Sparks of Love ☑

Thirty (Part One)

Dedicated to confusednim for voting thirteen chapters straight for this one. I think she deserves an early update. Thank you, don't forget your promise though *winks*

To all others, we may not give a deadline this time but we do need your motivation to get over the pain of completing this book and bidding bye to the characters who have grown with us. Lots of love >3

Enjoy (°~°)

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He had never taken a solo trip alone, even in his college days when opportunities were abundant and peer pressure was too much. He had learned to fight against himself and give preference to his mother, who did not like being away from him for too long. So crossing this barrier and setting out for chances of better provision in the future had challenged his feelings in a way he could only recall twice in his life—the recent once being when he had begged Allah to take Rafa out of his heart. But Allah had instead blessed him with Rafa's love and promise of a life together. Hence returning home to his beloved wife and attached mother had made him emotional, and in that emotional state, he had overshopped. Texas wasn't too different from California, but he made sure to get each of his girls what he thought they would like. His mother was inclined towards hats and luxurious scarfs, and for Rafa, he got chocolates, a Texas-themed travel mug for work, and a beautiful red lanyard. He kept the gifts in shopping bags to present them as soon as he was dropped home by the company van.

"Assalamu'alykum!" He called out, excitedly walking in through the front door.

"Abdur Rehman, meri jaan!" His mother kissed him as soon as she set eyes on him. "How was the flight? Did you get nauseous? Did you eat and sleep well?"

"Mama, I'm well!" He assured, kissing her hands before handing her the gift bag he had brought for her. "I got you a little something, I hope you didn't miss me too much."

"Aray mera bacha!"

"Where's Rafa?" He asked, breaking the second hug since he had arrived. "You told her the time I was returning, right?"

"She should be up in her room," Tayyaba informed. "She was here with me earlier, we had breakfast together."

That's good, he thought. After the drama that had happened the day before yesterday, he just wanted to move past and have things go back to normal. He hadn't tried contacting Rafa yesterday because he wanted to give her time to cool off, and now he intended to go coddle her and apologize until she forgave him.

He took two stairs at a time towards his bedroom. Clutching the gift bag in his hand, he stopped before the closed door to gather himself. He ran a hand through his hair and beard to fix his appearance, took a deep breath, and then rapped on the door.

"May I come in?"

Rafa opened the door in her hijab and a peach outdoor dress. "Assalamu'allykum," she said, giving him a small smile.

For a moment he was transported back to the night he had rushed into the ER cradling his bleeding arm, and there she stood in her peach shirt, rummaging in her purse. When she lifted her face to look at him, he had lost consciousness literally. How many times had she awakened that feeling in him in the past year; countless. He was crazy about her.

"Wa'alykum Salaam, going somewhere...without me?" He whispered in a teasing tone. Leaning forward to take her in his arms, he hoped she would accept his unsaid apology.

"Yeah." She nodded, taking a step back to avoid his touch. That's when he saw the big suitcase resting packed on the floor. "Yahya is picking me up soon, I wanted to wait until you returned, so that your mother wasn't alone."