When Stars are Hidden

Chapter 33

"Tawfiq?. . .W-what are you doing here?" Naima was nothing but shocked.
She knew that Tawfiq was going to Valley View but she thought he had already left.

"Habiba. . .Fancy seeing you here. I thought you said you weren't going home for the break?" Tawfiq gave her a big smile and sat down by her.

"Were you following me? How did you know I was going to Valley View today?" Naima questioned.

"You realize according to our seat numbers it's you who's been following me, Habiba." Tawfiq said with a smirk.

"W-what? Why would I follow you?" Naima said in an incredulous tone.

The plane had started to move slowly now and she was getting scared. Her hands were shaking slightly and her heart was racing. She knew it was a bad idea to go alone.

"I won't know, now will I?" Tawfiq saw her hands shaking on her lap.
"If I may ask, why are your hands shaking?" Tawfiq asked with concern lacing his words as he stared at Naima.

Naima quickly withdrew her hand and folded it.

"I-I'm not scared. Why would you think that?" Naima said as the speed of the plane increased.

"Never said you were scared. Are you scared, Habiba?" Tawfiq asked.

If he knew she was scared of planes he wouldn't have made Belinda coerce Naima into going to Valley View. He was grateful to Belinda but now he felt bad.

"I'm not scared. . .Not at all. . .I'm going to die!" Naima screamed and held onto Tawfiq's arm like he was her life line when they plane increased its speed for take off.
Some people stared at them.

Tawfiq glared at them and they looked away. This was why he wasn't a fan of Economy seats. But Naima wouldn't buy First class seats and since he wanted to sit by her, he had to buy Economy.

Naima shut her eyes tightly as she held on tighter to Tawfiq when the plane took off from the runway. She felt sick. Tawfiq was just staring at Naima not knowing what exactly to do.

"Habiba, hey don't worry. In Shaa Allah everything will be fine." Tawfiq whispered silently to her.
He placed his chin on her hijab covered head which was hugging his arms.

"Think about something else. Think about all those fun times with your mom you told me about." Tawfiq soothingly added.

She stopped shaking. But didn't let go of Tawfiq.

They stayed like that for a long time and Tawfiq's arm was getting numb but he couldn't find it in him to move away. She had fallen asleep a while ago so her grip on Tawfiq had reduced but she still held onto him. After about 4 hours, the plane landed in Wyoming.

Naima was still asleep.

"Habiba, wake up. We are here." Tawfiq tapped her lightly.

"Hmm?" Naima mumbled.

After a few seconds, it was like she received a shock and let go of Tawfiq.

"I'm so sorry. I didn't. . .This is so embarrassing. I could have done that to a complete stranger. I'm so so sorry." Naima said, not able to look at Tawfiq.

"Don't apologize. At least it wasn't a complete stranger right?" Tawfiq said.

He made a mental note not to let Naima sit next to anyone especially a man in a plane. He would beat the hell out of them.

"I didn't hurt your hand, right?" Naima asked.

What was she thinking gripping onto Tawfiq like that?