Dinners Were Filled With Food And More.

The rest of my stay at Rafiq's family's house was filled with dinners and a steady routine. Dinners, conversations, and a predictable routine. During the day, I spent time with his parents and wife while he was at work. When he would come home from work, we all would have dinner.

Every single night, the seating arrangement stayed the same. I sat at the end, his wife next to me, and him beside her—his wife right in between us. You can probably imagine how that felt.

We couldn’t see each other directly, but that didn’t stop Allah from orchestrating little moments. One dinner in particular was interesting. I would call it 'the plate of cucumbers.'

Rafiq offered me a plate of cucumbers. Keep in mind that his wife was sitting in between us. I reached out, grabbed a few, but he kept holding the plate toward me. I pushed it back gently, but he didn’t let go.

It caused him and I to do this strange, almost playful "push and pull" over a simple plate of cucumbers- that too, infront of his wife. I felt the air shift. It wasn’t just a plate anymore; it was charged. It was one of those subtle, undeniable moments Allah designs with perfect precision.

I know he felt it too.

Throughout dinner, Rafiq kept shfiting his body and face back just enough to talk to me. That's what also gave away what he felt. If he truly felt nothing towards me or lost interest, then why was he going out of his way to re-position his body during dinners to say something to me? Especially with his wife sitting right in between us.

Every night, it was the same. He’d angle himself to catch my eye, to say something small- a joke, a random comment about the food, anything to make me laugh.

It wasn’t about what he said. It was that he wanted to say anything at all.

Then one night, something happened that I’ll never forget: a name slip. His wife, him, and I were talking.. he meant to say his wife's name and he accidentally ended up saying mine.

"Layla".. And he quickly corrected himself. I am sure internally he freaked out, but it was too late. I am not sure what his wife was thinking, but I caught it right away.

Allah had already written it that way. Allah doesn’t just control moments; He even controls the tongue. And I knew that slip was meant to happen.

That night, I went to bed smiling. There was peace in my heart again. Relief, even. He hadn’t abandoned me. He spoke to me. He made me laugh. In those quiet family dinners, it felt like the pieces of us that once existed- came back, if only for a moment.