How Love Happens - Chapter 8

 

Haifa had woken from her disturbed sleep for dinner time. She knew she was falling apart, and she needed to do something normal to keep her sane. She needed to talk to her best friend. Haifa quickly changed and went for a quick dinner. Thankfully, she met only Afa and her mother there, so she didn’t have to engage in much conversation during the meal.

After dinner, Afa trailed her back to her room, and Haifa had to pretend to work on editing until Afa went to sleep. She had no intention of pouring her heart out to Aish in the presence of Afa. Haifa didn’t want Afa to keep a file on her too.

The moment Afa left, Haifa dialed her friend’s number.

“Hey, I was just about to call you,” Aish answered on the second ring. “Did you start the plan? I was hunting a few jobs for you, but I need an ETA before I send your resume.”

“Not yet, I feel depressed, haven't been out much for the last two days,” Haifa said.

“Oh, no.” Aish instantly sensed the sadness in her voice. “What’s wrong?”

“It's Aseel, he hasn't called or texted much since I came here. I miss him so much.” Her voice broke as her eyes began to fill with tears. “I don’t know what to do.”

“That’s why you are sad?” Haifa could hear a bit of hurt in her friend's voice.

“I miss you too, obviously,” Haifa added quickly, “I meant I am depressed because of him. I need you, Aish.” Haifa said.

“I was just kidding,” Aish chuckled. “Tell me what happened.”

Haifa filled her in on how she intended to play hard to get, and the plan failed.

“Okay, listen, first of all, I repeat my opinion again: Aseel is not good for you. I have been telling you this all the time, and I will tell you again,” she said. “I'm your friend, and I refuse to stand by while he continues to hurt you. Ditch him now!”

Haifa sighed.

“Please don’t tell me you have been cyberstalking him,” Aish asked, and Haifa could literally see her accusing face in her mind.

“Umm,” Haifa bit her nails, trying to think of something to say to distract Aish.

“OH MY GOD, IFA!” Aish tsked, “You cannot play games if you don’t have patience. You cannot obsess over him and break before him.”

“That’s why I called you, what do I do now?” Haifa asked desperately.

“First thing, stop looking through his stuff. Have some self-respect, woman!” Aish instructed. “Second, distraction. Start something else so you don’t obsess over him.”

“I can't stop thinking about him, Aish. If I stop making an effort over him, I fear he will forget about me,” Haifa voiced her uncertainty. Finally saying the words out loud, she felt just how fragile her relationship was.

“Start on the original plan, go start some fights,” her friend told her, “I need you back here fast. You need to plant the seeds, snowball the little things to have a good argument.”

“All right, I will start tomorrow,” Haifa said, feeling a little better. “I am going to lunch at Kaafa's house tomorrow; that’s a good place to start.”

“Good girl,” Haifa’s lips twitched, picturing a beaming face on the other end of the call, “Try not to be too obvious, just play innocent.”

Once she ended the call with Aish, she immediately knew how right she was. Aish was her rock, always keeping her grounded. Taking her advice, Haifa put away her phone and decided to ready her clothes for the next day. It was her first day at her job, not her choice of occupation, but still, she wanted to make a good impression.

Haifa was just about to plug in the iron to press her top when her door burst open. Startled, she turned.

“I have bad news, I didn't want to show you, but everyone is going to see it, and I cannot not show you,” Saira barged into her room.

Haifa frowned, “Show me what?” she asked, “Slow down, what are you talking about?”

“Here,” Saira said as she handed her phone to Haifa.

Haifa looked at the Instagram reel currently playing on Saira’s phone, her confusion growing. Her mouth opened with horror as the reel showed her trying to sweep with the iloshi fathi, set to a rap song clip.

“She did this??” Haifa asked, her voice quivering.

Saira gave a sad nod, “I'm so sorry, I didn’t know she took a video. Lamya is always a bully in a passive-aggressive way. I've never seen her go after anyone like this,” she said, shaking her head, “She seems to have a special interest in you. I wonder why.”

Haifa bit her nails, after the incident in the morning she had been wondering why Lamya seemed so familiar. It took her a while to remember.

“I might have done something to her,” Haifa said in a quiet voice, her gaze lowered in shame.

“What do you mean?” Saira asked, clearly confused.

“Okay, I will tell you, but you have to promise never to tell anyone about this,” Haifa said as she handed the phone back. She couldn't look at the reel again, and it was up on the internet for everyone to see. Haifa couldn't even fathom the amount of humiliation she felt right now.

“Oooh, this seems like a juicy bit,” Saira sank into her bed, her legs crossed, “Spill the tea, I promise never to tell another soul.” She gave Haifa a serious look.

“It was years back, fourteen to be exact, the last time I came to Vavathi,” Haifa began to tell her shameful memory, which she had buried so deep she had forgotten the whole incident, “It was Eid, all the kids were playing in the street at the two-tree area with the stone bench. Lamya came showing off a cream and white kitty ear headphones her father had bought for her as an Eid gift.”

Haifa remembered the exact shape and colors of the cute headphones with the shining LED on the kitten ears. “She must have left it on the bench, I was in another group. It had rained in the morning, and we were covered in mud. I got tired and sat on the benches, and I heard a loud crack.”

“Oh no,” Saira’s hand flew to her mouth.

“I quickly got up to find her brand-new headphones. I had broken them when I sat down. I tried to put them back together, but they were not fixable, and they were covered with mud from my hands and clothes.” Haifa rushed her explanation, guilt eating her up, “I panicked. She had been loud and obnoxious before, I knew if she found out she would make my life hell. So I threw them away.”

“I quickly joined the others, trying to appear innocent when she started crying loudly. Then she was shouting, demanding to know who took her headphones,” Haifa looked at her hands, her voice filled with remorse, “Everyone helped, trying to find them. But no one could. She was crying and angry the whole day, and she stared at me vehemently. Somehow she knew it was me, I knew it. I was terrified.”

“OMG,” Saira exclaimed.

“I shouldn’t have done it, I know. I just didn't know what to do at the time,” Haifa tried to justify, “Please don’t judge me, I feel so bad,” she covered her face with her hands.

“Oh come on, you were like what, ten years old? We all do stupid things,” Saira reassured her, “Yes, you could have handled it better, but I understand why you did what you did. Your secret is safe with me,” she smiled at Haifa and squeezed her hand.

Haifa gave a weak smile. Somehow, in the worst time of her life, for the first time, she felt like she had a friend she could count on.

***
It was the afternoon of the next day, and Haifa lay on one of the joali outside her home. The noon sun shone brightly, the enormous trees provided a canopy, and the soft breeze cooled her skin. She watched the waves it created in the tree branches as the leaves danced in a slow melody.

She had just come from work and was waiting for Mamma to come out so they could go to lunch together. Their conversation was a bit strained after her outburst yesterday. Haifa had apologized, but somehow her mother still seemed upset.

She knew it was her fault; maybe subconsciously she wanted her mother to be less happy just because she felt angry. Haifa shook her head; she did not feel like a very good person right now. She vowed to be nicer to her mother.

She felt giddy about the thing she would be doing arriving at Kaafa house. Haifa had already planned out the details, the slight questions to brew up an argument or at least to make them uncomfortable.

“Hello there.”

Haifa turned abruptly towards the entrance when she heard the familiar deep voice that made her heart skip.

Zishan strolled in, and she had forgotten just how gorgeous he was. His jet-black hair was so thick and shiny that her hands itched to run her fingers through it. His attractive face stretched in a warm smile, showing off white teeth.

He wore a simple cotton white shirt with short sleeves, revealing his perfectly sculptured biceps. His blue jeans hugged his long legs. Making her wonder if there was anything he could wear and not look so good.

Haifa quickly sat up straight, patting her head covering. How do I look? She thought desperately.

Zishan smoothly sat down in the seat next to her, “I haven’t seen you for a few days. How are you? Did Muneez fix your phone?” he asked.

“I am doing good. Thank you, yes, he came. I am still waiting to hear from him about the tempered glass,” Haifa replied, swallowing to moisten her dry mouth. He appeared so abruptly and sat so close. She felt the warmth from his body and smelled hints of a spicy fragrance.

“That’s good,” he smiled once more, making her heart melt. She quickly glanced away; she could not feel this way. She had a boyfriend, she reminded herself guiltily. “So how do you like it here? Are you enjoying living in Vavathi?” he asked, tilting his head, his eyes genuine.

“I'm still adjusting, I guess,” Haifa answered honestly.

“I just love it here, so calm and beautiful. Time seems to run differently here, doesn’t it? In Male’, I felt like it was too lonely; everyone was so rigid. Neighbors are strangers, people are too busy in their own hectic roles.”

“You lived in Male’?” Haifa asked.

“Yeah, I worked for a year,” he said. “I started working here in the Environment Office after I finished school, and the Environment Agency Male’ office had a new initiative to train analysts. I applied and was selected. A group of us were sent to Sri Lanka for six months of training. Afterward, we had to complete a year working in Male’.”

“So you are an analyst?” Haifa asked, there goes the hope for the mafia boss, she thought.

“Something like that,” Zishan gave a thoughtful expression, “My job title says Environmental officer, basically we identify the plants, birds, fishes, and fauna in our area. Detect any disease or anything that might lead to it. I am currently looking after most of the islands in our atoll.”

“You do it all alone?” she asked with a speculative look.

Zishan laughed, “No, I mean I head the assessment, but I do have a team. I divide the islands among two others and myself. I have pressured EPA regarding needing more staff and have sent them a draft of a training curriculum.” He said, “For a long time, most of our environment hasn't been documented and there are so many species. Some are dying out because we are neglecting them. We need more people to be educated on the process and more to look after them.”

Haifa watched as he spoke about the environment and his work; his passion was so clear. His eyes held so much compassion, and his voice was mesmerizing. His animated face took her breath away, and for a moment, time stood still as she was taken adrift with him.

He stopped and looked at Haifa, “I’m sorry I didn’t mean to bore you with all the technicalities of my work.”

Haifa blinked at him, “I'm not bored; it sounds fascinating. You obviously have very interesting work. And I love to hear when someone is so passionate about their interests,” she replied.

“What about you, what are your interests?” he asked, looking into her eyes. “Tell me about Haifa,” he asked softly.

Haifa dropped her gaze, looking at her hands nervously. Zishan’s gaze seemed intimate like he was looking right into her. The problem was she didn’t feel like she had that much of an interesting story to tell. Not after what he had just told her.

“I have studied multimedia and hope to be a photographer,” she replied uncertainly, almost shyly. Haifa gritted her teeth, stop being so girly!

“That’s amazing! Do you have anything I can see?” he asked.

“Um, sure,” Haifa reached into her bag and withdrew her phone. Opening her Instagram, she handed it to him. His long fingers brushed against hers, sending a subtle thrill through her, which she quickly pushed aside.

“Wow, you did this. It looks so professional,” Zishan commented as he viewed her reels.

“Really?” she asked hesitantly.

“Yes, come on, you know these are good,” Zishan said. “Have you applied for jobs in this field? I mean, I really believe anyone who saw your work would hire you instantly.” He handed her phone back.

“I did, once. They didn’t want someone without experience,” Haifa replied, trying to sound nonchalant.

“Don’t be disheartened. How about I help you find some jobs? It will add to your portfolio and help when you apply for a big company?” he gave her an encouraging smile. That smile again. Why does he keep smiling so beautifully at her, making her feel things she did not want to feel? “Can I send you a request on Instagram? I can keep track of your uploads and maybe show off to a few friends of mine?” he asked, encouragingly.

Haifa felt flustered under his warm gaze, smiling and giving her hope. “Ok,” she replied, giving him a small smile.

Did you love the chapter, please let me know your thoughts in the comments.

Have a wonderful day!