'Ayat?' My dad recognized my footsteps without even turning around to look at me. He was in the kitchen making breakfast.
'Papa...how do you know it's me every time?' I dropped the grocery bags on the kitchen table and went near the stove to help him.
'I can recognize my daughters even in complete darkness...and besides, we all know how quiet Haya is' He sarcastically said. Haya, my youngest sister was loud. Instead of walking around the house, she preferred running around like a wild animal.
'You know I heard you guys, right?' Haya entered the kitchen, panting.
'Why are you panting?' Papa asked her.
'I dropped my headphones so I had to go back out to get it' She sat down on the chair.
'Papa, I am going to go get my bag, I have to leave early today to attend the orientation' I informed them and went to my room. I changed my clothes, brushed my hair and tied up a top knot. I then grabbed my bag and went downstairs to join my sister and father for breakfast.
'You are almost done with school' Papa said proudly when I poured him a cup of tea.
'Just a few more months' I nodded.
'Then you will leave us' Haya sighed. I didn't want to think about that time. I didn't want to worry about the future.
'I better get going, don't want to get late' I picked my bag went out the door. I called a rickshaw and asked the driver to drop me at the campus. The campus was quite far from where I lived so I had to take a rickshaw or bus to get to the campus.
I arrived 10 minutes late due to construction work on the road. I went to the hall where the orientation was scheduled to take the place but the door was locked. I knocked on the door but no one answered but I could hear people talking inside.
'Excuse me, this is where the orientation is happening right?' I called out the custodian, an old man who I had known for almost four years. We didn't really talk but he always smiled and was kind to everyone. He was a very hard working man.
'Yes, but they closed the door on the dot, one other person arrived late but they didn't open the door so he ended up leaving' The custodian told me.
'Oh okay, I guess I'll wait here' I sat down on the bench that was right next to the door.
'It's going to take hours dear' He informed me, giving me a sad smile.
'It's fine, I'll wait. Thank you' I smiled back. I took a novel that I had been reading to kill time. I still had some time so I went to the cafeteria and got myself a cup of coffee.
After some time, the door finally opened and students started coming out of the room. The last person I saw coming out was Mr.Karim. He was the coordinator of the training program.
'Hello Sir' I walked up to him.
'Ayat...what happened?' He asked me and I explained to him what happened.
'Yea...this guy is a little strict with time. Just be careful next time...I have another meeting to attend but you can go inside and talk to the facilitator'. He advised me.
'Okay, thank you...I will be careful next time...I am sorry once again...and what is the name of the facilitator again?' I asked him before entering the room.
'Hamza Khalid' He nodded and walked away.
I knocked on the door and this time I heard someone telling me to come in. I opened the door and saw the person who I ran into this morning in the market. I froze not knowing what to say. Did he recognize me? Should I apologize to him? For what though...I didn't do anything wrong.
'Yes?' He cleared his throat and continued to stare at me, waiting for me to speak.
'I...I am Ayat...Ayat Amir.' I introduced myself.
'So?' He glared back at me. So? He remembered me. From his bluntness, I could tell he was upset with me.
'I am sorry I was late...there was...' I started to speak but he cut me off.
'Please don't waste my time with pointless excuses. Make sure it doesn't happen again' He said it in an assertive tone.
'You didn't even listen to what I have to say' I pointed out.
'And I don't have to. Time is money Ms.Ayat. If you don't respect it, I am afraid this training program isn't for you' He turned around and started sorting out some paperwork that was laying on the table. Maybe he was done talking, but I wasn't.
'This isn't about me being late, it's about this morning, isn't it? That's why you are saying these things to me to make me feel bad. I apologized to you for coming late even though it wasn't my fault...I got late because there was some construction going on the way...but despite that, I apologized to you but if you expect me to say sorry to you about this morning then it's not going to happen. It is not considered decent when a guy follows a girl like that...maybe where you are from it's not a big deal but in small towns, it is considered wrong. If I would have let you call me whatever it was that you called me this morning, someone else would have done the same thing. My sister was there and she was watching, I don't want her to walk away quietly when someone calls her or follows her. I wanted to show her how to deal with these types of situations. I know your intentions weren't bad but believe me, catcalling and harassing happens to a lot of girls and at that time, it felt a lot like that.' I finished speaking. His back was still turned on me but I noticed he had stopped doing whatever that he was doing by the table.
'I just wanted you to know that...I won't be late next time' I said loudly and exited the room. I didn't know why I said what I said but I knew I had to tell him something or else he was going to keep being rude to me. I still didn't know if what I said to him was going to make any difference but at least I was satisfied. I picked up the half-empty coffee cup that I had left on the bench to throw away and just as I turned around, I bumped into Mr. Hamza again.
'I am...' I freaked out. There were coffee stains all over his shirt.
'Are you kidding me?' He yelled and I almost jumped.
'So...sorry, I really didn't mean to...I have some tissues, wait.' I opened my bag and took out some tissues and handed it over to him. It made no difference. The stains were there on his crisp white shirt like splashes of wet dirt. He looked at me with so much anger that I felt like if he continued to look at me, his eyes will pop out of his head.
'I'll get you a new shirt...or pay you for this one or get it dry cleaned' I offered.
Instead of replying to me, he stormed off, leaving me with a few ounces of guilt, a hint of frustration, and one empty coffee cup.
'How was the orientation?' Papa asked me during dinner. He was a vice principal in an elementary school that was close to our home. He used to be a science teacher in his early days. Whatever I knew, I knew it because of him. He was my father, my mother, my friend, and my biggest supporter.
'It went well' Sort of...actually not really. In fact, it went pretty bad, but he didn't need to know that. I didn't want to make him worry.
'Where is Haya?' Papa asked me.
'She is studying for her test tomorrow' I told her.
'I tell her to start studying days before the test but she never listens' He shook his head.
'It's okay, she still gets good marks. She is doing great in school' I assured him and he nodded.
'I get worried for her...I don't know how I am going to handle her after you leave...she is too dependent on you' He told me.
'She'll be fine... besides...there is still time' I held my breath. The thought of marriage seemed scary to me. Before my mother passed away two years ago, she wanted to see me engaged. During that time, one of her friends asked her for my hand in marriage for her son and my mother agreed. His name was Zaid. He was around my age, he was doing MBA and belonged to a nice family. That's all I knew about him. I got engaged to him before my mother passed away and his family suggested that we should get married after I graduate from university. I only met Zaid during holidays or special events, around family members of course and even during those times, we hardly spoke to each other.
'I regret it Ayat, I feel like we threw you into this relationship. We were so scared when your mother fell sick and we just did things to make her happy and now that she is gone, I know you are not happy with this decision. I see it in your eyes' Papa brought up the same topic once again.
'Your marriage was arranged' I reminded him.
'It was different then...I want you to be with someone who will make you happy' He said.
'Maybe that person is Zaid' I said. I wasn't in love with Zaid, honestly speaking, I didn't even know what love was and maybe Zaid didn't love me either but there was respect between us and that was just as important to me as love.
'Maybe and maybe not. I just want to let you know that there is still time, just don't be afraid Ayat. If you think you'll be happy with Zaid, then I'll support you and if you think he is not the one I want you to tell me that too...okay? No matter when that happens' He looked at me. That's why I loved my Papa the most in the world. I was the lucky one. Maybe Allah knew that my mother wasn't going to be with us for long, that's why he gave me such an amazing father who was not just my father but also someone who knew what was going on in my heart even before I could even figure it out myself.
'Thanks Papa' I got up from my seat and kissed his forehead.
'I can't study anymore...I don't care if I fail tomorrow' Haya made her grand entrance in her bright pink polka dot pajamas and sat down next to me and started eating out of my plate. My father's smile grew bigger.
'She was the adopted one huh Papa?' I winked at him and pushed my plate in front of her and she rolled her eyes at me.
'Pass me more rice' She ordered and we went on with the night.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hello, fam!
Thanks for showing such a positive response to my new baby haha. I hope you guys having a great week and if you too busy or too stressed out, remember to take some time off to relax and rewind. You deserve it!
Q: Thoughts on Zaid?
Anyways I hope you guys liked this chapter if you did please don't forget to vote and leave a comment. See you next week! <3 xx