer and Ayman. She ran over to then, panting heavily as if she ran a marathon.

"Go get her a bottle of water, Ayman." Muneer said without taking his eyes off her. After Ayman left, he ushered her to sit and glanced at him shyly.

"Erm, what are you doing Meenah?" He said as he massaged his temple. Meenah pouted childishly and turned her face away.

"You aren't even happy to see me, right?" She questioned still pouting.

"You know I can't be angry at that face, and I can't resist it. So just say what you want to say, go back home and continue packing up." Muneer said suppressing a smile.

"Seriously? Okay, I cane here to say I love you and I forgive you, and can you please stay back, but since you're being inconsiderate, you can get lost." Meenah said with teary eyes and she stood up to leave.

"Who said I'm being inconsiderate, I will gladly do anything for your, mi vida." Just as he finished talking, Ayman came back with the water and handed it to a blushing Meenah. He raised his brows and stared at the duo.

"What's going on here?" Ayman asked.

"Get our things back, and cancel the flight." Muneer ordered still staring at Meenah with a smile.

"WHAT?" Ayman asked shocked.

"My future wife wants me to stay back, and who am I to ignore her request."

The End.

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Word count-1315

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