SIX MONTHS LATER

She stared at her computer screen, her eyes glued to Houssam as he dashed up the court, the ball in his hands. She was watching the ending of the championship game, and suddenly she felt like she was back in her car all those months ago, gripping the steering wheel and praying that he would make the shot. As he got closer to the basket, she began to murmur 'Bismillah' under her breath in a steady rhythm, and just as his feet left the floor and he released the ball, she held her breath letting it out with a large smile as it sunk into the basket, causing the fans to go wild, and Housasm's teammates to all rush at him and jump on him. She watched for a few more seconds, taking in his beaming face, until suddenly he made eye contact with the camera, and all at once it felt like he was looking at her, and she quickly turned off the monitor as a tap on her office door startled her already racing heart.

"Come in."

Eileen's face peered around the corner, and as she pushed a clump of her long blonde hair out of her face, she gave Hana a smile.

"Hannah? Can you come check out these pictures I printed?"

Hana pushed away from her desk, stepped into her heels that she only wore when she needed to, she usually went barefoot around the office, but today the boss was in, and followed Eileen back towards her desk.

"Mark? Mark where are those articles I asked you to proof on – oh Eileen those pictures came out wonderfully! Can I see this one with a darker undertone? Mark, where are those articles!? Excuse me Eileen I'll be right back."

As Hana strode up the hallway towards where her junior editor, Mark Phillips's office was, he rolled away from his desk and gave her a sheepish grin.

"I'm almost done. Give me until five and they will be on your desk!"

She gave him a severe look, the corners of her lips twitching in amusement.

"Three o'clock!"

"Four forty five!"

"Four fifteen and I don't fire you?"

"Deal!" Mark exclaimed, and Hana grinned.

"What are you doing anyways?"

His eyes lit up.

"I was watching the championship game between the Knicks and the Rockets! Man was it intense to have Shaykh and Freddy playing against each other!"

"Who won?" she asked despite knowing the answer because she didn't want to bring focus to the fact that she used to be Houssam's...well whatever she was to him. Not many people had found out about what had been printed about them before, and she was hoping they never did.

"Shaykh of course! He's like a firecracker! I'm telling you that man is amazing! I wonder if he is as cool off the court as he is on!"

"He is." Hana answered without thinking, and Mark's eyes got huge.

"YOU know Houssam Shaykh!? Seriously?! Han we've been working together six months and you never said anything!?"

"Get to work." She said severely before going back over to Eileen's desk.

"Sorry I got distracted, but these photos are unbelievable! How did you get such a great angle!?" she exclaimed arranging the pictures so they were spread out over the desk, and Eileen beamed.

"I used your telephoto lens!"

Hana managed a smile though all of her insides were constricting. It had been six months since she had last heard from Houssam and it still hurt her deeply. She had been following his career on the Knicks, he was doing amazing, no surprise there. Yet every time she saw his face, it was like she was reopening her wounds, so she simply didn't think about him.

Other than that, Alhamdulillah she was doing well. She had been able to reschedule the interview with The Meadow Wood News, and thanks to a new portfolio she was able to create with the lens Houssam had given her, and in addition to her article on him that she had submit as a writing sample, she had gotten the job. She had quickly moved up the ranks as her bosses were very impressed with her talents, and soon she had made senior editor. She spent most of the time delegating and editing and designing, instead of doing what she loved, writing and taking photos, but hey, a job was a job. She liked her coworkers and was doing well, she couldn't complain.

She shouldn't complain.

And usually she was good about it.

But the ending of a Championship game meant one thing, Houssam would be back soon.

And that was a bad thing because she didn't know what to expect. He hadn't spoken to her in six months. Usually that means someone wants nothing to do with you.

As she made her way back to her office, she sat down behind her desk, fishing into her jacket pocket as her phone began to ring.

"Hello?"

"Yes is this Miss Hana Ismail?"

"It is."

"This is Gloria Franklin confirming your interview for next Tuesday afternoon?"

Hana hurriedly stood and closed her office door, not wanting to risk someone over hearing that she was interviewing elsewhere.

"Yes that sounds good."

"Do you need the address or so you have it?"

"No I have it."

"Okay please make sure to bring your portfolio, Mr. Gold was very impressed by the shots of yours that he saw, and he wishes to see more before he makes his decision."

"Yes of course."

"Thank you dear. Buh bye!"

As Hana hung up the phone, she felt a tingle in her spine. Here was a real life national newspaper wanting her! She was trying not to get her hopes up, but a big part of her was telling her that she was already there InshaAllah. The tinkling sounds of her phone sucked her out of her reflections, and she hurriedly answered it.

"Hello?"

"Salaam Hana!"

Yusra.

"Salaam Yusra! Don't tell me it's time already?!"

Yusra laughed.

"Not yet, but almost! It's getting to the point where I stopped seeing my toes months ago! I am bigger than I was with Kareem which I didn't think was possible!"

"Are you having more than one baby!?"

Yusra laughed for so long, it made Hana laugh as well.

"No Alhamdulillah there is just one in there! So I am calling because I can tell it's almost time and I wanted to know if we could ask you to watch Kareem when I do go? Our moms are insisting on being at the hospital, and our dads wouldn't know what to do with him to save their lives!"

Hana laughed.

"Of course! I would be honored. He's such a cutie now that he started talking in sentences!"

"Well it does get a little annoying sometimes, he is just like his Uncle and is obsessed with sports!"

Hana gave a forced laugh. Yusra had stopped talking about Houssam months ago, so Hana had stopped asking about him. This was the first time he was being mentioned, even in passing.

"Well InshaAllah just call me whenever you need to go in. Do you think you know when you are going to have him?"

"Probably end of next week. By Friday at the latest. Amir thinks another two weeks, but I don't know I feel like it will be shorter. InshaAllah!"

"InshaAllah. May Allah swt make it easy on you! Just let me know whenever I need to come!"

"Barak Allahu Feeki habibti! InshaAllah we should plan to have dinner beforehand!"

Once she had made plans to go to Amir and Yusra's Sunday night for dinner, and hung up with Yusra, she placed her phone on her desk, turning towards her computer to finish up the article she was editing that was due to be printed that night. She tried to focus on the screen, but she found herself very distracted, and after another fifteen minutes of reading the same sentence over and over, she got up to get some coffee, twirling her engagement ring absently around her finger.

***

Houssam sat down heavily on the bench in the locker rooms, and dabbed at his face with a towel, wincing slightly at the burn that was tearing across his muscles. As he heard a commotion coming from the front of the locker room, he looked up, beaming as Freddy came in, his own face alight with a giant smile, and his arms spread wide.

"Shaykh!"

"Freddy!"

The two men gave each other a strong embrace, and once they had pulled away, Freddy gave Houssam a push.

"Look at you kicking my butt like that! Man now I know I made a mistake not staying on your team! It feels weird not being on the championship team anymore!"

"Aw man you'll get there!" Houssam exclaimed, flushing slightly under the praise.

Freddy shook his head.

"No, I think the only solution is to transfer you to the Rockets!"

Houssam laughed.

"What would I do in Texas?! No, no you need to join the Knicks!"

"You know," Freddy said crossing his arms over his chest, "I have been considering it. I only signed a one season contract with the Rockets in case it didn't work out and I'm up for grabs!"

Houssam was out of his chair in a flash, and was gripping Freddy's arm eagerly.

"Oh Fred are you serious!? I would love to work on a team with you again! Oh my God this is amazing news!" he hurriedly pulled out his phone. "Take my manager's number! Maybe he could manage you too!"

Freddy laughed at his friend's enthusiasm, but he took Harold's number nonetheless, promising to call as soon as he returned to the hotel.

"Nice pin." Freddy said gesturing towards the MVP pin that was pinned to Houssam's jersey. Houssam made a face.

"Thanks man."

"You are upset that you won MVP for the seventh time!? I would be delighted!"

"No it's not that, of course I am excited. I just was remembering Coach and how excited he would get when I won. He used to take us all out for steak dinners remember?"

Freddy's face softened. "That he did. How is your new Coach?"

Houssam shrugged.

"Coach Polt is a good guy. I means he cares and he really does whip us into shape. He is just different then Coach Hoffman you know?"

"No one was like Hoffman bro. You just have to give him a chance."

Houssam nodded in agreement.

"No I know. I am. And he is awesome. How's your coach?"

"I hate him."

Houssam burst out laughing and Freddy joined in, a large smile on his face.

"You hate him?"

"Okay I don't hate him per say. He's just, well..."

"Not like Coach Hoffman?"

"Exactly. That man was amazing and it's gonna be hard for someone to fill his spot."

"Well Coach Polt tries. I think you would enjoy meeting him! Seriously think about joining us!"

"I will bro," Freddy promised, "now I should get going before my teammates leave me. See ya Shaykh!"

"Bye Freddy!" Houssam exclaimed, and once his friend had departed, he turned towards his phone, smiling as he saw that he had over thirty text messages all from his friends congratulating him. He skimmed over the ones from Amir and Hisham and the other Halaqah brothers, before getting to Yusra's.

Woo! Moo Sam wins again! MashaAllah TabarakAllah! You should have seen Kareemo's face when you made that winning shot. Ya Allah this baby is an even bigger fan of you than he was before! I can't wait until you get here on Sunday! I'm planning a big dinner revolved around grape leaves! Miss you so much Houssami, and I can't wait to see you again. Love from, Amir, Kareem, baby boy Malik, and myself! <3

Houssam laughed, and began to type a response.

Awesome! What a little bug, I can't wait to hear him talking! I hear from Mama he is quite the little chatterbox! Barak Allahu Feekum for your awesome words, and you can tell Amir that he has a pin coming to him! This MVP is his because he pushed me to come out here and I seriously love it!

Well. Sort of.

I can't wait to see all of you! Say Salaam to Mama and Baba and our sisters and Ilham and Hisham and everyone's children!

He hesitated for a second. He asked about Hana almost every single time he spoke to Yusra, but he wouldn't let her tell Hana that he did. He just wanted to make sure she was doing well, he didn't want to make her feel like she was obliged to wait.

Say Salaam to Hana. How is she doing?

Yusra usually answered her text messages within seconds of receiving them, but this time, it was a full ten minutes before he got his response.

InshaAllah I will. Houssam, there is something you need to know and we only kept it from you because we were scared how it would affect your playing, and we couldn't do anything to jeopardize your career.

What is it Yusra?

Hana got engaged three months ago. They are planning the Nikkah for June.

Houssam felt all of his limbs go numb and he just stood there in shock and dismay until finally his legs gave out and he found himself on the floor of the locker room.

She was engaged?

She was engaged...

To who?

Houssam are you going to be okay?

Answer me Yusra.

Abdullah.

Ah. Abdullah. Of course. He had always secretly suspected that he liked Hana. And in all honestly if he wasn't desperately in love with Hana himself, he could see how good of a match they would make. They complimented each other, and made more sense than Houssam and Hana would ever make.

UGH!

So he had lost her.

He had lost her.

He had lost her.

Amir was right in saying going to New York would clear up his feelings for her. Not but a month after he had arrived did he want to call her and beg of her to come and join him. Another month went by, and she was the only thing he could focus on, even his basketball had suffered during that time. After four months went by he had become resigned, knowing that she was waiting for him back home, but soon six months had passed, he hadn't heard anything from her, and his heart had become broken.

But he never even considered she would have gone off and gotten engaged! He had secretly imagined that when he came home he would see her across the room, she would be easy to spot as he would be taller than anyone in there. She, perhaps sensing his gaze, or searching for him herself, would turn around and their eyes would lock. Their eyes would lock and every word that had remained unspoken would be shared in that glance, and he would reach out towards her, though not touching her, even in his fantasies he kept it Halal, and would beg of her to be his.

And she would say yes.

Because she loved him as much as he loved her.

Or so he thought she had.