ONISM (rewriting)

chap 42

Ontario, Canada

● Y A W A R ●

I munched onto the cold stale sandwich from the fridge I had made yesterday for myself after I came back home from my cafe.

Mustafa cafe.

I had named it after my father. If he had been alive, I would have still named the cafe after him and see how he'd have reacted.

He surely would have been proud.

My phone started to ring. Zain was video calling me on Skype.

"Assalam-o-Alaykum!" I looked at his elysian face, his ecstatic smile and elated eyes. Beneath his royal blue waist coat, the embroidery of his colour shimmered.

"Walaikum Assalam!"

"Mubarak ho." My eyes roamed over his face for a while before falling back on the glass of fresh milkshake before me.

"Khair Mubarak." His smile widened, "but you didn't come. Remember, I will never forget that you were missing out on such an important event of my life."

"It doesn't matter." I shoed it away, "what matters is that you and Abeer are engaged to be married."

"Yah, you can't imagine how happy I am!"

"Maa Sha Allah. Your eyes say it all." I flashed him a smile.

He chuckled.

"When is the wedding, tho?"

"Within six months. In Sha Allah." He rubbed his temple. "You'd come, right?"

"In Sha Allah. How's everyone?"

"Perfect, Alhamdulillah. Daadi was asking about you."

I nodded. "Tell her I am fine. She doesn't need to worry."

"How can she not be worried? Think practically Yawar."

"What's done is done." I pulled a deep breath in. Circumstances had been so drastically unbearable for me there that I had to leave. For peace of my mind, I had to.

"Enjoy. It's your day."

He nodded, his eyes saying otherwise. "Ok, take care of yourself."

"You too." I ended the call and placed the dishes in sink.

***

I reached the Mustafa Cafe. My staff was finally selected. After taking interviews and considering the previous experience they had, I appointed some of them who seemed to have potential.

But mostly were newbies, freshly out of high school.

This was all possible through Uncle Yahya, who talked to a few people and sponsored my cafe. And this was how some youngsters came to know about it and willed to join.

Chefs were chosen who were good at baking almond cake, making sandwiches, doughnuts, and different flavours of coffee, cold coffee, milkshakes, and pina colada.