Yaaseen

He hated answering the phone while he was driving but anything was better than the empty silence of his car. It gave him too much time to think about how shitty his life really was. At 27, he assumed he would have had a wife with a kid or two. Not be a bloody divorcee with nothing to do except sit on his ass and play Witcher.

He had a shitty, fucking life.

He allowed his phone to ring just once more before switching it to speaker as he hooted for the asshole in front of him to move at the green light. "Yaaseen?"

"Ya, Mum?"

"Greet, at least, Yaaseen." Aamina sighed. Her son really had no manners sometimes.

"Assalaam u Alaykum." He flushed at the thought of having been chastised as if he was still a kid.

"Wa alaykum Salam. Are you okay?"

"Ya."

She ignored his dull tone, knowing better than to push him to talk before he was ready. "Are you busy right now?"

"Why?"

"Just answer the question."

"Imtiyaaz is getting married so I'm on my way to the Nikaah."

"Imtiyaaz?" he had to crack a smile at his mother's confounded tone. Even she knew he was an utter stick in the ass.

"Ya, to some Russian chick."

"A Russian?" She had been rendered speechless. She never in her life would have thought that her husband's stuck-up nephew could get married twice- and even that, to a bloody Russian. She was baffled at how he hooked her. Absolutely baffled.

"Yup."

"Wow." Her voice tapered off, still battling her shock. "Anyway, what time is the Nikaah?"

"In about an hour's time." He replied hesitantly, knowing he would not like the request that was about to come out of his mother's mouth.

"Perfect, I need you to do me a favour."

"Okay...." No, not okay.

"Will you go to your old school? You need to ask them if they still have Nelly's grade 11 marks."

"For what?" he asked, disbelief plastered all over his voice.

"Her research project." Aamina brushed him off, barely bothered with his moodiness. "Just fetch it, please. She needs it by tonight so she can finish it off by Monday."

Should he even attempt an argument?

"Fine, I'm on my way."

No.

Just no.

He sighed heavily, ending the call as he took a u-turn down what looked to be an empty road.

As if his life couldn't get any worse...

***

He walked out of the administration office with a script in his hand, irritated at how long it took them to locate it. He wouldn't even bother mentioning the money that had to switch hands for the process to be sped up- somewhat. He looked down at the watched, secretly pleased that he had just about missed the Nikaah... he really wasn't in the mood to congratulate The Prick and smile while doing so.

He only needed to get it signed by the principal and he was-

Layla

He looked out the window once more, spellbound at the sight before him.

He could barely believe it.

There she was. Just standing there...

She looked different since the last time he caught a glimpse of her. Her shoulders were slumped and beneath her thick sunhat, he could make out the tell-tale ends of her bundled scarf tied in a haphazard bun. He didn't understand why she wore long-sleeves in the middle of summer nor why she refused to roll them up even though her neck had turned bright pink from the sweltering heat.

"Excuse me." He gestured to the secretary, forgetting all norms of formality and whatever other bullshit that kept him back from asking about her.

"Ya?" she looked up, smiling politely at him.

"That lady-" he pointed to her, trying hard not to stare at her.

"The coach?"

"Yup." He smiled, looking back at the secretary, "When did she come back here?"

"Uhm," she looked at him oddly, contemplating whether or not she should reveal such personal information to him.

"It's just that we went to school together." Yaaseen said quickly, noticing the shutters before the secretary's eyes, preparing to tell him to fuck off... politely.

"Really?"

"Ya. Layla, right?"

"Right." She smiled, glimpses of acceptance appearing in her eyes. "She came back here 3 years ago."

"Really? Oh, I didn't see her here, the last time I came."

"Oh, ya. She works part-time."

"Oh okay. Her husband is that big guy, isn't he?" he asked, conversationally.

And just like that, the shutters dropped before her eyes once more. "Her husband died 4 years ago."

Yaaseen's heart stopped beating.

He ignored the secretary's wary gaze and her quiet shouts for him to get back. He ignored everything- the slippery tiles, the brown imprints made by his shoes along the white linoleum, the buzzer of the door as he was let out... everything.

Except her.

He would never know it that day, but everything about that moment would be imprinted in his mind. From her dark grey sweater to her light wash jeans to the light grey all-stars peeking out from beneath her hem...

"Layla?"

And as she turned around, he knew once more, that he was a goner.