CHAPTER THREE

They are here." Noor said as the door bell rang.

It was six thirty.

Dad said they would be coming by six thirty and they were here. Why am i freaking out?

"Let's go get ready." Norah whispered to me.

I nodded and followed as she held my hand. As soon as we got into the room, she went to take a shower while i sat on the bed.

"Go take a shower, Ava." Norah tapped my shoulder.

"Uhn...okay."

I made my way into the bathroom, stripped out of my cloth and got into the warm shower. A few minutes later, i stepped out of the shower and performed ablution.

When i went back into the room, Norah said she had laid my dress on my bed.

I got dressed into the silky gown she chose for me after wearing a jean trouser and i wrapped a veil as a hijab.

"What colour is my dress, Norah?"

"Purple."

"And yours?"

"Pink."

"I bet you look like a princess." I smiled.

She didn't say anything for a while "What if he doesn't like me?"

"He must be a pussy not to."

She laughed "I guess so."

There was a knock on the door before it opened "It's time for Iftaar, have some dates. We are going to the masjid, the Mum is already praying in the guest room." Noor announced and left.

After breaking our fast with dates, we read our Salah and went into the kitchen.

"I think they are in the living room." Norah whispered.

I sighed "Are you nervous?"

"Of course." It came out more like a squeak from her.

"Don't be, okay? Inshaa Allah, it will end well." It was my first time doing this, no family had ever come for my hand and i was nervous for my sister.

"Okay. Inshaa Allah!" I heard her sucking in a breath.

"Let's do this. Call Noor and tell him to bring them to the dining room. I will serve the fruit salad first. Then you join us, bring the remaining dishes to the dining room first."

"Okay."

After calling Noor, i made my way to the dining room with glass bowls. After carefully arranging it on the table, i went to get the big bowl containing the fruit salad and placed it on the table.

Norah took all the dishes and set them on the huge dining table before she left again. By the time i was quickly setting spoons beside each bowl filled with fruit salad, i heard footsteps.

"Assalamu alaikum!" I said, a smile on my face.

"Wa alaikumus salaam!" About three people replied simultaneously.

Dad did tell us that the family consisted of the father, mother and the son. They were very rich just like my family, the father is a business partner of dad's.

"How are you, dear?" The dad asked, i knew because his voice was very deep.

"Alhamdulillah! Ramadhan Kareem!"

He chuckled "Thanks dear!"

"Let's all seat." Dad said.

I felt a hand on my shoulder, i knew it was Noor as he helped me take a seat.

"Norah dear!" Dad called out and she walked in.

"Assalamu alaikum!" She greeted nervously.

They replied to her Salaam and she took her seat beside me. We started eating quietly.

"Khadir, your dad said you are done with University. Are you planning to start working soon?" Dad asked.

"Yes Sir?" The son, Khalid replied.

"Where?"

"I'm taking over the company, Sir." I could hear the pride in his voice.

"That's nice."

"Why do you want to take over your Dad's company?" Noor asked.

I almost rolled my eyes, you would think he was not taking over his own Dad's company. Just because Dad made him work elsewhere before he could take over the company, he would have taken over a few months ago.

"I...i want to help my dad, make him proud and make the company more prosperous."

Before they could bombard him with another question.

"Norah, why don't you serve the food?"

"Yeah, i am quite hungry." The Mum spoke for the first time.

After eating, they moved to the living room and we joined them after clearing the dishes.

"Why don't you both go and talk?" Mrs Aisha, the mother said sounding excited.

"Yes, that's true." Mr Khalid agreed.

"Ava, take them to the guest living room." Dad ordered and i sighed in relief.

I didn't want Norah to be alone and i knew that if Noor, her twin brother, would have gone with them, he would make Khadir squirm.

"Let's go, Sis." I whispered to my younger sister.

She took my hand and stood up. We all went down the hall to the guest's living room. I sat close to her while she told Khalid to seat on the chair opposite to us.

A few minutes of silence.

"H...how old are you?" He asked hesitantly.

Is that your first question? I wanted to laugh but i told myself that he had asked the question out of nervousness.

"I will be 22 in a couple of months." She replied slowly.

"Oh! Why haven't you started work yet?"

I guess we are getting somewhere

"I...i want to go for my Master's program."

"What course did you major in?"

"Maths." She said, a bit enthusiasm in her voice.

"Wow!"

"I want to teach Maths. I love Maths!"

"That's really nice. It's a shame that i'm not the Maths type. But at least our kids wouldn't be lacking in Maths."

"What?"

"I mean if we get married, that is."

"Oh!"

Silence

"So do you fancy cars?"

Really?

"Uhm...yeah. I like sport cars! My Dad got me a Bugatti for my 20th birthday."

"Nice. My Dad got me one too when i graduated college.

Now we are talking about cars.

I let out a tired sigh "This is very interesting." I muttered lowly.

"Did you say something, Ava?" Norah asked.

I shook my head "No." I replied innocently.

"So you have no siblings?" Norah said after a few seconds.

"No. I'm the only son." He replied.

Is this how it always is?

"Do...you have anymore questions for me?" Norah inquired.

Silence for a few seconds.

"If...if i asked you to marry me, would you?" I sensed a bit nervousness in his voice.

What a tough question! She did ask him for more questions.

I played with the handle of my walking stick as i waited for her response which seemed to take forever.

"I'm sorry. I guess i rushed into this."

No reply still.

I cleared my throat "Should we go back?"

"Yes." Norah answered almost immediately.

I stood up and unfolded my walking stick as i started walking to the door.

"Are you coming?" I asked when i heard no footsteps behind me.

"Yeah!" Norah quickly joined me.

When we got back to the living room, the elders were chattering.

"We will wait for your reply, but from our side is a yes." Mrs. Aisha announced as they were about to leave.

"And you will hear from us by tomorrow inshaa Allah." I replied.

"Thank you very much for the dinner! It was really nice. JazakAllahu Khairan!" Mr Khadir said.

"You're welcome, Khadir." Dad replied.

After they left, we got ready to go to the Masjid to pray Isha and Tarawih.