Chapter 14

Atifa's pov :

"My name is Saad. Saad Ibrahim." I heard a voice from the entrance of the kitchen. I stood there rooted at my place. Ya Allah, this wasn't seriously happening, I thought while squeezing my eyes shut.

Shoot! Why was I so loud? Why was my timing so bad? I wished the earth would swallow me right then. Ya Allah please save me! I prayed silently.

Hesitantly looking towards him with an embarrassingly flushed face, I saw him standing there holding a jug in his hands with a kind of embarrassed face, looking down. I wondered why.

I really hope he didn't hear our conversation. Glancing at Emaan, I saw her looking at him, more like staring at him. She had gotten down from the counter and was standing beside me. Ah, now I know why! I shot her a glare, silently asking her to lower her gaze with my eyes while I turned my attention back to him.

Gathering my courage and trying to leave behind my nervousness, I replied awkwardly. "Uh, Jazak Allahu Khairan for letting me know."

He mumbled a reply which I couldn't hear. "I came here to refill this jug." He spoke after a while of awkward silence.

I nodded my head. "The filter is there and the ice-cubes in the fridge, if you want them." I replied while pointing at the filter. He nodded before moving ahead. I had momentarily forgotten about the spaghetti and as soon as I realised, I got back to work.

Emaan was still staring at him with an awestruck expression so I asked her to pass me the ketchup, as I tried to divert her attention. She passed it to me and I added some of it while mixing it up.

"He is hot." As I was tasting the spaghetti, I heard Emaan whispering loudly while looking at me in excitement. Choking, I started coughing loudly while quickly turning the stove off. My cheeks were a darker shade of pink. How many times was I going to choke in front of this guy?

"Are you alright?" Emaan was looking at me, concerned, and I stepped on her feet while glaring at her, still coughing. "Oww, what did I do? I just said whatever was true." She whined with a frown.

I could see him coming in front of us from the corner of my eyes. This time I was sure he heard her. He had a glass of water in his hand and his face was flushed.

It was then that I saw what he was wearing. They were abbu's clothes. And I was actually surprised to see him wearing them. Shaking my inner self, I glared at myself. 'Lower your gaze, remember?' Reminding myself, I looked down while muttering astagfirullah in my head.

"Here." He handed me the glass of water and I grabbed it from him, careful not to touch our hands. Taking a few sips, when I was sure I wouldn't start coughing again, I cleared my throat.

"And caring too." She whispered dreamily, forgetting for a moment that he was standing right in front of us and could hear us. Glaring at her, I gave her the 'wait-till-we-are-alone' look.

"Jazak Allahu Khairan." I mumbled, embarrassed about whatever Emaan said. My cheeks were burning red. If before I wanted the earth to swallow me, then at that time I wanted to vanish from this planet. Maybe going to Bermuda triangle or black hole. Anyone else who would like to join me?

"Wa Antum Fa Jazak Allahu Khairan." He replied uncertainly, his gaze flickering between me and Emaan. I could say that was because of my sweet friend Emaan here.

Once he hurried out of the kitchen, keeping my hands on my hips, I turned to look at Emaan with a death glare. I was seriously going to kill this girl! What was she planning? Why would she even do that?

She looked at me innocently while taking a step back, a sheepish smile on her face. "Sorry?" She apologised while taking a few steps back. I took predatory steps towards her, my glare unwavering.

"I'm really sorry, I didn't mean to say it out loud. But you know how my mouth can't keep itself shut. So forgive me?" She apologised and questioned altogether while running around the kitchen as I chased her.

"Not forgiven! Ya Allah, do you even know how embarrassing it was for us?!" I asked her as my cheeks started heating up again thinking about it. Shaking my head, I tried to catch her.

"No I don't know, but your face was so red! You were looking like a tomato." She replied, laughing. She was enjoying this. She was seriously enjoying this! Ya Allah this girl wouldn't change, right!? Glaring at her more furiously, I finally managed to corner her.

"Now where will you go, Miss Emaan? I looked like a tomato, right?" I inquired smugly, knowing well that she wouldn't be able to escape from me now.

I was just about to start tickling her when I heard her exclaim. "Oh Saad! When did you come here?" I quickly turned around, thinking how many more times was I going to embarrass myself in front of this guy.

There was no one there and Emaan escaped from beside me, laughing like crazy. Once she was out of the kitchen did I realise that she tricked me. This girl! I was going to kill her one day. I glared daggers at the kitchen door while thinking of ways to get back at her.

._._._.

Entering my room, I saw Emaan sitting on the bed using her mobile. Sighing, I decided to argue with her on that topic later. Laying on my bed, I closed my eyes. I felt exhausted and I didn't even know why. No actually, my mind felt exhausted, maybe because of thinking so much. I just wanted to give it a break.

"What happened?" Emaan inquired, concerned, while keeping her mobile aside and laying down next to me on her stomach, facing me.

"I don't know, just my mind feels exhausted." I replied, closing my eyes. "I feel like giving it a break."

"Umm hmm, relatable." She said while turning and laying on her back like me. "Let's take a nap after lunch, that way we can give it a break too."

"Yeah sure, and what about the dishes?" I replied sarcastically.

"We both will finish washing them soon, don't worry. And anyways, we are going to stay up till late at night so we should definitely take a nap." She suggested with gleaming eyes.

"Oh yeah, I forgot. Okay then!" I agreed, feeling sleepy already. But I couldn't sleep now, I still hadn't thought about the answer which I had to give ammi. Sighing, I started thinking again.

What should I say? Should I just agree? Because I would certainly not like to be the reason for ammi becoming cold again. But I also didn't know if he wanted to marry me or not. What if he wasn't willing to do it but ammi was forcing him? And he lived alone with his sister? Because if he had a family, then shouldn't he be with them now? And if he had a family, then do they know about this? Will they come to this marriage, if it even took place? What if he lost his family? It was possible, right? Did he have a past too? Family problems?

Wait, this wasn't the time to think about all this. I should actually be thinking about the answer now. Not all these things. Yeah I was curious, but those questions could wait. There was a much more important question in front of me and I had to answer that.

I turned to my side and saw Emaan lost in her own thoughts. I stared at her. Maybe I wouldn't be able to spend time with her like how we used to if I got married. But I really hoped and prayed that our friendship remains the same.

Thinking about it, I realised that maybe it wouldn't be that bad getting married to him. Yeah maybe we would have fights and arguments. But hopefully, we would overcome them. And even he feels awkward so I wouldn't feel that bad I guess. And he was quiet, which meant I could rant all day. 'But you aren't talkative.' My brain reminded me. 'Oh shut up, I will be... Right?.' I smiled cheekily. Okay enough of this ridiculous talk with my mind. This wasn't the time for that too.

"Why are you smiling so much? Thinking about Saad?" Emaan teased me with a smirk on her face, she was facing me now. I didn't even know that I was actually smiling. I shrugged at her question, ignoring it. At least trying to.

This reminded me, "Why were you staring at him so much? Don't you remember we should lower our gaze? And only the first look is halal, not more than that." Turning, I glared at her, trying to fit this thought in her mind. "Did you notice how uncomfortable he was feeling when you were staring at him?" I questioned further without giving her any chance to answer me.

"Awww, is someone jelly?"

"No I wasn't jealous." I replied defensively. It was just that he was feeling uncomfortable because of her stare. I was not jealous, it wasn't possible because we hadn't met properly even for once.

"Can you smell something burning?" She inquired, turning serious.

Frowning, I sniffed, trying to see if something was actually burning, but I couldn't smell anything. Emaan chuckled. "No no, not the food burning smell. But the smell of a burning heart." She bursted out laughing at that as I glared at her while throwing a pillow in her way.

"Wait till it's your turn." I muttered under my breath angrily, but still, a smile managed to tug at the corner of my lips.

._._._.