Come, Fly With Me

NINE

The guests had finally left and we were clearing away as the evening came to an end. After Ehsaan and I had spoken to one another, we joined the rest of the families' in the dining room and took our seats at the table. The whole time all I could think of was how pleasantly surprised I am about the man in front of me, and how I actually enjoyed the time we had spent together.

As we ate I glanced up at him, a few times catching his eye and blushing as I quickly turned back to the giggling girls who teased me endlessly. Bhai was keeping a sharp eye out though, one glare putting a stop to it immediately.

* * *

Us siblings were sat in the kitchen together as our parents had gone to drop off some food to my grandparents house.

"Soo, appi what did you think"

"hm?" I looked at her, not hearing what she had said.

"Do you want to marry him?"

"Yeah Aleena, do you want to marry him?"

"Guys! I've met him once! I've spoken to him for about 20 minutes in total, how can I know if I'm ready to spend the rest of my life with him?"

"You might think that, but I know you. And you're never drifting off into space like you are tonight." Saffa gasped, "you like him don't you?! You do! I knew it, you two are going to make the cutest couple InshaAllah!"

"Saffaaaa" I groaned, blushing so hard I had to put my head down on the cold kitchen island to cool my burning cheeks down. "Bhai, tell her to stop, she's being immature."

"Nope, in fact, I'm telling you, he likes you too, I could tell by his face. And he kept looking at you over dinner, I had to kick him under the table once for staring at my little sister."

We laughed, "Sami, please tell me you did not actually do that."

"I did, I promise."

Well. That was something. One meeting and I guess things were going okay. Mama and baba got home and joined our little discussion, asking me about what I thought of him.

"Did you like him, honey?" Mama asked. I shrugged, "he was nice. I asked him about his work and things, and he asked me some questions too, we got along." I said slowly.

"So do you want to take things further, or is it a no from you?"

I thought about it for a moment, "I'd like to think about it if that's okay?"

"Of course, don't feel pressurised by us or anyone else. Take your time."

* * *

The house had grown silent, I was the only one awake, my thoughts running around my head not allowing me to sleep. A few weeks ago the thought of marriage never even crossed my mind, I always imagined my one true match to come and find me later on in life, yet here we are. A man had literally walked into my life and changed the whole picture. I didn't know if he was my one true match, not yet. But there was a feeling in my heart I couldn't ignore. I'd been planning my life out for years, but Allah is indeed the best of planners.

I decided to pray istikhaara and go to bed. After all, if it was meant to be, Allah would surely make it happen.