“Amir, can I talk to you?”
Amir looked up from his papers, and motioned Houssam into the room.
“Of course Houssam. Sit down.”
Houssam took the seat across from Amir’s desk, and began to bounce his leg up and down anxiously, avoiding his brother’s gaze.
“What’s going on Houssam?” Amir asked after a few moments of silence.
“Um, I sort of need to talk to you about something.” He said nervously, and Amir stared at him, waiting for him to continue, but when he didn’t, he leaned back against his seat.
“You’re scaring me Houssam. What’s up?”
“No need to be scared Amir. I’ve just never done this before so I’m trying to figure it out.”
Amir raised an eyebrow.
“Is this what I think it means?”
Houssam laughed, and ran a hand through his hair.
“If you think I am about to tell you I think I want to marry someone then you are right.”
“Aw man!” Amir exclaimed a giant grin on his face. “Houssam! Bro!” he laughed, and stood up walking around his desk to clap Houssam on the back.
Houssam laughed.
“Yeah I know I know. Don’t make a big deal out of it, you’re going to make me blush.”
Amir snorted, and sat back down at his desk.
“Yeah, you’re going to blush.”
Houssam shrugged.
“Hey it’s been known to happen.”
Amir shook his head with a smile.
“So would I be correct in my guess that it is Kalthoum you are interested in?”
“You would be.”
Amir smiled wider.
“So why are you deciding now? I thought you told Yusra you were going to wait?”
“Well I was going to. But I decided I need to go back to LA after Yusra finishes her infusions, and I wanted to get to know Kalthou m before I go.”
Amir’s eyes widened.
“What!? Why would you leave?! You still have like four months before your next season starts!”
Houssam shook his head.
“I know. But man this whole thing with Hana and the paparazzi scared the hell out of me. I can’t even tell you. Like her face when she was crying is still haunting me. I don’t want anything like that to happen to her again, I care about her too much.”
If you care about her so much, why are you going after her best friend? Amir couldn’t help thinking
“And of course that applies to everyone else too not just Hana.”
“Of course. So why are you coming to me for help?” he asked.
“Because you came to me when you wanted to get married. Thought I would do the same.”
“Aw,” Amir said with a pleased smile, “it means a lot to me that you trust me like that.”
“Yeah, yeah don’t go all mushy on me. What do I do?”
“Well the first step would be to talk to Baba. Then if he agrees with everything, from there you talk to her dad.”
Houssam nodded, propping his face up on his chin thoughtfully, and Amir just sat quietly watching him, before clearing his throat.
“So I’m going to play the older brother card for a second to prepare you before Baba talks to you, because when I wanted to marry Yusra, he hit me with the questions that we aren’t exactly well versed in answering.”
“Like what?”
“Well the most embarrassing was when he asked me if I was attracted to Yusra. That was awkward.”
Houssam laughed.
“Haha, that is awkward. Sucks for you.”
“Stop being smug, you know he is going to ask you the same thing. So might as well practice on me.”
“Ugh,” Houssam said, turning his eyes up to the ceiling, “of course I’m attracted to her. She’s beautiful.”
Amir stifled a grin.
“Okay. Why do you like her?”
Houssam blinked.
“I just said she’s beautiful.”
“That’s the only reason you like her?” Amir asked with a frown, and Houssam shifted uncomfortably under his gaze.
“Well I mean I don’t really know her that well.”
“You can’t base a marriage on a person’s looks. Yes it is one of the things that Rasul Allah said you should look for in a partner, but the most important thing is the Deen. How do you feel about how she practices?”
Houssam cleared his throat.
“Um, I don’t know honestly. I’ve only been around her a few times.” He waved a hand in the air. “But it’s not a big deal, I mean we can get to know each other. That’s what the Tarauf process is about.”
Amir was silent for a few seconds, staring at his brother, his mouth still turned down in a slight frown.
“Yes you can. But just make sure you aren’t blinded by her looks.” He tapped his finger on his desk. “Do you know if she has feelings for you?”
“Yes.” Houssam said with a slight blush, and Amir’s eyebrow raised again.
“How is that?”
“I…uh heard her telling someone that she needed to convince me she was the woman of my dreams.”
Amir chuckled.
“Wow, and she had no problem with the fact that you heard her say that?”
“She didn’t know I was there.”
“How…you know what? Never mind I don’t want to know.” He said waving a hand in the air, and Houssam laughed.
“So you think I have a good shot?” Houssam asked, and Amir smiled.
“If you like her as much as you say you do, and apparently she wants to be the woman of your dreams, then I think so.”
***
“Habibi?”
Hisham looked up from where he was sitting on the couch, and glanced over at his wife.
“Salaam hayatee.” He said motioning towards the seat next to him.
Ilham paused to pat Layla on the head where she was laying in front of the television, before she sat down, and smiled as he leaned over to kiss her head, and she snuggled into his chest.
“What are you doing?” she asked and he gave a sigh.
“I’m trying to figure out how you break someone’s heart.”
She lifted her head.
“What do you mean?”
He ran a hand through his hair.
“Yesterday Houssam asked to get to know Kalthoum for marriage.”
Ilham’s face brightened, and she put her hands to her face in excitement.
“Ya Allah! That’s wonderful!” she paused, peering into his face. “It’s wonderful right? I mean we have been wanting to get Houssam married.”
He hesitated, before patting her knee.
“Yes its wonderful baby.”
“Habibi, what’s going on?”
He pushed her hair back from her face before trailing his fingers through the length of it, coming up to cup her cheek.
“You can’t overreact.”
Her lip jutted out in a pout.
“Since when do I overreact!?”
Hisham laughed, and leaned over to kiss her nose.
“All the time baby.”
“Be quiet.” She said giving him a push, and he laughed again.
“Alright. You can’t say anything. To anyone.”
“Okay.” She said a bit worriedly.
“Hana likes Houssam. A lot.”
Ilham’s eyes widened and she just stared at him in surprise, before her hand flew to her mouth.
“Ya Allah. Oh my God. Oh Hisham!” she exclaimed, and he nodded grimly.
“I know. I just,” he paused to put his face in his hands, “I just don’t know how to tell her. And I have to be the one to tell her. I can’t let her find out from anyone else, especially Kalthoum or Houssam.” He finished, his voice coming out muffled. Ilham put a hand on his back.
“I’m sorry habibi. Do you want me to talk to her?”
“No, she can’t know that you know.”
“Okay. How are you going to tell her?”
“Well I think it best if we aren’t here. But at the same time I don’t want her to burst into tears in the middle of a restaurant. So we are going to get take out and go for a picnic at the beach.”
“Aw that’s nice! We don’t we ever do something like that!” Ilham exclaimed, and Hisham rolled his eyes.
“Because we have three kids.”
She laughed, and put a hand on his face.
“You don’t want more children?”
He groaned.
“Is this your way of telling me you’re pregnant!?”
“No, but nice to know you would groan if I was.” She said with a smile, and he laughed. They were quiet for a few seconds, before she sighed, and leaned against the couch. “Poor Hana. I wish Houssam would just realize that she liked him and would like her, and they would get married, and live happily ever after.”
“Mama, I’m hungry!” Layla exclaimed coming over to them, and Hisham pulled his daughter onto his lap, before turning to look back to Ilham.
“Me too baby. Me too.”
***
“Alright Hisham. What’s the bad news?” Hana asked as she pulled off her sandals and stepped into the water. Her brother was quiet as he watched her, the roaring of the waves the only sound for a good few minutes.
“Why do you assume there is bad news? Can’t a brother just treat his sister to a beach trip?” he asked eventually, and she smiled, the wind blowing her skirt around her.
“Of course a brother can. But I also know my brother, and he doesn’t usually spend a whole meal looking at me like the world is ending.” She turned to look at him. “What’s up Hisham?”
Hisham cleared his throat, and bent to roll up his pant legs before stepping into the water beside her.
“I hate that I have to tell you this.”
She gave a short laugh.
“Let me guess, Houssam proposed to Kalthoum.”
Hisham’s head snapped up in surprise.
“W…what? How did you know?”
She smiled.
“I’ve been waiting for it to happen. I just didn’t know if I was going to find out from you or…” she paused to swallow deeply, “Yusra.”
“Are you okay?” he asked in concern, and she shrugged her shoulders.
“Um, no. Not right at this second.”
“How can I help?”
She smiled again before splashing a foot in the water.
“You can’t. But thank you.”
“What are you going to do?”
“There is nothing to do Hisham. I suck it up and move on. I just hope she realizes what she has.” She finished off in a whisper.
“Are you going to still interview him and babysit and stuff?”
“Of course. If I stopped everything the second he starts to talk to somebody for marriage, it would be obvious I care for him. And if there ever was a horrible time for him to find out, now,” she gave a bitter laugh, “now would be it.”
“You’re stronger than I ever could be.”
She smiled again.
“I have to be. Otherwise the world would crumble around me, and I would have a broken heart and feel like the world is ending. And I won't let myself become like that."