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Juma'aat Kareem 🌹

Layla's POV

🌹🌹🌹

I woke up with the sound of the doorbell ringing. I groggily reached for my phone, rubbing my eyes. Ya salam, it was already 1:40 PM? I had completely lost track of time! Ni'imah and Ibty were coming over today, so it could very well be one of them. Ya Allah, I wasn't ready yet.

I dragged myself up and stumbled to the living room, checking through the window. There was Ibty, sitting on her luggage, typing away on her phone or something, totally absorbed. I cleared my throat loudly, trying to grab her attention, but she was so deep in thought she didn't even notice.

"Allah Allah, Ibty!" I called out, and she finally looked up, her face lighting up as soon as she saw me.

"Hafsatu!" She squealed, practically throwing herself at me with a tight hug. I nearly lost my balance from the force of it. "I've been here for the past 10 minutes waiting for you to open the door!" she added, still clinging to me.

I laughed a little. "I'm sorry, I was sleeping. I didn't get to sleep till after Fajr." I hugged her back.

We finally broke apart, and she picked up her luggage, following me into the apartment. We went straight to the room to drop off her things, and then she asked, "So, how's Muhammad?"

I shrugged, still feeling a bit weird about how we were now talking, but trying to sound casual. "He's fine, I guess."

She raised an eyebrow as she came into the living room. "Any progress?" she asked, leaning against the counter.

I hesitated before answering. "I dunno, I mean we talk now," I said, feeling a little self-conscious. I wasn't sure what to make of things with Muhammad yet.

"Ahh, you talk now? That's a good sign," she teased as she made her way to the kitchen. "I can't wait for your wedding! Imagine, Hafsatu, you two."

I rolled my eyes, feeling my cheeks warm. "Stop it, it's not like that," I muttered, but I was secretly thrilled by her excitement.

I excused myself to take a quick shower, hoping the cold water would calm me down. I was trying to push my thoughts about Muhammad out of my head for now.

After my shower, I quickly dressed in casual grey yoga pants and a pink shirt. I sprayed on my favorite perfume and threw my hair into a messy bun before heading back to the living room. Ibty was already in the kitchen, the delicious smell of food wafting through the air.

"Whatcha cookin?" I asked as I walked into the kitchen.

She barely looked up. "Don't know yet," she replied nonchalantly.

I peered into the pot. Whatever it was, it smelled amazing. Jollof basmati rice, by the looks of it, with a chilled lemonade on the counter. It made my stomach growl.

She waved me out of the kitchen. "Go, go! You're distracting me," she said playfully.

I stepped back into the living room, feeling a little bored and restless. I pulled out my phone and logged into Snapchat, hoping to see something interesting.

I saw a message from Norah, and my heart fluttered when I saw her name.

Norah🎀: hey sister

Layloo: Hey there!

Not even a minute later, she replied.

Norah🎀: Guess what

Layloo: what?

Norah🎀: y

Your fiancé came and he brought a phone case, cold stone and dominos for me!💃🏻

I felt my heart skip a beat. "Really? What was he doing there?"

Norah🎀: He came to greet mammy and daddy. He was a good son-in-law.

I smiled to myself. That was... sweet. "Oh toh! That's nice."

I scrolled down to another message, this one from Nabeel. How I miss that guy!

My handsome bro💕: Hey there fave💗

Layloo: Hey there bro! I misssss you😭❤️

My handsome bro💕: I miss you too❤️

Layloo: How's everyone?

My handsome bro💕: Everyone's fine, Alhamdulillah. How's school?

Layloo: School is stressful wallah😪

My handsome bro💕: Eyyah! You'll soon be done!

Layloo: I know right! I can't wait!!!

I was about to put my phone down when Ibty's voice broke through.

"When is Ni'imah coming?" she asked, munching on an apple as she walked into the living room.

"I don't know. Maybe we should call her and see what's going on," I said, but just as I got up to grab some water, my ringtone went off.

I quickly snatched up the bottle and hurried back to the living room to answer it. I saw the caller ID—Muhammad. My heart did a quick double beat, and I picked up the phone without hesitating.

"Hey there, Muhammadu."

"Hey, Hafsatu," he replied, and I could already hear the smile in his voice.

"How are you doing?" I asked.

"I'm fine, Alhamdulillah. And you?"

"I'm fine too," I said, feeling oddly flustered. "So, how far?"

I was about to answer when Ibty interrupted, "Layla, have you—" but then she froze, noticing that I was on the phone.

"Muhammad?" she asked, her voice full of curiosity.

"Yes, Layla?" came his voice, sending a little shiver down my spine.

I loved the way he said my name.

I cleared my throat, "Can we talk later? I'm a little bit occupied at the moment."

"Sure. Bye," he said with that warm tone I was beginning to like too much.

"Bye," I said quickly, hanging up the call.

I turned to Ibty, who was watching me with raised eyebrows. "Ne? What?"

"Oh, I wanted to ask if you'd called Ni'imah, but never mind. I've called her. She said she's at Piccadilly station," she replied casually.

"Oh, okay tohm," I said, popping a grape into my mouth, trying to hide the fluttering in my chest.

Ibty and I got bored, so we decided to watch a movie. She insisted on Descendants 2, which I reluctantly agreed to. We were halfway through when the doorbell rang. It had to be Ni'imah.

I got up, feeling strangely excited, and walked over to open the door. But when I opened it, my mouth went completely dry.

It wasn't Ni'imah. It was someone else... someone who made my heart skip a beat.

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