Not your average Muslim love story!

Chapter 11

As we walked up the stairs and to the grand front door, which was engraved with intricate designs and flowers,  I couldn't help but admire the grandness of my aunts house and Allah knows she deserves it after her hardships. The weather was perfect, after such bipolar weather in the UK the sun was a nice contast in Manhattan.

My mother knocked on the door and I braced myself for crying and a bunch of old stories that I had her an infinite number of times before. My mother and my aunt were best friends back in the day and my mum had fallen for her best friends older brother who was neither shy but not the typical bad boy. Although their love story is a little bit of an cliché, I loved the look in their eyes when they would tell me the story, it was the starry eyed look that any girl would be more than happy to receive and swoon over.

My aunt had moved to America becuase her husband's job demanded it, which resulted in us hardly seeing her but she still made it for Eid a couple of years at a time.

The door swung open and the maid greeted us, I was shocked at the beauty of the mansion like house,  the hallway had two stairs leading up, one on either side, the marble floor shone beneath my feet allowing me to see my reflection.

"...no, of course not hun we will go together but after my meeting with Sara, I will seal the deal before heading to your friends son's engagement; does that sound good to you?...okay, walaikumasalaam."

My aunty came out of a room with an phone attached to her ear whilst trying to sign a document her assistant was holding she was dressed in a maxi skirt paired with a pink coloured blouse, however she did not wear hijab and I didn't blame her after the scrutiny the media gave her for being a Muslim as they blamed her for the reversion of her husband who was in fact a white American and is well known in the world of business. I understood it was hard to wear a hijab in a western society and I knew we were all at different stages at embracing Islam, I just prayed she would be brave enough and have the strength to wear it in the future.

"Asalamualiakum Aminah,  how are you and Zara? I've missed you so much and come to the kitchen and I'll whip you something up, you must be starving. " My mum and i replied with an alhumdulillah and asked about her wellbeing before she embraced us and lead the way to the kitchen.

The kitchen was just as extravagant as the hallway and was every house wifes dream kitchen,  the walls, the cupboards, worktops and draws were all white, however the handles of the draws were mint green as was the toaster, the kettle, the bar stools and the handles to the utensils. I stood in awe at the impeccable design and theme, but I couldn't expect any less as my aunt was an designer.

I propped myself up on to the bar stool struggling slightly with my shortness that I had attributed from my equally short mum. My aunt and mum set to work like old times where they would spend hours on end cooking together and if we had disturbed them in the slightest we would get our heads bitten off.

"So how are Ameerah, Saif and Hussein?" I asked hoping to start a conversation and catch up with my aunt and cousins busy lives. Saif and Hussein were the oldest and were twins who were 25, they were both in a medical university however Saif was studying neurology whilst Hussein was studying Cardiology.  Having never had an older brother, they treated me as if I was their sister and would go to great lengths to protect me and keep me safe from the bullies who would make fun of my hijab, the colour of my eyes or my glasses. They would sneek me out of school to go buy ice cream or watch a movie which would always cheer me up.

Ameerah, was one year younger then me and had also settled in Canada with her brother's who were now taking care of her, she wanted to become a designer like her mother but didn't want any help from her mum as she wanted to make it into the fashion industry on her own which I truly admired about her. She wanted to work for her success and not be handed it; therfore was in a fashion college, we were like sisters and would always face time but recently we had stopped due to my busy schedule because of my book tour and her finals.

"Alhumdulillah they are fine and Ameerah misses you alot but she will be flying in along with her brothers in a week for their fall holiday. "

I perked up at what my aunty just told me and was now looking forward to the upcoming weeks which would be filled with fun and mischief although they may sound mature and professional on paper they were quite the opposite in person. 

"Zara, do you want anything to drink whilst your waiting? there is some drinks in the cupboard just behind you, feel free to help yourself." I smiled at my aunt gratefully and rose from my seat to go grab a can before setting it down on the counter and taking up my seat once more.

We chatted for a good hour talking about my aunts fashion lable, my book and old memories of my dad, whilst my mum and aunt made chicken curry with roti.

I sat in silence for most of it absorbing the stories of my father.

"dad...dad...DAD!!!" My dad ran into my room as I lay there crying on my bed curled up into the fetus position.  I sobbed into my duvet whilst my dad  bombarded with me with questions of what was wrong."I...can't...see."

Tears had welled up and were threatening to spill at the thought of the memory which was the start of the roller coaster journey of me loosing my eyesight,  a journey that I was still on, however with out the support of my father and had more downs then ups.

I wiped away any evidence and looked up at my mum and aunt who were both filling their's and my plate up. My aunt was really down to earth and although she could have got the maids to cook, she did it herself as she was brought up to believe that the wife takes care of her husband and children and would never give up on being a housewife no matter how busy she gets.

My mum and aunty had settled on the barstools one either side of me and I gulped, I knew what was coming next.

"So Zara, I am guessing your mother told you about how we discussed possible suitors for you and well your uncles friends son is getting engaged next week and we, me and your mother are considering his brother for you, but we are not forcing you to get married to this guy but at least give him a chance, we know your still young but we thought... that you might like to...um... see..." My aunt gave a look of distressed which resulted in my mother chuckling at her childhood best friend/sister in laws distress. I sighed and finished the sentence off. "You thought I would like to see my husband before my sight fails." There was a heavey silence in the air and I looked at my mum then my aunt before agreeing.

"Okay, don't worry you'll meet him at the engagement party and you would have Ameerah, your mum and me for support and don't forget how Saif and Hussein are overprotective over you, they'll make sure he doesn't bother you but from what I've heard he is a respectable man , so there shouldn't be any problems." My aunt was about to carry on but was interrupted by my mother.

"Zara, hunny are you okay? you look pale,  do you want some water? You've hardly touched your food."

I looked up at her meekly. "Mum I'm fine and I really do appreciate what you and aunt Maryum are doing for me but it's a little to sudden and a lot to take in, but I will give the guy a chance."

My aunt beamed at me. "Okay so i think you, your mum, Christie and Isabel should stay here, the hotel bills are bound to be expensive. Oh and it's not just him who we have in mind another guy is coming today to see you he will be in a couple of hours." I started to choke on my food, I had done this twice today because of the topic of marriage,  maybe it was a sign,  marriage might be the death of me.

Hello/Salaams lovelies,  so what do you think? oh I hit 300 views!!!!! which is great and I am super thankful to all of you who are giving thisva chance. Please comment your thoughts and the next update will be Wednesday becuase I haveva health and social gcse exam on Tuesday so I'm going to revise for that before updating sorry :( . Don't forget to :) becuase it's sunnah and I hope all of you are having a good day. Also how am I doing with updates and the length of the chapters is it good or bad???? Anyway bye for now xxxxxxx