If you haven't prayed yet please do so, this book isn't going anywhere xox

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15

After that fiasco, we rejected the proposal, and I continued with my life. I had been working at Robinson's for over a month, and been loving it! Emilia and I have gotten so close, and she's been such a great friend. Every morning before work, we both go to Starbucks and just hang out. Angie has finished reading the Quran, and I have never been so proud of her! The other day we were talking, and she said she wanted to convert! She asked me to teach her how to pray, and she'd just randomly call sometimes asking about a Hadith or a Surah. I must say helping her and seeing her love for Islam has given me such an Iman boost. For the past month, I've been consistently praying Fajr and Maghrib. Now I was working on Dhuhr, Asr, and Isha. Ramadan starts in about 2 weeks, and Inshallah, by then, I'll be doing all 5 prayers + extra prayers!

Today I was Angie, and I was going to an Islamic conference. It was about an hour out, so we left right after Fajr. We were in the car. I had one hand on the steering wheel and the other on my Iced Caramel Macchiato, and Angie was in the passenger seat fixing her hair. Without thinking, I turned on my Spotify Playlist.

Angie looked at me, uncomfortably.

"What," I asked, taking a sip of my heaven in a cup.

"You do know music is haram, right," Angie said slowly...

"I'm not trying to outsmart you or embarrass you or anything," She continued.

With that, I turned it off and smiled at her.

She was absolutely right!

"No, thank you, you're right. Don't ever hesitate to call me out you're helping me with my deen as well."

For the rest of the car ride, it was a comfortable atmosphere.Sometimes we'd turn on some recitations of the Quran, or we'd just talk.

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Once we got there, I let Angie pick out the first lecture, and she chose one about Women in Islam. People like Khadīja (رضي الله عنها) and Maryam, the mother of Prophet Isa (عليه السلام). It was such a beautiful lecture talking about such inspirational women. After that, we both went out to have lunch and were walking to the restaurant. That's where we ran into

"Abu Bakr?" I asked?

"Saima appi! How are you look at you? You're so grown-up," He teased.

Abu Bakr was my cousin on my mom's side, My Khala's son. I completely forgot they lived near here! When we were younger, we were so close, and every now and then, we'll talk and see each other.

"Is that a beard?" I asked, shocked

When he was younger, Abu Bakr vowed to never grow a beard due to how "Funny" it looks.

"Yes," He said, rolling his eyes.

He then turned to look at Angie and smiled.

"Hi, I'm this weirdo's," Pointing to me. "cousin," He finished.

"Hello, nice to meet you," She shyly responded

I then told him we were here for the Islamic lecture. He told me we had to come for dinner, or my khala would be very upset to know we were here and didn't stop by. I missed my khala, so I told him we'd stop by after the conference was over. We said goodbye and went our different ways.

"He's cute," Angie said as we kept walking.

"GROSS!! That's my COUSIN Angie Ewww" I said, squealing like a child making the people nearby us stare.

She just laughed, and we went on with our day.

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It was around 3 pm, and we were outside of Sobeys. I called my mom and told her we ran into Abu Bakr, and we would be going to their house. Mama was so excited, and she wished she was there. She missed her sister so much. She had been so busy she hasn't seen her since Bhabi and Bhai's wedding. She told us to stop by and buy a cake or some sort of baked good.

"How's this," I said, pointing my camera at an Apple Pie.

"No, they won't like pie," Mama said, shaking her head.

"What about this," I said, showing her a box of cookies.

"No, you idiot, they're not children," She said exasperatedly.

I was about to go show her some cupcakes when she started yelling.

"That that's the one," she said, pointing straight forward.

The cake? She said she didn't want me to bring a cake.

"But you said No cake," I said, turning to Angie and Laughing.

"I changed my mind get that" She simply said

"Whatever you say, Mama."

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We arrived at khala's house at around 6pm because Mama told us to stop by an Indian store to buy some Samosas, and then she told us to stop by at Walmart and buy her sister a baking pan? I was a little confused about why she needed a baking pan, but Mama insisted that she had told her sister that she'd buy her the best pan to make Tandoori Chicken next time she'd see her. Angie tied up her bag of Chanachur, and we rang the doorbell.

"Salaam, oh my Allah, my favorite niece comes in come in - oh and you must be Angie you can call me khala as well - when my boy told me he saw you guys in the streets, I started cooking up all of your favorite dishes - why didn't you bring your mother and Omar and your Bhabi- is she pregnan-" Khala rambled very excitedly.

"No khala and no Bhabi's not pregnant."

She slyly whispered, "Not yet."

We then put all of the goodies we bought her on the table.

"What! there was no need for this, and don't think this excuses the fact you come to my city and not let me know you were coming!" She said pouting

I go over and hug her and apologized profusely.

"Mama said she told you though," I exclaimed

"Your mama didn't mention you were coming to Toronto," She said, shaking her head.

"Salaam, my dearest cousin and hello Angie," Abu Bakr said, coming down the stairs.

Angie and I both greeted him back - but Angie also said, Salaam.

"Oh Angie, are you Muslim now," Khala asked, confused.

I'm guessing Mama told her Angie was thinking about Islam.

"No, not yet, but inshallah very soon," Angie replied shyly with a blush coating her porcelain skin.

And at this, Abu Bakr perked up.

"Well, Angie, if there's anything you need to know, I'm here," He said with a grin.

"Shut up beta, leave the poor girl alone," Khala said, shaking her head.

And with that, a night full of laughter began...

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"And.. then they left," I said, dying of laughter telling Khala, Abu Bakr, my other cousin Maya, and Angie the story of my recent marriage proposal.

We had eaten dinner, and we're sitting in the family room drinking tea and catching up. Maya had come back from school a bit ago, and we were all just having a good time. Abu Bakr and Angie were not getting along at all. Abu Bakr kept teasing her, and Khala would yell at him.

"I've wanted to come to visit and meet... what's her name? The mom of the twin girls in high school?" Khala said

"Asma Aunty"

"Ah, yes, your mother speaks very fondly of them... and the twin's cousin lives with them, right? it's so sad what happened to his parents, poor chele," Khala said, shaking her head

"Wait, what happened to his parents?" I asked. Referring to Zayn

What did happen to Zayn's parents? is that why no one ever mentions them

"A couple months ago-" Khala got cut off by the doorbell ringing.

Aw, man! Talk about timing.

Abu Bakr opened the door, revealing my Khalu.

"Salaam," I greeted him!

"Ah, Saima! What a nice surprise, where are your parents?" He asked, taking his coat off

I then told him about the Islamic conference that Angie and I attended. I then looked at the time and saw it was nearly 8.

"We should probably go," Angie whispered.

"Yeah, we should okay. It was nice seeing you guys, but it'll be hard to drive back if we stay any later," I said, quickly hugging khala.

I knew if we took our time by the time khala let us leave, it'd be 10pm.

I put on my coat and saw Abu Bakr talking to Angie. Angie's cheeks were so red; I nearly confused her for a Tomato.

"Shut up," she said, acting mad, and then she turned around and gave me a wink

Aw man, they'd be kind of cute together

We then said goodbye and left. Despite khala trying to persuade us to stay the night. She then gave us a couple of Tupperware's filled with food for my family and Angie's. She also gave me a bag with pans for my mom. I swear these women and their pans; we then left the place by 8:30.

I felt sad to leave, but I had work in the morning, and I'm sure Angie had the stuff to do as well.

"I take that back, your cousin is not cute," She said, glaring at Abu Bakr as we waved goodbye while pulling out of the driveway.

"Whatever you say, Angie," I hummed.

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khala- moms sister

khalu- moms sisters husband

chanachur- a snack mix 

what do you guys think of abu bakr and angie? 

I liked this chapter it made me miss my khala and my real life abu bakr and maya :( i haven't seen them in almost a year and then corona got in the wayy :((( 

are you guys close w your cousins? i know i am they're like my siblings v annoying siblings tho LOL

ps. I absolutely love this chapter dunno why but my heart collapses everytime I read it <3