chapter 11

The silence broke, as the waiter entered with the orders. Their coffee was on the table now but nobody wanted to pick it up. "I guess you know it already, the differences between us" finally she discovered the force. "yeah I know but still I want to marry you and you can convert to Islam before marriage, then my family will have no problem" he insisted. "what? Converting to Islam? Are you serious?" she gazed with shock. "don't you want to change religion? I thought you were getting interested, and if not can't you just do it for me?" he came up with a suggestion. "no! I can not change my god just for you, I was just taking interest because I wanted know about it but I don't want to convert to Islam" she denied. "if you want to marry me, then accept me as I am, I don't want to change myself for you" she continued. He took a deep breath because it was hard to accept the fact. "I thought you loved me too, had same feelings like me" he wanted to clear it. "no doubt, I do but I just don't want to change myself" she didn't wanted argue. "You have already made yourself clear enough, I should leave now" he called waiter for the bill and took out his wallet from his pocket. Stella eye's followed his actions, her heart ached a bit but didn't hurt. She remain silent until Mustafa stood up and said goodbye and left. She regretted a bit but she calmed herself by thinking that she deserves more. But her heart knew, she started to fell for him, for the first guy in her life. She started to love him, but it was difficult to accept.

She stood up and gave a look at the book in her hand.

Since the day, she distanced herself from translations and Islamic books. She didn't spoke much to Fatima and didn't even ask any further questions of her curiosity. She didn't even visited Fatima's house, in case she has to face Mustafa. She tried to focus on her studies but the scene kept roaming in her mind. She couldn't forget Mustafa and her heart started to feel more towards him. But she was not able make a final decision. So she kept ignoring her thoughts.

It all went smooth until another day in the university she faced Mustafa. He came to pick Fatima. As usual Fatima was with Stella, so he had to come towards them. But it was unusual for Fatima as he rarely came to pick her up since she got in university. "Fatima we need to go home early today, some guests are going to come, mother needs you at home" he told Fatima. "Oh hi Stella! I didn't noticed you" he looked at Stella who was almost behind Fatima, staring at grass or trying not to meet his eyes. "hello" she lifted her head and saw him. He was smiling as usual. "well, then I might need 10 minutes bro! To sign the application for leaving early, you wait here" Fatima stood up saying that. "yes I'm waiting here but be quick"

Fatima left in hurry to the office while Mustafa sat on grass with Stella. "how have you been lately?" he started conversation. "umm good, or maybe just fine" she tried to smile. "what are your plans after graduation?" he asked. "well, I'll do a job in some company" she answered without looking at him. "Oh I see, after graduation, you can come to my company, they might need a general manager, you can easily get a job there even a good paying" he suggested. "ill see about them, thanks for the offer" she felt grateful. "no problem, you can always count on me" he said. "I wanted to say something to you, if you don't mind" he continued.

"Sure, go on"

"well, I guess we can be good friends just, to avoid the awkwardness between us, like I'm really sorry for the last time, I can understand you were not ready for it" he felt apologetic.

"don't be sorry, I didn't mind it at all but yes, I was not ready and sure we can be good friends" she looked him into the eyes

"Thanks"

"come on, let's skip this sorrys and thankyous" she tried to be informal.

They both smiled and felt relieved. Until Fatima arrived and both took off. Stella went home alone and after shower, she lay in bed silently. She smiled to herself, thinking about Mustafa. She felt happy as a heavy load on her back was released. "maybe it's a good start" she thought to herself and cheered. Just then her mother called out for lunch and she dressed up in hurry. She helped her mother putting dishes on the table as she was ill for past few days.