CHAPTER | SIXTEEN | ALIZA | POV

Sitting on the porch at two in the morning seemed like something no one would ever do, yet here I am. The slight breeze blew my hijab making it fly across my face to a point where I couldn't see the normal sight of houses in front of me anymore.

My hands flew up to my face and pushed the hijab aside so that I now had my sight back to see again while the other hand found its way to the baby bump that seemed to be growing bigger every time I either looked or felt it.

No one was even home to spend this time of restlessness with me out here. Isa had to go out of the country for an important business meeting with France while I stayed home and did things to satisfy myself.

I had been getting regular visits from family and friends these past two days since Isa had been gone because they had thought I wasn't in a position to be alone right now. The offer to go along with Isa was there and he suggested it himself but I didn't feel like travelling at all and I'd rather sit home and read something than waiting at a hotel for Isa to finish his work.

Right now there was no chance of me getting any sleep at all for some reason and I think it's because of the fact that I'm the only person in the house because these past two days, Farah had been staying over but since she has exams she really needed to go home and study. 

When thinking about college and hearing about Farah's experience, I feel a little left out by the fact that I chose not to go college myself. Even if I wanted to start studying again though, it would be hard because baby Shoaib will be here soon and I want to give him the care and love a baby deserves. 

Maybe when baby Shoaib is a few years old and starts going kindergarten then I can have a chance to start studying again, but then again I would still need the time to look after both husband and child.

The thought made me smile that I have a husband to call my own and that our child would be coming soon. It was just something every girl dreams of; having their prince charming and starting a family with them because they're the one who will love us unconditionally.

"Isn't it a bit early for you to be out?" A voice emerged from the darkness in front of me and lifting my head up to see who it was, I was surprised to see none other than Zack standing in front of me.

"I could say the same about you." I replied back, not knowing whether or not Zack is someone that I should be talking to considering he's Alex's brother.

"Well a person like me doesn't get much sleep. Especially when worrying about their brother not getting their head chopped off." I half smiled at that but stopped since I couldn't understand what he meant by that last bit.

"What do you mean? Is something wrong?" I had no reason to be worried about Alex after all the things he had caused but the fact that Alex's name always linked back to Isa made me worry.

"You don't know huh?" Was all he said before getting up and walking away from me. But I wasn't letting him go without telling me exactly what he was talking about here.

"Oh no you don't! Tell me everything you know." I commanded with all the might that I seemed to have at two- nearly three- in the morning.

He turned round to look at me and sighed. "That's not my place to tell you sunshine. I suggest you wait for your husband to get back home and tell you exactly why his trip in England is extending." With that he left for real this time and I didn't bother calling him back to explain.

It's true that Isa's trip had been extended to about three more days but how did Zack get to know that? The question swirled around in my head that I couldn't take it anymore.

Taking the simple steps back inside the house I closed the door behind me and proceeded to find my phone which I probably left in the kitchen after I had my cravings for strawberries. Odd, I know.

I finally found it on the counter and with a simple movement unlocked it and went to find Isa's number so that I could call him and ask. If I remember well then I'm sure England's time was ahead of us so there's a chance he might be awake right now.

Bring, bring, bring-

Afer the third ring he finally picked the phone up for me to talk to him. 

"Aliza is something wrong?" His voice sounded worried and I couldn't help but notice how hoarse it sounded too and I had a feeling it had nothing to do with the fact that he might have just woken up.

"No, nothings wrong. I just spoke to Zack and he might have suggested that something was...you know, wrong." I got my words out to him but for a long moment there was silence from his side.

"Don't worry about it, I'll explain everything once I get home." He said, but my patience was cutting low now.

The fact that people kept things from me and waited for me to just wait for them to explain was starting to get to me because if I think I deserve an explanation then I'm sure that I at least should get one.

"Isa I'm getting really tired of waiting for explanation and I think I deserve an explanation. Now!" My voice was stern just how I wanted it to be it and he caught on to that and he must know by now to mess with a pregnant woman.

"Wallah I will but telling you everything over the phone isn't the right way of doing this." He still kept it calm unlike me and tried to explain to me.

I heard him sigh over the phone and I could just picture him having his head in his hands. "Tell you what, since you're so keen on knowing what's going on and since I can't tell you what's going on, do you want me to book your ticket to come over here?" He suggested to me.

It sounded like a good idea to me and even though a while ago I probably wouldn't have enjoyed the idea of spending that much time on a plane, my decision has changed now. I needed to know what's going on and if this is the way of knowing then I was more than fine with it.

"Sounds good to me." I replied back to him confirming my decision.

“I’ll tell Mohammed to drop you off at the airport in the morning then so pack your bags. We’ll only be there for three days though.” He said to me and I replied back to him with an ‘okay’ before saying our goodbyes and ending the phone call.

I felt somewhat at ease after talking to Isa and knowing that Alhamdulilah he’s in still one piece; well I hope he is anyway. There was something the matter though and I can’t believe that I hadn’t picked it out after talking to him just a few hours ago.

There was also the guilt of losing my patience with him which I hated doing to anyone and not just him. It hasn’t been easy finding out that so many things have been going on with your husband’s past life that it’s now being caught up to not just him but you too.

There wasn’t much time for Mohammed to come and get me, in fact he had to be here at six after praying Fajr as Isa booked the earliest flight at eight o’clock. Looking at the time now on my phone, it read 3:08 a.m.

Getting out the kitchen, I walked up the stairs up to our bare room and found a duffel bag to fit in some clothes that would last me three days in England. The weather over there is terribly cold and I should know that since I’ve been there before. Packing my sweaters were a definite must; I didn’t want any frost bites.

It was also then I realized that my birthday was going to be spent in England and not home where I expected it to be. It didn’t matter though because the welfare of Isa was much more important that my birthday any day.

Once my bag was all packed I sat down on the bed and saw that I had wasted a whole hour in just picking out clothes to pack. I groaned out loud and let my head fall back on to the pillows where I found comfort but not as much as if Isa was here.

Admitting that the loneliness without Isa wasn’t hard since it was true and every part of me missed him so I guess it was a good thing that I would be seeing him in a couple of hours. In a way I was happy, excited even to be seeing him after two days but fear was also lurking at the back of my head about what he had to say to me.

I just hope and prayed to Allah that it was nothing too serious but knowing that Alex was involved I also knew that it couldn’t be anything small because nothing with those two was ever friendly like it used to be in their school days.

My head started to hurt thinking about the kind of things that could be happening over there right now. Someone could be hurt and I would never know just by talking to Isa over the phone. Other worse things could have happened also which I wouldn’t want to think about.

Resting seemed like such a good idea right now but even if I wanted to I couldn’t bring myself to think about getting a dose of sleep. I just hope that I would get some ounce of sleep on the plane so I wouldn’t have to look like a half cooked chicken in front of Isa.

The thought nearly made me laugh until I remembered there was nothing remotely funny about the situation we were both in except for the idea I just had. 

In that moment I forgot about not being able to sleep and slipped the hijab off my head and tucked myself in the bed. I had to force myself to sleep because this wasn’t good for my health to be thinking and stressing too much. 

With that last thought, I closed my eyes and waited for sleep to come and take me away.

***

Asalaamalaikum guys, what did you think of this chapter? Things are starting to get to the part where it's going to get almost saucy if you like and I'm enjoying writing these chapters!

Dedicated to @perspective_ who seems to be enjoying this so far.

Have a Good Day and May God Bless You All.