Next day, after lunch Hawwa was cooking pasta in the kitchen. Beside her on the next burner, Shaima was deep frying samucha. Hearing gagging sounds, Hawwa quickly turned off the burner and rushed for her room from where these sounds were coming from. Her face turned solemn. As she entered the room, she found the washroom door to be wide open. Standing at the door, she saw Khadija hunched over the toilet bowl, her body shaking as she was vomiting. Hawwa's face scrunched up in disgust seeing the contents coming out of her mouth. 

"Is blood coming out?" Hawwa asked. 

"No." Khadija responded before spilling more contents from her mouth. Relieved, Hawwa returned to the kitchen.  

***

Hawwa was serving the pasta on a oval shaped plate on the dining table. 

"Hawwa, get dressed. I will take care of the rest." Hawwa heard Khadija from behind.

"Okay." Hawwa placed the pot with the remaining pasta in it on the dining table. Khadija came to stand next to her. Then, Hawwa went to her room. Opening the cupboard she scanned the clothes on her side before bringing out a hanger, on which a maroon shalwar kameez set and a scarf was folded. Then, she closed the door and pulled the curtains for privacy.

After changing into the top and pant of the set, Hawwa opened the door of the room. The room had turned a little dark, so she pulled the curtains back. Then coming to a stop at the dressing table, she was picking up the foundation case when from the mirror she spotted Khadija walking inside the room.

After putting on makeup, Hawwa sat on the bed. She picked up her mobile and headphones from the bedside table. Putting on the headphones, she googled youtube on google chrome. The time on the mobile read 3:11 pm. She then played "Under The Influence X I was never There" mashup song. Then lifting  up her legs, she lied down on her back. 

"Hawwa wrap a headscarf." Khadija said while stopping by the entrance of the room when the bell rang. Hawwa was listening to "Young And Beautiful" by Lana Del Rey which she paused. Then she exiting Youtube and then Google Chrome, Hawwa sat up. Picking up the maroon scarf lying nearby, Hawwa stood up from the bed. She walked to the dressing table. As she dropped the scarf on the desk, she heard Qibriyah giving salam to Khadija. Her heart leaped with excitement as a wide grin spread across her face. In a rush she pulled the topmost drawer of the dressing table. A black hijab was visible in it. Picking it up she closed the desk. Putting on the band on her head, she then started wrapping the scarf around her head using bob pins. Feeling self-conscious for appearing in front of Qibriyah she gave herself a once-over on the mirror. Satisfied with her looks she started walking towards the door. She took a deep breath.

Allah please get me married to Qibriyah. 

Stepping out of the room, Hawwa spotted the back of Qibriyah's head in the drawing room.

"When is your next appointment for chemotherapy?" Qibriyah asked. He was sitting on the single sofa with it's back towards Hawwa. Her heart started beating faster as she continued walking.

"Three days later." Khadija replied while sitting on a double sofa which was placed sideways.  From the corner of her eyes on her right, she noticed Hawwa approaching the room. "There she is!" Khadija smiled. Qibriyah didn't look back. "Sit here." Khadija gestured to the place on the sofa she had been occupying before shifting further away from Qibriyah. As she sat on it, she was looking at Qibriyah's face. She blushed under his sharp gaze.

"Hello." Hawwa gave a sheepish smile, her hand clasping with each other having her mobile in the middle

"Hi." Then he looked at Khadija. "Is Kabir Bhai at home? I need to speak with him as I am going to court his niece."

"You know he is against that." Khadija asserted. 

"I still want to speak as courtesy." Qibriyah's response made Khadija avert her gaze from him to the empty sofa next to him. 

"Fine." She stood up and left the room. 

Hawwa shifted in her seat, too embarrassed to look at him. She gave her attention to her google chrome history. She clicked on a link which led her to a website which featured the front page of the fourth chapter of a manga called "Meiji Hiiro Kitan". It was a historical romance. According to a blog which had a post on best age gap mangas, the male lead was over 15 years older than the female lead. Scrolling down, she started reading from the first page. When she scrolled down to the fifth page, she heard Khadija.

"He has come out." Looking up, Hawwa spotted Khadija and Kabir entering the room.