Ameerah ran very far when things turned drastic in her home country. Losing alot at the age of eighteen is not just a rollercoster. She had four years to get over her past, four years to move on, four years to grow up and four years to be strong. No...
Only a fool lives in the past and feels remorseful about it.
- Ali Bin Abu Talib.
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Three days from the wedding, the two families were in chaos running from one part of the city to the other and sometimes to the capital. Wedding cards were distributed between friends and distant families. Food tasting were made by the groom's family deciding on the wedding menu and the orders were placed. Their wedding contract came after being signed and registered by the court. Ameerah had visited the spa almost everyday and as for losing weight she hadn't tasted normal food for the past seventeen days. Her meals consisted of green tea, water, flat tummy tea, water, fruits and more water. Ameerah's wedding dress and the bridesmaid's dresses were delivered five days from the wedding. It was the Laylat-al-henna and to say Ameerah was fused over would be a very big insult to understatements.
After slipping on her sleeveless Laylat-al-henna dress, she sat by her vanity being left alone for a couple of minutes before the ceremony started. Her hair was held up from her neck with more bobby pins than her age and her face was adorned with kohl eyes and bright red lipstick. Her gaze analysed her bedroom which will no longer belong to her in two days time. Everything looked the same except for the packed suitcases that was lined up next to her bed.
Ameerah's thoughts drifted to her past, four years ago, wondering if she was doing the right thing by not telling Yasser about her past relationship. Occasionally, she would have a mental debate to appraise him about the bugging matter but thought negatively about it after being interrupted more than once. Now, less than forty-eight hours from their public wedding, she felt unsure about the wedding. She felt she was deceiving him into wedding her. She felt dread since she was now positive her ex-fianceè was going to attend her wedding from her groom's side. Ruqaiyah hadn't done anything to sabotage Ameerah's relationship but that wasn't a good thing considering Ruqaiyah's vile schemings.
Ameerah was deep in thought that she didn't notice the person standing behind her and staring at her through the vanity mirror. Delicate hands rested on her shoulders jerking her from her thoughts.
"What's got you so worried, Habibty?" Her mom asked her.
"It's just....that..." Ameerah paused not knowing what to say. "Do you think am doing the right thing?"
"What do you mean?" Her mother asked next to her on the vanity chair.
"About Zubeyr. Do you think I did the right thing by not telling Yasser about it?"
"Sayyidna Ali Bin Abu Talib once said only a fool dwells on the past. It will be good for you if you forget that incident. There is no way you will be able to go back to those years and change who you were." Her mother told her touching her cheek lightly. "Focus on your present and your future."
Ameerah nodded meekly. Her hands rested on her lap, she glanced at herself in the mirror. She saw herself in a new light. She was going to uphold another name on her shoulders for the rest of her life. She was going to have a new identity, being referred to s Yasser Mohammed Al-Nahyan's wife not as Mabruk AbdelHakeem Al-Qassimi's daughter. The pride and honour of this new family was going to fall to her hands and it depended on her to either uphold it's name gracefully or disgrace it.
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"I'll send Asiya and Salma up to walk you down to the ceremony." Her mother announced as she got up.
"Okay, ummi." Ameerah smiled.
Not a minute late, her door burst open revealing Aunt Humaimah. Her aunt's eyes sized her up in her sitting form from head to toe. Ameerah forced a smile and greeted her father's sister. Aunt Humaimah replied grumpily and walked over to where Ameerah sat.
"You look so beautiful, Ameerah*. You could have made a beautiful bride for my Imran." Aunt Humaimah voiced.
"Thank you." Ameerah smiled widely, praying mentally for someone to come save her.
"What a waste though, you and Imran would have made a beautiful couple and beautiful babies." Aunt Humaimah said in mock sighs.
Ameerah choked at the last statement. And babies suffering from disabilities, Ameerah thought. The one reason she didn't want to marry someone from her family be it close or distant was because of the cause it would have on her future offsprings. She had seen her cousin Ruweyda, aunt Humaimah's eldest daughter, get married to her first cousin from her father's side and the results were disheartening. Two of Ruweyda's children were mentally disable and one was blind and born paralysed from hip to toe. She wasn't one to laugh at the misfortunes of others now, but earlier in her teenaged life she had bad statements that couldn't be pronounced from a righteous muslimah's mouth. She hoped Allah would forgive her of her sins when she was stupid and young.
"Ameerah, Ummaya told us to get you down for the ceremony." Salma announced looking at Aunt Humaimah distrustfuly.
Ameerah sighed in relief as she spotted her two sisters-in-law and got up from her sit in an unhumanly flash.
"I have to go, Aamati." Ameerah said as she let herself to be led out of the room.
The Majlis was filled with guests helping themselves on the food while conversing and showing off their recently purchased jweleries and clothes for the ceremony while youngsters tried to impress potential mothers-in-law. Salma and Asiya led her to the backyard where the actual ceremony was decorated for. It was almost five pm and the Sun was not yet gone and since it wasn't raining, the ceremony was agreed upon to be held outside.
Red carpets graced the ground and on top of it was several stools arranged and covered with a long pink cloth. Thraws and cushions were placed in a line at the sides from pink to purple to Orange. Henna plates were decorated on them and several Bukhoor and brandy oily fragments. The placed smelt nice and had an appreciating sight.
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Ameerah sat in the next settings that had a small stool in the middle. A few cousins and all her sisters sat around her with several henna designers that were hired for the occasion. Old women sat on the throws with drums and started singing cultural songs.
Hayat and Alia were one of the first people to stand up and start dancing to the familiar beats while girls started joining them. The henna designer for the bride and bridesmaids instructed Ameerah to lift up her dress. The dress was ridden up to her knees and designer started drawing on her legs until the upper side of her calfs.
