As soon as Ammi Jaan had found out Daneen was coming back after nearly three weeks of her being away with her parents, she had immediately sent for both the driver and Tabish. Daneen had not held back her surprise at this discovery, because her home city was nearly two hours away from his.

Daneen stood up from the prayer mat after completing her du'a and walked to the doorway. It creaked as she opened it to reveal, along with the afternoon sun, the face that had haunted her on those long, starry nights.

Tabish dug his hands deeper into his pockets, passing Daneen a shy smile. "Am I not welcome?"

Daneen stepped aside and Tabish lowered himnself enough so he could enter through the small doorway.

Even as Tabish couldn't fix his gaze on any one part of the house and kept looking around, and even as he took a seat on the chair Daneen had sat on when she'd first arrived, wobbly in all its might, Daneen didn't feel the slightest embarassment. Over the raggedy carpet, the splintered kitchen table, the bulbs hanging from the ceiling.

"Can I get you anything?"

"Maybe a cup of tea?" Tabish asked, looking around. "I missed it."

"Missed what?" Daneen questioned, making sure she'd heard him correctly.

Tabish met Daneen's eyes. "The tea."

"You haven't had tea?"

"I haven't had tea made by you."

"But I've never made tea for you."

Tabish smiled apologetically.

Daneen's eyes widened. "No."

"Yes."

"The requests Ammi Jaan made for tea three times a day... she never had any of it, did she?"

Oops 😂