Loving You Better

Chapter 38

Yumna

She rubbed her belly absentmindedly as she thought about him. She hadn't thought about Raees in such a long time that the memory of her once best friend was almost a foreign object to her mind. If there was one thing she had truly regretted in her will to win Muneer over, it was that she had trampled over a friendship that was, at one stage, the most beautiful thing in her life.

She remembered the first time she had ever met him. She was 14, deathly afraid to start high-school amongst other kids. Her parents had sheltered her for far too long and though home-schooling was safer for her health, it did nothing to help her grow as a woman. She was so stressed out that her heart began to feel the brunt of her panic. She could feel it closing in, growing tighter and tighter, feel her lungs constrict within her chest causing her to drop her bag down onto hard concrete floor below her.

"You okay?" his voice was still young- on the verge of breaking and the embarrassing high-pitched crack caused her lips to tilt up amusedly. "Stop laughing and tell me if you're okay." He rolled his eyes, waiting for her reply as he shifted his bag to his left shoulder.

"Not really." She replied truthfully.

"Why?"

"Just like that." She shrugged her shoulders, feeling a light coating of sweat grace her upper lip as she bent down to pick up her bag.

"Can I take that for you?" he gestured towards her ridiculously large bag, noting the utter effort it took within her not to drop it.

"No, it's-"

"Whatever. Don't be stubborn."

And with that, he lifted her bag onto his right shoulder, leading her towards wherever it is they had meant to go.

She felt a tear spill from between her eyelashes, rolling softly down her cheek as she wondered about him. She wondered about what it was that he would be going through, wondering if it would still be okay to send him a quick message. Would he even bother looking at it? She had crushed him all those years ago- turning their friendship into a sordid, ugly thing with just a few short words. She hadn't realised until much later that she would miss their easy friendship.

That's all it ever was. An easy friendship that made her happy whenever she thought about it.

Muneer walked in, alarmed to see tears dripping down her face, instantly worried about their baby. "What happened?" he asked, kneeling down before her.

"My friend's dad passed away." She answered, irritated by her own dramatics.

"Which friend?"

"Raees."

Muneer thought back, vaguely remembering an unimpressed glare, expensive clothes and a head of whacked hair. "From varsity?"

"Yeah."

"That's sad." He looked up, curious as to why she was crying bucket fulls for a man she had barely even seen in four years. "Do you..."he considered his words carefully, feeling uncharacteristically jealous of her tears. "Do you want to... go there?"

"No." she shook her head sadly, knowing he would barely spare her a glance if she walked through their front door. "We were friends a long time ago. It wouldn't be right now."

He simply nodded his head, reaching forward to place a soft kiss against her swollen belly. "I thought something was wrong with him."

She let out a puff of antagonised laughed. "No, it was just me this time."

Her sharp words causing him to look up at her oddly, holding her gaze as she glared down at him. "I'm sorry." He apologised without truly understanding what it was that he was apologising for. She simply shook her head, ridding herself of the pungent thoughts infiltrating her mind.