"the best is found in the most ordeous circumstances - inaya."

Sulaaymaan had been eagerly pacing up and down the living room . Despite the loud noises and chattering , he felt like his mumbling could be heard .

He was so nervous with what could be the proper way to break the news to her parents that he kept muttering certain ways of coming forward with his proposal .

He had convinced Mr and Mrs Alexander Varghese to meet him at a café outside the royal grounds . It would be respectful and polite.  Besides , a matter as trivial as that , required careful planning and execution .

All he had left to do was hear Afra's answer to his proposal and then take her with him .

"Silk , can we like , hire monkeys ?"

Jazz pulled at his thoub , making him nearly jump a foot in the air . Sometimes his sisters were more frightening than the dangers he had experienced .

"Hmm....I don't think we can do that Habibti ."

She craned her head and looked up at him with a sad pout. 

"But I really would want that . You remember Shirley in my class ? She told me once that monkeys are experts at doing hairstyles ."

She hoped on her feet and Sulaaymaan groaned internally .

"It's still a no ."

He absently replied and her head fell low disappointedly .

"You're mean ."

She slapped the back of his hand and he registered the shock of it as she huffed and stomped away .

"Oh no !"

He mumbled and took to his feet , a few steps behind her .

"Jazz , Habibti , I'm sorry ."

She continued to stomp , paying no heed to him . However Sulaaymaan could sense the attention she was attracting . All the workers around paused and shot huge smiles in her direction , only to find her frown disapprovingly at them .

"Jaz — "

He stopped midway as Afra crossed their path , her eyes darting between the both . Jazz looked coldly at Afra and faced Sulaaymaan once again before taking off towards the kitchen .

Afra stood watching the little girl's retreating body after which she slowly turned to face Sulaaymaan puzzlingly .

"What happened ?"

Sulaaymaan shrugged , pursing his lips .

"She....wants a monkey to do hairstyles on her ."

Afra stared blankly at him before bursting into loud giggles . Sulaaymaan watched her for a moment and his stress melted away . In a minute , he had joined her too , laughing loudly and sort of earning baffled glances from the workers around .

When they both settled to normalcy and the problem at hand bounced back at him as an alarming reminded , he turned to Afra while she was still sort of in an amused state .

"Um... how're you doing now ? I mean how's the injury ?"

She looked at him , rather plainly before turning her gaze to the ground .

"Alhumdulillah , it seems to be healing well enough . Although it could get fairly painful at times ."

He nodded , his glance following the tiny intricate patterns on his slippers .

He needed distraction , and while it was a very urgent matter , he still couldn't find his voice to ask it . Whenever he did try , all that came out of his throat were gurgled voices.

With both of them doing anything but not talk , Afra cleared her throat tensely two minutes later , pointing at his arm .

"Er....what about yourself ? How's your arm now ?"

He smiled and nodded a little too enthusiastically . The pain — about which he had fairly forgotten — did seem excruciating whenever he got reminded of it . Otherwise he was mostly oblivious . He had worser cases at hand to be dealt with .

"Alhumdulillah ala kulli haal . It's healing well I'd say ."

He stopped abruptly , not wanting to let his tongue slip and casually let out his real condition . But then again , it wasn't anything alarming . What was worrisome was the blood that he was loosing on a daily basis .

He shut his eyes and relaxed a minute by inhaling and exhaling . After about a few minutes , he curled his palm and sucked in air .

"I had talked to mama about our Nikaah....— "

Almost as if her neck was broken she looked up at him very cautiously . Just like that she kept looking at him for a few seconds while his eyes roamed wildly across the room . Her eyes shone with small tears and that's when he felt like he had crossed the limits .

It was unfortunate . He had to talk about it , but at the same time , he didn't want to burden her .

Her head was hung low at this point and it made him anxious than ever .

As softly as he could , he started to try to make her recall what had initially made them come upto that conclusion .

"We already had the discussion right ? I promise I will divorce you the moment things normalize a — "

"I already said yes ."

He blinked , unable to process her words correctly .

"Pardon ?"

She looked up at him this time , eyes dripping with tears .

"I said I'm ready ."

Sulaaymaan stood frozen . She definitely would have said a yes keeping in mind the transaction they had formed .

It wasn't a big deal .

He had never felt more ecstatic before .

However , he really didn't like seeing her cry .

For every tear she shed , his hope and heart were pierced .

"I.....um....I had called your parents so we could meet them and tell them about....the Nikaah ."

Afra's eyes lay fixed on his face , almost like she was mad .

"Why would you do that ?"

She mumbled and he turned to face her with confusion .

"I'll be marrying their daughter so it's only right that I talk and let them know about it ."

She grimaced and glared at him. 

"Do you even realize that they could freak out and even perhaps take me with them ?"

Sulaaymaan pouted . This was challenging . Maybe he should take the Queen with him .

"Maybe we should take mama with us ."

She stared disbelievingly at him. 

"Are you serious ?"

He nodded , rubbing his chin .

"I feel like it could make things a lot more easier for us . Parents can do the talking and I'm sure it'll work out way more better ."

Afra looked away . A few seconds later , she nodded slowly .

"Fine . Sounds good enough to me ."

It was a bright sunny morning . Although the start to her day had been eventful and full of preparations , she felt devoid of emotions or excitement .

To say that the Queen was exuberant was an understatement . She was infact so thrilled that her ear to ear smile was plastered stuck to her face .

"I can't believe you both have actually been so serious !"

She shrieked and her gaze darted her gaze back and forth between the both . Sitting on the passenger seat , the sun rays that fell over her eyes accentuated the Happiness that was beaming in them .

Sulaaymaan chuckled .

"Mama , you really need to control yourself ."

She rolled her eyes and waved a hand around , pausing to shoot a meaningful glance at her son .

"Just so you know , my only son is getting married to the daughter-in-law of my dreams ! How can you not want me to be enthralled about it ?"

Afra gazed at her and placed her hands over the two seats .

"I'm even more happy to have the mother-in-law of my dreams !"

The Queen turned around and held a hand to her heart .

"Aw , my baby ! But really , I'm more lucky to have you ."

Afra smiled and squeezed her shoulder affectionately .

She fell silent and sat back into the seat , resting her head against the window .

At first , she had never even wanted to get associated with him . All she did was remain quiet and keep her guard around him .

It's miraculous how ideologies change and how much a person can doubt his own choices once Allah's decisions appeal to him .

She peered over at Sulaaymaan and found him struggling with his arm . At that moment , she believed that he was mad and was deciding to die of his own accord . However , now that she was more than aware of the circumstances that had led him to do that , she felt sick .

Sick of her judgement .

Sick of the way she had thought of him .

"By the way Habibti , what should I be expecting ? How are your parents like ?"

Afra wrinkled her nose , a playful smile on her lips .

"Dear Queen , just know that they'll be meeting The Queen ."

She dramatically flayed her arms around .

Queen Basmah pursed her lips and patted her feet on the car ground .

"But I'm still anticipating something ."

Afra shook her head and held up a finger .

"You're simply worrying over nothing my dear Queen . Trust me when I tell you that my parents are very weird and you might even witness a few dramatic situations ."

Sulaaymaan cast his gaze briefly over the two women and his eyes lit up .

"You both should hurry up with whatever you're preparing for . We're almost here ."

The Queen jumped in her , her hands flying to her face .

"Oh My Dear God ! I'm nervous ."

Afra shook her head and slapped a hand to her forehead .

Sulaaymaan hesitated before sighing a little .

"Mama , can you like relax ? You're supposed to be a role model to us so that we might chill out with it ."

Queen Basmah cleared her throat with a cheesy smile .

"I'm sort of....not sure how to deal with it Sulaaymaan . Have mercy on your mother !"

It took another few minutes before the whole bickering between the mother and son stopped . All the while she watched both of them with her chin propped on her hand and chuckled at the queen's dramatic behaviour every now and then .

It took another few minutes before the shops started to come into view on either side of the highway . She edged closer to her seat and her mouth pulled into a large smile as she familiarised with the surrounding .

"The café we decided to meet in is somewhere around this area .I felt like it could be appropriate considering that we're both hunted around by the paparazzi always and this place is far from their approach ."

Both the ladies nodded .

Afra went back to glimpsing around the area .

About half an hour later , a small hut styled café with raggedy roof and stone walls caught Afra's sight . She exclaimed with delight , at how peaceful and calm the place looked from even such a distance .

A few people sat indoors which she could visualise through the glass door entrance . Sulaaymaan pulled the car around and seamlessly parked it at a few feet further from it .

He switched the engine off and just as they stepped into the hot and jolly sun , Afra squeaked with joy .

"This is such a cozy café . I haven't been to many honestly , but this one is fabulous !"

Sulaaymaan craned his neck to face Afra on the other side of the car .

"Youe parents suggested it since they were very much aware of how I try to avoid the media ."

Afra nodded impressively .

The Queen strolled to Afra's side and held her hand .

Sulaaymaan motioned from the other end .

"Let's go ."

All of them strolled rather slowly than necessary . It was a silent place and other than a few teenagers huddled at the corner shouting and roaring with laughter , it was empty .

Afra's eyes skimmed the place and rested over a table where a tall man and a woman in a red dress were talking in a hushed tone .

Her eyes lit up with recognition .

"They are there ."

She pointed at them and the Queen followed Afra's finger .

"Oh that's nice . Let's hurry up . But first , you should go and meet them personally . Both of us will be here and we'll join you in a minute or two ."

Afra looked at the both of them for approval and when they escalated to a side quickly , she took that as an answer and stepped towards where her parents were seated .

Her heart was pumping loudly with every step she took . And as her parents' faces became clearer , her eyes brimmed with tears .

How much she missed them .

It was as if she was watching a miracle unfold right in front of her eyes .

She fisted her abaya in her hands and was prepared to be encountered by them . When they didn't seem to take notice and kept talking , she took another step until she was right by the small round table .

Even until then , she found them hardly responsive . She rolled her eyes at how hastily they were murmuring and wondered what the problem was about .

She tapped her feet and crossed her arms .

"Ahem ahem ."

Elsa almost shook in her seat and her head snapped to where Afra stood .

It took Elsa a minute to figure out the person by their table .

"AFRA !"

She shot up in her seat , arms stretched forward . Alexander followed and before she could even comprehend on what was going to take place , her parents had squeezed her in between them .

"Oh my baby !"

Elsa kept mumbling while Afra had a small smile of appreciation . She had decided to not make a deal out of her injury , but by the way they were hugging her made her undeniably uncomfortable .

"Mom , dad , can I atleast breathe ?"

She strained her head through both of them .

Elsa stepped back and held her hands up , fresh tears collecting in her eyes .

"Oh My God , sorry ."

"Ma , papa , I've missed you guys so so much ."

Elsa sniffed .

"We've missed you more — "

She held one of Afra's ears and pinched it .

"— and because of that , we've been worried sick for why you weren't respiring to our calls and messages .  The other day , I nearly threw a tantrum when Sulaaymaan called me . He himself was stunned when I told him you were ignoring us ."

Afra kept mumbling in pain but Elsa didn't seem to let go until Alexander decided to come to her rescue .

"Elsa , honey , let's let it be for now . There are important matters that need our attention ."

He whispered with an anxious smile and Elsa looked at him harshly .

"Mom , we need to hurry up . The Queen and the Prince are waiting ."

Elsa sighed and let her fingers loose around Afra's ear . Afra and Alexander watched as she quietly took a seat , grabbed a tissue and patted her face clean .

Alexander took charge of the situation and snaked an arm around Afra's shoulders , motioning towards a seat .

Afra rejected politely gestured towards the two waving from over a corner . Elsa eyes followed Afra's actions while she took a sip of water . As Afra paved way to a short Woman being guided by who she recalled as the prince , she spit and the glass slipped from her hand . Had it not been for Alexander who ducked and caught it just in time , the glass would've long been shattered .

When she saw them come closer , she pushed the chair and scrambled to her feet .

Afra crossed her arms and struggled to keep her laugh in .

In actuality , her thoughts and feelings were just as unorganized and scattered about just as her mother's . Several factors affected her peace of mind and the level of anxiousness that was driving her insane was high .

A few seconds passed by and it seemed like Sulaaymaan and Queen Basmah were probably engaged in a dramatic entry . She squinted her eyes and endeavoured to notice their advancement . Much to her disappointment time had either stopped or they were hardly progressing .

Alexander held onto her hand ; holding it so tight that she could feel it go numb and bloodless . It did fear her that her bones might crack but she chose to remain silent .

Elsa — on the other side — was puzzled between trying to keep her stand and staring with admiration at the royal duo .

The Queen walked up first , avoiding Alexander's extended arm . In excitement , he had forgotten that Muslim women didn't encourage that as it was strictly forbidden .

Afra had to nudge him in the ribs while the Queen interacted formally with her mother and embraced her .

"It's such an honour meeting the both of you . Afra is a beautiful child and I was definitely looking forward to see the both of you ."

Alexander trudged a little more closer , his wide smile apparent from where the Queen stood .

"It's such a huge honour to have met you , your excellency !"

He bowed so low that Afra could see his head graze the floor . With a laugh that had almost made its way out , she hurriedly averted her attention and stood straighter with a practised serious look .

The Queen herself broke into a delighted laugh and motioned for her parents to get seated immediately after .

"Please meet my son , Sulaaymaan ."

Queen Basmah squeezed Sulaaymaan's hand and pulled him closer to her .

"Hello Mr and Mrs Alexander . Pleasure to meet you both again ."

Sulaaymaan held a hand to his heart and flashed his best smile .

"Aw , it's an honour to meet you again Prince Sulaaymaan ."

Sulaaymaan adjusted beside his mother opposite to Afra and her family . For a few seconds , everyone sat silently until the Queen cleared her throat loudly and they snapped their gazes at her .

"I've brought quite some interesting news for you . I only hope you will support the decision ."

Elsa and Alexander exchanged narrowed eyes and set their arms on the table , leaning forward .

"Please go ahead , Your Highness ."

Queen Basmah drew in a huge breathe , looking at both Afra and Sulaaymaan who had their faces ducked down .

Sulaaymaan kept making whizzing sounds and nervously scrubbing his fingers against one another .

The Queen cast her gaze back on the parents , interwined her fingers on the table and smiled a little .

"I wanted to ask for your daughter's hand for Sulaaymaan ."

« Assalaamualaikum Princesses ❤ .

I wanted to say that , Alhumdulillah, I've emailed my interview to Kelly .

Yay ! That was challenging though .

I'm really excited to have you all with me .  In Shaa ALLAH , on the 3-4th of Feb , the interview will be up !! ❤❤❤ .

Please please do stop by . You all mean the WORLD TO ME and there would be no use of that if you guys won't be there .

Anyhow , I hope the chapter wasn't boring .

Should I update once more tonight ? ❤❤ .

Ilysm !!!! I love you all more than anything .

Stay safe and blessed always .

Love ,
Me ;) »