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Chapter 15: A Trembling Foundation

6th March, 2020

"O you who believe! Stand out firmly for justice, as witnesses to Allah, even though it be against yourselves, or your parents, or your kin"

[an-Nisa' 4:135]

Chapter 15:

A trembling foundation

"I have a surprise for you."

Afreen, who was in the middle of brushing her hair, momentarily paused and turned towards Zubair, her eyes glinting with curiosity.

"I love surprises," she grinned, waiting for Zubair to break the news.

"It took me almost three months to give you this, but here we go. In sha Allah, at the end of this month, we can go on a little vacation," Zubair informed, smiling as he waited for Afreen to react.

Any other time, she would have immediately jumped in glee, but given the conversation she had with Mubeena the other day, she contained her excitement and instead clarified, "Just the two of us?"

"Obviously... no."

"Oh!" Afreen responded, her guards going up. "Who else are you planning to invite on our trip?"

"How about we take our neighbors along? Oh wait, let's arrange for a mic and make a common announcement asking for any volunteers to join us."

"Very funny," Afreen answered, rolling her eyes at his attempt to crack a joke while Zubair glanced at her curiously, wondering the need for such a question.

Realizing that Zubair probably didn't even know his mother's plan of a trip to the north to visit a shrine, she decided to trust his reply and nodded in reply.

"Where are we going?" She asked. Smiling, she let the news settle in as it should have, and added, "Oh my goodness, I'm so excited. I can't wait for this month to near the end already!"

"Finally!" Zubair sighed, relieved to receive the joyful response he was anticipating since the beginning. "I decided we could go on a package tour, and shortlisted the few places that fell in the budget," he explained, browsing through his phone. Afreen climbed into bed next to him and his arm wrapping around her shoulder while the other hand held his phone, Zubair scrolled through some of the honeymoon destinations in the country.

Zubair eyed Afreen as she spoke elaborately of all the places he swiped through, be it Goa or Munnar, Mahableshwar or Ooty.

"I won't be surprised if you start packing your bags right away," he laughed, although he too felt just as thrilled as Afreen, if not more.

"You're just as excited," she accused good naturedly.

"I've been looking forward to traveling the world with you from the first time we met," he winked and Afreen elbowed him, smiling prettily at the remark.

"I can't believe we made this happen," Afreen replied, a distant look in her eyes. "Us, together, like this, sometimes it still feels like a dream."

"I know," Zubair agreed. "Our story is the kind written in books, where in the face of calamities, true love eventually wins."

"But I sometimes wonder, Zu-Zu, have we achieved our victory yet? As difficult as it was at that time, is it really that easy? Is this a constant phase of happiness or just a fleeting moment?"

"Don't stress yourself with too many thoughts, Aaf, we're a team, and we're going to win this together, till the very end." He paused, before saying, "Now Miss, if you could come back from revisiting the days when you were in warrior mode and focus on booking our trip, that would be great!"