EP__________7️⃣

"How are you? Hope all's well." Mansur asked eagerly, knowing Aryan was already furious.

"Yeah, you left your wallet at the filling station on Friday, here it is," she said, handing the wallet to him.

He collected it and opened  before looking back at Faryal and said, "Kai Amma, thank you so much, you are such a kind-hearted girl, even now we're thinking of going to report because of the ID's, may Allah reward you with goodness."

"No don't worry," Faryal said as she turned back to her car, and Mansur got back to theirs.

As he entered the car, he said, "Aryan see your lost wallet, thank God it's been found..." his words stuck in his throat as he saw all the securities coming to Aryan's side.

Aryan looked at the security who was with Faryal when they came out and said, "Daniel you're fired," turning to the rest and said, "And you all,  if anyone dares to let any woman come near the gate of this company again, he'll also be fired, I'm done, get lost."

Daniel, who was already kneeling and begging Aryan for forgiveness, pleaded that it wasn't his fault.

Aryan turned to Mansur and furiously said, "If you're not starting this car, I'm getting back inside my company you know I don't lose cars to drive me."

"What's wrong with you, Aryan? Why are you like this? This is not a good habit to be sincere with you."

"You know what? If you dare talk to me again Mansur, you'll be surprised by what I'll do to you."

"Kai Ka sani," Mansur said as he started the car and handed him the wallet.

"Throw it away," Aryan said.

Mansur took a look at him and said, "I don't understand, throw it away ? It's your IDs and ATMs fa ?"

"I said throw it away, yours or mine ?"

"Tho whl in Kai mahaukaci ne ni da saura na tukun." Mansur said.

And that's when aryan started unleashing his anger on mansur, who didn't utter a word again until they reached Aryan's parents' house. He got out of the car without saying a word to Mansur, slammed the door so hard like he will rip it off it's hinges.

Mansur peeked his head through the window and loudly said, "Wlh if you rip off my car door, you must give me a new car." He ended up reversing his car and exited the house.

On her way, Faryal was just thinking about the wondered rules of this company and eventually pouted her mouth dismissively.

As she parked her car in their compound, her phone rang. She took it and looked at the screen it was Fayyad.

She picked up the call, saying, "Barka da yamma Malam Fayyad."

"Barkan ki dai salahar baiwa," Faryal burst out laughing at the name Fayyad called her and said, "Kai Malam Fayyad from where did you get this name today?"

He laughed too and said, "How are you?"

"Alhamdulillah, what about you? How's work?"

"Good, Alhamdulillah, will I say how was your day or how is your day because it's still evening right, so the day isn't over yet?"

"Umm, yes I just came back from work, exhausted I haven't even made it inside the house yet, I'm still in the parking space."

"Oh my God, so I think I should leave you to rest now, Insha'Allah I'll call you later. Don't forget to eat okay and don't mind that your talkative sister you need rest first. it's tough because you girls deserve to be at home, just chilling, mu maza mu aka sani da wahala ai."

Faryal smiled genuinely, this was the first time someone told her this. She wished her father knew, but he likely never would, given his belief that girls and boys are equal and capable of doing anything men can do.

She cut off her thoughts and said, "Thank you, Fayyad Insha'Allah she won't bother me If she does, I'll call you."

"Shikenan ma, tell her this if she starts to bother you, I know she'll stop you know now she's afraid of me."

Faryal laughed and said, "Indeed."

"Alright bye, take care."

"In sha Allah," she said as she hung up the call, smiling.

She looked up to see Manira and Hadiyyah, whom she hadn't realized had arrived even though her car door was already open because she had been about to step out when the call came in.

"Kar kice min sake Nemo shi kika yi," Manira said looking at Faryal who came out from the car asking, "Who?"

"Hamdan mana." 

Faryal hissed and changed the topic, asking her where she's headed.

"Hadiyyah will go to school so she will dropped me at home Ammi already start calling."

Faryal laughed and said, "kitchen is already missing you, oya don't be late hurry up."

Manira nodded saying, "zanyi maganin ki ne."

Faryal give her a dismissive look and playfully said, " ai ni bani da magani yadda kikasan ciwon mutuwa."

"Okay we shall see."

She pouted out her Tongue to her playfully and headed to the building saying, "Allah ya tsare hanya my regards to ammy."

As time went on, days flew like hours. It had been 10 days since what happened between her and Hamdan and he hadn't called her. But she saw that he was liking other girls' pictures on Instagram, which made her even angrier with him  because he is always liking and commenting on every girl's content, sometimes she hid and cried and the same thing happened now as she blocked him on Instagram, she started crying regretting how love had made her blind and wasted her time. She knew that in the 5 years they'd been together, there hadn't been a single good year that she'd spent completely with him, he would just be on and off.

As she heard footsteps, she quickly wiped away her tears, but she was too late. Hadiyyah who had come in, had already seen her.

Hadiyyah sat next to her and said, "Faryal why are you crying for someone who doesn't appreciate you ? Why would you sacrifice your happiness for him ? I don't see his fault , you caused everything. Your first mistake was approaching Hamdan and telling him you loved him and secondly you showed him you couldn't live without him. So he took you for granted like you didn't have any other choice. He controlled you the way he liked and you went along with it for 5 whole years."

Faryal couldn't hold back her tears, so she let them flow and said, "Hadiyyah what's my fault if I told Hamdan I loved him? Remember Khadija bint Khuwaylid, the first wife of the Prophet Muhammad, proposed marriage to him, she was an affluent merchant and after being impressed by his character and business acumen, she initiated the proposal and our prophet Muhammad (saw) accepted her offer and they were married, which shows that there is nothing in Islamic teachings that prohibits a woman from initiating a marriage proposal."

Hadiyyah replied, "I agree with your point, Faryal but what about qualities? Did you look at Hamdan's qualities before proposing to him?" Faryal fell silent, knowing the answer was no.

Hadiyyah added, "Your silence says it all. That's what I want you to look for, It's not haram to propose marriage to a man as you mentioned, but you should look at his qualities, virtue, and character and since proposed marriage to him and you saw he's not ready why keep waiting for him and wasting your time."

"I didn't realize I'd made a mistake until now Hadiyyah. You've been trying to show me the truth but I didn't understand it back then. But there's still time for me Insha'Allah I'll part ways with him. I'm tired of one-sided love I won't keep trying to give love without getting it back I'll wait to experience how it feels to be loved." Faryal said .

Hadiyyah smiled and said, "Haba Faryal, I knew you'd forget all these conversations as long as Hamdan called you." 

Faryal said, "i promised, this time I won't forget." 

Hadiyyah wiped away Faryal's tears, saying, "You should go wash your face and be happy. I want you to make Hamdan regret his actions, the regret that will never be corrected, I want you to make him feel jealous when you're already far away from him." 

Faryal smiled, nodded in assurance, and Hadiyyah smiled back as Faryal stood up and headed to the toilet.

***          ***        ***

As for Fayyad, Faryal has no friend like him now. She likes his sense of humor and the way he shows her care. As they'd share every detail of their lives, including their dramas with their siblings, about their company and everything else, which helped him quickly win her trust.

That's the same with Barr Hashim, even though Faryal is still not as free with him as she is with Fayyad, but he's also trying to get her attention.

It's 5:30 already and her closing time had passed due to a surge in guest arrivals and export commodities, she was late. They came out from the store along with Aysah and the accountant. Faryal looked at the sky, where she saw clouds seeming to be rainy with a voice that presented how tired she was she said, "I should get going, you guys should leave the rest till tomorrow."

Aysah and the accountant nodded in agreement saying "okay ma'am," in unison.

She went back to her office, packed her things, and left the company. She slowed down the car, looking at the hold-up in front of her, she bit her lip before turning the steering and changing direction even though she didn't like the route due to security issues. The road was quiet and she stepped on the accelerator but the car started jacking and eventually shut down.

She tried to start the engine again but it refused, she opened the bonnet, checked what she could and tried to start the car but it still wasn't responding. She took her phone and called Malam Yusuf but the call wasn't going, she changed to Hadiyyah, but the call still wasn't going, in fact there's no service in her phone, she held her forehead, tense with uncertainty, gazing at the road where cars passed occasionally, her gaze shifted to the sky, that's dark and foreboding.

As the rain intensified, she surrendered to the downpour, trying to flag down passing cars but none stopped. Just as she was about to give up, a car reversed and parked in front of her, despite needing help, her heart skipped a beat and she stepped back. 

The car window rolled down and to her relief, it was Fayyad, accompanied by his friend. "Faryal, what happened? Why are you here?" he asked, concern etched on his face.

" Whl fayyad, my car's got a problem ."

"What happened to it ?"

"I don't know, it's just started jacking and eventually shut down."

Fayyad moved to the car and started checking with his experience. His friend also stepped out of the car and joined him but the car still wasn't responding. Fayyad looked at faryal and said, "get in faryal let's drop you off, it's almost magrip and it's rainy. Moreover, it's not safe to stay here, once you get home call a mechanic to come and take the car."

Faryal nodded in acceptance, knowing she has no choice, she took her bag, closed the car and entered fayyad's car. 

On their way, faryal described their address for them and within 15 minutes they reached. The gatekeeper opened the gate for them and they entered and parked. Faryal stepped out and stopped at fayyad's side who was in the driver's seat, she said, " thank you so much fayyad, if not for you I don't know what would have done , you've helped me again for the second time, you've really saved my life, thank you once again."

"Kai haba faryal don't mind , kuma ba gashi ma na ga gida ba , you should get inside Kar ruwa ya saki mura."

Faryal smiled feeling pleased about how fayyad always showed her care and said, "alright may Allah take you home safely, Mahmoud nagode fa," she added referring to fayyad's friend whom she had heard fayyad call Mahmoud.

When they set off on the road, Mahmoud looked at fayyad who was smiling and said, "shegen Kaya, you caught the shiny one fa, but is she also like the rest?"

Fayyad shook his head indicating no to Mahmoud's question and added, "she's different, I just want to marry her, but I haven't even proposed yet."

"But do you think there won't be a problem?" Mahmoud asks again.

Fayyad gave him a look and said, "I know my footsteps Mahmood, so don't worry."

As she entered their living room she met her father and mother along with her siblings, she completed her entry saying, "when did you came back Appa?"

"Just now faryal, I came back asked for you, your mom said you hadn't come back so I thought maybe you had a lot of work today."

"Wlh Appa, kamar Ka sani and to make matters worse my car stopped, I just got a lift."

"Oh no, this car of yours is getting old, I'll order a new one for you. How was work?" Appa asked absent mindedly about the lift she said someone had offered her.

"Alhamdulillah Appa, everything's going normally."

"Did you call a mechanic?" Maama asked. 

"No, but I'll call him now." 

"If he repairs and brings it, keep it and use one of my cars before I get you a new one."

"Okay Appa, thank you so much may Allah grant you more wealth." 

"Ameen ya Allah, Is anyone having problems?"

"No, Appa," Hadiyyah and Nasar said in chorus.

"So, I'll go inside and rest, okay?" he ended, looking at Beta, who was sitting near him. "Beta Appa will go rest now, okay?" 

"Okay Appa," Beta answered as Appa stood and went in.

Maama also stood and followed Appa as they heard the magrib prayer while Faryal and Hadiyyah stood up and headed to their room.

After hadiyyah performed ablution, then Faryal went into the toilet took a shower and performed ablution afterward.

After coming out of the toilet, Faryal put on her long jilbab and joined Hadiyyah, who had just finished praying, so she stood up, took off her hijab and settled onto the bed and grab her phone.

As Faryal finished praying, she called the mechanic to collect the car key and have him pick up the car to take it to the garage for repairs, then got dressed and went out to eat, feeling starving. Once she felt full, she returned to their room, met Hadiyyah and sat down. "Hadiyyah, do you know who brought me home?"

Hadiyyah looked at her and asked, "Who?" 

"Fayyad."

"Fayyad, oh really?" 

"Yes whl....." Faryal told hadiyyah the lowdown on how they met her.

Hadiyyah said, "Ni kuwa, Faryal in my own realization, I see like Fayyad loves you, he's just too shy or afraid to tell you." 

Before Faryal could respond, her phone rang. She stood up, took it and looked at the screen for some time.

Hadiyyah asked, "Who's calling?" Faryal kept the phone and went back to where she was seated before, saying, "Hamdan."

"Won't you pick?" Hadiyyah said slowly, laughing. Faryal gave Hadiyyah a dirty look without saying anything. 

When the third calls came in, Hadiyyah stood and took the phone saying "Put it on silent if you won't pick." When she took the phone, the call had already ended.

She looked at the missed calls and said, "Hamdan two missed calls, barr Hashim one..." Before she finished talking, another call came in. She looked at the screen and looked up at Faryal saying, "It's Fayyad."

READERS WHAT DO YOU PREDICT WILL HAPPEN NOW THAT HAMDAN FARYAL'S FIRST LOVE, IS BACK?

CAN FARYAL TRULY PART FROM HIM AS SHE SAID OR WILL THEIR PAST CONNECTION DRAW THEM BACK TOGETHER?

MEANWHILE, BARR HASHIM AND FAYYAD WHOM FARYAL INITIALLY CONSIDERED FRIENDS ARE NOW TRYING TO SHOW MORE INTEREST IN HER, WHAT DO YOU THINK WILL HAPPEN NEXT ?

WHO'S FAYYAD ?

WHY DOES HIS FRIEND MAHMOUD ASKED HIM ABOUT FARYAL "IS SHE LIKE THE OTHERS" ?

WHAT'S YOUR OPINIONS READERS ?

WHO'S YOUR FAVOURITE AMONG THE 3 ?

WHO DO YOU HOPE FARYAL WILL END UP WITH ?

SHARE YOUR IDEAS 👇