Falling For You

Chapter 21.

Mansoor.

"They are here." Mama's voice came in.

I took a deep breathe. I can do it.

I will tell her no, that I dont want to marry her.

I took another deep breathe.

I came out of the kitchen and headed towards the living room. I shook hands with Amo Ahmed.

"Assalam Alaikum young man!" He gave me a manly hug. I had to laugh at that. One thing about this man is, since I was young, he behaved to me as a man. Never took me as a boy, I was always a man to him.

"Waaleikum Salam Ammo. How are you?" I returned the hug.

"Alhamdullilah, 56 years old and am still alive! What a blessing." He replied.

"You are still young imagine, haven't you heard that 50 is the new young." I told him.

"He is old Mansoor, dont pamper him!" Aunt Salama came in. I gave her a motherly hug. She was a mom to me since I was 6 years.

"How are you habibty?" I asked her, putting my hand over her shoulders and heading her towards the sitting room. She kept her hand on my chest and answered.

"Alhamdullilah. Just some chest pain and leg cramps. Otherwise am good."

"Aunty you do know that it indicates that you are aging." Mansoor said before laughing. Everyone joined in the laugh. Aunt Salama smacked Mansoor in the chest before getting out of his grip. Mansoor chuckled before hugging her. He whispered something in her ear which resulted in her also chuckling.

"You will never grow up, will you?" She said smiling.

"I dont think so." Mansoor winked at her.

They all sat in the living room and relished the memories they spent together. Aunt Salama kept coming up with embarassing moments of Marwa while Mansoor's mom kept doing the same on her son. After every memory, the whole crowd will erupt in laughter. Mansoor kept turning red with every embarassing moment mentioned. Aunt Salama mentioned of them missing living in the town with Yassir's family.

'"Well, for that, how about we become one big family?" Uncle Ahmad spoke looking at Yassir. Yassir smiled before saying something which broke all the little remaining hope in his children's hearts.

"Of course why not! I actually do want us to become one big family." He smiled looking at his wife, who nodded, agreeing with her husband. None of the elders saw the dissapointment in the children's faces. All present were happy with the decision.

Except the children,

And Aliyah's mother.

She wasn't happy when her sister told her of her decision to get Mansoor and Marwa married. She wasn't pleased at all, not because she wanted her daughter to be the one for Mansoor but because she knew very well who Marwa was, and she definetly wasn't the one meant for Mansoor. Her sister had the least idea on who her daughter really was and she didnt want to be the one showing her the real Marwa, because she knew that the truth will soon be out.

But for now, she had to play the role of an aunt and a sister. So she nodded at her bestfriend when she looked at her for her opinion. Aliyah's mother didn't miss the look on Yassir's children. None of them were happy, especially Mansoor, he looked broken, defeated and dissapointed and thats when she knew that this union wouldn't be a good decision at all!

But she kept silent.

*******

Mansoor and Marwa were left alone, with Sumaiya present. The elders thought it was a great idea to leave the two alone, to get to know each other! As if they didnt know each other from top to bottom. They practically grew up with each other until when Mansoor was 16 years old when Marwa's family shifted.

"I have missed you Mansoor! It has been seven years since we last saw each other!"

Mansoor smiled at her but didn't reply. She either noticed it or ignored it because she kept going on and on, talking of her life. Mansoor slowly started loosing interest in her talk and his mind drifted to the one he really wanted to hear her talk. He was missing her, terribly and when he heard her name coming out from Marwa's talk did he really wanted to listen to her.

"Did you just say Aliyah?" Mansoor asked, now attentive.

"Yah, I said that she was the one who helped me choose this dress, how do you find it?" She asked.

"Perfect." Was what Mansoor wanted to say but he didn't want to lead her on so he answered simply with a nod. Then he asked her about her make up, if it was Aliyah who suggested it. Satisfied with her answer, he let her continue her useless talk. Mansoor found himself smiling with Marwa's answer when he asked her about her make-up. He was very happy when she said that Aliyah had no taste in make-up, and that she loved simple things, just eyeliner, mascara and a little bit of lipstick. Marwa had no idea on how Mansoor hated her make-up, she wore heavy make-up thinking Mansoor will love it, but it turned out that Mansoor hated people with heavy make-up but he couldn't dare tell her that. So he kept on hating her and loving Aliyah more. All that time, the only thing which kept roaming around Mansoor's mind was how Aliyah would look like with simple make-up and he couldn't help but love the thought of it.

Sumaiya got bored of Marwa's useless talk and took out her phone and texted her husband. She told him on how she was already bored by Marwa's talk and Khaleed couldn't help but laugh. He was already aware of how his wife's siblings hated Marwa, especially Khawla. He once had a chat with Khawla when he come to drop his wife to her family and she mentioned Marwa. Khaleed laughed every second Khawla was describing Marwa. He tried keeping his wife cheerful because he knew very well that Sumaiya will come home moody so he tried to crack jokes with her. He called her and they talked for the remaining time Mansoor had with Marwa.

They were all back in the living room when Mansoor stood to go to the kitchen and Sumaiya followed him. He stood by the counter, frustrated and his head kept aching for all the amount of time he had to endure listening to Marwa talking about her friends, the latest gossip on the internet, make-up and other stupid things that was to be discussed with a fellow woman not a man!

"Ukhty, its a no from me! No, No and No!"

Sumaiya just held his hand and squezzed it reassuringly. Mansoor continued,

"Sumaiya, its Aliyah, I only want her wallah, none other than her!" He said while hugging his sister.

"I know habiby, I know!" Sumaiya said, patting his back.

Little did the two siblings knew of the third party present in the kitchen, who happened to hear everything, from Mansoor's denial to his confession.

And she smiled.

She smiled, knowing that her daughter had found a great man. And with that thought, Aliyah's mother turned around and left the kitchen, still holding the smile on her face.

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Assalam Alaikum. Hope you enjoyed the chapter.

Love you all❤