One

"I plan; you plan; we all plan, but Allah's plan is the best."

Sofia's POV. 

"Ya Allah! What should I even do? Should I accept this or run away?" I whispered to myself with head down. 

"Goodness! I'm just going through my high school and college is still left. Oh my, what am I going to do? But Nikkah is a Sunnah and completion of half deen, SubhanAllah! But I'm not even ready and if I say no then papa is going to disown me. Ya Allah, help me!” I mumbled, nibbling on my trembling lips in worry. 

I stood up and went to perform ablution to pray to my lord of the whole universe because He is all seer and all hearer. I raised my both palms to the Qiblah and pray to Allah loudly. 

"If this man that my father wants me to marry is good for me in this life and hereafter, Ya Allah let me be able to love him. If not distance us how you distance west from east." I murmured, weeping my tears stain cheeks, "Oh Allah guide me" I sighed. 

“I don't even know what he sees in me, though I'm not pretty, intelligent or good; what I know is that I'm just an ordinary girl. I don't know what he sees in this plain Sophy, I thought loudly, staring at my plain hands. 

After I was through with my prayers, I went to the dining table for my breakfast. My dad, mum, my younger brother and I-all of us started eating in awkward silence, everything and everyone was tensed before papa decided to break the silence which made me almost choked on my food.

"Oyin*, you will be getting married next week," papa said while handing mama a black credit card. A tear glistened in my eye but I restrained from shedding it. *(honey). 

"Um…, papa can I meet Maryam after Zhur?" I timidly asked and waited patiently for his reply silently praying that he would allow me to. 

"You are..." he paused a little, wiping his mouth, "free to go!" he replied slowly. I was already sweating, nervously playing with my food. I beamed with uncontrollable excitement when I heard his response. 

Do you know why I was happy?.

Do you know how it feels to have a person who understands you before you can open your mouth to talk?.

She was like a sister to me more than any of my best friends. We were quite opposite. Well, opposites did attract. I was still wrapped in this excitement when I found myself knocking on her door.

She opened the door, staring down at me with chips in her mouth, "Assalamualaykum warahmotulahi wabarokatuh, sugar bunny," I greeted her in a sad voice, pushing her away from the door. 

"Sugar sweetie, what happened to you? You saw a ghost or…?" she tried to lighten the mood but that was not what was worrying me.  She waited for me to reply but I couldn’t. 

"Have you been crying? What happened to your face? Who's the motherf**k that made you cry?" Well, as I said, opposites did attract. She was so possessive of me like an elder sister. I loved her and everything about her but she liked swearing a lot. Tapping her foot impatiently with her arms rested on her waist, she raised her perfect brows in question, "Sophia, I am asking something and for God’s sake answer me."

"You know,…um..," I broke down in tears for tenth times today, "I am getting married next week Insha Allah," I blurted out through hiccups, rubbing my running nose. 

"What?" she yelled and stood up from the couch on which she was sitting while rolling her long sleeves dramatically and continued, "How? Why? Who? When? Where? " She bombarded me with these questions.

"Where-I don't know. How-I's not sure. When -next week. Why?-Ask papa. To whom-I don't know him physically but I know his name is Umar Yusuf,” I replied and closed my eyes as the pain rose to my forehead because of too much stress. 

"Oooh! Gurly, you f***ing mean Yusuf? That hottie, special made creature? Wow! You are so lucky! I wish I was the one. He is freaking handsome and rich. I envy you!" she reacted with dreamy eyes as I chuckled upon seeing her reaction. 

"Maryam is that all you're going to say? I said expatiated, caressing my temple softly. “I am getting married next week with the person I don't know anything about!" I almost screamed at her to reason with me. 

"I know, but why would papa do something like that? Well, there's nothing you can do. You will have to accept your fate. And if he dares to hurt you by any means, I will kill him and bury him under my house," she stated strongly and I felt overwhelmed by her love. "But let's talk about reality. How does he know you? Why you? With all the girls he has been with?" my foolish, crazy heck of a friend was just using her brain.  But I love her anyway.

I cried out in frustration. "I don't know!, but darling, I will make him regret marrying me. He has shaken up my plan and future," I vowed venomously. 

"Um, well, nobody knows tomorrow," she said in a singing voice. "You could be the one who would be head over heels in love with him," she teased, pinching my chubby cheeks adoringly.

"I don't think so," I said doubtfully because I'd never seen him and neither did I know his personality. Besides, he was older than me by five years and I was only eighteen.  I did not know what Allah had planned for me but I know His plans were always the best for me. 

"Well best of luck honey, with your sexy hottie," she said winking at me and then hugged me.

I shook my head, sighed and whispered, "What a foolish girl she is!"

~**~

Assalamualaykum 

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