Endless Summer🌞

42: Fire on the mountain

17th May, 2017.
Paris, France.
Days passed by in a blur. Hanan was trying her best to cope with the recent changes in their lives. On one hand was the absence of Iman, and on the other hand was the man she was battling with every piece of her to get over. He has buried himself in work trying to complete a project he started ever since they came back. They hardly even get the time to bond any further, since he leaves home way too early than he usually does and comes back when she was retiring to bed.

She was standing by the car, waiting for Mr Winfrey who just went to get the car keys he left on the kitchen counter when her phone rang. When she checked, she saw Muhsin's name on the screen. He had left for work even before she woke up which only proved his new schedule was getting worse with each passing day.  At least he said good morning to her on the other days, but she couldn't even get that today.

"Good morning ma'am." He greeted the moment she answered the call.

"What is good about the morning?"

He chuckled on the other end. "You are resuming back to work, that's one of the many good things."

"Oh yeah, finally going to be with the people that would at the very least greet me good morning and tell me goodbye when they are leaving. Good thing for sure."

"Hanan, Ya Allah!" He took a heavy breath. "I am so sorry. You know how important this project is to me."

"My bad. I didn't know it was more important than your wife. Sorry for taking much of your time right now, just concentrate on the important project. Bye." She uttered, then hung up the call.

Muhsin sighed. He just screwed up. He had a lot on his plate already, and with Hanan being like this as well, he didn't know how to handle anything anymore. Things were hard, but surely with every hardship comes ease.
********

Gold and white balloons, multicolored confetti, champagne and glasses, cheers and splitting smiles were all around Hanan's office. A simple, yet great welcome back she never expected. Everyone was so happy to have her back. Oh yes, she was too. Especially when she saw Arianna wearing hijab. They were all there, including the CEO himself, Mr Alex. It was a small family reunion, her French office family.

After the welcome back session, they all settled down to continue their works. Hanan's table was well organized and embellished with a bouquet of her favorite roses. She knew it was none other's doing but Arianna's and she couldn't wait for her to come back from Mr Alex's office because they had a lot of catching up to do and of course to fill her up on the office schedules.

Waiting for Arianna, she began to go through the files that were neatly arranged on her desk. First was a chart of how well the marketing strategy she proposed was doing in the market. All thanks to her idea, the company's profit increased by 5% over the period of two months.

Muhsin would be so proud of her. She thought.

"Anan" Arianna called from behind. She just never got the name right. "Oh sorry, Assalamu alayyyykom." Hanan froze for a second. Did Arianna just salaamed?

"Wa alaiki Ari (And you too). And it's actually Assalamu alaikum, not alayyyykom."

"Alaikum, ok. And hey, my name is Asmaah now. I accepted Islam." She finished off with a toothy grin.

Hanan's hand moved to her mouth in a jiffy. She kept it there for a second or two before removing it and engulfing Arianna, oh Asmaah in a bone crushing hug.

She pulled out of the hug, her eyes filled with moisture. She was so happy, it made her cry. "Welcome to Islam Asmaah, welcome to Islam. By Allah I am so happy, I could die right now."