Can I Be Your Mrs?

12: Art Showcase

She felt a soft tap on her shoulder and she groaned, for the sake of the Almighty, Wafiyya should let her sleep. Yes, she knew she loved sleeping in her room but this room gave her a new vibe. It was so amazing that she wished she could sleep here forever. When the taps and her name being softly called persisted, she had no choice but to open her eyes with a whiny expression on her face. "You should have let me sleep some more, Wafiyya." She said as she sat upright while fixing back her veil.

Wafiyya sat down and stared at her with a smile, "Fear Allah, Jalilah. You have been sleeping for more than two hours, isn't that enough? I woke you up so you can pray your zuhr salah and also, the ceremony is starting soon. You won't be able to miss it."

She stifled a yawn and nodded her head, "You'll have to add some touches on my face, right? I know I've smudged my lipstick and a lot of things. I'm a bad sleeper, right?" She was turning her face sideways so Wafiyya will have a better look at her face.

She shook her head and smiled, "No, everything is fine. You'll just put on some powder and also a balm on your lips, you're good to go." Wafiyya said and Jalilah was about to stand up when she called her name again, holding up the screen guard. "I was out while you're asleep and I saw a shop selling phone accessories, I got you this. Where is your phone so I can put it for you?"

Jalilah's smile grew wider and she roughly side hugged her, "You're one of the sweetest souls out there, Wafiyya. Thank you for being considerate enough. It's in my bag, I'll be in the bathroom." She walked into the bathroom and before she was out, Wafiyya had already helped her put the screen guard on her phone and she was checking the edges to make sure she didn't have bloat.

Jalilah collected the phone and examined it while she thanked her again, "It looks better now, thank you Wafiyya." She was about to start praying when she saw that Wafiyya was getting out of the room and she called out to her. "You'll be back to tie my headgear, right?"

"Yes, I'll just go and check how things are moving. I'll be back before you even know I'm gone." She smiled and recited her Takbir before she started praying. After she was done, she sat down on the prayer mat and brought her knees to her chest, she realized she wanted to go home. This place felt so strange and weird and she just wanted to be alone with herself.

There was a soft knock on the door and she muttered a muffled, "Come in." She was sure if someone that knew her voice heard that, he wouldn't be able to recognize her voice.

The intruder walked into the room and she lifted her head in time to when he spoke, "Wafiyya? Your service is needed there." Their eyes accidentally met and she realized he didn't know that Wafiyya wasn't in the room. He made an O gesture with his lips and took a step back. But before he walked out of the room, Wafiyya made an appearance.

"Were you looking for me, Yazeed?" She asked, and he sighed out of relief before he turned to look at her.

"Yes, your service is needed. We have tons of guests you should serve." When his eyes were off her, that was when Jalilah got the chance to have a better look at him. She had seen him in kaftan not even once or twice, he wore them mostly on Friday's but this Kaftan was the best she had ever seen on Yazeed. It gave him a cool look that she felt it was so hard to take her eyes off him. How could a man be so beautiful for god sake? Even the way he was conversing with Wafiyya, a teasing smile on his lips as she whined about how tired she was with serving their guests and that she wasn't their hired waitress, it felt like torture to her heart. At some point, she thought he was doing it deliberately. He was making himself look so beautiful that it would be so hard for her to take her eyes off him and he would catch her staring at him, which will be the most embarrassing moment of her life.

For a split second, she took her eyes off because she felt he might look at her. There was something about him that whenever she stared at him for long, he felt it and looked at her, catching her red-handed. She didn't want to be disowned by Farha, she would have kept looking at him until they had an eye contact again. Realizing that if she kept sitting there while hearing their conversation of how he kept urging Wafiyya to go out and serve their guests while she told him she had things to be before that, she might either disgrace herself or found herself shouting at him for the guts he had to have such a voice and beauty at once that had the effrontery to unnerve her soul without him even speaking to her.