Love through time

The Ride

Jamil Haroon
He was standing with a glass of juice at the corner end of the garden when he saw her. He could not take his eyes off her no matter how much he tried. It was as if everyone had disappeared and he could see only her in that space. When she smiled, he was mesmerized, she had the perfect set of teeth to complement her face. She must have noticed him because the moment their eyes met, she made a deliberate effort to avoid him or his gaze.

He saw her going into the house when he turned to his godmother Auntie Julie to ask who she was. He was curious, so he was introduced to her and standing up close to her affirmed his thought of how beautiful she was. He got the vibe she did not want to converse with him. He understands she will probably see him as a stranger but if he hadn't been traveling and working in Tokyo, she would have known him as part of this family.
When he was asked to drop her in the city, he was delighted for an opportunity to learn a bit about her.
He had made up his mind a while back that whoever he gets into a relationship with should be intended for marriage. His first sight on Zarah, he knew that there was something special about her and he wanted to find out what it was.
When they went out to his car, he wished he had taken his less flashy car, he did not want to look flashy or give the wrong impression to this girl he was trying to know. He opened his Santorini black Range Rover Sport 2018 and gestured for Zarah to go in.
She sat in silence as they drove.
'So what are you studying?' Jamil asked
'Software Engineering' Zarah said
'Oh that's my field of research' he said 'and I also went to Aston, Prof. Andrew was my best tutor'
'In fact, I have a project we are collaborating on together now'
She didn't reply so he continued
' what part of Nigeria are you from?'
'Kano' she said flatly.
' Ahh the mighty Kano, I've been there once with my Dad about 8 years ago. He's from Zaria,' she still did not reply or comment. It seemed like she was irritated by his small talk.
Not to annoy her further, he kept quiet. They drove in silence and when they got to the city he asked for her address.
' you can just drop me at the city centre I'll take a bus home' Zarah said
'No, I can't do that, I promised Auntie Julie I'd drop you at home' he sensed she did not want him to know where she lived, but he was certain his Auntie would call to ask
' I promise you I'm no harm or stalker, just let me take you home"
Reluctantly, she gave him her home address. He drove silently to her place
She got out and said 'Thank you so much''
He drove off after nodding. All of his being wanted to go back and ask her for her number or to see her again, but he knew better. He respected the boundaries she had set this evening.
He understood how it was important to respect this. If he is meant to meet with her, it will happen, he believes in fate and destiny.
He did not want to force anything. The only relationship he had been in ended because boundaries and values were not respected.
Her name was Salmah. When he met Salmah at Uni he thought and believed he was going to be with her and marry her when the time came, but it turned out she just wanted to have fun as the rest of the uni couples were having. He had made it clear to her his values and beliefs and he thought she would understand that being a Muslimah herself, but that was not the case. Salmah ended up leaving him and dating another person.
He was heartbroken but his father made him understand that when someone is your destiny nothing can stand in the way of that and when the person is not, no matter how much you love them it will not be enough to make them yours.
Jamil forgo relationships and concentrated on his studies and career. He travelled out of the UK and developed an App that tracks algorithms on the web and sold it to the largest American tech company for 350 million pounds which is about half a billion US dollars.

His father was so proud of him. As a renowned civil engineer who had worked on vital projects across the world, to have a son follow his path and excel was a dream. He came to the UK as a scholarship student for his post-grad studies and stayed back when he was offered a job on his first project. Years later he met his mom and her best friend Auntie Julies through a friend. His mother was a white revert as was Auntie Julie. As an only child, he did wish he had siblings but he was adored and loved by his family. His dad's sister Auntie Mairo who lived in America with her family was always eager to see him and spoil him.

Now Jamil wanted to start a family of his own. He wanted to travel around the world, but he wanted to share this experience with someone he loved, who also loved him. He had grown to see his parents share a bond and love that kept them together. That is what he wished for. As he lay down to go to sleep the last image in his mind was Zarah's perfect smile.