The Face Behind The Veil✔

Chapter 4

     Zayden was happy that he finally got on her good side but he still hadn't seen her face. He was so curious to know the face behind the veil, the face of the girl that stood up to him and the face of the girl he had coffee with.

     It had been two months since they had coffee and he saw her around a few times but they didn't talk a lot. He was so eager to see her. Hafsah wasn't the only girl that wore a niqab yet he knew her from the way she walked, talked and her beautiful brown eyes. He was going to send her a message but he didn't have her number so he settled for the old fashioned letter.

     At noon, he drove to her apartment complex and dropped the letter in front of her door, alongside a bouquet of flowers and a box of chocolates. He knocked on the door and left immediately. Hafsah opened the door to reveal the flowers and box of chocolates but she didn't see anybody so she picked them up and got in.

     "Oh! A love letter." Sameerah squealed. "Please, I don't even know who sent it." Hafsah replied.

     "Isn't it obvious Zayden sent it?" Sameerah smirked. Hafsah ignored her and opened the letter.

     "Hafsah, the day you stood up to me and I saw the look on your face, sorry, the look in your eyes, your beautiful eyes like a never ending well of chocolate, I knew you were special. I love everything about you. The way you drink your coffee, the way you walk, the way you talk, I just love them. I know I've been a jerk to you right from the start but I promise to make everything right. I have fallen in love with you Hafsah. I love you, even more than I love myself. Give me a chance to prove just how much I love you. I'll be waiting outside by your gate. If your answer is yes, you don't have to say it. Just let me see your face, the face of the mysterious girl that made me fall in love.

Zayden."

     Hafsah finished reading it aloud and she cringed at how cliché the letter was. Who used 'never ending well of chocolate?' She couldn't help but smile because even she knew that it was cute. Sameerah squealed her lungs out and told Hafsah to go out immediately.

     "Uh-" Hafsah blushed. "Go out already and by the time you're back, your chocolates will be in my tummy." Sameerah told her.

     "Don't you dare eat my chocolates." Hafsah warned her.

     "Oh...getting possessive already?" Sameerah teased. Hafsah blushed and ran out of the living room.

     When she got to the gate, she opened it gently. Zayden stood there looking at her expectantly. Hafsah lifted her niqab and smiled at Zayden.

     "Haf-" He started but Hafsah turned to walk away. He held her wrist and turned her to face him. Slowly, he loosened her niqab. Her eyes never left his all the while.

     "You're beautiful." he said. Hafsah felt her cheeks heat up and having a light skin wasn't helping.

     He got down on one knee and said, "Be my girlfriend Hafsah."

     Hafsah's face paled as she loosened his hold on her wrist. "I- I can't do this Zayden." she said in a small voice.

     "Why? Don't you like me?" Zayden asked. "It's not that Zayden." she replied.

     "Then why?" he asked her.

     "I don't think a relationship is what I need right now. More than anything, I need to study hard and being in a relationship will take my focus away from school." Hafsah explained.

     "I won't distract you from your studies, I promise." he reassured her.

     "Are you sure?" she asked. Zayden gave her his award winning smile and whispered, "I promise."