CHAPTER | SEVEN | ALIZA | POV

The peaceful feeling of waking up without having an alarm clock to do the job had to be one of the best things about a Saturday morning. This little bit of peacefulness isn't exactly going to last very long though; today I have to do the wedding shopping. I thought by going shopping last week it would have been enough to last me a whole 6 months. Then again I didn't know then that I was to be getting married next week. Next week.

Those two words played around my head endlessly ever since Isa had told me that they had changed the dates of the wedding. They were making it even closer instead of waiting till I had already graduated. I don't mind though that the dates had been changed, I'm quite excited about it, not worried like other brides I've seen before. 

What I was worried about though was Sia; even though Isa had told me nothing ever happened between them and that she had gone, the thought of her scared me. I still didn't tell anyone at home about that incident with Sia or how I now have a long gash running down my wrist.

I must admit though, the fact that my parents thought I cut myself was downright disturbing, but I didn't make a fuss about it and instead told them I accidently got scratched by the wires from the barb fence outside of school. Lying to them made me feel guilty just as much as when I miss Salat. Not liking the fact that they even believed me about that, I had decided to never lie to them again which I had never done anyway, but just in case I ever thought about it that idea would be an absolute 'No'.

Today and tomorrow is going to be a whole lot hectic since I have a full of list of things that me and Isa needs to do, made by both our parents; write the family names on the wedding invitations, pick out a colour for the hall and outfit, choose what food should be served and the list goes on. Thinking of the time we would need to spend on doing these things were tiring enough.

I wanted to do this as Halal as possible so ever since Tuesday, I told Isa that he didn't need to worry about giving me a ride since I normally go with Baba anyway. He hesitated but when I told him my reasons why, he was quite okay with the idea of it. I used to wonder about getting married when I was younger, heck it was mine and Farah's dream to get married and start a family but if course we grew out of that dream. We both still hoped for that one day to come.

Now I only have to wait seven more days till that dream becomes a reality for me. It was all too scary to think about seeing my parents and brothers cry on that day, even a few of those dramatic aunties. They had been there for me and in just a matter of days I would be moving out to my new house which I still haven't seen.

Isa had bought us a house without me even knowing about it until yesterday when Mama finally decided to tell me about it. The idea of it being my wedding meant that I at least had some sort of idea of what is happening, but I guess I was wrong since I'm the last to ever get told things in this house anyway. 

Sighing with effort I managed to get one foot out of the covers and onto the wooden floor. Before I gave up for a few seconds and just laid on the bed. Yet again trying to get out of bed. I finally got out without a struggle this time and just sat on the edge of my bed, letting my thoughts wander while I rested my head on my hands. That peaceful train of thought ended when the beeping sound of my phone went off indicating I had a new notification or text. 

Finding my phone from the mess that my bed was, wasn't too easy because like I said, it’s a mess. I finally found it and saw that it was a text from Isa:                                    'Hi, we're gonna reach your house soon, get ready!' I read the text before realising I had to reply to it.                                                                                       'Salaam, I'll be ready soon.' I replied back to him. I didn't get one back so I got up walked to my wardrobe seeing as I wouldn't have enough time to take a shower; I might as well take one when I come back home. 

The other thing I've noticed about Isa, is that he tries to always avoid saying 'Asalaamalikum' or act towards how our religion teaches us. This boy has so many secrets which I myself have no idea as to how I should ask him. Insha'Allah I will ask him about it though because I don't want to complete half of my deen with a person who I only know the basics about. I guess that's all I will know right now since we're getting married next week and I have barely got the time to ask him anything as I have decided to do this the Halal way, so no speaking to him till next week.

I could do with that though, after all I hadn't even spoken to him in my whole life. The fact that I didn't know much about Isa scares me a little; was there something he could be hiding that was no were near good? Maybe he was and maybe he wasn't, I have no idea, what I do know is that I'm spending too much time thinking about this when I should be getting ready to buy my wedding dress.

Just the thought of actually shopping for my own wedding dress made a shiver run down my spine like a chill on a winter’s day. Finding my black and white Aztec print maxi skirt, a plain black long shirt with a polka dotted hijab I laid everything out on the bed, went to grab my toothbrush from the bathroom so I could brush and change at the same time. Might be a little tricky but I'm sure I'll manage everything. I’ll still have enough time to eat breakfast before they arrive here. 

Jiggling to the left and right, I managed to get my leggings on while the brush was still in my mouth and tried not to drool over my skirt as I pulled it on. Now that was done I raced back to the bathroom, got the brush out and gurgled while washing my face. Water splattered around my face but I made sure none was on my shirt. 

I pulled my hair into a ponytail and bun while doing some stuff with the back of my head so the back of my hijab won't look like a speed bump off the road. Getting the hijab onto my head, I pinned everything securely into place before grabbing my bag and swinging it onto my shoulder making sure my purse was in there. I didn't want them to be paying for everything, I had saved enough since middle school to buy half of the things with my own money.

I’m more of a saving person rather than spending all my money type on useless stuff which I probably will never use anyway. Once downstairs and in the kitchen, I saw that nobody was in there. Come to think about it, I didn't even hear a sound from anyone in the house since I woke up. I spotted a note on the fridge which was held by a magnet. 

As I got nearer to read it, it said that they had gone to a relative’s house and didn't wake me up because I had to go shopping today. Sighing in relief that they didn't wake me up, I went to grab myself a pop tart from the cupboard and popped it in my mouth; I was happily chewing until I heard a beeping sound from outside.

I guess Isa and his family were here. Without knocking anything over I managed to get up from the chair and swing my bag across my shoulder. The fact that I wanted to do this the Halal way and Isa was here wasn't very Halal, I kept my mouth shut anyway in case they wouldn't like me talking in such a way.

Pop tart now gone from my mouth by the time I had reach the front door, I remembered to grab the key so I could lock the door since no one was home today. I looked ahead of me as soon as I locked the door behind me and I saw Isa's car parked on the lawn while he tapped his fingers on the steering wheel, probably listening to music. No one else was with him. Was I supposed to go with Isa alone?

I plucked up the courage and found myself walking towards his car with a strained smile on my face; looking miserable wasn't an option right now.

"Asalaamalikum, where is everyone?" I asked politely to him as I stood beside his door to the car. It seemed like forever but he still didn't look up at me, instead he kept his gaze down, fixes on his lap. "Hello?" I waved my hand in front of his face hoping that he would actually see me now. 

It all happened too fast and in a second as his head shot up, my hand went flying as he grabbed hold of it. There was no surprise that I went flying to, but this time I found myself right in front of Isa's face who was breathing heavily as if I had just attacked him. Awkwardly I coughed and shot back out of his face while he composed himself.

"Sorry I wasn't paying attention and you kind of scared me a little." He said while scratching the back of his neck. 

"That's okay. I was just wondering where the others are?" I said but came out more of a question. 

"They're going to be a little late so they told me to drop you off and they'll meet you there. Is that okay?" He asked me and I couldn't help but just nod at him. What was I supposed to say? 'No I don't want you here because that would be against everything of doing this the Halal way?' Yeah, I don't think that was going to happen. 

Silently I made my way round to the passenger car door and slipped inside. Then I turned to Isa, "We're still doing this the Halal way right?" I asked him. 

"You're the wife." Was all he said and turned the ignition bringing the car to life with a purr and setting us onto the road. I didn't bother making conversation with him during the car ride and neither did he; it was bad enough that we had spoken on the phone and him giving me a ride when we both agreed to stay out of each other’s way till after the wedding.

It wasn't too hard right now though to try and not talk to him since I had my earphones in and listening to anything that my iPod threw my way since I put it on shuffle. Putting it on shuffle meant that I had listen to every worse song on my iPod until a good one came along, and that took a long time. I didn't fuss though, just continued to stare out the window and looking at the people walking furiously, in a hurry to wherever they had to go.

This was really unusual; no one was ever in a hurry since we lived in such a small town, everyone could get to their places on time. The ride to wedding place in town which in cheesiness was called the 'Wedding Plaza' wasn't very long at all and before I knew it, we were outside a tall building and a few stores which seemed all too happy to seem real. 

There were flower centerpieces hanging out by every store, it looked like the only place that wasn't decorated in this area was the tall building which just stood there looking gray. "Thanks for the lift," I said in a rush to get out of the car. I was stopped back though by Isa saying something.

"No problem. I can’t wait to see you in your dress," I couldn't tell where his sudden cockiness came from but I couldn't say that it was all annoying since half the time it amused me and the other half it plainly annoyed me. I stood there like a fool looking around as soon as he left just hoping that my in laws would be here soon so that we could actually get started. 

This shopping trip wasn't entirely going to be boring like the others I've been to and the reason for that is probably because it was for my wedding; I hoped that today was going to be a little bit of fun. I saw a bench just a few feet away empty, so I went up to it and planted my butt down on the wooden bench. That was a bad idea; it was boiling hot, probably because of the sun but I still sat there because I clearly had nothing to do.

I saw people walking by with hands full of shopping and chatting to their friends or family, whoever was with them shopping. They seemed so happy to be buying all these things for their wedding. So was I to be honest. A tap on the shoulder followed by a squeal broke me out of my trance and made me jump from the sudden noise next to me. 

My left hand went to my heart trying to get it to calm down while my head snapped to whoever had made the sound and luckily for me it was someone I knew; Isa's sister Maimunah; she was only about two years younger than us but damn this girl is one of the most friendliest people I have ever met. Just like everything else though, I only came to know about this a few days ago.

"Ahh Ali I'm so excited for today!" Again she squealed at me while gripping me into a tight hug which I laughed about. I hugged her back just as hard. 

"So am I! Let’s get going then!" I said to her but then I realised her Mom was there too so we both hugged and said our Salaam's. 

"Mashallah you look beautiful Habibi," She said to me as she scrutinized my outfit. 

"Jazakallah," I thanked her. I still couldn't get over how nice his family was even if I had only met half of them. He had two younger sisters and a younger brother too. Those were the ones I still have yet to meet before I can finally say that I've met every single one of them.

"Come on then!" Maimunah literally dragged me to the first store which like every other store in this area, was decorated with flowers but this one was actually a flower boutique so it made sense. I laughed at her and we both opened the door which made a chiming sound from the bell on top of the door. Fancy. 

Looking around, there was huge amount of bouquets, centerpieces and just ordinary flowers arranged to look pretty. "Wow," The words had already escaped from my mouth without me noticing, but it seemed like my little sister-in-law agreed with me because she nodded her head at me, doing a full 360 degrees just to look at a bit of everything.

I don't blame her; there was just so much in here that it would be impossible to take everything in by just standing still and looking around. From the corner of my eye I saw a short lady with plump rose cheeks and a green summer dress scurry her way around the shop.

"Hello there, please give me a moment and I'll be right with you." She said to us politely and hurried off again to whatever she was doing. My future mother-in-law who literally is forcing me to call her Fatimah for the time, looked pretty impressed by her surroundings too.

Just as I was about to ask her what she thought of it, the plump woman came back in the room and was mumbling something to herself which I couldn't make out. Finally, she stopped in front of us and stretched out her hand which we all shook, 

"I'm Hillary and welcome. What can I do for you today?" She seemed really friendly I liked a lot, she also looked like the type of person who’d be spending time with her grandchildren, making them pies rather than owning a flower shop.

"Well it’s actually my wedding next week and we've come to look around," I said being all polite. She nodded her head and smiled warmly at me. 

"Well do you know what kind of flowers you're looking for?" She asked me getting a notebook and pen out from behind the counter which believe it or not, was also decorated with flowers. 

"I was thinking if either lilies or tulips because they go with the wedding theme of white," She quickly wrote that down in her notebook then stood up and looked around. It looked as if she found what she was looking for and took me by the hand. 

"Well dear we can do both of them for you if you like," I nodded at that and she continued, "Also, would you like centerpieces and of course the bouquets?" She asked me and I thought about it before turning back to Fatimah and Maimunah. 

"I really don't want this to be too fancy so if we have a centerpiece, I was thinking it would be something small like in shape of a dove? What do you guys think?" I asked them both as soon as I told them my idea. 

"That sounds great, but how many bouquets will you need? You need one and your bridesmaids needs one too," Maimunah pointed out. 

"Well I have three bridesmaids, so altogether four bouquets," I smiled at that and turned back to Hillary to see she was already writing this down.

"That's great, so about how many centerpieces would you say you would need?" She asked us. 

"About six, right?" Maimunah said. She looked at me as if she had said something wrong.

"Six is fine," I agreed with my little sister-in-law and Hillary began writing it down again. 

After discussing how much we would need, we told her the address and time so that they would know where and when to set things up. We also went round looking at the type of works she has done over the last years and I have to admit they were awesome! Now we had to talk about the price and pay for everything. I wouldn't be surprised if it came to well over 300 dollars because after all this was for a wedding, there was still hope it would be a little cheaper.

"Okay so taking everything you have said, the mist reasonable price I can do for you is $235." 235 dollars? That was much more than I bargained for and it looks like Maimunah and Fatimah agreed with me.

"Well do you take credit card?" I asked Hillary and she smiled as she went to get the machine for me to pay with my card.

"Ali what are you doing? Let us pay!" Maimunah argued with me as soon as Hillary had disappeared. I just fumbled around in my bag till I found my credit card, waving it in her face. 

"No way am I letting you guys pay for everything. I'm the bride, I should be able to do things too." I stated towards her. She simply stuck her tongue out at me and pulled a face that made both me and Fatimah laugh.

After paying for the flowers and thanking Hillary, we were on our way to the dress shop. This had to be the part I was mostly excited about when thinking of wedding shopping. As soon as we entered the small dress boutique, the smell of perfume hit me from every direction as if we had just walked into a perfume shop instead of a dress one.

"Well my nose is going to hurt after this," I joked as we came inside. Maimunah sniggered whilst Fatimah jokingly glared at me. We headed to the counter where a blonde was sitting down and chewing gum. Her clothes looked like they had just been bought from the children section of the mall. 

"Hello? We have an appointment to look at the dresses today?" My statement came out more of a question again which for that I mentally face palmed myself. 

"Yes, go take a look." She said with her voice dripping of boredom in a thick Italian accent which made me cringe a little. From there, all three of us walked away from her and into the different parts of the boutique. It may look small from outside but seriously, it could fit half my house into here.

 My hands raked across each of the dress feeling its soft material and embroidery as I went along trying to find the perfect white dress. I had to make sure that the dress I was looking for had sleeves and was modest. Searching and searching for the right dress was getting tiring and definitely far from fun right now because not a single one had caught my eye and the ones that did either had no sleeves or the back was showing, so no coverage there. 

"This is going to be a hard one," I said to both the girls as we fell onto the couch that was provided inside the boutique itself. 

"Tell me about it. The ones that are the nicest are the haraam ones!" Maimunah sighed and fell back on to the couch while her Mom hit her across the head for talking too loud. Closing my eyes for a few seconds meant that I could just catch up on a few breaths that I lost while trying to find 'the one'. 

The shaking from my shoulders made my eyes open and jerk up right to a sitting position. "Habibi, why don't you go look at that one over there?" I looked to where Fatimah's finger was pointing and excitedly got up. It was in a corner; the only one on the rack and by far it looked absolutely amazing.

As I went closer to the dress I noticed the long sleeves and no bits of material missing so that was good so far. I wonder if this was the one though; I pulled my hand forward and took the dress out from the rack and gasped. It was beautiful. There was nothing like it in the entire boutique.

"OMG, Ali that's the one!" Maimunah said coming behind me and emphasizing in the 'OMG'. I think she was right; there were long sleeves with the back still intact and no massive amount of cleavage will be showing when I try it on. 

"I see you've found a great choice," A voice from behind us said. We turned around to see a middle aged woman standing in front of us with a flowery dress and a smile etched out on her lips. 

"Yeah, it actually is modest AND beautiful," I said to her and again looking back down to the dress that was laid out on my hands. 

"I'm very glad you like it. Would you like to try it on?" I eagerly nodded at her offer and she pointed to the nearest changing room to where I could go and change. "By the way, this is the only size we have in this dress, will that be a problem?" She asked me with a curious tone in her voice and said it carefully as if I would have a fit about it. 

"Not at all," I said and gave my bag to Maimunah and went inside the dressing room. Even as I hung it up it looked beautiful. It didn't take her long to get the dress on, so I went out the little cabin and in front of the girls and the lady. 

I stood there for a second before Fatimah asked if I could do a little twirl. It was hard to believe that the dress was so light and elegant to walk in or even twirl in by the amount of broidery and little pecks of diamond it had. 

"What do you think?" I asked everyone. There seemed to be no response apart from a gasp that I heard and which was clearly not from the people in front of me. Turning, I saw the blonde receptionist looking at me with her mouth wide open.

"Is there something wrong with it?" I asked her getting a little bit worried. This was the only shop in the boutique that was modest enough as well as beautiful. 

"It’s beautiful," She murmured and to be honest that wasn't what I was expecting her to say. She didn't seem quite bothered when we first met her over an hour ago but now she was standing there complimenting me with her mouth wide open. 

"Thank you," I said back to her with a massive grin on my face. I was quite sure that this was the one.

"Ali you have got to be habla (foolish) to not get this dress!" Maimunah said to me. I agreed with her. 

"I know," I mumbled, still amazed by the beauty of the dress that I was wearing. 

"Well how much is it?" Fatimah asked the lady in front of us. 

"$2700." My face fell at the sound of the price but it seemed like Fatimah's didn't. 

"We'll take it!" She said in joy while I stared at her in shock. She's kidding right? There's no way I would wear a dress so expensive, no matter how elegant it happened to be. I lifted the dress up a little so that I could walk while going towards Fatimah.

"We can't buy this dress!" I said to her but she just carried on smiling at me.

"Why not?" She asked me but still had the smile plastered on to her face like it was no big deal.

"Because it’s too expensive and even if I did buy it then I would be paying. Not you. And I would be in your debt if you did this," I tried making it as convincing as I could but it looked like she didn't seem fazed by it at all. 

"No Habibi. You will never be in my debt and if you will be because of this dress then you are already paying the debt by becoming my daughter," I said nothing after that, however I just watched her walk to the counter and get her credit card out to pay for the dress. 

I didn't know what to do. Tears were threatening to spill out by the words that were just spoken to me yet they remained in my eyes, refusing to come out. She smiled back at me, gestured for me to take the dress out and change back into my old clothes. So I went back into the cabinet and peeled the dress off. 

As I walked back outside with the dress over my arm, Maimunah nudged my side and whispered to me, "Isa is going to die a little inside when he sees you in that dress. Wallahi." She sniggered to herself at my expression which matched the blonde from a few minutes ago. 

My mouth was wide open as I glared at her at the same time; though the blonde didn't glare at me. I could safely say I looked like a gaping fish, probably Dori from 'Finding Nemo'. 

"If you could just give me the dress," The lady came to me and asked me for the dress. I reluctantly gave it to her. I still had no idea what to say to my little sister-in-law, so instead I kept my mouth shut. Fatimah came up to both of us with a broad smile, 

"I know for a fact you will look amazing next Saturday," I for one smiled and laughed seeing Maimunah jump up and down in excitement. Where did she get all this energy from? Wherever she might have gotten it from, it never failed to make this mister laugh or smile at whatever she was doing.

"I seriously can't thank you enough for this!" I told Fatimah. All she did was shake her head at me and lead me towards the counter to pick up my dress which was now packaged, ready for me to take since it was already paid for. 

"Now for jewellery," Maimunah said. I kept on thinking about the idea of maybe not wearing any for the day. 

"Guys wait up, I was thinking that maybe I shouldn't wear any," I admitted to them both. Fatimah seemed to be in deep thought while Maimunah just stared at me in utter disbelief as if I just confessed to a murder.

"Well if that's your choice," Fatimah concluded and put her finger to her lips to shut Maimunah up because we both knew she had something to say in this matter.

"Fine then, how about we put the dress in the car and go grab something to eat?" She suggested and we all made our way to Maimunah's car, placing the dress in the back seat. I felt more relieved now that those were sorted out even though it was hardly anything. We walked up to the little café that was just across the street. It looked homely as well as good value for money.  

"Ali, do you think I'll get any nieces or nephews soon?" Maimunah asked innocently while finding a table for us to sit on. That was the second time this day she did that. At the same time I was finding it hilarious because that's exactly what I would be asking someone if they were getting married, and then again it was embarrassing to get asked that question, especially if your future Mother-in-law was there as well. 

Maimunah was far from next to me by now and I wasn't going to shout out the answer in front of all these people. So I went over to the table that she was sitting at and sat down myself before giving her a serious look, "Yeah actually you can. In total though I would say you might have eight or nine nieces or nephews," My face was dead serious that you couldn't tell if I was joking or not. I don't think Maimunah realised I was joking by the way she just silently stared at me.

"Eight or nine?!" She exclaimed out loud which made people turn and look at us. I smiled at the people then turned back round to Maimunah to see she was still in a state of shock. It wasn't that shocking was it? Even if I wasn't joking, eight or nine kids wasn't too much right? Just then a lady walked in with screaming children by her side and as I counted them, there were nine. Scratch that, I only want four kids. 

"I was just kidding. Four is enough and don't ask me that!" I pleaded with her. I didn't want any more awkward situations to happen between me and my future little sister-in-law, because that's just, well awkward. 

"Why not? Should I be asking Isa this instead?" Okay now that was worse. If I felt like this when she asked me the question, imagine how Isa would feel; he's a guy after all. 

"Never," I said through my teeth. I didn't mean it in a harsh way and I'm glad she could tell that because she was now laughing. At me. Great. At that time I realised that Fatimah wasn't with us at the table until I turned to see her walking towards us with a tray. I didn't even know that she had gone to get us our drinks and food. 

"Jazakallah, but I would have gone to get it," I told Fatimah when she sat down. I felt bad for not even knowing that she went to get our things that she had paid and brought it over herself. 

"Don't be silly, now eat up." Laughing, Maimunah and I did as we were told and began eating and drinking our tea/ coffee. Now being the type of person who loves food meant that I had eaten a whole lot of pastries before, but this was just...delicious! Soft with a custard filling in the middle along with my tea wasn't heaven, it was far from it, in fact it was like a little haven of its own. 

"Ali do you think you should be eating so much? I mean I know brides like going on diets to fit in their wedding dresses right?" Maimunah asked me. I could see her point but this bride is going to sit here and eat as much she wants because I've actually bought a dress that fits; not two sizes smaller or bigger, but one that fits.

I shook my head at her and gave her a toothy grin to which they both laughed at. All in all when we left that small little cafe there was only one thing on my mind and that was that I would be definitely be coming back here again. We were all in the car now playing 'I spy', it was loud but it was fun and instead of dropping me home, we're going to their house so that I could have dinner at theirs since Isa was out with Adam. 

"Ali, I hope you don't mind eating spaghetti," Fatimah said to me as we parked outside their house. For a minute I couldn't reply to her because I was just staring at their house. No matter how many times I had been here, it still amazed me. Isa's family owned the largest house in this town and to be honest if I think my house is big than I think this is just ginormous! 

Well I suppose they did need it since they did have a large family and not to mention they were quite wealthy too. "I don't mind eating anything to be honest," I finally replied back. I wasn't going to take the dress inside but Fatimah asked if we could show the others and I didn't mind, as long as Isa wasn't there anyway. The dress was still light even in its packaging so it wasn't much hassle for me to bring it inside. 

"You can go put it upstairs Habibi. We'll show everyone after dinner." Fatimah said to me when we entered the house so I quietly went up the stairs after greeting everyone who was there and tried finding the room she told me to put it in. She said something about third door on the left; or was it right? 

Trying my luck, I opened the door to the right hoping to find the study like I was supposed to, instead there was a bedroom. As I looked closer though I realised it wasn't just anybody's bedroom, it was my future husband’s bedroom. To say I was curious was an understatement. I wanted to take a closer look inside but that would be invading his privacy. I'm not the type of person to do that to anyone. 

"You can go in if you want." A voice behind me said and the fact that I wasn't expecting it made me jump while clutching the door handle for support so that I didn't fall over on my face. Slowly I turned round and gulped to find Isa smirking at me as if he enjoyed watching me being scared to death. 

"I, err was looking for the err… study," I managed to get out. But still looking like a fool by stuttering. He didn't look very convinced even though I was telling the truth. His gaze then went down to what I was holding across my arm, the dress. I knew exactly what he was thinking at this moment and there was no way I was going to let him see it, heck he wasn't even meant to be home right now!

Without thinking about it, I dashed past him to the opposite door and opened it for me to go in and made it just in time for me to close the door on his face. 

"Ali, please let me see it!" He begged from outside the door but there was no way I was opening this door to let him come in and see this dress. He is seeing this dress next Saturday just like most people are, so there's no need for him to be frustrated. 

"No way!" I shouted back to him and after making sure that the door was tightly locked so that he wouldn't be able to come inside, I went to look for a hiding spot to put the dress so that when I went downstairs he wouldn't be able to find it. I spotted an open cupboard with books in it so I moved some of them out of the way and hid the dress behind the books, then rearranged them to look as if they had never been moved in the first place.

Isa was somewhat still knocking on the door. I wondered if I should still stay for dinner or go home. Making my mind up about my decision I got the dress out again which was a waste of time for me to even hide it and opened the door. Lucky he wasn't standing too close or else he would have landed straight on me and that's something I don't particularly want right now. 

"So I can see it then?" He asked. Bless, he actually thought I came out to let him see it.

"No, I'm going home actually," I don't know why but the smirk on his face vanished and now it was just emotionless, what did that even mean?

"Oh right, I keep forgetting we're doing this the Halal way." After saying that, not once did he look back or say bye, he just kept on going and into his room he went with a bang from his door. This boy and his mood swings, wasn't that a girls job to have mood swings?

I sort of felt bad though, was it because of me he just stormed off? This day may have started off nicely but it is now ending little off the hook. Shaking it off though, I went back downstairs to see that everyone was already seated around the table in the dining room, it was a big table! 

"You going somewhere Ali?" Maimunah was the first to notice me and stood up to come in front of me. 

"Yeah, I was thinking maybe I should just go home. Since you know who is here," I said with a smile on my face, trying to not let the memories of what just happened a few minutes ago come back again. 

"Are you sure?" She asked me sincerely. I absolutely loved this family already. I didn't want to say no to her because I really did want to stay and have dinner with them. But I couldn't do that right now. 

"Positive," I tried to say as convincingly as I could. She sighed and went over to grab her car keys from the basket that was lying on the table. I knew there was no point in saying no to her because she would end up dragging me to her car anyway, whether I liked it or not. The rest of the family smiled at me apologetically, said their Salaam to me before me and Maimunah made our way outside to their garage, into the car.

Something told me I should have brought my own car today; I didn't want to be bothering all these people and yet that's exactly what I'm doing right now.

"Can I ask you something Ali?" She asked me. I slowly nodded, "What made you want to do this the Halal way?" Well this wasn't what I was expecting for her to ask me but I knew that most were curious about my decision to do this as well.

"It’s just that I think that it’s the right way to do it. After we get married I will be doing most things with him anyway. I'm sure he can wait another week," I reassured her. She didn't say anything else for the rest of the five minute journey back home so neither did I. 

Thanking her for the lift when we reached my house I got out the car and stood waiting outside until she was out of sight so that I could go inside. Holding the dress was becoming a burden on my arm now. Looking down at the grass below my feet I walked back to the door of the house and twisted the door handle open. 

"Salaam!" I shouted once I was inside, closing the door behind me. All heads turned towards me and smiled while all the boys raced towards and me, before I knew it I was in a bear hug by all the boys and damn it hurt. One by one they replied to me and kissed me. 

"Ali can we please see the dress?" Mustafa begged. It reminded me of how Isa was begging to see the dress. I zipped open the packaging and took the dress out and held it at arm’s length for everyone to see. Gasps came from everyone's mouths, I couldn't help the smile forming on my lips. Eventually the commotion had died down and it was time to pray Isha. 

All in all, I just wanted to make Dua for my first marriage to be my last and hopefully a successful one. 

Ameen.

***

Salaam and I'm sorry for such a long wait for this chapter but I hope that the length will be able to make it up to you guys! I haven't put much detail for the wedding preparation because those will be in the future chapters!

Dedicated to @Xxklutz for being really supportive of this book so far and I hope you liked this chapter.

Have a Good Day and May God Bless You All.