The other woman's DAUGHTER

Chapter 23

The Matazu's household is rowdy on this fateful Thursday. The house helps had invited family members and close friends to help them out, because the house needed extreme tidying and cleaning. A caterer was hired, to see to it that the variety of food to be cooked is cooked to perfection in quite a short period of time. As such, these workers had started immediately after the Subh¹ prayer. Mama had been on the phone making demands from the event planners, describing the theme she wanted which they had mistook for someone else's booking.

Zarah tossed on the bed frustratingly, when she heard her mommy shriek on the phone. She sat up from the bed, and exited the part so her mother could scream all she wanted.

On exiting her mother's part she saw Maryam exiting her own mother's part tiredly and both girls burst into giggles.

"The Tailor"

"The Event Planner" they had said in unison, and both of them understood what they were referring to. They sat in the spotless living room with a huff. Just then Noorie made an entry hissing and cursing at the phone. Ever since the idea of calling. Iman with other people's phones crossed her mind, she would borrow anybody's phone she's come across, and Iman would not pick up any new number. She had searched all through her social media for him but her search came to no avail.

To Noorie, handsome guys are mostly named Habib, Yusuf and Haidar. She surfed through her Instagram, hoping to find him but it did not work coupled with the fact she did not actually know his name, neither does she own a picture to help her. To her, an icon as handsome as Iman would break the internet if he wishes, yet nothing.

"Zarah, can I use your phone please?" She asked ignoring Maryam totally. Zarah handed her the phone and watched how frantically she dialled the number, but the response she got was same as always. It would to ring and ring yet he won't pick up. She had texted him, describing herself to him yet he had not called back because it skipped her mind that he had blocked her, so her messages go straight into the bin.

She sighed tiredly, then deleted the call log and handed Zarah her phone back. She catwalked out of the living room mumbling incoherent sentences. Maryam sighed softly, when her phone started vibrating. It was Iman. He calls her a lot, definitely more than how Khalid calls her. She had waited for Iman to get tired of being her alarm clock for the subhi prayers and he seemed not to falter. He would call after every break from the hospital, he would call. She reminisce about the first time he had called her, which was the next day after she had visited with her family.

"Assalamu Alaikum, Good morning" Maryam greeted robotically after picking up the call. She had woken up to four missed calls from this number, she knew immediately it was Iman, he had promised to call her but she had been too tired to stay awake. Between the hectic lectures and the visitation, it was enough to pull any human down.

"Wa'aliki Salam, Good morning, how are you?" He had greeted in return and Maryam answered affirmatively. Iman had a big grin on his face as he spoke to her, even though her replies felt forced, he was so unbothered. She had explained having someone else in the picture, but that wasn't enough to break his resolve. He liked her and he is going to prove himself to her even if it takes forever.

"When would I be able to see you again? Can I come visit later after work?" He had asked and Maryam stilled immediately. She could not outrightly say no because for some reason, she could not find herself being rude to him yet she felt like she wasn't doing justice to Khalid whom the last time she heard from him was yesterday morning before she had left for lectures. She did remember telling him she would call him back, but if she wasn't opportune to call back, why hasn't he called yet? She sighed softly realising she was already comparing him to Iman.