A Muslim's Romantic Journey

Chapter 21.

Safia’s POV

My white wedding dress was probably the best thing I had ever worn. It was tight around my waist and flowed out just below. A lace design covered my arms a beautiful princess like tiara sat just over my fancy bun. It was all so wonderful. To match the dress, I had a wonderful Walima. It went by without a glitch and was probably one of the best days, after my Nikah of course. No day would be better than the day I met Yusuf. I even managed to eat without dropping any food on my dress. My mother in law said she'd never seen a bride eat so much but with my family around me, making me laugh I didn't feel so much like a bride. I just felt like a very nicely dressed person having lots of fun.

The dress also made me feel confident around Yusuf.  I wasn’t my usual self-conscious self. I loved the way he reacted when he saw me. I don’t know if it was real or just an act but it really made me happy.

The only thing that had me anxious was Yusuf's ankle. He said it was okay but I didn't believe him. I made a mental note to ask him to make a doctor's appointment when he had the chance to.

I came back to my parents’ house the day after my Walima, which was good but I missed Yusuf a lot. The first night home, I jumped into my bed feeling so relieved. It wasn’t long before I began craving the sound of Yusuf’s light snoring beside me. Somehow, I’d managed to fall asleep without him.

University had started again, must to my distress. The week stretched by so slow. I couldn’t wait till Friday. From Friday evening to Monday morning every week, I was to stay at Yusuf’s house. That was until the summer. When summer came, I would have to move in permanently. I thought living at home would be easy but I missed Yusuf so much. Talking to him on the phone wasn’t enough. I wasn’t so good at talking to him anyway. My communication was improving but he still jumbled my mind up a little.

The first Friday I was staying with Yusuf, he came to get me from university and was waiting outside my building until my lecture was over. I had a few friends teasing me when they saw me running to him, buzzing with excitement. Right away he reached for my hands causing an immature cheer from my classmates. As I walked with him, I wasn’t even listening to what he was saying. All I could do was thank Allah that I was finally with Yusuf again.

When we got home, Maryam came running to me with open arms as soon as I stepped indoors.

"I missed you!" She said hugging me.

"I missed you more!" I said hugging her back. 

"Okay, let Safia get inside now." Yusuf said. 

Soon enough, Maryam and I were in the kitchen preparing dinner. Yusuf kept popping in asking if we needed help but we kept kicking him out so we could resume our girly conversations about skincare.

“I am so glad I have someone older to talk to now.” Maryam said with genuine gratitude.

“Don’t you talk to your mum?” I asked. I was able to talk to my mum about anything. In fact, some of the advice I was giving came from my mum.

“I don’t think she can see anything past Javed.” Maryam said sadly. Then she froze. “Pretend I never said that!”

“Is that how you truly feel?”

“No. I just… I don’t know. I guess it feels like that sometimes. Wait, no! You’ve not even been here for two weeks. I can’t have this conversation with you. Just ignore what I’m saying; I just get a little emotional sometimes.” Maryam walked away from me to the opposite counter, her head down.