Architect and Mrs Dantata

34: ZAYD

Our wedding luncheon goes perfectly well even though it ends up being more of a make-up Christmas event for every single one of our friends who weren't able to celebrate Christmas because they had come to be with Amal and I, especially Amal's friends from Stanford. They even got the little gifts and all.

The bottom line is that it was intimate, it was beautiful and the food hit every spot. I mean, it's Mama and Mas'ood who supervised everything. What else were you expecting? What I didn't like, however, was being separated from Amal as soon as the event ended and we had prayed Asr.

The moment we shared last night was beautiful. Talking and laughing quietly with her until we fell asleep was even better. Waking up before she did and getting ten good minutes to watch her in all serenity was heaven. Being with her since then and holding her hand in mine more than half the time was the icing on the top of the cake. Watching the women take her away, however, and being unable to do much because I know they won't even listen to me is downright cruelty. It's painful too.

I join my friends, brother and cousins in the living room and I try as hard as I can to focus on the discussions they're having. I even try to keep up with the jokes Hassan and Jonathan crack which has Aleem on the floor with tears in his eyes from laughing too hard. That reminds me. This cousin of mine is using my wedding to find new "girlfriends". I honestly don't know where Aleem gets his character from and I pray to God that one woman comes and knocks some sense into his head by sincerely being hard to get. That should do the trick.

Anyways, I try to focus on their jokes and conversations but I can't. When it gets unbearable, I go in search of Baba. A stab of jealousy hits me when I walk past Aliyah's room and hear the laughter of the women. At least they're having fun. That doesn't mean I like it.

Baba's sitting on the terrace, reading what I'm certain is a newspaper from his tablet. Mama should be in their room then. She did say she was really tired when the luncheon ended. Baba smiles at me as I occupy the opposite chair. "Having withdrawal symptoms already, Sa'ed?"

My sigh sounds pitiful to my own ears. "Is it too early to have them?"

He turns back to the tablet in his hands, his smile smaller. "You hung out even better than I did."

"Really?"

He nods. "I wanted to be everywhere your mother was and I nearly became a nuisance. Your grandmother had to knock some sense into my head and then your grandfather gave me advice that I took seriously even though it didn't make sense at first."

I toy with the cufflink on my left sleeve. "Aren't you going to tell me what the advice is? You'll be saving my life too, you know."

He chuckles. "Go and sleep, Sa'ed. That's the advice."

A moment of silence passes before I start laughing. Of everything I expected Baba to say, this was not it at all. I should go and sleep.

He puts the tablet on the round table separating us, chuckling. "It's very weird advice koh?"

I nod. "It is. It's very weird."

"I thought so too. The thing is that you can't drag Amal away from that room even if you wanted to and you can't join any other discussion because you won't be focused so just go to your room and sleep. Your body will thank you later."

He turns away, looking at the team that's clearing up where we had lunch.

"Besides, you can never tell. She may miss you too and leave her friends. She'll slip into your room and assume you're sleeping when in reality, you aren't but you won't let her know that. She'll then lock the door and get in bed with you and you both will stay that way until you have to wake up. In this case, it'll most probably be for Maghrib."