When Stars are Hidden

Chapter 34

"The house is so lonely these days. Your father is rarely at home and you and Zain are in school." Aunt Faiza muttered quietly.

"I'm so sorry." Naima quietly replied. She was curious as to why her father wasn't at home regularly but she didn't bother to ask.
She wouldn't even care if it wasn't for Aunt Faiza. Why would someone as nice and sweet as her even like someone like her father.
Love was blind.

"Don't be. It's not your fault. Oh God. I should stop blabbering about my life. We never did finish are conversation yesterday." Aunt Faiza smirked.
She had asked Naima about Tawfiq but Naima just told her to wait till the next morning because she was tired.

"Oh yeah. What were we talking about again?" Naima wanted to play oblivious in case Aunt Faiza had forgotten about her question yesternight.

"Don't play dumb with me. I want the whole juicy story." Aunt Faiza smiled knowingly. She grabbed Naima's arm and pulled her to the living room couch.

"So. . .How are things with Tawfiq?"

If it wasn't yesterday, the last time Aunt Faiza had seen Tawfiq was Naima's birthday. He put in a lot of effort for her birthday. He even got a little annoyed when Dean revealed Tawfiq could sing. He did not like singing at all but when Aunt Faiza had encouraged him that Naima would love it he agreed.
She suspected he had a soft spot for Naima.

"Umm. . .It's all good, I think." Naima muttered the last part and couldn't look Aunt Faiza in the eye. She didn't want to tell he about Tawfiq's proposal.

"Only good? You are so bad at lying. Oh just tell me. Please." Aunt Faiza pouted.
She acted like a child at times. Naima thought. It wasn't like she had agreed to marry Tawfiq so it wouldn't hurt to tell her.

"He. . .He sort of. . .Errr asked me to marry him?" Naima questioned more than stating.

"WHAT?!" Aunt Faiza shouted with her hand covering her mouth.

"Aunt Faiza!?" Naima grumbled. The whole neighborhood would hear her if she continued shouting.

"And. . .And what did you say? Are you going to get married!?" Aunt Faiza shouted again.

Naima made her a sign to keep it down.

"No more shouting. Please. I didn't give him an answer. I told him I wanted to finish schooling first. So he could ask after I finish." Naima answered.

"But that so long." She shook her head. "It doesn't matter, if he really wants to marry you he can wait." Aunt Faiza said with a smile.

"Thanks for understanding." Naima smiled back.

"OOOO. . .Did he say the three magic words? Was it romantic when he proposed? Was he heartbroken when you refused. Tell me. . .Tell me. . ."Aunt Faiza said impatiently acting like a high school girl waiting for gossip from her best friend.

"One question at a time. He did not say any three magic words. It wasn't any big proposal... He was on a hospital bed when he proposed. I don't know if he was heartbroken. He didn't exactly tell me. " Naima smiled at the memory.

"The way you are smiling tells me it was pretty romantic." Aunt Faiza
smiled dreamily.
She acted so much like a child with no care in the world. Naima admired her for that.

"How old are you again?" Naima asked with a chuckle.

"My body may be old but I got a mind of a sixteen year old girl." Aunt Faiza joked. To which they both laughed.

"I believe you." Naima finally said.

"And we got to admit Tawfiq is a sight for sore eyes. He looks like one of those Arabian prince. If I wasn't married and I was 20 years younger I would have already jumped his bones." Aunt Faiza said and laughed.