Our Space

Chapter 8

Then Sami thought of himself as utterly ridiculous. He barely knew the girl! She was pretty and a hijabi who got on well with her mum. What else did he know? Nothing!

But that didn't change the fact that he was attracted to her and lived in the same house as her. In the first month, he'd managed to avoid her quite well. But recently, he'd been seeing a lot more of her.

Deciding to ponder over this another day, Sami rubbed his tired eyes and he forced himself up to get ready for bed.

A few days later, Sami got his results for his exams and thanked Allah for his grades. He'd been waiting for this moment so he could apply to work in places in which he could build a career and be financially stable. In the days following, he went back to his university to collect his certificate. When he held it in his hand, he finally felt the satisfaction of being a graduate though he didn't attend the graduation ceremony or have any pictures in a silly hat.

When Sami returned back to the house, he decided to phone a few friends while updating others on whatsapp groups. He had many congratulations and most conversations ended quickly except one.

"Good, now you can find better work and get your own place and join the married crew," Muhammad said, voicing Sami's ongoing thoughts.

"That's the plan," Sami replied.

"How are things at the house? Are Hina's relatives treating you well?" Muhammad asked.

"Yeah, it's all good. I think."

"What do you mean you think?" Muhammad asked and Sami wondered if he should tell him about Hareem.

"I... Nothing."

"This hasn't got anything to do with their daughter, has it?" Muhammad asked,

"No!" Sami lied with instinctive defense.

"Okay, then what?"

"How did you know it was her?" Sami muttered.

"Because, my friend, you're an idiot who'd fall for a practicing witch if she interacted with you often," Muhammad replied and Sami lifted his nose in confusion.

"That's not true!"

"In secondary school, you had a crush on Miss Jones because she always complimented your work! She was a freakin' teacher!" Muhammad reminded Sami.

"Hey, she was young and pretty and had really silky hair which had a very nice scent," Sami said, defending himself.

"She was a teacher, Sami. Anyways, what about later in school when that girl who sat next to you in Science always asked for your help?"

"What was wrong with her?"

"You had already started practicing by then, yet you ended up with a crush on a girl who ate haram Haribos after you told her it was haram!"

"Well I didn't say I was going to make her my wife, did I? And that wasn't my fault. It was the stupid teacher's fault who assigned us seats and made us work in pairs all the time!" Sami complained. "Now stop making me sound like such a creep. I don't even want to like Hareem." Sami heard a distant voice calling Muhammad on the other end of the line.

"Just as this conversation got interesting, I have to go."

"Under her thumb," Sami said.

"Shut up. Before I do go, I just want to remind you to keep your distance from her. And I mean really try and keep your distance and leave it as a small crush. Do not communicate with her, do not justify communication with her and do not fall for her. If circumstances were different, then maybe there would be a possibility but her parents trust you to live in their house. If you fall for their daughter, you'll break that trust."