Chapter 23 –It is a feeling
"Our beloved Prophet {S.A.W} said, 'Choose well for your seed (offspring) marry suitable women and marry your daughters to suitable men.'"
~Ibn Majah
As Waliya and Aahil arrived at their home, Aahil unlocked the car and went to get his bags out of the back. Waliya stepped up next to him, prepared to help him with a bag, when he demanded that she just go upstairs empty handed. She rolled her eyes at him and they had a little staring contest in the middle of their underground parking lot. He blinked first.
"Ha! I win!" she said and did a fist bump in the air. "Now, pass me one of your bags," she said and held an arm out, while the other rested on her waist.
He stared at her, completely unphased by what was supposed to be her intimidating pose. "No, I am not letting you carry a single bag upstairs Waliya."
"Aahil," she said with a slight whine. "You have a lot of things to carry up. At least give me one bag," she bargained.
He conceded and passed her his laptop bag. "Here you go," he smiled at her and motioned for her to go upstairs. With a sad sigh, she acquiesced and then marched her way upstairs. Aahil just laughed as he watched her walk away. He heaved his bags out of the car and struggled to carry the heavy bags upstairs. When Waliya appeared at the stairs to help him, he gave a dirty look. She huffed and then walked away.
By the time he got into the flat, she was busying making his tea and had already placed his sandwiches on a plate. "Do you want me to make something else?" she asked him as she turned to face him.
"No, Jazakallah. If you don't mind, I'll just go and have a shower quickly," he said.
"By the time you are done with the shower, your tea will be ready," she told him and then turned back to the tea on the stove. Without warning, Aahil walked over and placed a kiss on her temple, and then walked silently into their room.
Once the tea was done, Waliya left it on the stove for a bit, to remain warm and then made her hot chocolate and marshmallows while she waited for Aahil. When her hot chocolate and marshmallows was finish made, she sat down and waited for him. After another ten minutes or so, he walked into the kitchen with wet hair. "Are you insane to walk out of the bedroom with such wet hair?" she almost shrieked as she poured his tea.
He laughed. "It's a bit colder here than it is in Dubai, but I still see no reason as to why you are complaining," he said as he sat down.
"Just wait for tonight," she huffed and then passed him his tea with a smile.
He took it with a smile on his face, which turned into a grin once he saw the tea and the colour of it too. "Well done! It looks exactly like mine. It all goes down to the taste!" he said.
"Yeah, well, I had six months of practice," she smirked. "I think now your neighbours might be sad that you returned," she added as an afterthought.
"Why?" he asked and then took a sip of the tea. It scalded his tongue and he pulled away with a hiss. "Ow!"
She clicked her tongue and walked over to him. "It's so hot, why would you even try to sip from it?" she asked him a soft tone.
He looked at her with his big brown eyes, the innocence and smiles that she saw in them caused her to falter for a moment, then he answered. "I really wanted to taste it," he said with a slight pout.
"Sabr, Aahil. Rather eat a sandwich and let it cool off slightly before you attempt drinking," she offered.
"Do I have a choice?" he muttered and picked up a sandwich. Waliya thought that he was going to complain about it, or not eat it, yet he did the last thing she would have ever have thought of doing. He latched onto her arm and pulled her closer to him, before placing the sandwich in line with her mouth. "Eat," he said and stared at her, daring her to say different.
She shook her head. "I had something to eat before we left to go and pick you up at the airport," she said.
He raised an eyebrow at her, she knew by that look that he was not going to give in. With a sigh and a roll of her eyes, she took a bite of his sandwich. The smart remark on the tip of her tongue was itching to come out, but she had to restrain herself. Aahil had just had a very long flight and yet, even after that he was still concerned about her well-being and her health. "Jazakallah," she said instead and took her seat opposite him once again and sipped comfortably on her hot chocolate and marshmallows.
"Ameen. Why did you say my neighbours would be sad to have me return?"
"When your mother would tell me that they were coming over I would make something that each of them liked. Your brother Jawwaad likes this caramel and walnut cake that I once made, your mother enjoys cinnamon rolls with pecan nuts and caramel sauce and your father enjoys gajar halwa. Obviously, when they would leave I would make them take the cakes and the gajar halwa with them, but they would insist that I keep some for me –which would always be far too much, so I would take them to the neighbours." She played with the ends of her scarf as she explained.
"You do know that you can comfortably take your scarf off now?" he told her with a smile.
She looked at her hand and then flushed. "Oh, yeah," she said softly and absent-mindedly. She unwrapped her scarf and brushed down her hair using both her palms and then retied her hair into a high ponytail. By that time, the scarf had comfortably fallen to her shoulders.
He stared at her hair entranced by the sight of them after so long. Aahil got off his chair and slowly made his way to her; he stopped right next to her. He lifted a strand of her hair and delicately ran his hand through it. Waliya shuddered from the contact, from the heat of his hand and unconsciously leaned into his touch.
"You've cut your hair?" he asked surprised.
Shyly, she nodded. "Why? It was beautiful before. And now you've even added in blue and purple highlights?" he asked shocked that she did that.
She cringed. Waliya sensed his displeasure and his unhappiness. "Jee, I did," she said stating the obvious.
"Do you know that dying your hair can cause some sort of cancer? Did you know they are harmful because of the peroxide used? If you want to dye it, use mendhi," he said and walked away from her to go and sit and enjoy his tea.
"I am sorry," she apologised and then left the kitchen.
Aahil felt like crap after she left. He hadn't intended to hurt her feelings, all he wanted was to make her aware that dying her hair with terrible chemical could be disastrous. Never did he expect that she would get upset and neither did he think his words would have hurt her. He looked at his tea and then back down the little passage, then back at his tea. With a sigh, he drank all of his tea quickly and then walked into their bedroom.
He did not know what to expect. There was one hundred and one ways that things could go wrong. There was one hundred and one ways that she could react, and he did not know which one of them it would be. When he reached their room, he knocked on the door and when she gave no answer, he entered. He found her sitting on the bed with her legs pulled up to her chest as she had her earphones plucked into her ears –he guessed, since she had her scarf on –and her Quraan resting on her knees as she read softly, her voice barely even audible.
Aahil's heart swelled with pride. He knew she must have been tired beyond compare, because he knew he was extremely tired. He walked to her side and sat at her feet. "Waliya," he called and put his hand on her shins, causing her to look at him.
She flushed and then pulled out her ear phones and pressed pause as she closed her Quraan. "Maaf," she said and looked away from him. "I was just busy reading Quraan."
He smiled at her. "I see that," he told her softly. "Which surah are you reading?" he asked and made himself comfortable.
"One of my favourite Surahs," she said and smiled at him. "Surah Nur."
He moved away from her and went to his side of the bed and pulled off his shoes as he sat down. He rested his upper body against the head board and then closed his eyes. Aahil not only closed his eyes, but almost every other sense of his as he started reading Surah Nur for her.
Waliya was stunned. Her hearted started beating erratically as Aahil started reading one of her favourite surahs. His soft and melodious voice filled up the empty spaces of the room and each word he recited tugged at her heart strings. She could not find the words to speak, to utter a word, to tell him just how beautiful his recitation was.
When he had gotten about ten to fifteen ayahs into the surah, he stopped and opened his eyes to look at Waliya. Never had he expected to see tears flowing from her eyes, even though her eyes were shut firmly. As she noticed he stopped, her eyes shot open and she looked at him with bright eyes. "Why did you stop?" she asked, her voice shaking.
He shook his head, refusing to answer her. "I won't answer until you tell me why you are crying? What's wrong?"
She licked her lips and wiped her tears. "SubhanAllah, Aahil, you read so beautifully. Masha Allah. I could not help but cry at the way you read. It is so melodious."
He blushed and looked bashful. "That is only because of Allah's mercy and bounty on me. Now, please don't cry," he said and shifted closer to her.
She nodded and took the edge of her scarf to wipe the remaining tears on her cheeks. "I won't cry anymore," she said, trying to control her voice.
"Come here," he said and opened his arm for her to curl into. When she complied, he held her loosely and then started reading a few surahs that were to be read daily and he let himself loose into reading for her. Once he finished, he found that she was fast asleep on his chest. Smiling, he laid her down carefully and then fell asleep himself just as easily.
As soon as the Maghrib azaan went off, Waliya woke up. For around five or six seconds, she was disorientated. She woke up on something soft and warm, but also sturdy and that made her uncertain of where she truly was. After Aahil's departure, she was too used to waking up alone and to a cold bed. Now with him being back, it was different for her to get used to waking up with a restraining arm around her waist and his scent surrounding her again.
Shaking her head, she fixed her hair up and then woke Aahil up. "Aahil, wake up," she said uncertainly as she shook him. She wasn't really sure how he would be if he woke up. Would he be moody and sulky? Would he be fine?
"Aahil!" she said slightly louder, and firmer. "Come wake up now. Maghrib azaan went off," she told him as she combed back the hair from his face using her nails. "Please wake up."
It took her a few more rough shakes and louder cries, before he finally woke up. Groggily, he turned over and trapped her underneath his arm and half of his stomach. It was due to her stupidity that she did not move when she saw signs of him waking up.
"What's wrong?" he asked, then he realised the awkward position they were in.
She cleared her throat and hid her face from looking at him, she was still shy around him at embarrassing times. "We have to make Maghrib salaah. Unfortunately, I think if you leave and hurry, you will still miss making Salaah in jamaat," she said in a rather despondent tone.
He jumped up and off the bed before she could even get another word in. "Oh fish! Come on, then," he said and lifted her hand up to help her off the bed. "We don't have a second to waste. Let's go and make salaah," he said hurriedly.
By the time they had finished making salaah together Aahil took her hand and pulled her with him into the lounge. Together they sat on the couch, facing one another. Although there was nothing else in the room, it seemed a perfect movie scene. "You added about a million more pillows to the bedroom," he commented in a teasing manner.
Laughingly, she nodded. "I told you that I liked a lot of pillows," she defended herself.
"That you did," he said offhandedly. "You know," he said getting up. "I have something to give to you." He turned around and went to get one of his many bags that he got from Dubai and brought it with him to the lounge.
Aahil took his place next to Waliya and placed the bag in front of them as he unzipped it. All that Waliya could see was black parcel bags and black little boxes. There was nothing to tell her what to expect. Before Aahil lifted the first box out, he looked at her and smiled. "No need to be anxious," he said and leaned across to place a gentle kiss to her forehead. "It was simple things."
He pulled out a black velvety rectangular box and passed it to Waliya. "This is your mahr," he said shyly.
"You already paid it, Aahil," she protested.
He shook his head. "You asked for mahr –e –Fatima, and I agreed to that, but this is what I truly wanted to give you. This is just to make sure that you are sorted," he insisted.
She wanted to say more, but he placed his finger on her lips, silencing her. "But –" she said again.
He leaned forward and before she could even go further or even try to process what was happening, he kissed her softly. It wasn't long, just long enough to shut her up. "You talk too much," he laughed as he pulled back.
Blushing, she wrinkled her nose and wiped her lips with a frown. "A kiss won't make me shut up," she said cheekily.
"Yeah?" he teased as he leaned forward to test her adamant theory. Immediately, she pulled away from his touch. "Yeah," he confirmed. "Definitely won't shut you up."
She laughed and flicked open the box. "No," she gasped. "Tell me you didn't?"
He scooted closer to her and wrapped an arm around her waist. "Do you like it?" he asked, slightly nervous. This was one of the biggest and most expensive of the gifts he brought her back from Dubai.
A thick, big and heavy gold jewellery set. It had been handcrafted and designed to his specifications. If she didn't like it, he couldn't bare it. It had taken him a lot of thinking and research into it, to try and find something that would be worthy of his little princess.
She looked at him with glossy eyes. "Of course I love it! How could you think I wouldn't?" she asked as she hugged him tightly. "It's beautiful! Jazakallah!"
He let out a deep sigh of relief. She loved it! Aahil smiled and pulled her closer and squeezed her waist and then he bent down and pulled out a taped black paper bag and put it on her lap. "Open it," he said with excitement she wouldn't expect.
Rolling her eyes, Waliya obeyed. As she pulled on the tape, it tore and gave way for her to slide her hands across the flap and open the bag. Reaching in, she pulled out a heavy beaded abaya. A gasp escaped her as she stood up and let the abaya rest against her body as she gauged the garment.
From the way she held it, she could see it would be slightly longer than she liked, but she knew it would be loose enough and to her that was all that mattered. The long sleeves, were loose, but were to an extent tapered at the end to just fit around her wrist. However, rhinestones and Swarovski's adorned the sleeves and formed a belt-like shape around her bust area and at the bottom of the abaya. She twisted her body sideways, then again to the other side watching as the bottom of the abaya flared around her like a tutu. "I love it!" she declared happily and then bent down to Aahil and gripped him in a tight hug.
After hugging her back, he chuckled and pulled her next to him. "Maybe we can stop with the hugging and let me give you all your presents?" he suggested with a naughty wink.
She sighed dejectedly. "Not like I have much choice," she joked with him.
He turned his head slightly and gave her a sideways glance. "Here," he said and passed her a golden cardboard box. It was rectangular and longer lengthwise. Opening up the barely secured parcel, she found exotic oriental perfume. The sweet smell wafted out of the box as soon as she opened it. Pulling it out, she found a decorated and shaped glass perfume. The bottle was oval shaped, but the lid had a round crystal and then tapered up to a pointed end. "Aaaaahil," she said dragging out his name. There were tears in her eyes, all unshed happiness and gratitude. "This is so much."
He chuckled and hugged her with one arm. "This entire bag is for you," he told her laughing. Her extreme modesty made him laugh. She barely knew what she meant to him. However, he wasn't the time to express his love in words. He was more the type of person to shower his love on you with gifts. But Waliya, she was more special to him than words could even explain. She held a piece of him that she didn't know, but he could not find the words to tell her.
"No, what? How? No," she stuttered out.
He raised an eyebrow at her and gave her a stern look. "Yes it is. I spent six months there and you didn't even attempt to argue. So, I was entitled to spoil you. Without complaints. Now, don't complain and just accept."
She frowned at him but he only took his thumb and smoothed the creases between her eyes and placed a kiss there. "I missed you," he whispered as he placed the kiss. "I missed being able to hold you," he said with a rose colour tint on his ears. "Never mind, it is just now Esha and I want to give you everything by then," he said breaking the sweet moment between them.
He passed her parcel after parcel. By the time the bag was empty, she had at least three more new fancy black abayas, a mountain of scarves in different colours and styles, an Arabian dagger in a bejewelled silver case, seven boxes of camel shaped chocolates, a few more oriental perfumes in famous brand scents, a few pairs of designer shoes and two designer handbags and lastly, a set of silver Arab crockery and tea set.
By the time he was ready to pack away the bag, she jumped on him and hugged him tightly. "Aahil!" she said excitedly, trying to clutch as much things in her hands as she could and still try to hug him. "These were so many things! They're amazing! I love them all so, so much! Jazakallah so much!"
He laughed and kissed the top of her head. "Ameen, my sweet heart. You are so welcome. You don't know how many other things I wanted to buy for you," he admitted as he hugged her to his chest.
"Then, did you buy anything for your mother? Your sister in law? Your brothers and your nephew?" she asked worriedly.
"You forgot about my father," he teased her. She swatted at his arm.
"Don't try to change the topic," she didn't want the subject deflected.
He laughed. "I bought them all stuff. And I sent them stuff too. But, I told them that they shouldn't open it until I got there," he said calmly. It had soothed her to know that he hadn't forgotten about his family. "Happy?" he asked her with slight sarcasm.
She nodded and leaned on his chest. "Ecstatic," she told him.
They stayed in one another's arms for a while as he swung them around the lounge in aimless circles, just to keep them together and in one another's arms. All he wanted was the contact that they missed out on in the last six months. When Waliya didn't utter a word of complaint, he took it as her wanting the contact too.
"Why were you worried about me buying you all of those things?" he asked out of the blue, breaking the comfortable silence between them.
"Because they are your family too. They missed you as well," she replied softly.
"You should never feel guilty that I spend so much on you, Waliya," he said and pressed his forehead on her head. "They are my family and we spent a lot of time growing up together. They are responsible for who I am, but you are my home. Coming to you, feels like coming home."
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Favourite part? Please let me know