Come, Fly With Me

FOUR

I helped my panicking mama as she ran around the kitchen. She was a perfectionist like me, and for her dear friend who she had hardly been able to see in years, dinner had to be just perfect. I helped her present the biscuits on the tray and lay the table with the delicious foods she had busied herself making all day.

I had dressed in a black dress and tied my hijab simply, ready to meet our guests.

Our house has a large room which has a seating area on either side, so the ladies were to sit together on one side, and the men at the other end of the room.

Soon, Zeba Aunty and Maryam Aunty arrived. I met her gorgeous daughters, the twins named Noura and Yasmine and older Aaminah, who I got along with right away. They were a lovely family, and I felt at ease with them immediately.

We ate Mama's delicious dinner and whilst everybody sat around talking, I got up and signalled for Saffa to join me in taking the dishes back to the kitchen and preparing tea. Aaminah and the twins insisted on helping, but I refused, they were guests in my home and I was not going to make them do any work.

I made the tea and filled the teapot then presented everything on the tray. I sent Saffa to carry the desert and biscuits into the room and told her I would join her as soon as I had finished sorting the teacups and saucers. Once everything was done to my standards, I picked up the tray and walked out the kitchen, my eyes on the tray, making sure I didn't spill anything.

I was in a world of my own and so I did not even realise that someone else was walking towards me until he coughed, but it was not a cough that I recognised. I stopped in my path and looked up, quickly realising it must be Maryam Aunty's son so rapidly lowered my gaze without even glancing at his face. Almost bumping into him and spilling the teapot and dropping the tray, I stopped and gasped.

"I'm sorry, I was just looking for the bathroom"

"It's fine, the bathroom is that way" I pointed in the right direction.

"Okay, jazakallah"

"Ameen"

"Sorry again, I didn't mean to startle you." His head was still lowered.

I shook my head, "It's okay, no harm done."

Well, that was awkward. Way to meet someone for the first time in the middle of a hallway and almost spilling tea on them. Alhamdulillah that I didn't.

I quickly hurried back to the living room, served the tea and continued chatting with the girls.

* * *

It was three weeks later, and the end of term break had finally arrived. Unfortunately, I was spending the first few days of the holiday stuck at home with a horrible cold and cough, but it wasn't too bad, Saffa and I rewatched all the Harry Potter movies and Disney classics like the children we were at heart. Tonight, we were going for a good old romance movie, and I was beyond excited for it. I had texted Rima to invite her to join us too seeing as she was like a second sister to Saffa too.

Mama was going to my grandparent's house with the Aunties tonight to keep them company and my baba was also joining her with the Uncles, so it was just us siblings at home and I decided to cook us some dinner instead of eating from the takeaway.

I started to quickly wash up so that I could get into my comfortable loungewear and relax for the evening over the movie when Sami walked in.

"Salaam bhai"

"Wa alaikum salaam Aleena. What you up to?"

"Just cooked up some dinner for us all" I noticed he had his jacket on, "oh, are you going somewhere?"

"Yeah, Ehsaan and I are going to the masjid then when we come back we're going to play some football or something."

He moved to the side slightly so that I could see he wasn't alone. I didn't recognise his friend's name but I just let it pass. Then the doorbell rang. It was Rima by the sounds of it and Saffa had opened the door for her and told her where I was.

"Okay, well do you want to eat or drink before you go?"

"No, we'll be fine for now, we'll have something when we get back after prayers."

"Okay, Salaam!"

He walked away towards the front door and I heard Rima greeting him, she was practically part of our family, after all. She rushed into the kitchen like a whirlwind,

"Oh my Allah, Aleena, WHO WAS THAT?"

"What? Rima calm down, you've seen Sami pretty much every day for the last I don't even know how many years!"

"No no no, not Sami bhai, the guy that was with him? Who was he?"

"I don't know, some friend of his I've never seen before. Why?"

"Because, he looks pretty handsome for someone I only glanced at for 0.5 seconds" and with that she earned a small smack from me as I laughed at her and told her to stop swooning before I get on the mission of joining her mum in finding her a husband.

"Nuh uh, no way. Not for me. I have no intention of getting married any time soon at all. I want to get my master's degree first." she paused, thinking, "but you on the other hand... you're single and ready to mingle..." 

This time she earned a harder smack and I laughed, shaking my head and thinking about all the times we had spent dreaming in our childhood about our weddings and laughing because I knew we were nowhere close to making those dreams a reality. We were both career-driven, and I simply hadn't found anybody who interested me, nor did I have any intention of finding someone. After all, I'm only 22, I have plenty of time for the right man to come swooping down.

By the time we'd finished our movie, my parents had got back, Rima had gone home and we were sat in the kitchen while I plated up food for Sami and his friend. I was about to leave the kitchen to give it to them in the living room, when suddenly Mama came rushing over and pulled the tray out of my hands.

"No! Aleena not you" she quickly looked at my baba, who nodded. What was going on? They both quickly covered their smiles. "Saffa, take this in that room"

"But mama, I'm not wearing my hijab and Sami's friend is there. Let Aleena take it"

"No, quick. Go and wear a scarf then take this to them. Aleena needs to do something else"

What?

What on earth is going on and what is mama talking about? Why are my parents acting so weird?

I looked at my baba, expecting to figure it out, but he picked up his phone and left the room, a small trace of a smile on his face.

"Mama, what's going on?"

"Nothing, dear. Now go and have this hot honey and lemon to help with your cold then off to bed, my poor daughter is ill and I need to nurse you back to health as soon as possible."

As confused as I was, my sinuses were throbbing with pain, my throat was hurting and all I wanted was to curl up in bed with a good book. So that is exactly what I did.