Prince from Paradise | ✔

V. His Smiling Lips

Rabiya

Running away, she hid herself behind a tree, feeling the chilly breeze brush against the loose cloth of her hijab. Cigarette smoke burned the inside of her nostrils, hideous chuckles that sounded like hyenas whispered in her ear with all its vulgar terms, and Rabiya desperately wished to escape from the village. 

She despised their predatory gaze. 

Pressing her back against the harsh wood of the tree, she felt the sharp edges dig into her back. Rabiya clutched the jacket closer to her chest, losing herself to Adar's scent, a heavenly aroma of roses as if he were as delicate as the petals and as fierce as the thorns. A smile tugged on her lips, mind lost to the senseless nature of a girl too far from reality. 

"Can you believe that girl?" chuckled a deeper voice from nearby.

Her smile fell, fear gripping her into its poisonous talons, threatening to shatter her inner peace. 

Another male rumbled with his own laughter. "She's so naive. Abdul Jalil's granddaughter might be easier than we thought she was."

Tears welled in Rabiya's eyes, but she refused to let them water. 

"Prude women like her are too trusting. She should be grieving at home not smiling around with a boy."

Having heard enough, Rabiya walked away from the bustling bazaar, away from the feathered smiles, away from the rainbow drapes of cloth, and away from cruel men and women. She kept it all behind her, keeping her head high in the face of slander and gossip, keeping her lips tight in the face of lying scoundrels. 

Each step she took weighed heavier than the last, a knot rising up in her throat, replaying the voices of typical village life. They did not understand. They did not know her. They did not get the right to categorize her. And Rabiya would not let their words dictate her actions. 

Even if everyone turns against me, I still have Allah, she thought. 

"Hey!" yelled a familiar voice from behind. "Wait!"

She paused abruptly, recognizing the male's voice. He followed me?

A tall figure came in front of her, eyes a comforting shade of brown, dark enough to lose herself in, but Rabiya quickly averted her gaze. A faint blush blossomed on the apples of her cheeks. She wondered how she perked his interest so soon. 

"Sorry," he apologized, "I couldn't see you leave so sad especially after your... uh..." 

Rabiya flinched, thinking of her beloved uncle and grandfather. 

Noticing, Adar sadly smiled at her, a look of empathy crossing his handsome features. "Those villagers," he whispered so only she could hear, "they revel at the enmity in others. Right now, you should focus on yourself. Give yourself some time to heal. The rest of the world is only a speck of dust when you grieve."

Appalled by his words, Rabiya could not help but stare in shock, not knowing where her heart laid through the millions of emotions that crossed her. Since their deaths, no one had visited her family, had offered comforting advice to her, had gone through the extra mile to make sure that she was alright.

Adar was the first. 

"T-Thank you," she mumbled, stepping around him. "Pardon me, but I must be going." 

She heeded her brother's warning that people were not to be trusted within the village. If she had not just experienced their aggressive nature, then she may not have believed Tahmid. Walking away, her heart accelerated faster upon hearing his footsteps coincide with hers.