Haifa strolled beside her mother,
the sunset casting a warm, golden glow over the meticulously swept streets. The
sand felt soft under her feet as they walked. Streetlights illuminated their
path, allowing pedestrians to move comfortably alongside occasional motorbikes.
Their stride came to a halt in front
of her Kaafa house, which was adorned with festive lights. The aroma of seafood
wafted through the air. Haifa wrinkled her nose in disgust; she was
perhaps the only Maldivian who disliked seafood.
They entered the house, and her
family greeted them warmly before guiding them to the backyard. Long tables
were laden with an assortment of barbecued delicacies, including lobsters,
octopus, and various other seafood dishes that Haifa couldn't even identify.
Relatives, cousins, neighbors, and
friends gathered around the tables, some even extending onto the adjacent road,
creating a lively and lively atmosphere. Within moments of arriving at
the festivities, Haifa found herself bombarded with questions and comments from
various relatives.
"Look at you, you've grown so
much and put on weight!"
"All those motorcycles and
taxis in Male', you never walk anywhere. Now that you're here, you can try
losing some weight."
"That's a nice top, but it's so
tight. Your burga barely covers anything."
"Multimedia? What kind of
career can you start with that? You should have studied something in
management; it's much easier to get a job."
"You're twenty-three and still
not married? My youngest daughter is two years younger than you, and she's
already married and pregnant."
Haifa tried to smile politely and
answer their questions, but she couldn't help but feel overwhelmed by the
judgment and expectations of her relatives.
"You shouldn't wait too long
without marriage. Can't you find a nice boy?"
"Now that she's here, we'll
find her a husband."
The laughter of the relatives echoed
in Haifa's ears as she tried to escape the suffocating atmosphere. She felt
nauseated, a combination of the strong seafood smell and the pressure from her
family's expectations.
Desperate for a reprieve, she
excused herself and walked around the house, away from the chatter of the
gathering. She pulled out her phone and dialed Aish's number, hoping for a
sympathetic ear.
"Aish, I can't do this, it's
worse than I thought," Haifa's voice quivered with anxiety as she
hurriedly walked away from the overwhelming crowd, her heart pounding with
unease.
"Calm down, take a deep
breath," Aish's soothing voice came through the phone, a lifeline in this
sea of anxiety. "Tell me what happened."
"They're like vultures,"
Haifa exclaimed in a hushed tone, not wanting anyone nearby to hear. "I
feel suffocated. We came for dinner at Kaafa house. Aish, all of them are here,
asking so many questions, and I can't handle it."
As Haifa tried to escape in her
panic, she didn't notice the large root sticking out from the ground. In an
instant, she tripped over it, her phone flying from her hand. Panic surged as
she saw the ground rapidly approaching.
Just before she could hit the hard
earth, a strong hand swept beneath her, catching her milliseconds before her
inevitable fall. She found herself nestled against a man's chest, his other
hand supporting the back of her head. Her hands pressed flat against
surprisingly firm biceps. Her heart raced as she looked up, locking eyes with
the stranger who had just saved her from a painful fall.
Haifa found herself momentarily lost
in the depths of his brown eyes. His thick, straight black hair was pushed back
over the top, with a few locks falling gracefully over his face. High
cheekbones and an angular face framed those eyes, which were currently furrowed
with concern.
"Are you okay?" Her
rescuer's alluring, deep voice inquired,
Haifa felt her mouth go dry. It took
some effort to respond, her voice coming out faintly, "I'm fine."
He slowly straightened her up and
took a step back, but his eyes still held a trace of worry. "I must
apologize," he said, his hand gently touching his chest as he lowered his
head. "I didn't mean to jerk you like that. It all happened so fast, and I
reacted without thinking."
Haifa couldn't help but be impressed
by his politeness and chivalry. Her heart began to flutter, making her feel all
tingly. Stop that, she chided her heart silently, this is the wrong
one.
"I'm okay, really," she
stammered, still feeling a bit flustered. "I'm not usually so clumsy. I
was in a hurry and talking... Oh my God, MY PHONE!" she almost screamed,
panic evident in her voice as she began searching frantically.
"It's okay, we will find
it," he said, joining in the search.
After a few tense minutes, she
located her iPhone lying on a grassy patch just next to the road. With a mix of
relief and dread, she quickly picked it up, checking for damages.
"Oh NOOO," she cried out
in disappointment. There was a crack, a fine hairline running through the lower
right corner of the screen. Her heart sank.
"Don't worry," he said
reassuringly. "I know a phone repairer around here, and he's really good
with iPhones."
His comforting words and that
charming smile with full, soft lips made his face even more devastatingly
beautiful. Haifa felt her heart flutter once again, despite her best efforts to
stop it.
"Ifa?" Haifa almost jumped
at the sound of her stepfather's voice.
She turned to see him stepping
towards her, his head tilted in concern. "I saw the way they were crowding
you," he said gently. "I was just about to come and steer you away
when you left so suddenly." His eyes were serious as he searched her face.
"You looked so terrified. Are you okay?" he asked.
Haifa nodded, feeling a slight tug
at her heart to his concern. "Yes," she replied.
"Zishan, how are you?"
Jalaal smiled at her rescuer. “I see you have met my daughter.” Her heart
tugged a little more at Jalaal calling her daughter.
"I'm fine, Jalaalbe’,"
Zishan replied warmly. "Ifa dropped her phone. I was just telling her that
Muneez can fix it for her."
Jalaal nodded in agreement.
"Yes, he's the best phone repairman on the island."
He turned to Haifa, his expression
understanding. "Let's go inside."
Haifa shook her head. "I don't
feel so well."
"Look, I understand you're
feeling overwhelmed right now," Jalaal said gently. "But the
celebration is for you. They don't mean any harm, and you'll get used to them.
I'll stay with you. To survive here, you must learn to have a thicker skin.
People will talk and pry, but they are family. That's how they have grown
up."
Haifa contemplated for a moment.
They were right. If not now, it will happen again soon. She couldn't keep
hiding from them. Plus, the gossip would be relentless if she bailed on her own
welcome party.
"Sometimes we have to deal with
difficult people. Just don't react, smile and nod. You'll do just fine,"
Zishan added.
Haifa looked from her stepfather's
encouraging face to Zishan's smiling one. "All right, this once. Don't
think you two ganging up on me will work again," she said
They both laughed as they walked
with her, one on each side, back into the midst of the gathering.
***
Haifa opened her eyes halfway,
taking a moment to grasp her surroundings. Bright sunlight poured in like a
beam, and she found herself face to face with a very curious girl hovering
inches from her.
"Are you awake?" the girl
whispered.
Haifa's eyes widened, and she
instinctively moved back a bit, startled by the unexpected intrusion.
"Mamma said I cannot wake you,
but if you are up, I can talk, right?" the girl asked, her voice hushed
and hesitant. Haifa blinked, trying to make sense of the miniature figure
perched at her bedside.
The girl had her hair neatly tied in
pigtails, framing her oval face. Her big eyes, adorned with lush lashes, darted
around the room. Ah, Haifa thought, she must be the younger sibling of Saira.
"I'm Afa. I wanted to meet you
when you came yesterday," she said, her voice filled with excitement.
"But I was at school at the time. I was at the party last night, and there
were so many people around you that I couldn't get through." She wrinkled
her nose in a comical manner.
Haifa remembered the party with a
grimace, thinking about how she had to force smiles and nods so much that she
felt like her teeth might fall out. She had endured the initiation without too
much permanent damage, after all.
"I was born after the last time
you had visited, so you didn't know about me. I had to make sure you do,"
Afa continued, her enthusiasm undiminished. "I'm 10 years old and in the
fourth grade. My room is right next to Dhonthi's."
Haifa rubbed a hand over her face
and blindly reached for her phone. She checked the time: 6:02. She inwardly
groaned; it was too early for introductions. She was still processing the long
list of names from last night.
"You know Dhonthi, right?
Saira? She has a boyfriend now," Afa chattered on as she started to open
the curtains that Haifa had forgotten to close fully, allowing the morning sun
to flood into the room. Haifa squinted against the brightness.
"Even Naail has a girlfriend.
You haven't met him, have you?" Afa continued, seemingly unbothered by the
one-sided conversation.
Haifa scrolled through her phone,
hoping to find a call or text from Aseel. He had failed to call her, and she
was too mentally tired to talk to him anyway. Absently, she traced the crack on
her phone's screen as she scrolled through Facebook and Instagram. It didn't
take long for her to find Aseel's photos and stories.
There were pictures of him at the
basketball court, on his bike, and with his friends. Haifa closed her phone and
closed her eyes, feeling a pang of loneliness. Aseel had always been secretive
about his life, never introducing her to his closest friends or family members.
He kept her at arm's length, and
whenever she asked about it, he would make excuses or start an argument. She
always ended up apologizing and dropping the subject. Haifa had accepted their
relationship the way it was, as long as she had him, that was all that
mattered.
“Bappa said if I brought good grades
this time he would take me to Male’. I have never been there,” Afa continued, making
herself comfortable in her bed. “Everyone has gone, so this is going to be a
special trip just for me.”
As Afa continued to chatter, Haifa
found herself lost in her thoughts about Aseel and their relationship. She
wondered if she had been making things too easy for him, always being the one
to initiate contact and making herself readily available. Perhaps it was time
to play hard to get, to give him a taste of what it's like when she's not
always at his beck and call.
She let out a sigh, realizing that
she never imagined herself playing games in her relationships. But then again,
she never imagined herself scheming to create problems with her mother and
relatives or being stuck in a place she despised, having to engage with people
she disliked.
“Afa?” A voice called out from
outside the door, and Rugiyya, Afa’s mother, knocked on Haifa’s door before
cracking it open. “I told you not to come in here. Did you wake your cousin?”
she asked sternly.
Afa jumped up from Haifa’s bed and
hurried to her mother. “I didn't wake her, Mamma,” she replied innocently.
Her mother gave an apologetic smile
to Haifa before closing the door and taking her daughter with her.
Haifa pulled her blanket over her
head, hoping to go back to sleep. She tossed and turned, but she couldn't stop
thinking about Aseel. What if, when she stopped trying, he just let her go? Why
did she feel like her doom was near?
Haifa's anxiety kicked in, and she
threw away her covers in frustration. Giving up on sleep, she headed to the
bathroom to brush her teeth.
Did you love the chapter, please let me know your thoughts
in the comments.
Have a wonderful day!
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