Its wonderful to think that the future is unknown and sort of surprising 

~Alan Rickman

(Born: February 21, 1946- Died: January 16, 2016) 

RIP ALAN RICKMAN

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Iqraam

The walimah shopping was hectic 

by hectic i mean alot more than just sitting in the AC office all day dealing with aggressive customers-

today was the 31st of December and the walimah was on the 3rd, rather than the 4th of Jan 

"Iqraam, are the caterers ready?" asked ammi as she walked around the house with her notepad 

she had a friking checklist!!! 

"Yes- the florist, the decorator (Iqra), the event manager, the invitations are out and the online invites are sent!" i said as i walked behind her with my handful of things she had asked for 

"Oh goodie- and... that leaves us with......... the rings? where are the rings?" she asked me and i chuckled

"In our fingers mah!" i replied and she chuckled 

"The menu is told to the caterers?" she asked and i nodded

"Yes and they know what to use and what not to use- there will be all halal food, ammi!!" i said and she nodded

my ammi and abba were going crazy  over the walimah preparation 

they said: "It has to be Grand as the first of Ibrahim is married!" 

they had sent invites to everyone they knew from the past till now 

from poor to rich, from farmers to businessmen, so basically it will be alot of guests

briefly about 4000 excluding kids under 12 years of age 

yeah alot of guests 

all my business associates were flying to Durban for the reception and my fathers friends and ammi's past friends will all be there 

so it is alot of people 

"Hall- is it booked?" she asked me and i laughed

"Yes ammi, the hall is booked- its huge enough to cater for above 5000 people- its huge!" i said and she laughed again 

"I am just happy, i get to do this!!!" she said and then we walked into the kitchen 

the whole day went off like this, decorating the house, setting up the living room for the 2nd of Jan ceremony and of course calling the designers to check if my ring was ready 

Ruqayyah had found hers that day but mine was suppose to come in a week later and i could not pick it up due to recent happenings so i had to pick it up tomorrow 

that night, the Ibrahim and Edris were together at my place, waiting to welcome New Year as we talked away about random things 

"So where do you wanna go for honeymoon?" asked Riza (Loriza) aunt suddenly and i smirked at Ruqayyah 

"Umm- about that.........." replied Ruqayyah and looked at me for help 

she had asked me about the whole family vacae one and i had agreed to it as it was indeed a good idea- 

but will my family agree?

"Why don't we all go on a holiday? Its new years- work starts on the 20th of Jan- a holiday sounds good!" i said and abba shook his head

"No- we would like to know where you two are planning your honeymoon!" he said and everyone else nodded

i turned to Iqra for help but she had buried her head in some book 

"Abba, ammi- i think we all need this!! come on! i mean one way it will be our honeymoon, another way will be the family vacation and Zaik and Zahi can get out of the SA too!" i said and ammi sighed

"Ruqayyah, tell him its a stupid idea" she said looking at Ruqayyah and Ruqayyah looked down on the floor 

"It was her idea...." i said in victory and ammi groaned

"Oh come on! Riza, Edris, a little help please?" she asked them and they laughed

"I think thats a great idea- i mean if Ruqayyah and Iqraam have no problem... why not?! this will be a whole family vacation!!!" squealed Riza aunt and i tilted my head to look at her 

"See even she agrees with us!" said Ruqayyah and ammi sighed

"Ibrahim, please tell me you agree that its a stupid idea" said ammi and abba gave her a sheepish grin 

"oh great!" she muttered as she slumped back into her seat

"Oh come on Fatie!!! it will be a great time for all of you! And don't forget that Namaan will be leaving for Aviation- and the girls- their holidays are also here!" said Riza aunt and everyone agreed

Ammi sighed and then smiled 

"Fine- done but... where will you be going?" she asked me and i chuckled

"If i knew that, we would not be discussing all this, now would we?" i asked and she frowned at me 

"You really did not plan all this, did you two?" she asked Ruqayyah and I 

I looked away and so did Ruqayyah 

"Ya Allah! what now?" she questioned us and i smirked

"I googled, Fiji is the best for you all- there is sun and wind, there is a little rain, there is sea and beaches and there is coastal areas and there are private islands to go to- adding onto it, the main city of Fiji is awesome and so are the small towns- people are friendly and i have made a booking to their best hotel- Sheraton, for you all to stay for two nights- the following days.......... uh- Denarau- yea- the villa- its free- so bamm- booked- paid and we are ready!" said Shumayll looking up from his laptop and smiling widely at us 

"See, thats why we are best mates!" i said and everyone laughed, well excluding daadi mah- but anyways 

"Yup- so okay- you guys are going to FIJI!!!" screamed Shumayll and everyone cheered and i am sure these cheers would have woken up the kids who were asleep 

the night passed away as he came closer to countdown 

finally it was the last 5 seconds of 2015 

we would lose everything we had this year, everything would be just memories stored in our minds 

the new years will be something different 

5

4 

i looked at Ruqayyah and she gazed back at me 

3

i looked around me, people were happy and smiling at the night city lights that glimmered in the ocean 

2 

Ya Allah, please forgive anything me and my family did in this year so that the guilt of today does not ruin a brighter tomorrow 

1

"HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!" everyone around me yelled and i laughed along with them afterwards 

we hugged and chatted as we started the new year with our loved ones 

i stuck close to Ruqayyah, giving her a brief kiss on the forehead before going about and wishing my siblings a happy new year 

Iqra was huddled up again, in the corner with her another book and i could not understand why this girl read so much 

"Happy New year little girl!" i said and she looked up, forcing a smile 

whats wrong with her?

"Happy new year!!" she said and then went back to her book 

i frowned down at her but she did not look up 

snatching the book away, i raised my eyebrows at her 

'Whats wrong with you?" i asked her sternly and she gave me a confused look 

"Nothings wrong with me, now give me the book!" she said snatching the book from me and i held it up 

"Whats wrong?" i asked her once again and she shook her head

"Nothing! Can i have that back, please?" she asked me politely 

this was not my sister 

this was not Iqra 

something is up and she is not telling me 

"Iqra.. what happened?" i asked her and she growled

"Nothing bhai!!!" she laughed and grabbed the book back 

something was up and she was not telling me 

shaking the bad feeling off, i walked back to the group 

however my mind kept going back to Iqra 

is something wrong and she is not telling me?

"You alright?" asked Ruqayyah once we were in our room 

it was past 1 in the morning and we were about to to back to bed

"No..." i muttered as i paced around the room floor thinking about my sister 

"What happened?" she asked me as she stood infront of me, making me stop 

i ran my hand through my hair in frustration 

"There is something going on with Iqra and she is not telling me- she is hiding something and i can feel it-" i said as i began my pacing once more 

if this was business i would know what to do 

but this is my sister we talking about 

Iqra is not like other girls, who will openly tell someone about their feelings, she is very conservative

she never made friends, she kept minimal conversations, she was shy and she hardly kept a diary to write her feelings in! she keeps everything bottled up 

even if you ask her, she won't speak at all 

"Iqraam, maybe she is..." said Ruqayyah and i growled

"How can she? i am her brother for gods sake! she should at least think about what i will go through if she continues to act this way!" i said in an annoyed tone 

i was not angry at her for keeping secrets 

i was just annoyed that she did not bother to tell me things she did- 

she would tell me everything when she was a child but as she grew up, she closed off from everything 

everything except books 

i don't even know when i saw her smiling at something beautiful!

"I miss my little Iqra" i said as a silent tear escaped my eye 

"Iqraam... shh- why don't you talk to her?" she said as she cradled my face in between her hands, wiping away the tears with her thumb 

"I wish- but she won't speak............ i don't know whats wrong with her!" i whispered as more tears threatened to spill 

i literally brought up my sister, i know her flaws, her character, her personality and her heart 

"Iqraam, how about i talk to her? maybe during the vacation? she said she was glad to have me- maybe i can ask her whats wrong?" said Ruqayyah and i merely nodded

all i needed was my sister to open up a little 

She smiled at me and i smiled back 

we were a total clique couple!

i kissed her forehead, her closed eyes, her cheeks, her jaw and finally her lips 

she was an addiction 

a very good addiction 

i loved her 

i loved the addiction she gave me 

i love every moment she gave me 

_______

the following day/ morning was not really busy 

there were a few things that needed to be taken care of and those included the stage decoration for Ruqayyah's henna night and the walimah decorations at the hall 

her henna night would be in the house with immediate families and i guess her mother and sister were invited 

they would be staying at a hotel (away from Ruqayyah) with the father and brother until after the walimah 

they were the only ones invited from Ruqayyah's side 

oh and her ex boss- who helped her during hard times, Lady Uhala from Cape town, she was a lawyer and was the one who helped Ruqayyah with the divorce and children custody 

i will be forever grateful to her 

"Iqraam, where will you and the boys be today?' asked ammi as she set the lowers around the place where Ruqayyah was suppose to sit and have her henna done 

"umm Shumayll and I were planning to be at his office- there is something we are working on and we thought we could work on that- i am not sure about abba and the rest though" i said and ammi nodded

"Okay- but don't stay out too late-" she said and i smiled at her 

i hugged my mother and stood up 

tomorrow would be an amazing day 

I sighed smiling to myself 

hmmm

dreamland activated 

"IQRRAAAMMM!!!" yelled Shumayll 

Dreamland deactivated!

this guy!

+++++++++

I updated people!!! 

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As you all might have heard, the death of the most amazing actor i knew and adored, Alan Rickman, he was well known for his role as 'Professor Snape' in the Harry Potter series 

i used to hate him at the beginning (In books and movies) but he made me cry when his story was told 

i love you Alan Rickman and may your soul rest in peace 

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so want another chap before epilogue??

i will be writing it but if you all say no- i wont post it and jump directly to epilogue 

anywayyysss 

I got ya all's questions about me- 

thank u i will answer them 

i may add a few about me to make it professional (hahaha who am i kidding? when have i ever been professional! LOL) 

Ya Allah, i am so glad to have readers like u all 

i will mishhh u people aloottt 

i love u all to the moon and back 

please keep me in your prayers, always 

muahh 

~Queen