Our Space

Chapter 34

"Radia, wake up," Sami whispered, standing over her. Radia stirred in her sleep. "Wake up, it's Eid!" Sami yelled, shaking her. "It's also Fajr. Fajr on Eid. Wake up!"

"Okay, why are you making such a racket? I'm awake!" Radia replied, covering her face with the blanket.

"Quickly get out of bed before I go to the masjid so I can see that you're really awake."

"Hold on a second... It's Eid!" Radia said, jumping up.

"That's what I said."

"It's Eid!" Radia repeated, running to the bathroom. Sami chuckled and told her he's leaving for the masjid, laughing as he heard her repeating herself again.

When Sami returned after Fajr, he was met by a fresh, nicely Radia. She seemed eager to start the day and Sami found Radia's childlike excitement endearing.

He walked into the kitchen where Radia was making a light breakfast and Sami had that weird feeling as he prepared to be eating during daylight hours. It happened every year. When Radia noticed Sami creeping behind her, taking jam out from a drawer, she turned around and hugged him.

"It's our first Eid together," She pointed out, grinning from ear to ear. Sami put the jar of jam down and held Radia, looking down at her affectionately.

"I can already see that this is going to be the best Eid ever."

"In'sha'Allah," Radia responded.

"By the way, I thought you didn't like hugging with wet hair," Sami teased and Radia rolled her eyes.

"Today can be an exception." Radia ran her fingers through Sami's hair and then she pulled his head down towards her and for a moment, the two of them forgot the rest of the world existed. They couldn't hear the bubbling noise of the boiling water and the click of the kettle. When they finally pulled apart, Sami sighed contently as Radia turned back towards the kettle. He stared at her with gratitude. For once in his life, Sami was going to celebrate Eid properly. No awkwardness, no panic attacks, no loneliness or any feelings of rejection.

"You look beautiful," Sami said, noticing her dress properly for the first time. He realised it was only for his eyes to see and he grinned. He knew she'd be too shy to even wear this pleasantly tight sleeveless dress in front of her parents. She'd left her precious matching cardigan hanging on the door, saving it for later.

"I haven't even done my make up yet. You have to wait before you can say that."

"But you're beautiful already," Sami said, running his fingers down Radia's bare arms. She rarely dressed like this so it was certainly a treat.

"Thy tea and thy toast, your highness." Radia handed Sami his special Arsenal mug which he insisted to have his tea in just to annoy Radia. Purely as a reaction to that, Radia bought herself a Liverpool mug and deserted her ancient 'special friend' mug, given by a friend who Radia rarely spoke to anymore.

"Why thank you me lady. After you." Sami waited as Radia walked out of the kitchen with an extra straight posture, like a dignified princess and Sami smiled to himself.

After breakfast, Sami was made to sit and wait until Radia was fully ready. In that much time, Sami re-did his wudhu and read some Qur'an. After reading a few pages, Sami decided to go back and attempt to translate them. During Ramadan, Sami had set himself the goal of learning some more Arabic. He'd chosen Arabic as an open option for two years in a row when he was in uni and he'd taken a couple of extra intensive courses but he still needed more work to fully understand Arabic. He wanted to be able to understand the Qur'an without putting so much effort it. He still had to break every other word down to be able to translate properly.