The difference she made!

The feast

It is not love that is blind, but jealousy.

~Lawrence Durrell

When they arrived at Hassan's house, the space was filled with cars of the guests. Khalid stopped his car in front of the gate and told Fajr to go ahead while he would try to find a place to park his car nearby.

As she reached the open gate, she encountered Majed near the entrance. He exclaimed charmingly; "How lucky I am! I suppose I am the first one to see the bride today."

Fajr smiled at him; Assalam Alikum, Majed. how are you?

"Wa alikum assalam. I'm great if you are so." He replied, digging his hands into his pockets.

The smile didn't leave her face as she responded; "thank you, I'm good."

Majed looked around the place and asked; "where's Khalid? I am not seeing him with you."

She turned and looked behind, but hadn't spotted him yet; "he is trying to find a place to park the car."

Majed tilted his head to one side and asked; "How's he treating you? If you have any complaints against him just tell me."

She blinked, surprised, her lips parting; "he is doing alright."

"well, if he is not, just know you have someone you can rely on and always have your back."

At this point of their conversation, Khalid cut in. It was obvious that he didn't like the last part of the conversation he'd just heard. His face grew serious as he gave Fajr a baffled stare and motioned with his head toward the entrance ahead of them, a gesture for her to get in while he exchanged formalities and shook hands with Majed. Although, Fajr wanted to mutter an objection, instead she just walked ahead following his instruction, unable to figure out what changed his previous whimsical joking mood.

Khalid made eye contact with Majed for a few long moments, and his grip was unconsciously too solid. When he loosened his grip, he excused himself leaving Majed behind confused.

Whereas, Fajr was still standing at the entrance, Khalid approached her and asked in a very bothered tone; "what are you still doing here?"

The way he addressed her was not nice at all, she told him firmly; "I think you have the keys!" her expression had a tone of disbelief.

"Can't you just ring the doorbell!" He took the keys out of his pocket, pushed the door open and waited for her to enter.

As soon as she walked in, the door creaked loudly as Khalid slammed it shut behind. She froze at her spot looking at the door and wondering about this sudden change of attitude Khalid represented. For a moment, she forgot about her surroundings until she heard Ruqaya's voice who was coming towards her.

"Ahlan...Ahlan finally the bride is here!"

Fajr hugged her warmly and Ruqaya enquired; "has Khalid already gone to the Majlis?"

"yeah, I think so." Fajr confirmed. In an attempt to change her upset mood, she looked at Ruqaya's big belly and asked; "how's your baby doing?"

"I think its delivery time is coming soon. We are going back to the UAE after the feast."

Falling in plain disappointment, she exclaimed; "oh really? Why so soon?"

Ruqaya held her hand summoning her to walk along with her; "Ali wants me to deliver the baby there. Any way tell me, are you ready to meet the guests?"

Moving with Ruqaya, she replied; "I first need to put on a little makeup."

"ok let's go upstairs then, although I think you don't need to put anything. You look amazingly beautiful."