Allah is the best of all Planners!

~Unknown~

++++++++++++++++++

IQRA

I slept peacefully

That statement says alot considering the fact that i hardly sleep

"Iqra, wake up, its Fajr" said Nabaahat as she pushed me

and poked me

and tickled me

'Finneeeee I am up!!!"I whined

"Good girl, we are downstairs in the prayer hall" she said and i nodded, sitting up on the bed

The door of his room closed and i groaned

"Good morning Iqra" said Stan and i smiled at him

"Morning Stan" i muttered and decided to get up

After seconds of laziness, I got up and went to the bathroom, enveloped in his scent, I showered, changed and walked out of the bathroom

I went for Fajr prayers and then said my Istikhara prayers, hoping for the answer to my long lost question, was he the one?

The kitchen was bustling with morning energy as everyone made food, chatted or just stayed in one corner texting-

"As salamu alaikum!" I said in unison with Shumayll

we turned to each other, glared at each other and then burst into laughter

"Anyways!!!" yelled Ruqayyah bhabhi and we sobered up

"So why so early? its barely 6-" she said and Shumayll grinned at her

"Your amazing, not so rude, husband decided to crash with me last night, which caused me to wake up early because he is ALWAYS early and now he is making me go for a damned run around the neighborhood!" said Shumayll and I stared at him

'If you hate is so much, just say no" i said simply and he coughed

"Right, saying no to your brother, is like asking to fight king kong, in both cases, i will end up useless" he replied and i laughed

"Runs in the blood!" i said and took an apple, biting it

Shumayll grabbed the apple and took a bite

"This is nice" he muttered and i grabbed it away from him

"yes and its mine" i replied, biting it again

He grabbed it from me, with much effort since i was trying hard to not let the apple go

"lets share, Iqra! Sharing is caring!" he said, smirking and taking a bite

I sighed

"Uhuh, so i believe you should share that too?" i said pointing to nothing behind him, really, i was just distracting him

"Share what?" he asked turning back and i snatched the apple back again

"Ha!" i said and happily began munching the apple

"You both know there are alot more apples right here!" cut through Huma Didi's voice and i stopped eating and So did Shumayll

we looked at each other and turned to the bowl full of apples and grapes

"uhhhhhhhh" was all Shumayll could say when Iqraam bhai entered

"I have been waiting for you for a long time, Dude!" he said annoyed

"Yes, I was coming! Now lets leave" said Shumayll but bhai was looking at me with a smug smile

like he knew something that i did not know

"What is it?" i asked him but he shrugged and turned to ammi

"Ma, We will be back in an hour or so" he said and ammi nodded, kissing his forehead

He winked at Bhabhi and then headed outside, pulling Shumayll's shirt

i shrugged and set at the kitchen counter, as ammi, Riza aunt, both Bhabhi's and Nabz prepared breakfast

i did not bother with breakfast making as i am not a pro like these people

"I wander what Shumayll likes for breakfast?"

"Anything, milo cereal with milk would do" i thought

"Say what?" i turned to Nabaahat staring at me like i grew two heads

"What?" i asked her and Huma didi smirked at me

"You said something about cereal?" replied Nabs and i screwed my eyes shut

i really need a filter in between my brain and my mouth

"Yeah, I said I wanted them for breakfast.........." i muttered and Ruqayyah bhabhi sniffled a laugh

I dare not look at them, i swear it was utter embarrassment

"oh okay, cool" she said

i knew everyone may get over the incident that happened now but Huma didi and bhabhi will not

they will pester the truth out of me

no matter what

I helped them set up breakfast, we waited for everyone to come down and once everyone was there, we started breakfast

"this is nice, who made this?" asked abba as he ate a spoonful of 'raita'

"Ruqayyah bhabhi!!" squealed Nabz and abba smiled

"My daughter-in-law is such a great good, masha Allah!" he complimented and everyone nodded

I ate silently because i knew if i spoke, something else will go wrong

literally

Shumayll was seated across from me, smirking

he kicked my leg and i winced

I glared at him and he gestured 'what happened'

i shook my head and went back to food

Then suddenly Shumayll let out a cry of pain, bending forward

what happened?

Everyone on the table turned to him and he smiled weakly as he set straight

"I am fine" he muttered before continuing to eat

I did not ask questions, nor did anyone else

after breakfast, everyone helped put the dishes in the kitchen and then i had to hurry to work

"Allah Hafiz people, I am leaving" i said, blowing kisses to Zahi, Zaik and Sohayll who happily blew them back

I walked to my lovely Ford Fusion and drove out of the driveway, only to be stopped by bhai

"Yeah?" i asked him as i rolled down my passenger side windows

"When is your lunch break?" he asked from his land rover and i stared at him

"Why?" i asked him

"Because we have alot to talk about" he replied, as a matter of factly

"Oh" i answered back "-From 1 to 2- usually i pray and then have lunch" i added

"Cool, prayer at the local mosque right?" he asked and i nodded

"I will pick you up from work, we'll pray and then lunch, my treat" he said and i readily agreed

"K Allah hafiz" with that i drove to work

I entered the office at 8 sharp

wheeww

"Morning Iqra!" said Tia, followed by Maya and the always M.I.A, Harold

Harold is another salesperson who is usually Missing In Action as he is all over SA doing Allah knows what

so yeah

"Heyy!!" I said and then after a few chit chats, i retired to my desk for work

there was a set of new projects lying over the desk, with a note, "get it done"

nothing else

no please

no thank you

nothing, zit, nada!

I sighed and set to work

several hours or minutes later, Tia popped her tiny head in my office

"Yo, we leaving for the charity event at Ula Street, wanna come?" she asked me and i smiled kindly

"No thank you, I have to get this done" i replied and she nodded smiling back understandingly

"Cool but please know you are alone here, be careful" she said and i nodded smiling at her

"So the shop will be closed, no problem" i said and she grinned

"Byyee take care, we will be back in an hour or so" she said and i nodded

she walked out and i heard the door shut

I went back to work

being alone did not bother me as i knew that firstly, I had Allah (S.W.T)'s protection, second, I believed that i can defend myself to some extent and third, well lets just say i trusted Shumayll and bhai to always keep a look out for me

after several minutes or so, the front door opened and i thought it was Aleha ma'am

"Morning, Ma'am, I have done the sketches you aske-" i stopped dead on my tracks when i saw Alex standing there, smiling at me

something about his smile made me shiver

a bad kinda shiver

i picked up my phone and clenched it in my hand, just in case

"Hello, hello, Ms. Ibrahim, pleasure is all mine, seeing you here" he said, smiling at me, a smile that made the hairs at the back of my neck crawl, as he took dangerous steps towards me

I immediately knew something will go wrong

and it did

he stood dangerously close to me and smirked

I held my ground

My brother taught me alot more than to be a chicken!

"Well, Iqra, I guess its me and you then............" he said, in a wicked voice

I clenched my teeth

I won't lie, I was scared as hell

this guy ca do anything for all we know!

My fingers did a routine dance on my phones screen, the unlocking pattern that had remained the same for years now

Alex bend towards me and like a dog, literally, sniffed me

"You smell nice" he whispered and i flinched, closing my eyes and taking a step back

alright Iqra..........

My fingers hit call, recent, i think on my phone and i waited

Alex smiled and leaned in to kiss me, when i did what i do best

I swung a punch, landing square on his jaw

when he bent down in pain, I kicked his legs, hit his spine, causing him to get on the floor

I kicked his back and he lay on the floor in pain

My heart raced and hammered against my rib cage and i felt nausea taking over me

my head got blurry and i hit call on my phone as i ran out of the boutique with my things

"H-hello-" I said as i sprinted towards the local cafe nearby

"Iqra- whats wrong?" asked Bhai in a concerned voice and i sobbed

"Where are you?" he asked but i was full on crying, i could not answer

The bell of the cafe rang and i looked up

Oh crap

I hung up and stormed out of the cafe through the back door, running blindly

All i knew was that i was going to die if i stopped

Allah knows what this guy will do to me

Tears fell freely as i ran

Pushing past people who turned their heads to see what was wrong

I did not look back but i knew he was near

i could feel the hairs at the back of my neck stand up

My legs started feeling numb, the pressure was too much, and i felt a hand grab mine

not a familiar hand

"Let go of me!!" I screamed as i kicked him

Alex did not let me go

a few moments of fighting, i felt a pinch and slowly everything began drowning away

blur and more blur

and then black

oh Allah please protect me