How I Met Mr Jinn ✔️

Epilogue

A few months later...

You've never felt truly alone until you lose the ability to socialize and find yourself standing quietly among a loud laughing crowd. Unable to smile, or even respond without lying to strangers you've probably seen only formerly. I wonder what faces they'd make if I chose to speak the truth out loud. That it didn't feel like any other wedding I've gone to, that it felt strange and too crowded for my liking. Too loud, even. Almost just as loud as the words that echoed in my head, humming the strange pattern I had found myself in. That no matter how long I hold on, there will always come a time where I am forced to let go.

I knew that I shouldn't feel that way towards Ahmed, but he was the only one who was willing to listen. He didn't think I was going crazy. To be frank, I don't know what he thought. He just listened, and that was all that mattered.

He might not have believed every word and probably held some doubts to this day, but he never doubted me as a person. He knew that there was truth in it, I could tell by his eyes.

If not, he wouldn't have kept it a secret that I wasn't with him the whole night at the hospital. Speaking of which, he had told me that he searched for me everywhere and refused to go home without me. That was how he ended up staying overnight. As for me, I convinced Aya and Asad that I forgot something important at the hospital, so they drove me back. If I hadn't done that, then I would have had to answer to my parents.

When we got there, Ahmed didn't ask me too many questions. I guess he was busy interrogating Asad and Aya. After all, he had the right to be concerned.

At that time, Aya knew nothing of my story, but she knew well enough that it was personal. She made sure that Asad didn't spare the details, and pinched his arms when he almost did. To my surprise, he got along pretty well with Ahmed. Maybe it was his charm, the way he organized his sentences, and the kindness his voice held. As they got acquainted, Aya took my arm and led me to Marisol's room. Maybe she hoped to find answers to her questions, but she couldn't ask even if she wanted to, not wanting to wake them up. Of course, that didn't stop Aya from asking questions, later on, to which I tried my best to tell the tale without a tear. It proved a hard task, even after I had done the same with Ahmed on our car ride home.

However, telling Ahmed felt different, no... he felt different. To put it simply, he just didn't feel like the same arrogant jerk I had known before. He felt like a whole new person, a grown man.

That man was now dressed in a suit, with the same silly smirk of the boy I had known long ago. He held Fatima's hand as one would hold a jewel, careful, and enamored by its beauty. I didn't think he deserved her at first, but now... I can say that they truly deserve each other.

''You alright?'' Nassir questioned.

Oddly enough, he took my silence as an invitation. He stepped forward and stood a few feet away from me, as he joined me on the balcony. He stared at the sky, trying to find what my attention was on. The music was loud, but I was able to hear his voice perfectly when he asked, "What are you looking at?"

"Nothing," I muttered, bringing my eyes down to my fingers as they joined just as quickly as they broke apart. I came here searching for some peace and quiet and was lucky enough to stumble across a balcony with an artistic view of the city underneath and a starlit sky above. The last thing I wanted was to be interrupted by the man I was forced to decline.

"Do you miss him?" He asked, his voice low.

His question caught me off guard, to the point that I had questioned Ahmed's loyalty. Nassir quickly caught on and eyed me with great suspicion the longer it took for me to answer. I tried my best to seem like I had no clue and wandered, ''W-what do you mean?''