𝐌𝐘 𝐏𝐈𝐎𝐔𝐒 𝐋𝐎𝐕𝐄

°♡• PART - 8 •♡°

AUTHOR'S POV

The late afternoon sun cast soft orange hues across the university gate as students slowly filtered out. Conversations, footsteps, and distant laughter faded in the air like ripples. Aleena glanced at her phone and sighed.

"Ameera," she said gently, placing a hand on her friend's shoulder, "I have to leave now. Mom's calling me home early today."

Ameera turned to her with her usual calm expression. Her eyes, half-tired and half-lost in thought, met Aleena's.

"It's okay," she said softly. "I'll go home alone."

Aleena hesitated, concern flashing in her eyes. But Ameera offered a faint smile - that kind of smile which says "I'm used to this" without ever saying a word.

"Alright," Aleena whispered, squeezing her hand before walking away.

And just like that, Ameera was alone.

She stood silently at the entrance, the breeze brushing past her niqab and carrying the scent of earth and distance. Her eyes gently wandered - to the trees swaying lightly on the sidewalk, to the passing clouds above the buildings, to the empty spot where Aleena's car had stood a few seconds ago.

There was a subtle tightness in her chest. A strange stillness.

It wasn't new. She had walked alone many times. But some days, the quiet just felt heavier than others.

Still, with a breath that steadied her soul, she murmured to herself under her niqab,
"Alhamdulillah."
A simple word - but in it, she poured all her gratitude, patience, and submission to Allah.

---

Later that evening

Ameera entered her home, silence welcoming her like a soft curtain. She placed her bag on the edge of her bed and slowly unzipped it. Her fingers searched for something - not consciously, but out of habit.

And then she found it.

The keychain.

She pulled it out gently. The metal felt cool against her fingertips. There was nothing extravagant about it - just a small, modest piece. But somehow, it held a weight far beyond its size. It reminded her of something... someone.

Holding it between her fingers, she stared at it for a moment longer, her eyes growing distant.

"Sometimes... I wonder about you," she whispered into the room, not sure if she was speaking to the keychain, to the memory, or to the silence.

Then, just as gently, she placed it back inside her bag, zipped it up, and sat down by the window.

The sky was turning a quiet indigo.

---

Meanwhile...

Far away, in a different corner of the city, Ihsan sat in his office. The papers on his table were untouched. His phone buzzed once, then again, but he ignored it.

His thoughts were tangled - not with numbers or profit margins. But with her.

It had been a week since he last saw Ameera. Since she walked away with that silent dignity, leaving something unsettled in his heart.
He didn't understand what it was - curiosity, admiration, longing - maybe all of it. But he missed her. That was the truth.

In meetings, he found his eyes drifting to the entrance door, almost unconsciously hoping she would walk in. But she didn't.

He couldn't take it anymore.