"Hi, Manal!" Hala waved a little at me.
I furrowed my brows in incomprehension. I still couldn't believe my eyes. Several times, I had tried to make peace with Hala, but each time, she kept giving me cold shoulders. I couldn't help but wonder why she visited.
"Aren't you going to at least reply?"
I averted my gaze from her to Jawaad.
He shrugged.
He probably was as surprised as I was.
"Hi," I finally responded in a subdued voice. I wanted to ask her how she knew where I lived, but I held back.
"Na'eem gave me your address." She answered my unasked question.
"Okay..." I trailed off, waiting for her to continue. I needed to know what she wanted from me. Left to me, I'd want us to keep acting like strangers.
Indeed, we don't know what we have until we lose it, but it's also true that we don't know what we've been missing until it arrives.
In my case with Hala, I didn't know I had lost my peace of mind. We were always at loggerheads, but ever since we went our separate ways, I realized how serious I had become. I stopped taking my studies for granted.
Friendship isn't supposed to be toxic! So, yes! Peace of mind is what I've been missing.
I didn't realize it until it arrived.
"Can we talk?" She asked.
"We are talking." I deadpanned.
"Alone..." Her voice trailed. "I want us to talk in private."
I suppressed the urge to roll my eyes at her words. Privacy? I'd definitely tell every single detail to Jawaad.
"Please?" She added.
"Whatever it is you want to tell me, you can tell it to me in front of ja—"
"It's fine, Manal." Jawaad cut me off. "I will just be in the car. When you're done talking to her, just give me a call."
"You don't have to leave—you know that right?"
"I don't have to stay either." He chuckled. "Be nice." He muttered to me before walking away.
I couldn't help but chuckle when I read his lips. Did he honestly think I'd go ballistic?
"Is he your boyfriend now?" Hala asked, pulling me out of my trance.
I fixated my eyes on her. "Yes, he is."
"Wow!" She exclaimed. "Congratulations to both of you. I never thought you two would end up together after everything."
I gave a small smile. I didn't know what she meant by her last sentence but it didn't sit right with me. I wondered what she meant by her last two words.
"Honestly, I'm happy for the both of you."
At this point, I couldn't control my expression anymore. I sneered. "What do you want?"
"Can we sit for a while? My legs are wobbly already."
"Of course," I replied, and motioned for us to sit at the veranda.
"I want to start by apologizing to you for the fallout between the both of us. The whole thing is actually uncalled for."
I remained silent, giving her the chance to clarify what she had just said.
"We shouldn't have ended our friendship just because of a man." She added.
"You ended the friendship." I corrected. And Jawaad isn't just any man.
"I know, and that's why I feel so ashamed right now. This issue between the both of us should have been resolved a long time ago, but I kept on being adamant. I'm sorry, Manal. Can we go back to the way we used to be?"
Bemused, I gazed at her.
"I realized," she continued. "I don't even love Jawaad. I was just in love with the idea of being in love with him. Nothing else. He is all yours, Manal. No one is going to take him away from you."
I hummed. For some inexplicable reason, I failed to believe her words. There was something off about the way she said it. I might have been paranoid though.
"A man should be the last person to get in the way of our friendship, don't you think? Even though I love him, which I just confirmed I don't, I can leave him for you. It's not too much to do for a friend. I miss our friendship, Manal. It feels we haven't been talking for a very long time. Before anything else, we're course mates and we'd soon be patting ways. I don't want us to graduate without mending our relationship. It makes no sense at all."
I nodded. Hala had a point. The whole thing was kind of childish, but I definitely wasn't the childish one. Hala was. I was glad she realized it sooner rather than later. "It really doesn't. I'm sorry too if you felt I went behind your back to steal Jawaad. That was never the case."
Hala smiled. "It's all good now. Besides, I'm in a relationship—a serious relationship with someone right now." She blushed. "We're going to get married soon."
"Really?" My lips stretched. "You're going to get married soon?" I was genuinely happy for Hala. I had no idea I still had her interest at heart. "That's great news."
"And you?" She asked. "When are you and... Jawaad getting married?"
I hesitated for a while before responding. "As soon as I graduate. Our families already know about each other."
"Why do you have to wait till after school? I mean, the both of you are in love, right? And you're already in your final year. In my opinion, you two are only delaying."
I shook my head. "It's Abi's condition. He wants me to finish university first. But it doesn't really matter to me. I'm almost done and Jawaad is willing to wait."
"It's true, but life isn't promised." She reminded.
I nodded in agreement.
"By the way, I saw your car. Congratulations. I'm so happy for you. I can't wait for us to go on a ride in it. We should do that sometime."
"Thanks, Hala. We definitely should."
"I can't wait."
I smiled.
Hala and I continued to talk for at least thirty minutes more. She told me about the new friends she had made and how difficult it had been for her to pretend as though I didn't exist.
We ended our little reunion by embracing each other.
I saw her off to the gate, then walked up to Jawaad in his car. "Sorry...sorry." I apologized for keeping him waiting.
"I was beginning to doze off." He yawned.
"I'm so sorry." I apologized again. "I got carried away."
"It's fine," he waved a hand dismissively. "Where do you want to go to?"
I shrugged. "Wherever you want to go to."
"I don't feel like going anywhere." He voiced. "We can just sit in my car and talk. Is that okay?"
I nodded. I was not in the mood to go out anyway.
I walked to the other side of the car and got in.
Jawaad put down the glasses and turned to me. "I have a confession to make."
"What confession?" My heart thumped heavily in my chest.
"I told Farida that you've bewitched me."
I furrowed my brows.
"Because I keep seeing you everywhere I go." He continued. "Is that been normal?"
I felt heat rush to my cheeks. I looked away.
"Is it?"
"How should I know? For all I even know, you're just exaggerating."
"I'm not." He chuckled. "You can ask Farida if you don't believe me."
"Speaking about Farida, how's she doing? How's preparation for her wedding?"
"In full spring." He responded. "That Farouq guy wants the wedding to take place in three months."
My gaze darted back to Jawaad. "You still don't like him, do you?"
"I don't." He admitted. "But unfortunately, Farida does. There's nothing I can do about that. I just know she's about to make the biggest mistake of her life. I don't think that guy is worthy enough."
"Exactly." I agreed. "You just have to bring yourself to see the best in him. Farouq isn't as bad as you think he is. I know he messed up once, but that shouldn't be enough reason to doubt his intention. If we agree to go by that, then I'm probably also making a mistake by deciding to be with you. You also messed up and I forgave you. Tell me sincerely, why don't you like Farouq? There has to be another tangible reason."
"Let's just drop it."
"No. I want to know."
"There's no other reason, okay? I just don't like the fact that he played you and my sister at the same time."
"I understand how you feel about the whole thing, but don't you think you're just dragging it? I don't want to believe you're an unforgiving person."
He ran a hand over his face and sighed. "I have forgiven him. I just haven't accepted him yet. He still has to prove himself to me."
"Okay," I replied, deciding to end the conversation there. I had just seen him after what seemed like forever to me. Instead of talking about other people, I wanted all of our conversations to be about us and no one else. "...your mum called me yesterday."
"Oh! She did? What did y'all talk about?"
"The usual." I smiled. "She just called to check up on me, and," I smiled again. "Of course to remind me that I can always call her to complain about you."
Jawaad sneered. "But I haven't been giving you a chance to complain."
"You have." I narrowed my eyes at him. "Today, to be precise. I felt really bad when you ended the call. I almost called your mum to complain about your attitude." I remarked though the last part was not true. I'd never do that. At least not yet.
"You will hold that against me for a very long time." He stated. "I have apologized. What else do you want me to do?"
"I just want you to promise never to disrespect me like that again. It feels like disrespect to me."
"It was never my intention to make you feel disrespected. I will avoid doing that since you hate it so much."
"Thanks." I smiled. I was really glad about the fact that Jawaad and I were getting much more comfortable around each other. I couldn't wait to be done with university.
"I've realized something," Jawaad said, reclining forward in his seat.
"What?"
"I think I've never heard you call my name." He stated. "Is there a reason for that?"
I laughed. "I've called your names. Many times. Maybe you've just not heard me."
"I don't want to be called Jawaad by you..."
I chuckled. "What do you want me to call you?"
"Anything but Jawaad." He sneered. "Don't you feel some type of way calling me by my name?"
"Why would I?" I huffed. "Your name is actually nice. I like it."
"So you're just going to keep calling me by my name? No endearment?"
"We'll see."
"See what? I don't like it. I want you to change it."
"That'd be after we get married." I tittered. "I will think of a pet name for you then."
"Fair enough." He shrugged. "by the way, you haven't told me what you talked about with your friend."
"Oh! Hala! She apologized for the misunderstanding we had and we made up."
Jawaad shook his head.
"What?"
"It seems she has something up her sleeve."
"Huh? Why would you say that?" I asked, confused. "Did she say anything to you?"
Again, he shook his head. "We only exchanged pleasantries."
"Why do you think she's not being genuine?"
"It's just a feeling. Please be very careful around her."
Jawaad's words rendered me speechless. Deep down, I had my doubts about her, but hearing the words being said to me made more sense to me.
•
Assalamualaikum/hello!
Do you think Hala has an ulterior motive?
If yes, do you have an idea of what it is? 🧐
The next chapter is going to be 🔥 get ready 😌
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