Shout-out to Ayah for upgrading her pledge and Hina Meesha for joining Sarah's squad with her 🥰. Love you girls!
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Upon reaching Cody's, Salma's dad got out of the car to check the front tire on right side. It had been making strange flapping noises when they were dropping Uncle Dawood at the air port. Her father had sent him to Sthooriya. He was to get the Green Coats involved to get her mother and brother on a flight back to the U.S immediately.
Salma fixed her scarf properly and rechecked it in the mirror one last time before unlocking the door. In her haste to get out, Salma ended up ramming the door into her father who had just straightened up.
"Ow!" He winced, clutching his side.
"Snap!" Salma gasped, getting out of the car quickly, "Are you alright, dad?"
He threw a shrunken up branch that he had pulled from out from the tire, to the side, and leaned against the car.
"Dad?" Salma asked again.
"I'm okay," he said through clenched teeth, before managing a teasing smile. "You're getting stronger, kid."
Salma smiled weakly. Feeling horrible, she picked up the branch and walked over to throw in the trash can. Her father had his lips pursed, rubbing the spot she hit before walking around the car to the front seat. Salma looked at him guiltily, but he smiled and waved her off.
"I'm okay," he reassured. "Have fun!"
"I'm such a clumsy idiot," she grumbled, watching her father pull out of the parking lot. "And he thinks I can handle marriage."
Ten minutes later, she was sitting in a booth at one corner of eatery with Sarah. Salma turned to her phone when it chimed for the thirteenth time, notifying her of yet another message. She put her fork down and picked up the device instead.
"That's the last one?" Sarah asked.
"Yep." Salma nodded at her friend, going through the messages.
Arethas [Sally: Friends or Family] Family
Arethas [Sally: Opinion on Physical Beauty] It's the icing on the cake, not the cake itself.
Arethas [Sally: What's your favorite Ayah in the Qur'an] Surah Zumr 39:53 Say, "O My servants who have transgressed against themselves [by sinning], do not despair of the loving mercy of Allah. Indeed, Allah forgives all sins. Indeed, it is He who is the Forgiving, the Lovingly Merciful."
Salma smiled reading the ayah.
"Impressed?" Sarah asked, not even looking up from her plate.
"Wee bit," she replied, scrolling down.
Arethas [Sally: Morning Person or Night Person] Dunno. Both?
Arethas [Sally: Favorite food?] I like Italian and continental. Pizza, Lasagna, Biryani . . .
Arethas [Sally: Vegetarian?"] I think the previous question answers it. Anyway, No I'm not, but I become one if there aren't any kosher restaurants around.
Salma smiled again. She found out what she was looking for.
Arethas [Sally: Favorite drink?] Can't decide. Depends on what's available.
Sarah saw her frown.
Arethas [Sally: Favorite Harry Potter character?] ?
Salma blinked.
Arethas: I haven't read the series.
Her frown deepened. Huffing, she got rid of her phone, feeling bitterly disappointed.
"I see, we've hit a new low?"
"He takes care that the meat he consumed is halal, but I couldn't find out if he drinks," Salma grumbled. "Have you got any creative ideas to find that out?"
"Get your father to spy on him," Sarah shrugged.
Really creative, Salma scoffed, turning to her food. She had been trying to find out about Arethas's habits, his commitment to religion and how conscious he was of Allah's commandments. She did not want to end up marrying a man who smoked or drank or ate meat of electrocuted animals. She was allergic to smoke –and strong scents and perfumes – and she was not comfortable with the idea of living with a man who would engage in drinking or eating forbidden meat. Salma was desperate to find out, however, she was not stupid. Not wanting to put him in an embarrassing situation by asking directly, Salma had to be creative about it.
It is never a good idea to ask people directly if they sin. One, the question is humiliating and disrespectful to the person and two, they would most probably resort to lying to avoid shaming themselves.
"I have a feeling that's not all," Sarah observed.
Salma sighed.
"I asked him his favorite Harry potter character."
"Don't tell me he said wormtail, please!" Sarah interjected.
"No," Salma replied gloomily. "He hasn't even read Harry Potter –"
"UNACCEPTABLE!" Sarah suddenly shouted, making Salma jump in her seat, "Girl, listen to me now or you'll regret it. Drop him like a hot potato. You two don't belong!"
Salma laughed dryly.
"Right, it sure sounds like fun, 'hey dad, I've decided not to marry Arethas.' 'Why?', Well, you see he hasn't read Harry potter, and that's unacceptable,'"
"He won't take no for an answer?" Sarah raised a brow, "I mean, it's a pretty valid reason for me. If you live in this day and age and haven't read Harry Potter, Good day to you, sir! I will stick to fasting,"
Salma shook her head in amusement. She saw Cody heading towards them and quickly covered her face. Noticing what she did, Sarah imitated her action.
"He won't say no, but if I'm shooting the proposal down and forcing him to look through other options, I feel like I should at least give him a valid reason, like the guy seems to have a horrible personality, or –"
"You think someone who hasn't read Harry Potter may have a good personality?" Sarah grimaced, "I'm telling you, he's a no-no."
"Who's a no-no?" Cody smiled, putting their drinks in front of them, "What are we discussing today?"
"We," Sarah pointed between herself and Salma with her fork, "are discussing potential husbands, don't know about you, old man."
Cody let out his booming laugh.
"You kid, are a savage," he appreciated. "I like your friend, Sally."
"Gee, too bad," Sarah remarked before Salma could stop her, "I'm already taken."
Salma's mouth hung open behind the veil while Cody looked equally unsettled.
"No – I mean, of course not like that!" He defended.
Before any of them could get another word in, they heard George's loud bellow.
"Barlow! Get back here this instant!"
Salma saw the kind, old man gulp visibly. His wife was looking murderous. Ears like hers, she probably heard Sarah's snide comment.
"You're taken?!" Salma hissed, the moment Cody left, "Seriously?!"
"What?" Sarah shrugged innocently, "I consider myself married to my . . . self?"
Salma facepalmed.
"Oh my Allah!" she groaned. In her periphery she could see Cody trying to persuade his wife that he was innocent. "He has a wife, you idiot!"
"Hey, I'm yet to meet a guy who doesn't like the idea of two!"
"What?!" Salma blinked. "Did you hit your head or something?!"
"Don't give me that look," Sarah snapped, "You know him, I don't. I see men getting cozy around me, I repel them. Simple as that."
Salma shook her head at her friend in disbelief. Making a mental note to apologize to Cody later, Salma turned away from Sarah with an annoyed sigh.
"Anyway, have you seen this Arethas as yet?" Sarah asked
"No," Salma replied despite her annoyance with her. "I don't know if I want to give my answer based on that."
Salma had always abhorred the tradition of a girl getting a physical inspection before getting accepted or rejected. Girls are not cattle, and a guy or his mother rejecting them for length of her nose to the shape of eyes, the texture of her hair, to her height or weight or the alignment of her teeth was simply ridiculous! What annoyed her more was that this horrible social evil was carried out by woman just as much as men, if not more. She wanted to shave them all bald for trying to find some Greek goddess for their brother or son, who himself would pass for a blopfish anytime.
Hating the tradition, she did not want to be a hypocrite herself and judge Arethas based on looks. Yes, her religion allowed them to take a look at each other, but Salma wanted to take a look at the person he was before pondering on his physical features.
Besides, her father had described him to her and she trusted him on his word that he was on the 'good-looking' side.
"Good idea," Sarah nodded, "I mean after seeing that handsome devil, it's kind of unjust on other guys if you judge them based on looks –"
Sarah stopped short realizing what she had just said. Her eyes shot up to see Salma's stare fixed on her. She was frozen to her spot, her eyes miserable, her features grim. This was the first time Sarah had mentioned Zayn or alluded to him in a conversation with Salma. It was clear that Salma could not believe Sarah would bring Zayn up and in such a lighthearted way too. Quite frankly, Sarah, herself had trouble believing she did that.
"Sorry." Sarah looked away. "Bad joke."
Salma said nothing as she turned away from her too.
"Like Arethas said, looks are like icing on the cake, not the cake itself." Salma shrugged, trying to dissipate the awkwardness.
Sarah picked the que and eagerly went with it.
"He said that?" she asked. "Doesn't sound too bad, this guy?"
"Says the girl who told me to drop him like a hot potato five minutes ago," Salma replied.
"Oh come on, if you gonna ask your potential partner about Harry Potter, what do you expect me to say?" Sarah defended.
"I understand that some of my questions sound silly," Salma said, "And quite frankly, I dread facing my father after this, but seriously, I'm just trying to figure out if we're compatible."
Sarah picked up her drink.
"And how's that working out for you?"
Salma sighed miserably, drawing patterns with the kitchup using a fry.
"Except for sharing a favorite Ayah and one or two other things, he doesn't sound my type," Salma said quietly.
"Ask him if he likes bees," Sarah snickered, but got serious seeing the look on Salma's face, "Does he know about your reluctance to move in after Nikkah?"
"Yeah, told him."
"And he's fine with it?" Sarah asked, sounding surprise.
"He says so."
The two became silent for a while. Salma focused on her food that was getting cold. Sarah, on the other hand, had finished hers and was now busy working out another problem in her head.
"I still don't understand why your dad went for a complete stranger and not the guy next door," She muttered, frowning.
"Hmm?" Salma asked, not following her.
"William Sterling," Sarah said, "Why didn't your dad consider him? He's a family bachelor, lives next door, may not have a stable source of income yet but he ticks the good looking box. Why would your father not see him as a potential candidate for you? According to my calculations, he would be very interested."
"And why's that?" Salma asked in a bored tone.
"The expressions on his face always point to I-miss-my-best-friend O'clock when he's around you," Sarah replied.
Salma rolled her eyes at her.
"Dad probably doesn't want Agha Gul to bother them. Uncle Dawood was supposed to marry Aunt Farhiya. So Agha Gul isn't really fond of him. Then Anne is not a Sthooriy, and that arrogant, old man considers every non-Sthooriy beneath him. Imagine, their son marrying his next target," Salma laughed bitterly, "No thanks, I like my curly cousin alive. I'm glad dad didn't consider him."
"Curly bear."
"What?!"
"You named him curly bear not curly cousin," Sarah corrected her.
Salma grumbled under breath and rolled her eyes again. Sarah shrugged at her but suddenly froze.
"Wait, does this Arethas know that you have a target drawn on your back?" Sarah questioned, "Or, is your father using him as a pig for slaughter?"
There was a loud clatter as Salma dropped her fork and knife. Seriously disturbed by the idea, she grabbed her phone and jumped to her feet to call her father.
He picked on the third ring just as Salma stepped out of the eatery.
"Assalamo'Alaykum, Sally, what's up?"
"Wa'Alaykum Assalam. Dad, does Arethas know of my situation," Salma rushed.
There was a pause down the line. Salma listened to the static, praying with every fiber of her body her father had not played an unsuspecting, young man.
"Situation?" he asked.
"You know, of me and the Zamarud and Agha Gul?"
"Of course not!" Her father replied. Salma's heart dropped, "The Zamarud's Guardian ship is a well kept secret. That cannot be betrayed. I mean later, if you want to let him in on it, that's your choice but, right now, there's no point,"
Salma closed her eyes feeling relieved and frustrated at the same time.
"I'm not talking about that dad," Salma said, her voice strained, "But have you told him about the risk involved in marrying me? Agha Gul is not going to take this lightly. He –"
"Sally, why else do you think I chose this particular kid over all others within and outside the family that I could have asked you to consider?"
Salma said nothing.
"He's an American, first off," Her father continued, "He's stable, socially, economically, so he can hold his own.The kid had nothing to do with Sthooriya in any way, shape or form. Agha Gul will not be able to weave a plot around him and give it a legal outlook like he was doing with you. He'll be reluctant to attack him, fearing a foreign agency getting on his case. He'll need time to formulate a new plan and after getting you safely out of harm's way, time is all we need to get the details of our counter-plan sorted out. Also, yes, I've informed Arethas of everything. The kid just asked me questions about you and then said he was willing. You can get a confirmation from him, if you don't believe me."
"No, of course I believe you."
Salma's frown deepened. It did not make sense. Why would someone marry trouble? Either the man was really brave or really stupid.
"I'd say it says a lot about him being brave, if you ask me," Her father added.
Salma scowled.
"Listen dad, I know you're big fan, but I thought we agreed. No pressure!"
"I'm not pressurizing you, kid, I'm just saying, your dad never read the Harry Potter series either," Her father said, "Salamo'Alaykum!"
The call ended, letting the never ending dial sound in her ear. Salma frowned at the screen of her phone. Seriously dad?
"And then he says he's not putting any pressure!"
***
Zayn locked the cubicle, relieved to finally be alone. With his ears buzzing with the happy noise outside, he closed his eyes and took in a deep breath. It had been such an eventful night. He could still feel his body trembling with excitement. Everything happened so fast, he barely had time to digest any of it. Kevin scoring the winning goal, the final whistle, the crowd erupting with celebratory cheers, his teams mates piling on top of Kevin, his grandpa crying happy tears and telling him how proud he was, the trophy lifting, the cameras flashing –
"Oi! Captian! Come out and join us!"
-The victory lap -
"Captain! We won! Can you believe it! We actually won! COME OUT!"
- And a very excited Hamza screaming and dancing eversince, Zayn sighed.
"I'm coming," he reassured him, taking another deep breath before turning to his phone that he had managed to fish out of his locker between all the jumping and dancing and hugging.
He slid down to the floor and unlocked it. He felt a pang of disappointment, like he always did, since he removed Bee's picture from the screensaver and replace it with a bee – the insect - hovering midair over a flower. As expected, two text from Robert were waiting for him. With his heart racing in his chest, Zayn opened to read it.
*Rob: Dude, I'm still hesitant :/ but if you say you've done it all then it's up to you. I pray it goes fine but seriously man, she wouldn't want to see your face, you should know that. It'll be painful for her.
*Rob: Bro, I don't think telling your grandpa was a good idea :/ You should have waited. In all seriousness, I think she will try to hit you or something.
Zayn released a breath as he reread the text again, but his mind was made up. He had decided to wait until he would live his grandpa dream's to become MLS Champions and then he was going to see her. He had to set things right. He had to offer to make it up to her.
A heavy pounding on the door jolted him out of his thoughts.
"CAPTAIN! I KISSED THE CUP!"
"Come out, dude!"
"Yeah, stop hiding, it's time to paaaaarteh!"
"Bruh!"
"Oh boy!" Zayn groaned, before unlocking the door. Several hands grabbed his arms and yanked him out. They started pulling him towards their dressing room, 'Guys, guys chill out!"
"Chill out?! Are you crazy? Bruh, I feel like dancing over a rainbow!" Kevin laughed, letting go, "I scored a goooooal!"
He was probably already drunk, Zayn realized.
"Hey, let the king through," Tyson announced, making his way towards Zayn through the crowd with the trophy in his hands, "Bow you nasty pheasants, bow before the king!"
He pushed the other people down on their knees before going on one knee.
"Ma king, your crown!" He grinned.
"Dude!" Zayn chuckled, letting the idiot invert the trophy over his head, "You lot are crazy,"
"Awesome game, man!" Rivera punched his shoulder, as Zayn grabbed the trophy before it could fall.
"Son!" His grandpa smiled, hugging him again. "So proud to call you my boy!"
He pulled away when the trophy was suddenly snatched out of his hands by the excited junior, who has started dancing with it.
"We are the champs! The Champs! We are the champs, because we are champs!" Hamza sang to the tune of triple H's music, swinging his behind in front of Zayn.
Tyson kicked his butt lightly.
"Kid! Show some respect." He chuckled.
Hamza turned around with a huge grin on his face. Seeing the exited twinkle in his dark eyes upon finding him, Zayn gulped.
"CAPTAIN!" He screeched, before anyone could cover their ears "WE WoOoOoOoN!"
***
Things moved really fast in the next few days. After performing a final isthikara, Salma told her father she was willing to proceed with the match he'd proposed. She knew she had done the right thing when her father awarded her with a brilliant smile on the face that was continuously lined with worry for the past few days. Soon after, her father called Uncle Dawood unexpectedly to inform him of his daughter's nikkah at eleven the next day.
"Yeah, I know it's sudden but I don't want any of you to miss this!" He spoke into the phone cheerfully, "Get on the plane as soon as you can!"
Before his bewildered brother could protest, Atif Rahman cut the call. His cheerfulness vanished, his face turned grimmer. He gripped his phone tightly and rested his head against his clasped hands with his eyes closed.
"It better work," Salma heard him mutter. "Or I am going to punch someone!"
Sighing, he got up from the couch to leave. His eyes widened to see Salma standing behind him at the foot of the stairs.
"What better work?" she asked, fear gnawing at her insides.
He smiled uneasily.
"I wasn't referring to Arethas, kid," her father said. "I'm confident he's a good guy. I was talking about Agha Gul."
"What about him?"
"He's going to panic now that he knows that I've decided to get you married out of blue," her father explained. "It'll hit him like a thunder strike on a perfectly sunny day. I'm hoping he's going to cooperate with your Uncle – no Green Coats involved – and he's gonna send them back home himself to make sure your mother informs me about the match he's proposed."
"That's the slap?" Salma gave her father a half smile.
"That's the slap," he confirmed. "The old man needs to be reminded he doesn't own people. We're not slaves. He should have told me about his plans for you. He can try to make amends now but he'll end up learning the phrase 'too little, too late.'"
Salma smiled when her father did. However, that smile gave way to a feeling of dread and anxiety when he informed her that her nikkah was schedule for eleven in the morning the next day - exactly at the time when her mother and brother would touch down in America.
And that is when it hit her.
She was getting married.
After less than twenty four hours, Salma would no longer be single. No longer just Salma Rehman, the girl who loved Bees and mountains and stopped drawing Mr. Grim toe on her toes when she was nine. She would be a woman, starting a new phase of her life where she would no longer be responsible for just herself, but the both -
Salma shook her head, not able accept it just yet. Feeling cold, she turned back to go upstairs, completely forgetting about her breakfast.
Author's Note:
I know I said she'd get married but again the chapter became so long that I had to split it. Man, they sound smaller in my head but on paper, they become super long :/Anyway, I added Zayn's scene here, and yes he's coming back to BlueRiver Dale, and yes she'll get her nikkah done in the next chapter, but will they meet? :/
Some crazy, interesting comments in the previous chapters need a special mention:
A lot of Zalma shippers were so focused on their ship that they completely missed the word YOUNG when Salma's father said, "He's a decent 'YOUNG' man," and commented: "It's Zayn's grandpa!"
Seriously x'D Zayn Grandpa is a decent young man who will marry Salma x'D LMHO! Then some got even more confused and asked if Robert was Zayn's grandpa x'D. Kids, leave you fantasies under your pillows when you're reading lost :P
Also, a few asked if Robert was a Muslim. The answer is yes. Then others asked that his name wasn't a muslim name? I've seen this question a few times and if you've asked it, then don't take the following words personally. You're not alone. The confusion is quite common :)
Thing is, There is no such thing as a 'Muslim name' Us easterns, or those with ancestors from the east have a crazy claim on Islam, where we shouldn't be questioned if we distort its image or don't follow it, but everyone else gotta fit into out version of Islam - what is acceptable and normal to us is what everyone else must follow
NEWS FLASH: We were never in a position to decide for all of humanity. Allah is ;)
Just because someone's name isn't of eastern origin (Arabic, or non arabic - For example: Gul, Uqaab, Shah, Zamarud, Pervaiz, Allahditta etc) doesn't mean their names are islamically unacceptable or that they should change their name to something arabic or eastern upon reversion. William is a Muslim and so is Anne and Robert. And All three have perfectly beautiful names. The name-change only becomes necessary if the name means something unislamic, for example: Someone named 'Trinity' would probably be advised to change their name.
On the flip sides, just because names have arabic origin doesn't mean they're Islamic. For example: The Prophet forbade us to name our kids Harb (War). 'Abdul laat' sounds good enough but it means 'Slave of Laat' - Laat being one of the idols of the Quraysh. Then we have many non arabic names in use (as I mentioned above) and no one has a problem with them. It's weird how many are unbelievably ignorant and would give extremely disturbing names to their kids just because they are arabic and are found in the Qur'an.
You won't believe it, but I heard a girl called 'Mahhiyya' Nice sound, right? And occurs in Surah 'Al-Qaariya' so it must be Islamic too? All pleasing to Allah and all? Try again. It is a pair of pronouns used in combination to refer to a deep, pit of hell, full of fire.
Crazy world we muslims have built around ourselves in our ignorance and arrogance.
Anyway, went off tangent again :D Expect the next update soon. It just needs editing.
Chapter 96: "Tying the Knot- II" is already up on my Patreon page. Become a patron to read who Salma's marrying 😉😏
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Lots of Love,
J.