She was really getting married?
Naima was deep in thought about everything going on.
Who would have thought she would get married to Tawfiq, of all people.
She had literally said she'd never marry him even if he was the last man on Earth.
He wasn't the last man. There were still about 3 billion men alive. Yet she was marrying Tawfiq.
That second time Tawfiq had proposed to her, she had wanted to say no then.
He was way out of her league in the first place.
Had he looked in the mirror before?
But something in her, made her decide not give him an answer then.
From that time onwards, she had prayed Salat Istikharah like a million times but every time all she would see was Tawfiq and her standing together under the rain both in white.
That screamed marriage.
That's how she knew she would say yes. Even way before the 3 years was up. But she had just waited-impatiently-for both of them to graduate.
Now though, Naima didn't know how exactly Tawfiq got her father to changed his mind. He had seemed adamant about not letting Naima marry Tawfiq.
But right after speaking with Tawfiq alone, he changes his mind.
She didn't want to ask Tawfiq at the moment.
Maybe after their wedding, which was in 2 weeks.
Hah. Their wedding.
Did that mean she'd be living with him. . .in the same house. . .in the same room?
Naima shook the thought out of her head before it sent her to places she couldn't return from.
She turned her attention back to the Supernatural episode she was watching on her laptop.
She had irrevocably become addicted to the series since she was introduced to it years ago.
She was watching the new season that had come out just recently.
She watched it for the storyline at times but they all knew she watched it because of the Winchester brothers.
And boy did she love Sam.
She was left with a few minutes more to finish the second episode when a notification for a Skype call came through. Argh!
Who dared to spoil her time with Sam?
She wore her hijab and tucked her black hair into the hijab so it wasn't showing.
She knew who the caller was already.
She accepted the call when Tawfiq's face appeared on the screen.
She hadn't realized how much she missed his annoying face. And all of him.
"Salaam mu Alaykum, baby girl." Tawfiq smirked.
It looked like he was in his bedroom. He was seated on a chair but Naima could see a bed behind him.
He clearly wouldn't stop with the endearments, would he?
"Wa Alaykum Salaam, Tawfiq." Naima said, acting annoyed.
"Why the face?" Tawfiq chuckled.
"I told you I don't like that." Naima muttered.
"You don't like what, baby girl?" Tawfiq said as he feigned ignorance.
"Argh! You're just so annoying. I can't believe you are the older one here." Naima groaned.
"Well, you have to start accepting my annoying self, baby girl, because you will be seeing my handsome face every morning when you wake up. I'll make sure of it." Tawfiq said in a low voice.
Naima's cheeks were heating up. How annoying could he get?
Why did he always want her to be lost of words?
Just then Naima heard a door bang and someone calling out Tawfiq's name.
It sounded like a girl.
Naima felt herself frown.
Why was a girl in his house and in his room?
"Who was that?" Naima frowned.
What would a girl be doing at his place?
"No one." Tawfiq answered quickly and turned the screen slightly.
"Tawfiq?" Naima warned and narrowed her gaze at him.
"It's really no one." Tawfiq sighed. "I'd never let any girl into my house, unless they're family." Tawfiq tried to explain.
"Then who called out your name?" Naima asked suspiciously.
A ghost?
"Way to ruin my surprise, Farhana." Tawfiq grumbled to someone on his right hand side.
"Well, I already told you I wanted to speak to her. You just didn't want to listen." The girl who had not shown her face said.
"Fine. You've already ruined the surprise." Tawfiq muttered in an annoyed tone.
"Yes." She excitedly said and came into the camera's view. "Salaam mu Alaykum. . .It's me Farhana, your new sister in law. . .Argh! I'm so excited. . .I'm going to get a new older sister. . .We are going to go shopping and go out together and go stuff ourselves in junk food and we are going to be the best of friends." She looked in awe at Naima. "Maa Shaa Allah. You are so pretty. Why'd you settle for my brother with such beauty?" The girl-Farhana-said all at once.
She was standing by Tawfiq and beaming with a wide smile.
Settle for Tawfiq?
It was the other way.
Tawfiq didn't comment on it, which meant he agreed with it.
"Habiba, meet my crazy sister." Tawfiq mumbled and gestured at her.
"I'm not crazy. You're crazy." Farhana glared at him.
"I'm not." Tawfiq muttered.
"Yes you are." Farhana retorted.
"I'm not." Tawfiq replied back.
"Guys. Enough with the bickering." Naima stopped them.
"Tawfiq, I'm sorry your surprise didn't work out but there's nothing we can do about it. Right, Farhana?" Naima said to Farhana.
"Are you taking sides with her already!?" Tawfiq exclaimed in shock. "You just met her! Aren't you supposed to be on my side? We're supposed to be married soon. You should be supporting me, no matter what." Tawfiq said, shocked.
"I'm not taking sides." Naima said back.
"Yes you are." Tawfiq puckered his lips childishly.
"Oh my God! Your first fight as a couple." Farhana beamed.
"We are not fighting. Just disagreeing." Tawfiq pointed out dejectedly.
Naima shook her head at their banter.
"Anyways, I have to go and help Salim downstairs before he burns down the house. We have to get together before the wedding, okay?" She smiled.
She actually really looked like a female version of Tawfiq. It was cute.
"Sure. Anytime you're ready. My greetings to Salim." Naima said.
Farhana quickly walked away and when Naima heard the door being shut, she started to speak again.
"She came with Salim?" Naima asked curiously.
She had only ever seen Salim once and they'd spoken just twice.
One during high school, the time she thought that Tawfiq was a serial killer.
She smiled at the memory.
And the other when he had mysteriously gotten her number to tell her of Tawfiq's birthday.
"Yeah. He's downstairs making something I think is food. I told him I'd make it but he doesn't believe me. Thinks I might give him food poisoning." Tawfiq shrugged.
"It's so not fair. I've never eaten food prepared by you before." Naima pouted.
"All you need to do is ask, babe and I'd prepare a buffet just for you." Tawfiq smiled at her childishness.
Naima ignored his statement and realized she had to go back to her boyfriend Sam.
They'd been separated too long.
"Why did you call? My boyfriend is waiting." Naima said, knowing it would irk him off.
"Which boyfriend?" Tawfiq said sounding a little angry.
Calm down, ranger.
"Sam Winchester, of course. Who else? I was watching an episode when you decided to show your face." Naima said, acting annoyed at Tawfiq's interruption.
"You scared the hell out of me." Tawfiq cackled.
"To be fair, he's got nothing on me and neither does his brother. Have you seen these muscles? Oh no, you haven't. I forgot. Don't worry, baby girl it will be all yours in awhile, yeah?" Tawfiq smirked.
As he flexed his muscles in his long sleeved t-shirt.
How dare he say Sam had nothing on him?Okay, maybe, he didn't but he didn't need to tell her so bluntly.
"Stop being proud." Naima stated with a disappointed face.
"I'm not being proud. I'm stating facts about what will be yours. Like these muscles. You get to feel them anytime of the day." Tawfiq said simply.
Naima didn't know why her cheeks heated up at his simple statement.
Tawfiq could say a sheep was pink and she was sure she'd heat, right up.
"You look cute when you blush." Tawfiq smiled.
"I don't blush." Naima said firmly.
She didn't.
"Of course you do. If you look closely, your nose becomes so red and the area by your ear becomes red too. It's funny but cute." Tawfiq chuckled.
What!?
How come she didn't notice she blushed?
She'd been blushing the whole time?
But Zain had said brown people didn't blush.
Why did she take his word for it?
He was basically a blind bat.
Well, it's not like she looked in the mirror every time she blushed but she didn't think she blushed in the first place to even check.
" Wait, you didn't know? " Tawfiq asked as he stared at her, bewildered.
" Shut up. " Naima grumbled.
"I actually thought you knew, babe. Is there anything else you don't know about yourself?" Tawfiq looked at her face. "There's a beauty mark right under your eyes." Tawfiq said.
"What!? Where?" Naima said.
She didn't know of any beauty mark on her face.
"I'm just messing with you." Tawfiq laughed at her.
"I hate you." Naima said with a scowl.
"You know you don't." Tawfiq smirked at her.
That was when Naima remembered something that Aunt Faiza had said to her. She didn't think it was necessary at first since it was not based Islamically but now she wanted to use the idea to get back at Tawfiq.
She smiled wickedly.
"Why are you smiling like that?" Tawfiq scratched his head in confusion.
Giving Naima a weary look.
"Well, you know the wedding is in two weeks. It's nothing much really." She shrugged. "Aunt Faiza just told me, I shouldn't speak to you 10 days before the wedding which starts 2 days from now." Naima nonchalantly added as she looked at her fingers.
"Wait!? What! No! Why? Why would you do that?" Tawfiq cried out.
"You know, beliefs and those stuff." Naima said simply.
Two could play his game.
"I'm not agreeing to it. I don't like the idea." Tawfiq grunted, annoyed.
"Why don't you come and tell that to Aunt Faiza? It wasn't my idea. Babe." She teased him.
He palmed his face.
"10 days isn't such a long time l, right? I didn't see you for 3 years, right? I'll be fine." He mumbled to himself mostly.
"10 days. It's such a short time. Just 240 hours or I'm wrong?"Naima tested.
"240 hours!? I'm going to die. I'm going to really die." Tawfiq cried dejectedly.
How was he supposed to survive ten days without talking to Naima?
Was it even possible?
"No, you're not. You didn't see me for 3 years and yet you are still alive." Naima said as a matter of fact.
"That was a neutral time. Now, you've made me dependent on you." Tawfiq revealed.
Naima snorted.
"Dependent?" She asked him in disbelief.
"Yes. I'm not sure I've gone a day without speaking with you." Tawfiq pointed out.
It was true. They were always talking to each other. Not always on FaceTime but sometimes regular calls and chats.
Every single day.
"No one asked you to become dependent." Naima said as she shook her head at him.
"You are mean." Tawfiq grumbled.
"Oh, come on. It's just 10 days. Stop acting like a baby." Naima retorted.
Little did she know the 10 days would affect her more than she had expected. Maybe even more than it would him.
"Fine. It's just 10 days, you say? Fine." Tawfiq nodded in understanding.
He smiled.
"At least, I know I will be able to see you on the last day all pretty and beautiful for me."
"Oh, Shut up. Stop letting everything benefit you." Naima rolled her eyes.
An idea popped into Naima's head.
"Why don't you let Farhana come over here? I'm sure it's weird living with only you two weird men. And besides, I'm sure she's old enough to go out with I and the other girls. My father isn't at home so it doesn't matter." Naima suggested.
She would be able to get to know Farhana better. Her sister-in-law. She was funny and cute.
"She's 16. I don't mind so it's not a problem." Tawfiq paused. "It's not like you girls are going to do something epic. . ." Tawfiq asked her more than stated.
He wanted to know what they were doing for her Bachelorette party. He was curious about it.
"I'm not telling you what we are doing and you aren't invited." Naima answered.
"I didn't say I want to be invited. I just want to know what you are doing." Tawfiq muttered.
"I'm still not telling you. It's not like I'm asking you what you are doing for your guys night. I don't even want to know. Just make sure it's nothing haram. Please?" Naima quirked a brow.
"For you, baby girl. Anything. Anyways, if Farhana agrees to leave her awesome brother's -me-side to be with you boring girls, I'm sure Zain will be congested with only girls surrounding him because your friends will also be there." Tawfiq put forward.
"So what are you saying? We should do a sibling swap? A sibling for a sibling?" Naima asked.
"Yes. Something like that." Tawfiq answered.
"Okay. I will ask Zain. I'm sure he'd pack his things before I can finish talking. You can even keep him forever if you want."
Tawfiq laughed and they both fell into silence.
Tawfiq just looking at Naima in absolute awe and Naima looking anywhere but at him.
"I wanted to ask you a question." Naima broke the silence.
Tawfiq was pulled out of his admiration fantasy and he nodded for her to go ahead.
"Go ahead, babe." He smiled.
"Will Dean come for the wedding? I know you aren't comfortable with talking about Dean but I just wanted to know. You guys used to be close so I was thinking maybe he might come?" Naima asked slowly.
Dean was a delicate topic.
The man in front of her had cried when he left.
She didn't want to overstep his boundaries.
Tawfiq just chuckled at her nervousness.
"It doesn't matter how I feel. Never hesitate to ask me for anything. Okay, Habiba? Anything." Tawfiq said with a little seriousness to his tone.
He didn't want Naima to think she was walking on eggshells around him.
Yes. Maybe he was a little angry at letting Dean go alone but he had gotten over the fact a long time ago.
He knew Dean was alive and alright as of now. He had even sent him a message a while back telling him he was getting married to Naima.
"He knows I'm getting married but he doesn't reply my messages straightforward at once. Because then, I'd find out where he is." Tawfiq told her.
"Why is that a problem?" Naima asked, confused.
"It's a problem for him. He wants to do this alone. If I know where he is, I'd find him and he doesn't want that. I do know he's somewhere in Cuba. He isn't smarter than me." Tawfiq snorted.
"If you know he's in Cuba then, why don't you go and look for him?" Naima asked again.
She was genuinely curious.
"So many questions, babe. I know he's in Cuba, yes. But I don't know where exactly in Cuba. I can't go to Cuba blind. It's a big place to look for just 1 person. Besides, I don't really care where he is now. Whether Cuba or Mars. He could be in another galaxy for all I care. He just better make it to the wedding or I'm going to be real pissed at the guy." Tawfiq said plainly.
"It won't be his fault if he can't make it. I'm sure whatever he had planned on doing back then, he hasn't finished yet. That's why he isn't back." Naima said.
"Trust me, babe. He's done with whatever he wanted to do. Other wise, he wouldn't be in Cuba. He would have been in Italy. He is doing something else at the moment but I don't know what yet." Tawfiq stopped.
"Let's talk about something else babe. This isn't something we should be talking about over the phone. You can ask me anything when we meet in person." Tawfiq informed her.
" Sure. " Naima smiled.
"So. Where do you wanna go after the wedding? " Tawfiq asked suddenly.
"Umm. I-I don't know. Are you sure you have money for that? Traveling? Didn't we just finish school like a month ago? We can go after we both start working." Naima said thoughtfully.
"Don't worry about the cost. I have money. So I ask again. Where do you wanna go, babe?" Tawfiq asked with a wide smile.
Naima remembered her own inheritance. She could access it right after she was married to Tawfiq. But she wasn't going to yet. It wasn't the right time. A few years more.
Her mother had been right after all.
"Anywhere you want to. I don't really know. I haven't been outside the country before since I was born." Naima reminded.
"Okay. I understand. So what about if we just go to Europe and parts of Asia? Like an around the world trip?" Tawfiq asked.
Around the world!? Who were they?
Billionaires?
"I really don't know. But Belinda once told me that her home country had nice tourist attractions. I'd love there." Naima added her opinion just for conversation sake.
It felt weird giving her opinion to something so important.
"Ghana? Why not?" Tawfiq looked up in thought of how it'd work out.
He hadn't been to that part of Africa before.
West Africa.
He'd only ever been to Egypt with his dad but that was as far as he had gone. And even that was a long time ago.
"We can also do your Europe and Asia thing. I don't really mind. We can go to Africa another time. " Naima didn't want him to go back on his idea.
"No, it's not a problem. We could just go to all three places if you are up for it? Maybe, end up in the Maldives , with just you and I. . .?alone. . ." Tawfiq drawled.
"You're crazy. Why would we go to all these places? It's going to cost a lot of money." Naima said with her cheeks warming up at what Tawfiq said about the Maldives.
Alone. On a beach.
She felt goosebumps appearing on her skin.
"Don't worry about the cost. It's nothing compared to you. Let's just go to all the places. I've never been to The Maldives before." He stated. "You want to go to Africa and the first option was Europe and Asia. So we just have to start from Africa. Maybe stop by 2 countries in Europe and 2 in Asia. Then the Maldives, so that's 3 in Asia. . ." Tawfiq smirked.
Naima didn't want to think about the cost of all this trip so she said one thing.
He had to be just making plans to make her happy.
It didn't matter if they went or not.
"You know what? Just surprise me. We can go to Wyoming football field and I'd still be happy." Naima said with a smile.
Tawfiq just chuckled.
⚜️⚜️⚜️
Before I forget this chapter is dedicated to Sydhussain ❤️
Anyways thanks for voting on my story. Thank you very much. ☺️
#VCS
SHAAAARRREEEE😗
Salam.
Ciao😁☺️