[B]

She sarcastically waved her hand over his face and spoke again, “I’m not being persistent so you could speak to me, rather, I was pointing out what Allah asked us as Muslims to do. When someone sneezes, and if he or she says Alhamdulillah, you have to pray for that person’s forgiveness and yourself. And if you in case don’t know about it...” She wasn’t able to complete her sentence when he looked up at her and their eyes met. Did she ever mention that his eyes could unnerve her soul in a matter of seconds? Because they did now, and she instantly lost her voice. He stared deeply into her eyes for more than a minute before he tucked his phone into his breast pocket and walked out of the elevator, that was when she noticed that they were down already.

She met Wafiyya waiting for her and when she approached her, she tapped her shoulder with a teasing smile, “What happened? You seem out of yourself. Did he say something to you up there?” Wafiyya asked, and Jalilah turned to look at her. This was the first time he held her gaze for more than the seconds he used to, and she could still feel the way his orbs felt into hers. It was just soo...she couldn't even have the right words to describe it.

“Tell me if what I did was wrong, Wafiyya. I've been sneezing since morning and in front of this man in his office but he couldn’t say anything...” She told her all that happened in the elevator and from the shocked expression Wafiyya had, she knew it was no good at all.

“Oh my god! You didn't say that to him, Jalilah. What has gotten into your head for Allah’s sake? Ya ilahi! You have to apologize, oh my Rabb!” She had to smack Wafiyya’s shoulder so she could stop freaking her out. That was why she loved being friends with Farha because their level of craziness was the same. If had it been she told Farha this, the only thing she would say was, ‘He’s such an idiot for ignoring you that way, Baby girl! I'm glad you gave him his own medicine.’ But now Wafiyya was making her feel as though she had committed murder.

“Look, I'm not exaggerating, but you what you did right there was wrong. And you even dared to move closer to him? Jalilah!” She couldn’t help breaking out into a fit of laughter. She had seen different kinds of girls, but this was the first time she was seeing the kind of Jalilah, and it was terrifying and hilarious altogether.

“But I think what I did was Islamically right? How can I be sneezing endlessly, and he heard me muttering Alhamdulillah but he couldn’t pray for my forgiveness and his own? I wasn’t the one that invented this law, Islam did.” She rolled her eyes at no one in particular, wishing he was still by her side, she had more words to say to him.

“I’m not saying he wasn’t wrong, but seeing the kind of person he was, you shouldn’t have done that. What if he made your life a living hell because of that? What would you do then?”

She was silent for a while before she shook her head, “I don’t mind, I’ll try as much as I can to disturb his peace of mind too, that’s if he has any. And I will just be here for a year, once I'm done with my service there’s a tendency he wouldn’t be able to see me again forever, I will forget about him too. He’s so full of himself.” She hissed and rolled her eyes at no one in particular while Wafiyya laughed as they walked to the mosque.

❤︎

They were done praying and were walking toward the restaurant Jalilah wasn’t able to check out yesterday when Wafiyya pointed a car at her, it was just nearby, so they were walking themselves there. “Look, I think that’s him! Where is he going? He hardly takes lunch until after Asr, and I thought that’s what you do too?”

Jalilah groaned outwardly and playfully glared at Wafiyya, “For god sake, Wafiyya. Why are you like this? I don't mind if he’s driving somewhere or if he’s going to root there forever. Yes, I'm sick now and I haven’t had breakfast so a girl has got to eat to be alive.”

Wafiyya only laughed as they walked into the restaurant, placed their orders and sat down as they waited for their foods to arrive. Wafiyya looked at how ruminative Jalilah looked and tapped her hand with a teasing chuckle, “Are you thinking of what he’ll do to you?”

She glared her eyes before she shook her head, “He can do his worst for all I care, Wafiyya. I'm just hungry, sick, and want to sleep so bad.”

Safiyya heaved a sigh before she smiled again. One thing Jalilah had noticed about her was, she has a very cool smile and she was good-hearted as well. “But you know he’s not that bad as you thought, right? He’s a very good guy, you just have to know him for some time.”

“Why are you suddenly praising him?” She rolled her eyes upward to show her annoyance, but slowly, she nodded her head and sighed. “From his looks, I think he has something he’s trying so hard to walk away from but he couldn’t. Like he’s fighting so much on his own and he found it so hard relying on others. That’s what I think though, I'm not sure if that’s what’s bothering him or it’s just my illusion.”

Before Wafiyya was able to reply to her, the waiter came to and placed their orders. Jalilah smiled while she thanked him and dived into her food. The first spoon she took, she looked at Wafiyya with a horrible expression until she was done swallowing. “I thought you said the food here is good?” There was an accusative tone on her voice.

“Yes, it is. what?” Wafiyya asked, confused. She looked between Jalilah and their delicious plates of food.

“It tastes horrible Wafiyya, oh my god!” She whined but took the second spoon to her mouth nonetheless.

“You’re sick, remember? You don’t need to have a better taste of things. But I think the food here is very good.”

“Even if it’s good, some things just don’t sit right with your taste buds. I won’t be eating here again, oh my buds.” Jalilah had got to be the most dramatic person Wafiyya had ever seen in her life.

They were done eating and paid everything before they left back to the company with Jalilah still complaining about how horrible the food tasted and how she was never going to eat there again. She didn’t know what to do anymore, because the food in the cafeteria wasn’t good for her as well.

They bade each other goodbye before Jalilah followed the employees into the elevator whom she was sure she had seen their faces once or twice in their department. She had to brace herself when she stood in front of his office, contemplating on whether to enter the office or just forget about it and go back to her office. If he needed her he would call. But she knew deep down she hadn't finished today’s work. She muttered some supplications before she turned the doorknob and entered.

“Assalamu Alaikum,” she said her taslim and waited to hear if he was going to answer her. Which to her surprise, he did.

He discreetly walked to the sofa and sat down, thinking of how she was going to survive the remaining hours left for them. Through her peripheral view, she watched as he stood up and walked to the water dispenser. Immediately she saw that she knew what it meant and she didn’t know when she abruptly stood up and he turned to look at her.

“Where are you going?” He asked.

She palmed her face to give herself the confidence she needed before she told her to lie, “I think I left something in my office, I want to go and get it back.” She said in a rush and tried moving but he stopped her.

“Wait, take your medication first.” He said and took the cup while he moved to where she stood.

She quickly shook her head, “I think I need to use the restroom, I'll be back in a bit.” From the way she was talking in such a rush and the way she was glaring at both the cup and nylon in his hand while trying all she could to run away from him, for the first time in her life, not that she had spent a lot of time with him, but he softly chuckled and smiled afterwards.