"when you don't like yourself, everything related to you is unworthy.  when you love yourself, you automatically love everything associated with you. it's all about how much you appreciate yourself. focus more on being yourself and not some duplicate copy - hafsa"

Sulaaymaan had been pacing up and down his gigantic room , trying to calm down his hyped up mind . He had better things to dwell upon and keep himself busy with but he somehow couldn't focus on anything other than her.

What perplexed him the most were her eyes . Her eyes were the same ones . And that's what had caught his attention . Somehow just those eyes had managed to take him back into his past . Only this time giving the hope of a brighter future .

He had felt like his breath left him the moment his eyes locked with hers , hypnotizing him . It did seem very rude and gave off a very wrong start to something he was looking extremely forward to .

Despite loosing a part of him , he felt like just that moment had given birth to a new life within him .

He knew he was not a bad guy . All he wanted was to know that girl and learn about her . She instantly made his heart swell up with joy and there was no way that girl could ever be anybody else's .

And he had been praying with all his might , that she ended up as his wife .

He had to act upon it soon . As a precautionary measure .

"Silk !"

A faint knocking on the door distorted his trail of thoughts . Momentarily fazed , it took him a minute to comprehend that it was Jazz' voice . Muffled and shaky .

Immediately he rushed to the door and swung it open to see his sister's head look up at him with teary eyes . Her short hair was pulled into a low pony . With a blue teddy bear in her hand with a pair of teenage mutant ninja turtles pajamas on , she looked irresistible .

As much as he had tried distancing himself from the girls - for the betterment of both of them - he didn't have the heart to resist Jazz' cries and bad dreams . It was in his best interest to either let the girls live without much interest in him or just let them deal with a lot of painful wounds .

"Habibti , what's wrong ?"

She had extended her tiny hands in his direction and as quickly as he could possibly work , he had picked Jazz up , felt her snuggle her head into his neck and cry softly while wrapping her soft arms across his neck .

"Shhh . Shhh . I'm here. It's alright ."

He kept pacing back and forth in his room , gently shaking his sister in his arms and patting her back . She cried on endlessly , sobbing silently into his neck . Everytime a tear dropped along his neck and wet his shirt , a familiar fear rushed through his veins . Her sniffing tightened his chest and restricted the flow of air into his lungs . He felt suffocated with the amount of bad dreams his young sister had to suffer .

All at his cost .

She didn't deserve this . Atleast not her .

"Shhh , Habibti , that's enough now . I'm here ."

When she stopped crying and lifted her head up to look at him , her nose was runny and her face was streaked with tears . If there was anything that he could guarantee , it was that his sisters shouldn't have to go through such circumstances .

"Let's get your dirty face cleaned up ."

He scrunched his nose and made some silly faces . Jazz let out a small laugh whilst rubbing her eyes .

After making her sit on his lap , he gently cleaned her nose and face with warm water . She winced a couple of times when he scrubbed her face a little .

"Okay , okay , now you don't look so bad ."

He saw her glare at him through her lashes .

"You're a very ugly silk too ."

She spat out at him and he chuckled , nodding his head while carrying her back in his arms .

"Which towel would you prefer ?"

He let her sit down on the center of his bed as he helped her choose from her favourite towels . They all varied in shape , colours , sizes and even characters . Majority of the times she preferred batman and she held a very special relationship with that guy .

Sometimes he was a jealous brother .

He patted her skin dry , applied some baby cream to her skin , redid her loosened ponytail and handed her back the blue teddy bear .

"Silk , could you do the Princess Jasmine hairstyle like the last time ?"

She eagerly asked while he was setting everything back in its place .

"It's past midnight already Habibti . In shaa Allah , we'll do that the first thing in the morning ."

She sort of looked disappointed , her smile replaced with a frown .

He sighed and rubbed a hand across his face . He slowly edged towards her with a playful smile as she moved further back . She could not manage to escape his tickling and she rolled about on the bed , laughing loudly with delight .

"So , is it time for bed now ?"

Her face darkened for a moment and he immediately held a hand up .

"I'm going to be here Habibti ."

Her face seemingly relaxed and she quickly snuggled into his blanket , pushing her head into the pillow .

"Good night love ."

He tucked her well and got comfortable on the other side , pulling the blanket up his legs .

She quickly huddled closer to him and scooted into the arm he offered .

Once her breathing steadied down , Sulaaymaan pushed away the few strands of hair falling across her eyes and gently kissed her head .

"I love you my angel ."

Inaya had found it rather outspoken on her part to not have genuinely thanked the girls , Sam and Sarah . If one could see the amount of bags that they had carried home that evening - similar to Aunt Valerie's screams - someone could die of shock .

It had turned out - much to Inaya's dreaded dismay - that they had even stocked up on lingerie , accessories and not very shockingly , on hundreds of riyals worth of makeup .

"And look at these . These are the ultra , brand new , lace bras !"

Sam shouted proudly , holding up a lace bra that was just plain lace and weird .

Inaya slapped a palm to her forehead and sat with her head bent low .

"We're seriously not talking about lingerie ."

She sighed loudly , keeping a hand at her forehead .

Sam scooted closer to her side , a mischievous smile on her face .

"Um , you would look super sexy wearing this . Your husband's gonna love you ."

Sam wiggled her brows with a smirk while Afra burst out laughing . Inaya's mouth dropped open and before she could feel it , Sarah pointed a finger at her face , an amused smile brightening her features .

"You're blushing ." Sarah spoke , while Sam and the others cooed with Afra even going to the limit of whistling .

Inaya struggled against all of them to put on her essentials before jumping right out of the teasing gang . As she tried to fight the weird thoughts in her head , she hit someone in the chest and the other person's hands immediately steadied her composure .

"Careful there !"

She shook out of the grasp and stepped back a few steps to see Gabriel in the path , in a pair of shorts and sweatshirt .

"Hey there . Inaya right ?"

He asked cheerfully and she greeted back , hoping that her heart would calm down . It was a sick joke to her nonetheless it exploded her heart with a million beats more than what it usually pumped .

"Yeah ."

She rubbed her palms together and almost could make out what was happening there in the moment .

"Are you....alright ? Did those girls do something to you ? I mean....you kinda look.....flustered ?"

He hinted , motioning towards the kitchen .

"I was heading for some water . Would you like some ?"

She gladly nodded . As they walked around the quiet place , Inaya couldn't possibly mistake the loud bellowing from their room .

"Isn't that the ruckus they are causing ?"

He frowned , pouring two glasses of water and handing one to Inaya who almost snatched it from his hand . He only stared at her in amazement as she slightly lifted her niqaab , gulped the water down and banged the glass on the table . Her hands were shaking and her eyes couldn't stop looking at that bra .

She cringed .

"You....okay ?"

He asked with concern , a hand outstretched .

Inaya shook her head , almost fazed . She rested her palms by the sides of her head and carefully took in deep breaths . It had calmed down her anxiousness a little , but the weird conversation was still lingering in her head .

"Yes , I'm fine ."

He smiled and before the two could consider talking a little , a loud laughter almost shook the grounds .

"I wonder what the hype's about ?"

Gabriel thought aloud and almost instantly Inaya choked , quickly grappling for a napkin at the corner under his watchful gaze .

"Listen Inaya , I'm actually worried now . Are you sure you are okay ?"

He spoke louder and much more strictly , making sure his words reached her ear .

"Yes.....I — yes , I just seemed to have got something stuck into my throat . I'm fine now though ."

She herself couldn't believe the words that spluttered out in total idiocy . Which was no wonder why he had been staring at her calculatingly .

She loudly cleared her throat and saw him shift a little in his seat .

"So , tell me about yourself a little Gabriel ?"

He looked up and smiled a little .

"Hmmm....—I'll start from the basic . I am twenty eight . Currently working as a scientist in a laboratory that deals with test tube baby technology — "

Inaya's eyes widened . "No way ! That's amazing ."

Gabriel shot her a sheepish grin ."Thank you . I've been working for two years now . London as a city is a busy hub and there are so many opportunities everywhere that can bloom out into great career options ."

He sipped some water putting the glass down .

"I am the eldest along with being the first among us cousins . Apart from that , I've never had many friends . Life had always been a secluded region of interest for me . I happened to have been very unfitting . Maybe that's why I never had many friends — except her ."

Gabriel traced a finger along the rim of the glass and Inaya found him looking sad . He had been a very cooperative and easy going person . In spite of the non stop mocking he had been the victim of , his smile always lingered . But at this moment , she saw it die and a whole new part of him lay exposed .

"She was breathless ; always working towards benefiting others . One couldn't say much about her life at first sight because she had always worn a mesmerising smile . When in reality she'd been the victim of human trafficking ."

Inaya gasped so loudly that Gabriel looked at her with a small sad smile .

"Yes , she went through horrible things ."

He felt silent and Inaya didn't want to press him more for further information on her . She was a brave lady and such an inspiration . Women like her could change the world's perspective . One day , Inaya hoped to be Someone of the similar thinking .

"Anyway ," Gabriel cleared his throat and smiled back charmingly .

"Tell me about yourself ."

He asked , setting his arms on the table and leaning in a bit .

Inaya shrugged , smiling slightly .

"I've always been known to the valleys of Abha , a breathtaking place in the high mountains of Khabshar . But obviously with it being my hometown , I had a very deep attachment to it ."

Her smile wavered as the memories proceeded and reality had sunk in . There was no fairytale ; they were too perfect to happen .

"One day , things took a drastic turn . Very dark and sinister things followed . My life was left upturned and messed up with no proper content and answers ."

Gabriel had been watching her with soulful eyes and she tried to shake off the heavy feeling of strained silence around them .

"So !"

Inaya chuckled , straitening her back and relaxing against the back of the chair .

"I'm sorry for — "

" AAAAAAHHHHHHHH !"

Inaya rested her hand at her heart as she tried to discern the horrifying scream . Gabriel had already gotten up from his seat and had rushed upstairs . Inaya followed closely behind , losing no time in assessing the situation .

As they neared the end of the staircase , a very mad looking Valerie was standing at the doorstep of their room .

"Aunt Valerie ?"

She turned around to face her and Inaya suppressed a laugh . Her hair was worser than cobwebs and nests together . She didn't sport any other hilarious item but that itself got Inaya struggling to keep her laughter in .

"Oh hi there Inaya dear ." She spoke groggily and she found Gabriel wave a hand to catch her attention .

He bowed a little and exited by carefully stepping down the stairs and trying to not out too much weight on them .
 

"Aunt Valerie , how may I help you ?"

Inaya respectfully posed the question , wishing to genuinely let the weary traveller enjoy some sleep and wishing to eliminate the cause of her disturbance .

"My dear , it so happens that a few certain mad hyenas keep creating a havoc . Would you mind in giving me a hand to get the situation under control ?"

Inaya had very undeniably understood the meaning of her words .

"With a pleasure aunt ."