Yusuf covered his mouth, preventing a yawn from escaping as he trudged towards the canteen. 

He had barely been back a week but was already on the verge of collapsing from exhaustion.

If Yusuf wasn't a Muslim, he would've delayed his wedding so that he could've started working with the rest of his cohort.

Doing so would've meant he had an induction, a grace period, some leniency, and time to make mistakes and find his way. Starting later had stripped him of those luxuries.

The employment department Yusuf had qualified into was busy. Too busy for people to explain things more than once. Deadlines had to be met but were essentially a fallacy. Work had to be submitted before the deadline.

"You look like you're eating good," Matthew said, eying the leftovers Asiya had boxed up for him.

"My wife made it," Yusuf boasted.

Asiya. 

Yusuf felt like he had been playing a losing game of charades with Asiya all week. 

He tried to decipher how she really felt by scrutinising her actions because she wasn't being honest.

She kept saying everything was fine, but her behaviour was screaming the opposite.

She rejected Yusuf's apologies and insisted that they weren't necessary, but she was barely allowing Yusuf to kiss or touch her. Asiya was reeling herself in and acting like Yusuf's touch would make her unravel.

Asiya hadn't even tried to give him a proper goodbye this morning. She had just shouted, "I'm going," as she walked out the door, making Yusuf run after her like a dog chasing a ball.

Yusuf knew he was partly to blame for her behaviour.

They had barely spent time together, but the work expectations placed on Yusuf seemed unreachable. 

They were miles in front of him, and he was still at the starting line, fingers fumbling with his laces. 

He would never catch up if he only worked between 9 and 5.

Plus, work was white noise for Yusuf, something he had needed more of ever since he and Asiya had returned from their honeymoon.

"I need all the energy to whiz through my tasks. I have got to leave early today," Yusuf said.

"What time did you leave yesterday?" Matthew asked.

"Around nine. I got home at past ten."

"Day before?"

"Same time. I've left work at the same time every single day."

"What does your missus think?"

"I don't think she's happy," Yusuf answered with a slight frown.

"I wouldn't be," Matthew said.

"That's why I'm leaving work early tonight."

He knew Asiya had been making concessions for him. He felt like it was all she had done since meeting him. Yusuf was too afraid to ask her if he was using his last ones, but he could tell her patience was thinning.

"Don't choke." Asiya had actually said that to him one night. Yusuf would've thought that her sentence was as innocent as it had sounded if she hadn't been strangling him with a glare.

"Are you bringing her to the movie screening?" Matthew asked.

"If we're still married by then, yes," Yusuf joked weakly.

"I'm back on the apps, man," Matthew groaned. "I swore I wouldn't go back on them, but I don't have any time to go out and meet people, and I need a date."

"A date isn't mandatory," Yusuf said.

"Mate, my buddy has one, mate. My buddy. That spotty little shrimp has one, and I don't," Matthew said.

The firm had begun partnering trainees with higher-level staff to help them settle in. Matthew's buddy was called Daniel. Daniel was an awkward, greasy looking kid. His skin was speckled with spots, and if a gentle breeze in the atmosphere blew, his fragile physique made him a flight risk.

"Daniel's a nice kid," Yusuf commented. The boy had thick braces and tight rubbers mounted onto his teeth, which prevented him from smiling but never stopped him from trying.

"Apparently, it's his girlfriend," Matthew continued. "He showed me a picture of her! She's a paralegal at Vinton's down the road. I don't know how that little firm affords this area's rent, but how Daniel nabbed her is an even bigger mystery! That girl is way out of his league! She's–"

Yusuf held up his hand. "You don't need to describe her."

"I told Daniel she's only getting with him to get into our firm. I told him he'd be wise to dump her," Matthew said.

"You didn't," Yusuf frowned at Matthew.

"What? Daniel said she asked him to speak to someone about the progress of her vacation scheme application."

It could be true. Innocent Daniel could easily be a victim. Just someone being used.

The legal industry was big but not big enough to be exempt from employees who had the luxury of taking a short-cut route through the back door unlocked by nepotism. Many people in the legal industry had gotten jobs through friends of a friend, and others were only a "who-you-know-hand-shake-away" from one, but Yusuf still shook his head.

"Have you ever thought that maybe Daniel has a date, no, a girlfriend because he's nice? Maybe she's with him because she likes him. We shouldn't make assumptions or judge a book by its cover," Yusuf said.

He felt protective over Daniel. The workplace was lethal, and the buddies' job was to reduce the trainee fatalities, not inject them with the poison.

"You're right; judging a book by its cover is wrong, but everyone does it. Everyone will also judge me if I turn up without a date!" Matthew whined.

-

When the clock struck six, Yusuf closed the tabs on his computer and shut it down. He was ready to waltz out of the office confidently. He had completed his tasks and sent everything off for checking.

"Yusuf," Alice, his supervisor, called out to him, "Are you leaving?".

Yusuf pinched his eyes shut as anxiety trickled down his spine.

Nothing in his contract said he couldn't leave at six. Everything he did after six was an unrewarded bonus and an expectation, but not a must.

Focusing on what was printed in black and white instead of on an unspoken rule, Yusuf stepped into Alice's new office, a perk from the recent promotion she had just received.

Alice was sitting at her desk, her hands moving across her keyboard swiftly.

"Yeah, I've completed everything I needed to do today."

"Good," Alice nodded. The blonde-haired woman pushed her hands against her desk, causing the chair she was sitting on to roll backwards. She spun the chair around and leaned over, reaching for some files on an oak set of drawers.

Once she had gotten what she needed, she motioned for Yusuf to come closer.

"In that case, I'm putting you on this project. Please read over these files and summarise the contracts by tomorrow," Alice instructed as she held out two dense brown paper wallets towards Yusuf.

Yusuf stared at the wallets so hard that he was sure his gaze would burn holes through them.

Alice looked at Yusuf expectantly. The papers in the files made a slight slapping sound as Alice silently encouraged Yusuf to take them.

Yusuf was going to take the files, but his imagination entertained thoughts of what would happen if he didn't.

Would Alice's arm snap in half due to the crushing weight of the wallets? Yusuf imagined Alice's scream and her flimsy arm overwhelmed by the intense amount of printed information. Would that count as badgering? He questioned himself dryly. Or would Alice snap him if Yusuf rounded his lips and said no?

"Sure, Alice," Yusuf said as he took the files with a forced smile.

Yusuf put the files on his desk.

He shouldn't have. He didn't need to work here. He could work at home, but would Asiya accommodate him? After the week they'd had, he wasn't sure.

Yusuf sat down.

Work was demanding and difficult, but Yusuf could make sense of it. The definitions were clear cut, and a judgment was often already in force, so he'd know where to start.

Yusuf tucked himself under his desk. He'd start working here and finish the rest of his work at home. It was only six o'clock. It was still early.

- A -

"Asalamu alaykum," Yusuf greeted as he entered the flat.

"Wa alaykum salam," Asiya replied.

Asiya's breath fluttered out of her as Yusuf positioned himself behind her. "You're still cooking?"

Asiya waited for Yusuf's arms to circle around her, but his touch never came. "Yeah, I decided to start later since you arrive later," she said.

It was almost 9:00 pm.

Asiya tipped her head towards the table, wordlessly instructing Yusuf to sit down. She knew her welcomes had been quite cold recently, but so had Yusuf. She was only mirroring his behaviour.

"How was work?" Asiya asked.

"The same. Tiring but...," Yusuf's eyes lit up slightly, so Asiya drummed her hands on the table, "My boss is putting me on a case tomorrow. A big one, which is good."

"Oh! That's great, mashAllah! Well done! You're playing with the big boys now," Asiya cheered.

Yusuf grinned before spooning a forkful of creamy noodles into his mouth. "This is so good. Thank you for making this," he moaned, closing his eyes.

"No worries, I enjoy it," Asiya said honestly.

After eating, Asiya lifted her feet onto the sofa and rested her head on Yusuf's lap.

Yusuf soothingly stroked patterns on Asiya's bare arms and collarbones, and she closed her eyes and savoured his touch.

She was about to doze off before Yusuf leaned over her and pulled out brown wallets from his bag.

"What are you doing?" Asiya asked.

"I have to read all of this by tomorrow morning," Yusuf answered.

Asiya stood up.

"No. Please. Stay," Yusuf protested. He gently grabbed Asiya's wrist and pulled her back down.

"Do you actually want me to?" Asiya queried.

It was brief, but Asiya could swear that a frown flickered across Yusuf's face before his lips stretched into a weak smile. "Of course I want you to," Yusuf nodded.

"Okay, I'll get a book or something and come back," Asiya said.

Asiya entered her bedroom and opened her wardrobe. Her eyes skimmed over neglected paper spines before settling on the small pile of business and economics magazines at the bottom of her wardrobe.

It had been a while since she had read the news, and she needed to keep up with what was happening around her for her work.

Wow! Thanks, Yusuf, for giving me this opportunity, Asiya thought sarcastically.

She picked up a random magazine, not bothering to look at the edition, before she returned to the living room.

Yusuf was sitting on the sofa, incarcerated by a circle of papers. He had slipped thick, square reading glasses over his eyes, although they seemed to be doing nothing for him as he still squinted and held some sheets close to his face, trying to make sense of the legal jargon.

Asiya sat opposite him and tried to focus on her magazine, but her attention kept returning to Yusuf.

He had paused his reading and had started typing noisily on his laptop.

Yusuf craved perfection, and nothing less would do. That was obvious by how furiously he hit the keyboard, trying to bend the words on the digital page to his will.

He was concentrating so hard on his work that he hadn't even noticed that his glasses had shifted and were now sitting dangerously low at the edge of his nose.

Asiya watched as Yusuf's glasses inched lower and lower. They were threatening to fall and clatter onto the ground.

Asiya snapped her magazine shut.

She stood in front of Yusuf, but he continued typing as though she was invisible.

Asiya pushed Yusuf's glasses back up the bridge of his nose. She pressed the frame firmly between his eyebrows, ignoring the weak tickling sensation in her fingertip when it connected with his skin.

Yusuf blinked and gave Asiya a quick smile. His smile felt disposable, like the ones Asiya had seen him give strangers when he accidentally made eye contact with them on the tube.

It felt like Yusuf was silently asking her to go away. His keys sounded like Morse Code, like he was spelling out "Leave me alone".

Asiya released a breath and did just that.

Asiya's lips trembled as she moved around the kitchen. She tightly curled her fingers around the plates she was clearing away.

Her self-esteem was unravelling and coming dangerously close to being a pathetic pile of unsewn patches.

Admitting that made Asiya feel defeated. The walls of confidence she had spent years building were being demolished over a few days.

Man up, Asiya! This is stupid! She said to herself. You're being stupid!

Asiya knew her insecurities were manipulating her feelings. They were patting sand and rolling clumps of dirt around her situation, turning this molehill into a mountain.

But her feelings of rejection still cartwheeled in her stomach before landing in her throat.

A cupboard door shut on Asiya's fingers.

Asiya squeaked and cradled her fingers.

The sound of Asiya's vocal cords pinching echoed through the silent open plan space, but Yusuf didn't even flinch. 

His eyes remained plastered on his laptop screen. His fingers didn't drop their tempo or change speed, and his curled posture didn't straighten.

The light throbbing in Asiya's fingers, combined with the memory of Yusuf's dismissive smile, made Asiya's lips shake like a gear stick shy of neutral.

With quick feet, she entered her bedroom and shut the door. 

-

Author's Note: It's getting hot between these two, and it's not that good heat tehehe. 😆. I hope you all enjoyed the chapter. I would love to know your thoughts! 🤍. 

-

Chapter Glossary

Asalamu Alaykum: Arabic greeting. It means peace be upon you.

Wa Alaykum Salam: Arabic response to the above. It means, and unto you peace.

MashAllah: Arabic term. It means, what Allah (God) has willed. It is used to express gratitude or thanks for something.

Muslim: An individual who practices the religion Islam and believes there is only One God.