Strings Attached

~Chapter 7~

They have this sleek black BMW that I can't help but ogle at. My Gosh! I never thought I'd actually see such a beauty in my lifetime. And when I sit inside, I feel as if I've died and gone to heaven. So, I smack myself on the head. Heaven will be a hundred times better than this, you klutz!

"What was that?" Aunt Samina asks me. She's told me to call her 'aunt'. She finds being called 'Auntie' sickening. Although I don't think there's much difference between the two. I guess I wasn't so discreet in hitting myself. "Uh... oh... nothing. I... I... felt there was some insect on my head."

"Insect?! In the car??!! Jabbar, stop the car right now!" she jumps up and screams at her husband. Oh my Allaah! What did I do? "Can't you see I'm driving in such a busy street, darling. I can't stop!" Uncle Jabbar shouts disbelievingly from the driver's seat. And I roll my eyes at her antics.

"Oh, but you have to. There's an insect--," before she can complete her sentence, I interrupt her. "No, no, Aunt! I said there was an insect. I threw it out, I tell you. It's okay now." "Oh. Then why didn't you say so before? Just roll up the window, will you?" she tells me and I oblige. I'd rather have the window open and feel the wind caress my face, but I sacrifice my pleasure and shut it.

After about fifteen minutes of a boring but amazing car-ride, Uncle Jabbar stops the car in front of a rather well-kept house. It's a really big place for four people to live in, but who am I to judge. It's a double-storied building and it must have about 10 rooms, at the most. "Come on in," Uncle says with a broad smile upon his face, while Aunt's face is not so cheerful anymore. She isn't really in the favor of me staying at their place, I'm guessing.

I was wrong about the rooms. There are only eight rooms in total... but my, they're huge! After they show me my room, I bring all my things in and appraise the whole place with my eyes for a good five minutes. It's been kept in a little old-fashioned way but it's beautiful. The view of the back gardens outside the large window is breathtaking. There's a five-inch-thick mattress on the bed, and soft-looking pillows. After almost a 12-hour flight, I'm a little jetlagged, and the bed seems so inviting. But no, it wouldn't be very polite of me.

There're thick curtains round the bed too. It is so soft that maybe I'd never wake up again if I slept in it once. And I smack myself once again for thinking that. Thank god! Aunt Samina isn't here. She'd have thrown another tantrum about an insect in her house this time. There's a plush carpet on the floor beside the bed and I can't help but walk on it, barefoot.

I survey the bathroom next. It's all modern with a bathtub, curtained showers and everything. I can never imagine bathing in a bathtub... ew! But the whole thing seems so much like a movie to me. I never expected to live in a place this awesome! Alhamdulillaah!!

After I've freshened up, I get out of my room, only to find Aunt Samina with a girl in tight pajama bottoms near the stairs. "Oh, you're freshened up, Hidayah. Meet my daughter, Hiba," she says, pointing to the girl beside her.

Wait a sec! She's her daughter!! I thought she'd be some fashionista, wearing prim clothes and high wedges. Although she has a lot of make-up on, she's very... ordinary looking. Just as I look her up and down, she too is scrutinizing me with one of her eyebrows raised. And we stare at each other for a minute or two. I must say she has an amazing figure though.