C H A P T E R T H I R T E E N: WEDDINGS AND UNEXPECTED MEETINGS

Bayan Ameer

Next week is Alima's wedding and everything is hectic. Right now Amira, Alima and I are looking for bridesmaid dresses. No matter what dress we show Alima she keeps saying that 'Those are not the kind of bridesmaid dresses I want you guys to wear. Come on guys pick better ones! And they have to match!' It makes me wonder was I this picky when we were going dress shopping for my wedding? I hope not. "Come on Alima! We showed you ten dresses already!" Amira whined. I'm so tired of walking around and shopping. Alima squealed as she hold up two beige colored dresses.

The dresses were beautiful, they had tiny little gems all over them and were long sleeved. In simple words they were perfect. "Yup go try these on." She handed us the two identical dresses. Amira and I quickly ran into the changing booths and tried on the dresses. Surprisingly my dress fit me perfectly! As I walked out I couldn't help but look at Amira, girl looks amazing Mashallah! Like I'll probably look like road kill when I stand next to her at the wedding. But the most beautiful person of all is obviously Alima. Man, Harun is a very lucky guy to marry a girl as great as her. He better not screw it up because if he hurts her it's about to be World War Bayan.

"Wow you guys look great!" Alima said with a satisfied smile. "We look hot!" Amira and I bumped our hips together playfully. Ahh I love this. Just hanging with my girls and doing girl stuff.

* * *

I jumped on my bed as I craved the beautiful thing called sleep. Oh how I've missed you my wonderful bed! I buried my head underneath my covers and drifted off to sleep.

One Week Later

Today is Alima's wedding day and everything was hectic. And when I say hectic I mean HECTIC! Like seriously Alima won't even calm down. Right now the wedding is about to start in half an hour and we're still doing the finishing touches on her makeup. This all reminds me of my wedding, the stress, chaos, everything. After finishing her makeup I turned her around so she could see how she looks. "Wow." She gasped as she stared at herself  with wide eyes. "You did an amazing job, Bay. Thank you." She gave me a grateful hug.

"Aw shucks, I try." I flipped my hijab to the side.

Suddenly the door opened and in came a bunch of our relatives. My aunt, Alima's mom, rushed over to Alima's side with a huge smile. "You guys look amazing." Aunty Farah commented as she looked at us. "Thanks mom."

"Thanks Aunty. I'll leave you guys alone." I exited the dressing room and headed to the room where the nikkah will be held at. Suddenly I felt a tap on my shoulder so I turned around. There stood Omar in a classic, but fashionable white tux that looked amazing on him. He gave me another one of his breathtaking smiles.

"Wow you look amazing." He said as he examined me. I wore the bridesmaid dress that Alima picked out with a beige wrap around scarf and did my makeup. I also got my hair done so when the men leave I can take off my scarf. "Thanks you're not too shabby yourself." I responded with a wink.

"Come on you know I look better than you." He replied with a cocky smirk. I couldn't help but roll my eyes at him. What happened to his humbleness?

"Sure you do, Ali."

"I know I do, Mrs. Ali." Now it was his turn to wink. Instead of talking I decide to walk away and act like I'm upset. Wait for it... I thought to myself fighting off the smile that's making its way across my face."Okay fine you win." He finally caved. And that ladies and gentlemen is how you win an argument with Omar Ali.

He took a step closer to me and cupped his hands around my face. "You're beautiful. The most beautiful girl I had ever laid my eyes on both inside and out. You're smart and pretty. You make me laugh and smile. You're everything I've ever wanted and I lo-" He stopped mid sentence. Holy Nutella is he about to say he loves me!? "I love you." He finally said the words that made my heart stop all together. I was not expecting that. He stared at me intensely at me for what felt like hours but were only mere seconds. "I love you too." I replied sincerely. It's true, what's better than being in love with the person you're married to?

His face lit up immediately after the words escaped my mouth. "Wow. You know for a second there I thought you weren't going to say it. But Alhamdulilah you did."

"Uhm..." Someone cleared their throat. We both turned around and saw my baby sister Amina,  giving us a mad look. "I hate you Omar! You stole my sister from me. She never spends time with me anymore all thanks to you!" She then stormed off. We both quickly run after her in concern. What did she mean? I always spend time with her and if I didn't then she shouldn't be blaming Omar. He's not always on my mind, although he is a lot, I still have other stuff going on.

I finally found her crouched underneath one of the decorated tables with her arms wrapped around her knees. Her shoulders were shaking which could only mean one thing, she was crying. Soon enough Omar found us and came to where we were sitting.
"Mina please look at me." I called out for my little sister. "Go away!" She snapped, wiping off the tears from her cheeks. "Go be with your husband! Leave me alone." She pouted as she turned to the other side.

"No," I said sternly. "Okay? I'm sorry that you felt I wasn't spending enough time with you. I love you Mina and you know that."

"And I'm sorry that you feel that way. I haven't been a good brother-in-law to you." Omar wrapped his arms over her. She finally looked up at us and slowly nodded her head. She leaned down and laid her head on his lap. Alhamdulilah all is good now. I immediately thought back to what happened earlier and smiled. Omar said he loves me and I said I loved him. I'm dreaming right? Can someone pinch me?

* * *

"Okay girls you can head out there." Aunty Farah said as she came inside the dressing room. Both me and Amira were standing on both sides of Alima while holding small bouquets in our hands. "Let's go." I gently squeezed Alima's hand. Soon we walked out of the dressing room and headed to where the wedding is held. Everyone stood up as we walked in, probably staring in awe at Alima. She looks beautiful Mashallah.

We continued to walk to the center of the room where there was a sofa that she could sit on. It was one of those cute heart shaped ones that I've always loved. She sat down in the center while Amira and I stood beside her. Pretty soon the festivities began.

* * *

"I'm so tired!" I whined as I headed towards a seat. The ceremony was over by now and almost everyone was gone. Well everyone except Amira and I, along with a few others. We're helping clean up before we leave.

"Me too." She said as she sat down beside me.

"Um can you guys help throw away the trash?" A sweet lady asked with hope in her eyes. She was one of the people that worked at the place the wedding was held at. I nodded with a smile and grabbed two of the big black trash bags.

"I'm going to help sweep the floors." Amira said as she got up. I headed outside with the trash bags in my hands. Right now it's midnight and I could barely see anything. I hate being out at night because scary things can happen. "Hey!" I heard a familiar voice shout from behind me. I froze in the position I was standing in. I'd recognize that scary voice anywhere.

It was Josh.

I slowly turned around and saw him leaning against a brick wall. His face looked battered and bruised like he just got into a big fight. He took a step closer to me with nothing but hatred in his light blue eyes. "You told your husband about that night!?" He shouted with nothing but anger in his voice. Did Omar do this to him? He took another step closer making me take a step back. This isn't good. Ya Allah please help me!

"Leave me alone Josh." I said in a shaky voice. "I don't think I will. I should've finished what I started all those years ago." He took another step closer. Right now I was standing in the middle of the road while he was making his way towards me. Eventually he grabbed me by my hijab and pulled me towards him. No, ya Allah please help me. "Get the hell off of me!"

"Shut up!" He threw a hard punch on my cheek making me wince in pain. He then threw me on the hard concrete and kicked me on the stomach. "You should've kept your mouth shut! Did you know he was going to report me!? I can go to jail because of your ass!" He then threw another punch. I got up using all the strength I had left in me. I refuse to be some damsel in distress. I kicked him hard on his sensitive spot making him crouch down on the floor.

"You deserve to go to jail!" Now it was my turn to yell in anger. He got up and threw me on the ground again once again. I felt a sharp indescribable pain shoot up my arm. Tears started to sting my eyes because of the pain. He punched me again and again until I felt numb. "Oh really? Now it's your word against mine. No one remembers anything that happened that day because they were all too drunk. You want to make me go to jail? Well let's see if you'll live by then you little slut." He kicked me again and again until I started to lose consciousness. I could tell that Josh was satisfied with what he had done and left.

"Oh my god Bayan!" I heard a faint voice in the background call for me and footsteps that started to get closer. Amira ran up to me and crouch down to where I was laying all battered and bruised in a pool of my blood. With one last breath my eyes shut closed.

Omar Ali

I couldn't help it, the moment I saw Josh all of the anger I felt came over me and the next thing I knew I was punching him. That guy deserved that and much worse for what he did to Bayan. Speaking of Bayan I'm so happy that she confessed how she feel about me as well. I didn't even expect to say that to her, I was just so caught up in the moment. But I did mean everything I said. "I can't believe I'm officially married." Harun stated with a huge smile on his face. Once we came back from Florida I decided not to bring up that subject at least until after his wedding. I wouldn't want to ruin his happy mood. I'm still angry at him though, why didn't he tell me? I mean we're best friends we tell each other everything.

I guess I'll find out some other time because right now he deserves to be happy. "I'm happy for you man." I responded as I gave him a pat on the back. Suddenly I felt my phone buzz in my pocket so I looked at the caller ID. Weird it's a number that I don't know. "Hello?" I asked the moment I picked it up. "Hi Omar, it's Amira. I called to tell you that Bayan is in the ER. She was beaten up by someone. You need to get here fast!"

I froze in my position as I registered her words. Bayan is in the ER... I jumped out of my seat and ran to my car.

"I'm on my way."

Stay

Qurux

My

QURUXLEYS

Mwah!!:)