Broken Souls ✔️

Chapter 20

Her iddat was now complete.

She had begun returning to her older routine.

She was currently up at 6am, she couldn't sleep.

Jawad hadn't sent her his letter this week. They were a solace for her. Something she could delve into without feeling guilty later, unlike her addiction to chocolates.

She heard something and sprinted towards her door. And there as expected was a white envelope only it didn't have his usual wax seal on it.

Nonetheless, she ripped it open and expected his handwriting only it wasn't there. It wasn't a letter from him and pained her heart.

Her eyes focused on the writing and she stilled. It stated, "Adeel Jamal has requested for your presence for a mere half an hour."

She could hear her phone shrill ringtone as it rang.

She reached her phone and answered the call without checking the caller ID. She needed comfort and only one person could give her that, Jawad.

"J-J-Jawad please h-he-help me. He's going to hurt me again." 

"Alisha, Alisha, Alisha! Calm down!" 

It wasn't the voice she wanted to hear. 

"It's Sufiyan. I heard about it just now and no he is not going to hurt him. I promised you, didn't I? What did I say?" He asks, reminding her of his promise that he had made when Jawad had asked him to fight her case in court. 

Silence followed. 

In a softer tone he begins talking again, "I have promised my sister which is you by the way. That I won't let him hurt you. Ever again. See they have asked for you to meet him, asked being the key word. No is ever going to force you. Think it over, give me a call and I'll sort the rest out for you."

"Ok." Her breathing had calmed down and she was feeling confident, Sufiyan wasn't going to let her down now. 

"So," he starts teasingly, "why were you calling out for my best friend?" She could feel his smirk through the phone.

She didn't answer him. 

He started teasing her again, "Dare you take my best friend, my brother away from me. You know what I'll call you?" 

Curiosity took control of her, "What?" 

"A churail," he said bursting out into laughter, "so tell me why he is on your mind so much, hmm?" 

"Wo.." She was going to tell him but thought against it knowing he would have something else to tease her with.  

"Um Yazan is calling me, I have to go. Allah hafiz." 

She heard his laughter with him greeting her back saying, "Allah hafiz, soon to be bhabi!" And the line went dead.

A light smile grazed her lips, she liked that endearment. 

She had never had anyone address her in that way. But her conscience mocked her, Jawad didn't like her, he was just merely playing with her. They had never addressed the matter of his sister again. Maybe he was still out for revenge and this was his other approach. 

There was no way of properly knowing.

She had to leave it in the hands of her Lord, Who would never wrong her. 

Who was going to put back together all her broken pieces. 

The door sounded and she went towards it swiftly.

There lied the white envelope, ruffled at its edges, with a golden wax melt which had the letters J and S sunken into it. 

She opened it hesitantly, for all the previous letters she had received had always had a black coloured wax melt and this one was gold. 

The letter read: 

Dear Alisha Hakeem, 

Her heart filled with dread he had never addressed as her full name, it was only always 'Writer Sahiba'. 

I hope this letter is finding you well. If not, may Allah grant you freedom from your problems . 

She hated his formal way of writing, he had always kept these letters informal and light. Her heart was sinking in despair. 

I met with you, with the intention to avenge my late sister's death. 

Her conscience was right, he's betraying me.

But I soon realised that everything Allah plans and does, it all has a purpose. I realised that what better way to avenge my sister's death than to let Him, Himself deal with it. 

And when I let that plan go, I realised that my heart now lays with yours. 

I don't want to let you go, we've known each other for a mere few months but to me it feels like I've known you my whole life. I believe we have been written for each other by the One who knows us better than we know ourselves. 

So, Alisha Hakeem, will do you me the honour of marrying me?

She slammed the piece of paper onto the countertop. Her heart was thudding so loudly, she was convinced the whole world was able to hear it. 

She picked it up and re-read the line. Making sure she wasn't hallucinating or anything and then proceeded to again slam it back onto the counter top. 

She looked at the letter once again and realised he had written something in small block capitals at the bottom of the page:

P.S. I'VE ADDED IN A COPY OF THE ARTICLE I AM GOING TO SEND WITH YOUR PERMISSION TO THE NEWSPAPER COMPANY I'M WORKING FOR. 

She looked into the the envelope, and there sat a paper waiting for her to read. 

She opened it and it read: ALIF ALI: THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE GOLDEN HEARTED. 

She skimmed through the article, and her eyes stopped at the last few sentences: Ms Ali has been through a lifetime of pain and still manages to hold a heart of gold and a smile. She believes she doesn't deserve the fame and recognition she gets. But I, Jawad Siddique, knows she deserves this and all the good that the world has to offer. 

Her eyes warmed with tears, he saw her through a lens which she could never see herself through. 

She picked up her phone to text him her approval of the article. And immediately got a text back reading "And.....?" 

She smiled and shook her head at his impatience and replied to him, "I need to do istikhara and I need a favour." 

She knew he wouldn't agree with her but she had to ask one question on her mind since the court date. 'Why her?'

******

What do you think her favour from Jawad is about?