Him & His Muslimah

58

Zaib/Zoya

"Naimat!" Zoya flung her arms around her best friend, uplifted with joy. This was the first time she'd seen her dearest friend in months since the wedding and so much had happened since then. Naimat and Ehsan were on a long honeymoon, touring around various countries globally as they'd decided to spend most of their wedding budget on travelling instead.

Naimat had adorned a peaceful glow in that time; her eyes shone more than ever, and her cheeks were a healthy, rosy red. Maybe it was true after all, marriage and love brought out all your colours. Ehsan also looked like the luckiest man alive, having grown out his hair a bit just as Naimat preferred and seemingly inseparable from his wife as if he couldn't bear to part from her.

"Zoya! I missed you!" Naimat bear-hugged her soulmate, tearing up with joy. It felt like Zoya had thinned, so Naimat precariously put her arms around her.

"Have you lost weight, Zoe? Is Zaib not feeding you well?" She raised an eyebrow at Zaib who was grinning while chatting with Ehsan.

"Naim, I just overworked myself a bit before, I'm bouncing back soon though. Don't worry about it," she reassured Naimat, pulling out of the hug. Naimat nodded and patted her shoulder, "Stop being so hard on yourself Zoe, okay?"

Zoya nodded gladly while grasping Naimat's hand and they turned to their husbands who were engaged in a conversation.

"Zaib? Are we leaving soon, or will we spend the whole day in the driveway?" She teased.

He chuckled at his sarcastic wife and motioned to Ehsan, "Alright man, let's get going before my wife throws more sass at me." Ehsan laughed heartily while Zoya nudged Zaib annoyedly.

The couples got inside the car, men in the front and women in the back with Zaib driving.

Today they planned to take a day off, unwinding at the beach. The group had been planning this road trip for ages and now with this spring break and delightful weather, it had become a reality.

On the way there, the car was filled with laughter and good-natured banter between the two couples. They played various games including truth or dare which ended up with Naimat doing Zoya's henna in the backseat of the car.

She'd brought her henna cone along to do a beautiful design she'd been planning to try out on Zoya but Zaib's evil dare had enticed her to waste one of Zoya's hands on a wobbly flower design. Upon showing it to Zoya's overly enthusiastic husband, Zaib had been reduced to painful laughter at the childish design.

"Naim, I look like an eight-year-old who attempted to do henna on herself!" Zoya whined, sulking at her palm.

"Oh, it'll go away, stop being such a drama queen," Naimat rolled her eyes.

"Zaib, I'll never forgive you!" She yelled for the fifth time today while Zaib constantly apologized with a ridiculous smirk on his face.

After a few hours of driving, they'd finally reached the seaside. The ladies jumped out the moment Zaib parked the car, taking off their sandals and running barefoot on the sand.

Naimat and Zoya's squeals of excitement rang across the nearly empty beach. The husbands just chuckled at their wives' antics. No matter how different the two best friends were, they both had wild spirits that their husbands had to live with.

Zoya and Naimat raced each other and then ran ankle-deep into the water, splashing each other lightly and giggling like schoolgirls. The refreshing ocean breeze and cool splashes of water hitting their feet made them reminisce the time they were young and always together, flooded with innocence and trivial matters. Suddenly all days of hardship were washed away with the tranquil waves as if they had never existed.