Third Person's POV

Mahdi and Sophia had helped Huda with her luggage. She put them in the trunk of her car she had gotten as a birthday present from her father-in-law two years back.

"Is Abu aware that you're leaving today?" Sophia asked as she was stunned by the sudden change.

Huda didn't reply to her and Mahdi gave her a signal with his eyes to keep shut. Sophia understood this immediately and kept mute.

"Well be going now, Sophia, " Mahdi acknowledged her presence and got into the driver's side.

Huda also entered the car fastening her seatbelt. She stared ahead of her without saying a word.

The mansion was empty. All the guests were long gone after the whole staircase incident earlier. The only signs that showed that an event took place was the hanging of fake flowers and lights around the mansion. Then the rose petals scattered on the ground around the premises.

"Take care of yourself, Huda," Sophia smiled at her and waved.

Huda took her by surprise when she replied. "Thanks, take care of yourself too".

Her eyes bulged out of their sockets, and mouth agape, Sophia merely registered what Huda said as the car zoomed off.
"Did she just reply to me nicely or am I hallucinating?" She asks no one in particular.

                              *  *  *
Huda and Mahdi moved her things in after signing the lease contract. The apartment was on the third floor of the seven-storey building. Fortunately for them, there was an elevator in the building.

She unlocked the room with the key card given to her. Mahdi turned on the lights and wheeled in two of her suitcases.

Huda took a look around the room for the second time. The first time she had been here was a week ago when she had decided to move out of the mansion. Though she had accessed the room, she had been uninterested in the room decor and had barely paid attention to the settings in the room.

There was a painting of the sunset in the woods just above the bed. The queen-sized bed was positioned in a way that was adjacent to the direction of the qibla. There was also a television, sound system, refrigerator and reading table in the room.

" If you had let me know on time, I would have gotten you a much more comfortable apartment," Mahdi said grumbling. This brought a smile to Huda's lips.

This apartment was one of the best in the vicinity, and she knew that he wasn't joking when he said he would have gotten her a better one. But she didn't need a more flashy place, it would be a waste of money. Besides, that would ruin her plans of starting afresh if she still kept living her life extravagantly.

" you're the best brother I could ever ask for," she said tugging at his cheek playfully before proceeding to open the window blinds.

Mahdi made a low grunt at the back of his throat and made his way to the washroom. He surveyed the interior of the washroom from the ceiling to the checked the safety of the place, rolled his eyes and came out.

This apartment was nothing compared to the one he could have gotten her. It looked plain cheap, and that pissed him off. She was a Sultan for goodness sake!

He wasn't running a pharmaceutical store and attending to hospital patients for nothing, he was doing that to be able to provide for his family's needs and wants.

"So, what's your next move now?" He asks casually as he took a seat on the sofa in the room.

Huda looked away from the suitcase she was currently unpacking with a far-away look in her blue eyes.

" I want to open my restaurant and bakery,  but I still need more knowledge on that. So, I'm going out tomorrow on a job-hunting at the nearby restaurants, "

Mahdi blinked. Now, this was a version of Huda that left him baffled.
"Are you for real this time, Huda?"

In response, she just raised her hands in mock surrender, a little smile at the corner of her lip.
"Yeah. It took me a very long time to realise that this has always been my dream—running my very own business"

In an instant, Mahdi fished out his cellphone, swiped at the screen and began typing.

"Hey-"

Huda raised an eyebrow at him, then at his phone which was now in her hands. She glanced at the few words her brother had managed to type before she had snatched the phone away.

"Really?" She chuckled when she read it.

Mahdi rolled his eyes before opening his mouth to speak. But the look Huda gave him suddenly made him close it back wordlessly with a frustrated sigh.

" I love you, Mahdi...I do. But I want to do this on my own without anyone's connection. This is the second time I'll be saying this in thirty minutes...you're the best. But please, let me do this by myself, at least for my sanity"

"Fine," he grumbled.

She hands back his phone, and he deleted the message he was typing previously. She turn back her attention to the suitcase and brought out the dresses inside.

"And after securing a job?"

At Mahdi's question, she paused for a few seconds, shrugged and then placed the dresses in the wardrobe.

"Did you think about what I spoke to you about the other day?" He pushed further on seeing her lack of response.

"I thought about it,"

"And?"

"I'm willing to give it a try-" she was cut off when Mahdi suddenly embraced her warmly.

" that's good, Huda. I'm delighted to know that you're willing to give life a second chance at treating you better ". He whispered the words in her ears while his heart swelled at the positive feedback.

" but...I need to have a conversation with him first. I have a lot of questions that need to be answered by you and him".

" You can ask me whatever questions it is that you want, I'm ready for it. I'm going to give a call to him, and arrange a meeting for you too," he grinned from ear to ear.

"I know he has a daughter. Is he a divorcee or a widower?" Huda asked the question which had been at the tip of her tongue ever since Mahdi talked to her about the marriage proposal.

" I'm going to set up a meeting for you two. You can ask him all the questions in your mind then," he said cheekily.

Huda rolled her eyes at his antics. She didn't bother pressing more on the question as she knew Mahdi could be stubborn when he wants. He is a very sweet guy, but also annoying, just like now.

" whatever,"

And just like that, Mahdi noticed the immediate change in mood. She was now back to the Huda half an hour ago.
He gulped. This was harder than he had thought. Her mood swings were frustrating him. One minute, she's smiling,  and the next thing frown is etched on her pale face.

" do you want to talk about it?"

He was expecting her to refuse his request, but as usual, she was being unpredictable again.

" do you think I can ever find peace within me?" Her voice was scarily calm and collected.

" do you trust me, Huda?" He asks in reply to her question.

Huda looked at him, her eyes searching for something in his. She seemed to have found what she was looking for ad she closed her eyes briefly and nodded.
"I trust you and whatever decision you make,"

Mahdi grabbed her hands and place them in between his. Huda looked at it as the memories of Mahdi doing the same while she was younger flashed before her. He'd do that to ease her tension, and it worked every single time.

" Then you've got to give this your best. Don't let your past be a hinder to what might be your source of happiness later on. It's totally up to you to decide what you want, and I will support you fully whatever it is that's your final decision,"

" Yusuf has been my close buddy since our first year in med school. We've been together, supporting each other at our good and bad times. He made a mistake in his past relationship, but who doesn't? There's no such thing as a perfect life or relationship. It's the ability to learn, and move on from our past mistakes that makes us better than others, "

" so, don't force it or try fighting against nature. Follow the pace at which your life's moving and watch things happen in your favour".

Mahdi observed his sister closely as she looks ahead, hopefully digesting his words. There was nothing more that he wished for at the moment than Huda opening her heart and giving love another chance. He knew her inside out, she falls in love easily the same way she falls out of love. Dawud was a living testimony of that.

" Thank you," she looked up at him and smiled at him. It looked a bit forced, but there was a little warmth in her eyes and he took that as a good sign.

But he quizzically raised his eyebrow when he noticed a tint in her cheeks, similar to that of her hair, spreading across her cheeks.

" I'm so sorry Mahdi for trespassing, but who's that lady whose picture was on your dresser?"

It was his time to blush, thankfully it wasn't obvious due to his skin colour.
" She's the one I told you about before; Furoozan"

Huda's ears perked and she inched closer for more information about the mysterious woman.
"So, when do I get to meet her?"

" She's in a coma,"

"Huh?" Huda was astounded. The lady who had finally gotten her brother's attention was in a life-death situation.

" I'm sorry...for how long?"

"It will be a year now in the next fours days".

Huda placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder. He was putting on a strong front, but she could see through it. Pain and devastation were lurking behind the familiar cool-brown eyes she had grown to respect and admire.

It clicked in her head how the both of them had a rough time a year ago. The year before, she had lost her daughter; Janan to a staircase accident, and Mahdi had lost his love to a set of life support machines.

She also realised that they had both grieved differently. While Mahdi had put on a facade of bliss, masking his anguish,  she had unleashed her anger at every single person she had come in contact with.

" is it fine by you to ask what had led to it?"

Mahdi spared her a glance then looked at the painting in the room.
" your curiosity never left, as some of your previous attributes did,"

She opened her mouth to tell him that it was okay if he didn't want to talk about it. Mahdi already looked in pain at the thought of the woman, and she didn't want to open up the wounds further by asking him the reason she was comatose.

" I met Furoozan at a volunteering project I participated in with Yusuf. What caught my attention was the way she was the quietest person on the teamwork. For the first few weeks, I only heard her speak thrice. I became attracted to her and approached her. She didn't refuse and we became very close. I told my mother about Furoozan and how I was planning on sending a proposal to her,"

Mahdi took a deep breath and continued.

" a week after announcing my intention to my mother and her, we fought. And this fight wasn't the same as the ones we'd have before. There seemed to be an underlying tension.
She rejected my proposal shortly after that fight with the excuse that she was intending to get married to someone from her country, not an outsider whom she wasn't sure of her future with,"

" I knew she was lying,  as she couldn't tell me that to my face. She sent it through an email and blocked all possible ways of me connecting with her.
I decided to give her some space, maybe she was just overwhelmed by everything going so fast. Not long after, mom introduced her friend's daughter to me, but I turned her down"

" I was waiting for Furoozan. It didn't matter how long she took, I still waited. Then, I got a transfer from the hospital I was working with, and move to another city. I stalked her on her social media and noticed that she was no longer active as she used to be.
It was the most agonising months for me, and I started to believe that maybe...maybe, she never loved me,"

" But I was proved wrong yet again as I got a call from an unknown number one rainy night. She had been hit by a truck and the driver had fled from the scene. She lost consciousness and slipped into a coma the next day,"

Huda squeezed his hand as he took a deep breath feeling like he was in a nightmare and none of the things that happened was real.

" the doctor said there was hope. There's still hope as her body is reacting very slowly but positively day by day. But there's a high chance that she won't remember anything when she wakes".

He smiled ruefully.

" she might forget who she was before the incident and who I am, but it won't matter as long as she pulled through, and survived. I know it'll hurt, and they might be nothing I can do to ease the pain, but I'll be forever grateful ".

                             *   *   *

I wrote and published this chapter by this time as a surprise low-key birthday present for a friend. It's thirty minutes past midnight, so I'm hoping you see this when you wake up later In Sha Allah.

Happy birthday, gurl🎂 . Wishing you long life and prosperity and also all the best in all your endeavours😘.

No drama from the Sultans in this chapter, and I can't describe how weird I feel on the inside

1-Your thoughts on Mahdi and his love; Furoozan?

2-What do you think might be the reason for the abrupt changes in Furoozan attitude towards him?
Any guesses?

3- Your thoughts on Huda's decision?

See you in the next chappie... I'll probably bring Laiqa along.

                               Much love,
                                             Midha...