The Two of Us

Chapter 3 - A Little Glimpse

* * *

"Say what?" Emaan gasped.

"SHUT THE FRONT DOOR!" Leila screamed, her eyes going wide.

"And what did you say?" Emaan cried.

"TELL ME YOU SAID YES AND YOU'RE GOING TO HAVE HIS BABIES!" Leila went on, jumping up and down. 

Sabrina paused and fixed Leila with a disapproving glare. She'd just told her two best friends in the whole world that Khalid had proposed to her and while she was expecting Leila's reaction to be similar to that of a pre-teen girl who'd just been handed One Direction concert tickets, she wasn't expecting that particular remark.

"Leila, the boy just proposed to her." Emaan snorted, lying back down on Sabrina's bed. "I mean seriously, one step at a time, please." 

"But what did you say?" Leila asked Sabrina. "Please tell me you said yes."

Sabrina was quiet. She chose that moment to admire the wall. 

"You said no, didn't you." Leila whispered, and it was as if the pre-teen girl had just found out her concert tickets were fake.

"I said I'd think about it." Sabrina announced. "I told him that if he really is serious about wanting my help to become a better Muslim than he needs to prove it."

Sabrina winced inwardly at how her words must have sounded. She sounded like a cocky little princess. Who did she think she was, demanding Khalid to prove himself as if she found him unworthy? She suppressed her thoughts and reminded herself that she had the right to ask him to change. Marriage wasn't some joke. It was a life long decision that she didn't want to regret. The last thing she wanted was to get married to him, believing he would change and then find out he'd given up and resort back to drugs and gangs.

Her friends fell silent. She watched Leila's face grow confused and then understanding seemed to dawn in her eyes. Emaan stared at her with a knowing look and nodded as if she'd reached a private conclusion. Sabrina was a little surprised to see that Emaan was looking at her like she knew exactly what she was thinking.

"You don't think he can change, do you?" Leila asked softly, while Emaan gave Sabrina a small, intelligent smile. 

"No. I think he can. I just think he doesn't really want to."

A short silence fell upon them while her words sunk in. Leila jumped up.

"Well, at least give us the details! What was he wearing? Was he nervous? What did he smell like?" Leila asked, with an enthusiastic grin.

Sabrina rolled her eyes at the last question and dove into great detail about the proposal. Leila hung onto every word while Emaan listened with the same small smile on her face.

* * *

The sun shone merrily as Sabrina exited Capilano University to put their one hour lunch time to good use and head over to Tim Horton's. Her friends followed her and, as they left the brooding building behind, they made their way to Leila's new car. Leila, who was wearing an emerald green hijab which made her grey eyes outstandingly bright, was grinning in excitement. 

"See, isn't she a beauty?" Leila purred, stroking her new Ford Fiesta. 

It was metallic blue and shiny the way only new cars are. Sabrina smiled in approval and Emaan squealed, impatient to get inside.

"You are so lucky!" She was saying. "I can't wait until I get a car."

"Me either." Sabrina agreed. "I don't want my parents to buy it for me, though. I want to buy it, so it feels like its actually mine."