CHAPTER | TWENTY | UMAYMAH | POV

Packing for our honeymoon was harder than I thought it would have been. One side of my suitcase was packed with abayas and hijabs while the other with summery dressed I was forced to go shopping for. My black, winter wardrobe wouldn't be compatible for the Maldives as you can imagine.

"We have the plane to ourselves so you can relax and take off your hijab if you want." I turned to face Shoaib with a smile, grateful of what he just told me.

"That's such a relief. Thanks loser." I teased and stuck my tongue out playfully. He simply rolled his eyes at me and continued to look ahead and drive towards the airport.

Sometimes it was hard to keep up with the fact the he was insanely rich and had a private plan which we were going to be using today. It was definitely going to be a long trip all the way to Saudi Arabia and then the Maldives, but it was perfect.

Before we left, we made sure to spend all the time we could with Laila. We took her shopping, played in the parks, went to the cinema and just relaxed at home since going out too much wasn't very good. Especially for my unsocial self. Going out too much can get over bearing for people like me.

"Hey, thanks again for this." I said sincerely, trying not to sound too excited about this trip.

"Don't worry about it. You better enjoy yourself you know." He said with a playful smile.

I all but laughed at him and felt my excitement increase as we stopped just in front of the airport. Soon enough I got confused when Shoaib decided to walk out of the car, leaving it parked right in front of the airport.

"Er, what you doing?" I asked him as soon as I too stepped out of the car. Luckily it wasn't that cold, but still chilly enough to make me want to run inside in the warmth.

"Getting our bags." He stated and resumed what he was doing, which was getting our bags.

"But you can't just leave the car here!" I said exasperatedly.

"Stop worrying, someone will come and take it." Just like he said, a few minutes after me watching Shoaib getting our bags, someone came out and took the car to where it should be.

I sighed and followed him inside where all the regular check ins were happening; nothing exciting. I was looking forward to getting on the plan and leaving as soon as we can and because of all this excitement, I didn't get an ounce of sleep last night. Whenever I was excited, I always found that I was restless, which is why I was so tired right now.

"Hey Shoaib? You know how the plane is yours, does that mean we can leave when we want?" I asked him hopefully. Being on a private plane wasn't something I had the privilege of doing before.

"I know you're excited, but really?" He asked amused while I just smiled sheepishly and shrugged. "Yes. We can leave when we want to and I'm guessing you don't want to waste any time." I nodded my head like a child which made him laugh.

He then took my hand in his, much to my surprise, and lead me outside where we boarded the plane and was bombarded with a bunch of female air hostesses. A frown came on my face as I wondered if he ever had to travel with so many girls around him.

Not wanting to sound like the crazy, possessive and jealous wife I was now, I let it go and simply took a seat and buckled up. Like Shoaib had said, there were no males and so I took off my hijab and did my best to try and relax. However, that was short lived when I realised I was still thinking about the number of females on this plane.

Reluctantly I peeled one eye open - Shoaib thought I had fallen asleep as soon as I sat down. Ahead of me, a hostess who seemed to be feeling a little too hot in winter with the extremely tight and short clothes that she was wearing, was bending over Shoaib trying to talk to him.

Lord help me; this was exactly like the Maryam situation at school, but this time I didn't want to look like a freak. I could clearly see how he wasn't paying any unnecessary attention to her, yet it bothered me. A lot.

"Excuse me? Would you mind keeping to yourself? I don't like the way you're clinging onto my husband." I said and gave a sickening sweet smile.

She seemed shocked to hear me speak and turned around with wide eyes as if I had just caught a child eating a sweet when they weren't supposed to. From behind her I could see Shoaib breath out a sigh of relief as she stood there for a second without anything to say. It didn't last long as her face turned to a sneer and she walked off. The sounds of her heels clicking along was annoying without a doubt.

I didn't trust her enough to just stay in my seat, so bravery struck me and I got up only to find myself walking over to where Shoaib was. Mentally I was hesitating whether or not I should do this, but in the end I sat myself down on Shoaib's lap, nearly laughing at his wide eyes expression.

"And what are you doing?" He had now gotten over the shock of what I just did and rested his hand behind my back.

"I don't trust her, so I'm just going to claim what's mine for the rest of the ride." I said happily. His smile somehow turned to a smirk but I ignored it and snuggled into him, letting the sleep I refused for so long, finally take over.

***

I was awoken two hours ago when we arrived and we were currently in our hotel room with the most amazing view I could ever imagine. From below us, people crowded the Kabah which I could directly see from the window. The serenity and beauty of the scene really couldn't be described.

Since we had been here for so long, I took the time to unpack both of our suitcases and had the time to have a shower, washing off all the tiredness from the plane and night before.

Half of me wanted to scold myself for sleeping because I didn't know whether or not the lady took another chance to flirt with Shoaib. Damn my lack of sleep. But, I knew well enough that I should trust my husband; its blondie that I didn't trust. Either way she wasn't going to be with us again.

Right now I had just finished putting my hijab on since Shoaib insisted that before we start our pilgrimage tomorrow, that we go and have a little fun nearby by checking out the place. The idea seemed good to me so I didn't hesitate to say yes.

"I'm ready, lets go." I called over to Shoaib and waited for him to come out the bathroom before I literally dragged him out of the room.

I heard him mutter a series of curses at me for using so much force and pulling at him, but I didn't care. Nothing was going to ruin my happiness in these two weeks. These two weeks were going to be a time for the both of us and I was happy to finally be here.

"Oh quit your complaining you big baby. You're the one who suggested we go out and explore." I reminded him and suppressed the smirk, knowing that I was right.

He groaned and spoke, "Okay fine but no more dragging! Wallah you're going to make my hand sore and red." I looked down at his hand which I forcefully dragged from our room to outside the hotel, and saw that it was bordering red.

A nervous laugh escaped my mouth as I apologised to him. People all around looked at us weirdly as we made our way down but I didn't have time to take in my surroundings as I just wanted to get out.

The heat here was also unbelievable. Back home I was running around trying to fit sweaters over me to keep myself warm. Here, I was already sweating with just an abaya on. Like I said, unbelievable.

"So what do you want to do?" I asked as we looked around.

"There's a market not too far from here. Wanna check that out?" He asked and I agreed, this time with a little less enthusiasm as before.

"Gosh, I think I'm going to die from this heat!" I said as I wiped away a bead of sweat that had formed on my forehead. I doubted I looked pretty at all looking like this.

"Stop exaggerating. You'll be burning over these next days." Somehow I didn't feel worse at his words because I wanted to start our pilgrimage and the heat is something to be cautious about anyway. We were only here for two days but I was determined to not let the heat get to me.

"In that case you'll just have to put up with me nagging like a five year old." I laughed as I watched him groan and say that I was impossible to deal with.

"Are you sure I married I woman and not a child?" He asked rhetorically, but being the annoying person I am, I answered his question anyway.

"Well I'm not an adult yet." I reminded him and busied myself with looking at the numerous stalls in front of me.

It ranged from hijabs to abayas and food, along with men clothing such as thobes. Everything was colourful and beautiful to look at that I almost missed what Shoaib said to me.

"What was that?"

"I asked when your birthday was." He said and I looked at him in awe. He had been my neighbour for almost eighteen years and he didn't know when my birthday way. Granted we weren't the best of friends, but even I knew when he was turning a year older.

"December 23rd." I said after I got over the insult which he didn't realise that he threw at me.

"That's in like three days time! Why didn't you tell me? I didn't get you anything." He seemed outrageous that I didn't tell him which made me forget that I was insulted in the first place and made me want to laugh and feel guilty.

Laugh because he seemed adorable looking panicked over something so minor. Guilty because he was already doing so much and now he was thinking of getting me a present.

"Oi, if I hear you got me anything then you count on me leaking your baby pictures. I don't need anything. You're doing so much already." I assured him and moved my gaze to the stall in front of us.

"I promise it won't be anything big." He insisted but I simply ignored him and focused my attention on the stall.

I smiled at the lady behind the stall who had just seen our crazy outburst for the last two minutes. She was selling jewellery along with scents that were undeniably beautiful. A particular bracelet caught my attention though.

Laced with the smallest of crystals, the bracelet shimmered under the harsh lights of the market, but still managed to look beautiful where it lay.

"How much is this?" I asked the lady with a smile. It was simply too beautiful to resist.

"500 riyals." She said and I immediately frowned. This was more expensive than I thought it was, even if it was in a market.

"Do you want it?" Shoaib asked from beside me.

"It's too expensive, I'm sorry." I said to both the lady and Shoaib and walked away from the stall to another. Behind me Shoaib caught up after a few seconds.

"Hey, if you want it I can get it. It's not at all expensive." He said, trying to persuade me but I shook my head anyway. It may not have been that much of money's worth to him, but for me it was.

"Nah it's okay. Besides, why have a bracelet when you can have food?" I was about to drag Shoaib again to where the rich aroma of food was coming from, but then remembered that I wasn't supposed to.

"Always the fat one." He said with a chuckle, shook his head and followed my eager self to where food was being made.

In front us, dishes of food were presented on plates. There was steaming rice along with vegetables and meat that looked mouth watering enough for me to just grab. Also snacks were being made as well. I just wanted it all.

"Two plates of rice please." Shoaib said to the man cooking while he guided us to a spare table.

Sitting down, I looked around to see the busy hustle of the this city and how just a few minutes away, one of the most beautiful sights I could imagine, was awaiting the both of us. It felt so good to be here rather than somewhere up class and fancy restaurants where you had to worry about looking nice.

Just the atmosphere of this place was peaceful, no matter how people moved around in a rush.

"I see you like the place huh?" I snapped my head back to our table and in front of me.

"It's incredible and we haven't seen the real beauty yet." I sighed in content and watched our food being served to us.

"Well I'm glad I bought you here then."

"So am I." And I meant it.

***

So I said I wasn't going to update, but I'm here laying in bed waiting for Iftar, so I thought why not write? The quality is not very good and it's also short, but please excuse that ☺️

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