The Wedding

Chapter 27

Tuesday

4 days to the wedding

Laila reluctantly and very slowly carries herself off the bed to unlock the door currently being knocked. She swiftly turns the key and walks back to fall face first on the bed without sparing a glance to whoever was knocking her door. As the door opened; she could hear laughter and greetings being exchanged with unfamiliar voices emanating from the living room making her groan even more. More guests, she just prayed these ones weren't staying in her house. She thought of moving to Zee's house for the wedding if the guests in her house became too much

"Whatever you have to say; I don't want to hear it Mukhtar"

"You make it sound like Mukhtar's the only one who cares about you"

Laila rolled over and faced the ceiling. "Maybe because right at this second he's the only one who does" the tone she used conveyed how uninterested she was in the discussion

"No. He's not" Ya Zainab sat on the chaise lounge in the room "He's just the only one that's willing to tolerate everything you do"

"There's no need to tolerate when you can understand"

Ya Zainab let it go "Baba sent me. He wants to talk to you" Laila got up without a care about how she looked. The loose woollen cap she slept with had fallen off amidst her tosses and turns resulting in her ruffled loose hair that was pointing in different directions like the sixteen cardinal points. "You might want to cover up; the house is crawling with people"

She reluctantly does so before going to find her father in his little haven. Laila says a greeting before walking into the room and taking a seat because she had to not because she wanted to. If it were up to her she'd dash out of the room in the blink of an eye

After responding to her greeting he speaks "I want to be very clear that I do not appreciate what happened yesterday"

"Baba I was going to apologize to him-"

"I'm not talking about that, I'm referring to the words you and Halima exchanged yesterday. As sisters-"

"Baba you heard what she said about me, I didn't deserve that"

"I heard everything Laila and I'll talk to Halima when I deem right but now I'm talking to you so you should listen and not interrupt me"

She nodded meekly and apologized. She listened to him go on about how as sisters but most importantly good muslims; they shouldn't let a disagreement come in between them so much that none wants anything to do with the other. Much to Laila's chagrin he went on to remind her that if he and their mother passed away; Halima being the oldest of the children would be the next best thing they'd have to a parent hence Laila should learn to respect her and not pick fights with her.

"I know what she said to you wasn't right and I promise to talk to her about it but Laila you're the one leaving this house; you're the one getting married in four days. People leave their homes on good terms with everyone; you shouldn't be picking fresh fights a few days before you have to leave. I hope you understand"

"Yes Baba" she stands up to leave

"One more thing" she doesn't bother sitting back down "Laila I've known Yaseer for a long time and I trust the kind of person he is because I trust the kind of friends my son keeps. Similarly I trust you" she would have smiled about it if she didn't hear the 'but' in the sentence even before it came "But people talk and some of those people are going to be your in-laws soon and we do not want them questioning your morals. The house is full of people who have arrived for your wedding and they're going to talk if they see you going out with Yaseer. You've told me that everything is ready, you've done all the preparation you wanted to do but if something comes up or you need anything- whatever it is; ask Mukhtar. I don't want to hear anything about this issue you understand?"