"Fawwad!" And he abruptly turned to face her "what the heck are you doing?" She asked puzzled as she walked further into the kitchen.

"I'm literally cooking" he said in a duh tone and continued beating the eggs.

"No you aren't mister" she walked to where he stood and vigorously snatched the bowl from him "give me that!"

"Oh come on chill Miss. What's up with the hormones?"

"Just go and get ready please"

"Whatever" he shrugged and walked out of the kitchen to his bedroom.

She made vegetable omelet with the eggs and toasted bread. She was pouring hot water in the flask when he walked back to the kitchen.

He ignored her and went over to the fridge. He grabbed a bottle of water and moved out. He was seated on the dining dressed in his suits while she arranged the food on the table. When she finished, she dragged a chair and sat down too.

He didn't utter a word to her as he munches down his breakfast.

"Where did you learn to cook?" She curiously asked. She thought he would ignore her or rather worst vent out his anger on her but to her utmost surprise, he calmly answered her.

"I help Mami in the kitchen back then" he simply answered as he took the last bite of his toast and sipped his tea.

He made her speechless by the way he answered her. There was really a strong bond between the mother and son she thought. She just sat and watched him as he cleaned his mouth with a tissue and got on his feet.

"I'm going" and with that, he left her frozen on the seat.

When he was being nice to her back at their house, she thought he was only doing it because it was his parent's house and he doesn't want them to see how badly he treated. Then, she thought it was out of pity but his behavior that morning proved her wrong.

No matter how hard she doesn't want to accept the fact that he has really changed, she has to cause he showed it to her vividly and there was nothing she could do but to accept the fact that she's now living with a changed Fawwad. Though it might seem awkward but there was nothing she could do but to learn to live with him like that.

It has been her prayer and her only dream and Alhamdulillah God has finally answered her prayer and made her dream come true. The only problem she was facing was how to live with him like that and she knew with time, she would learn to do that.

"Are you okay?" He asked when he noticed she was distant in thoughts.

"Oh...um..yes, I'm fine" she simply replied.

The look he threw her showed her that he didn't agree with what she had just said. He didn't want to drag the matter so he just smiled and left.

She heard when his car pulled out of the house. She sighed and locked the door before she packed the plates to the kitchen.

*****

Fawwad just finished going through some of the bunch of unfinished work he left undone during Walija's accident because he stopped going to the office for almost a week and had just resumed the previous week. And now, he was doing all the work that he had missed.

He was preparing a cup of coffee when a knock came through.

"Come in" he answered and continued with what he was doing.

"Make that two please" Hussein's voice came through as he flopped down on the couch.

"So it was you again knocking on my door" Fawwad ignored him while he prepared the coffee.

"That's the rule...we all need privacy" he teased.

"Privacy my foot...you're my best buddy for God's sake"

"I know but..."

"Whatever...have it" he cut him off by handing him his cup of coffee.

"Thanks, man" he said as he sipped on his coffee.

The place suddenly became silent and none of them uttered a word. When Hussein looked up, he noticed his friend was deep in thoughts.

"A penny for your thoughts" and he snapped his fingers in front of his face.

"Huh?" He exclaimed having been jolted out of his thoughts.

"What are you thinking about?...spill it out already" he said as he placed his empty cup of coffee on the table.

Fawwad was silent for some time before he also dropped his half-finished coffee on the table and said "I just don't know why everything is still messed up. Walija isn't ready to make things right" he sighed before he continued "I never thought it would be this hard"

"It's never easy to win a girl's heart"

"But...it wasn't hard with Salina"

"Man, do you still think about her?" Hussein asked surprised.

"She was a part of me and she still bases in my heart. I...I loved her religiously but she was...never meant to be mine" he finished in a hurtful tone.

"Point of correction buddy 'was'. She's a past tense in your life. You have to let go and besides that's where the whole problem lies"

"Huh?"

"Yes, Fawwad. For you to live a happy married life with Walija, you have to forget about Salina completely. Erase her and all the memories you shared together out of your mind" Hussein added.

"it's not as easy as it sounds you know. I'd tried that times without number but all in vain. I just can't seem to forget her"

"That's because you didn't find someone to replace her in your heart. And now that you're even married, it will be easy. Let your wife occupy that space in your heart"

"But how am I going to do that when my so-called wife isn't ready to corporate. She's just making things worse for me. Ever since she got into that accident, she changed...she completely changed her ways. She chose to totally ignore me Hussein"

One look on his face, one can tell how distressed he was. He was determined to finally mend all the mistakes in his life but Walija is becoming his only obstacle at the moment and it's paining him beyond measure.

After some silence, Hussein spoke again "you're the one that pushed her away in the first place and now it's your duty to pull her back to yourself"

"How can I do that?"

"Well, it's simple. You just have to court her"

"What the heck are you talking about? You're telling me to court, my wife?" He let out a humorless chuckle because Hussein wasn't making any sense to him.

"Chill out dude" and he chuckled "ever heard of courtship after marriage?"

"What!?" Fawwad was still confused and from the way he was looking at Hussein like he was speaking alien shows it all.

Hussein sat upright and faced Fawwad before he spoke "court her, date her, do anything possible to make her fall in love with you"

"I'm sure she doesn't want to fall in love with a miserable guy like me" he sounded hurt and immediately Hussein held his shoulders comforting him.

"Don't say that Fawwad. You are aren't a bad person. And besides everything will fall back into place gradually"

"Yes...tell me more about the courtship"

"Now you are talking" he laughed.

"Just tell me already" he playfully smacked his shoulder.

"Okay. You have to make her fall in love with you first. Take her out on dates. Go for late evening outings. Make her feel important and safe when she's around you" he sighed before he continued "do I even have to tell you everything on how to win a girl's heart? It's not like this is your first time"

"Was I the one that court Meriam for you?" He asked rhetorically.

"Speaking about Meriam. I came to tell you that our wedding date has been fixed"

"Masha Allah. That's such a great news. When?"

"In two months time" he smiled.

"Alhamdulillah. May we witness it in good health" he prayed excited just as his friend.

"Amin" he smiled "let me get going, I have some work to finish before closing"

"Okay, Mr. Groom" he laughed.

He just laughed and when he was about to go out he turned and said "don't forget to put what I've told you into practice please"

Hussein had been long anticipating a day like that when Fawwad will finally see the truth by himself and Alhamdulillah, it has finally come.

He was excited about his wedding and he won't be lying if he says he was more excited about how he was finally going to have his best buddy back.

"Insha Allah" Fawwad smiled before Hussein exited the office.

Fawwad also got back to his work. He was thinking about what Hussein told him throughout and was eager to try it out hoping it would work.

After closing time, Hussein branched to Fawwad's office before they left the building together. They talked for some time before they all left to their respective destinations.

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