The Scars They Hide

Chapter Twenty - Time Away

Chapter Twenty - Time Away

As much as Lutfiyah had appreciated the feeling of finally expressing her feelings, she also wasn't one for confrontation and so everytime she heard a sound in the corridor outside, her stomach would start giving her issues. Like acting as if she were about to puke her intestines out.

Luckily for her, there was a thing known as life and other responsibilities. And it hit her with some surprise, that Ramadhaan was only a week away and she had yet to convince her father to come stay with her.

She wanted to roll her eyes at the absurdity of it. She knew he was eventually going to agree and he knew he was eventually going to agree, and yet they danced this dance.

She prepared the spare room for him and bought the extra groceries needed for the month, sorting out savouries and food for the early morning and late evening meals. She didn't really like to go shopping unless absolutely necessary when fasting.

Three days before the month started, after she had finally convinced her father not to spend the blessed month alone, there was a knock on the door. She had just come back from work so May hadn't come back yet with Jane. Assuming it was them, she opened the door with a huge smile on her face.

"Assalamualaikum, my bab- oh Jaafar, Assalamualaikum."

He grinned at her blunder. "Waalaikumusalaam. How are you?"

"Good, I'm good. Uhm, how are you?"

He nodded. "Alhamdulillah I'm well." There was a long silence as everything that had been left unsaid hung between them. Lutfiyah stared at Jaafar and without shame, he stared back, challenging her to be the first one to speak. They both knew she wouldn't be.

Finally, he spoke, his eyes never leaving hers, the action causing goosebumps to travel over her body. She dropped her gaze, the feeling too intense to bear. "I actually came to tell you that I'll be leaving tomorrow. My family wants me to spend Ramadhaan with them so, I won't be here for the month. You don't have to worry about me and before you say that you won't, you will because that's who you are."

She smiled, shaking her head as she did. "Whatever. Where do they stay?"

She didn't expect him to answer because he never gave much away about his personal life and this whole silence proved that but to her surprise he did.

He frowned. "They used to stay in the States but a few years ago they moved to South Africa. So us siblings are all here, except for my younger brother, and my parents are there. The days are shorter too, you know, so fasting should be very easy. I do not envy your long days here."

She shrugged. "What can we do? This is where we live. We can't all go vacationing to other countries when the going gets tough."

He laughed at that, his eyes shining with mischief as he looked at her. "Maybe one day you'll be able to."

She swallowed hard at the way his words seemed to imply something else and sighed. "Well, May will miss you while you're gone."

"Only May?" he asked softly then looked startled by his forwardness. "Sorry, that was...not what I meant to say."

She should have been hurt by his obvious attempt to seem unaffected by her but she felt that it gave more away than he realised.

"It's fine. And for your information, not just May."

He stared at her, speechless for once and he probably would have carried on standing there like that if the lift hadn't dinged and let out a sleepy May and a perky Jane. Lutfiyah honestly didn't know how the woman always looked so awake and ready to take on life all the time.