Swipe Of Love

29

♕ A N T O N I A P O V ♕

"Don't what me young lady," he snapped.

"Are you serious?" I asked, wishing he wasn't. Who thought that the father who tried to kill Walid was going to ask me this.

"Do I look like I am joking here," he shouted, grabbing my shoulders.

"I can't do that. I am not going to do what you say," I answered Dad in a loud voice.

"You are going to go over my words! You disrespectful child," he raised his hand to smack me. I quickly closed my eyes, waiting for the impact, but it never came. I felt dad's rough hand on my cheek, whipping the tears away.

"Did I scare you?" He asked softly.

I opened my eyes and nodded my head. Not uttering a word. "I am sorry, princess. I was just joking around. I would never do that to my own child. Never," he kissed my forehead.

"Why would you do that? You frightened us all," mom slapped his back.

"Ouch! You hit hard women! I was just playing around," dad laughed.

"Someday, you will get us all in danger because you playing around too much," mom pointed out.

"I am sorry. How can I make it up to you?" He asked

"Hmm. Let me think," I tapped my chin, "Starbucks!"

"Deal!" He clapped his head

"Oh dad," I laughed, walking up to him.

He pulled me into a big hug. He rested his chin on top of my head since I was a little shorter than him. Back then, whenever I would get upset or mad, I wouldn't talk to him or my brother. They couldn't stand seeing me upset. So I would ask them for Starbucks to "forgive him." It's an old thing that my family has.

"How is my princess doing?" He asked, placing a kiss on my forehead.

"I am doing fine, Alhamdulillah. Shouldn't you be resting? You just came from the USA. You mush be tired," I took a seat next to mom.

"I can't just rest without seeing my favorite daughter," he patted my head.

"Dad. I am your only daughter," I pointed out.

"Look at you, you're skinnier than before. You got dark circles under your eyes. Have you been taking care of yourself properly? Did you-"

"Mom! Mom! I am perfectly healthy and fine, Alhamdulillah. Stop worrying too much," I told her.

"Young lady! You should know by now that mothers can never stop worrying about their kids. It doesn't matter if they are grown-up or have kids; mothers will be worried about their child," she lectures.

"She is right. Mothers know everything. No matter what. Now, where is that trouble maker?" Dad asked.

"He is home. Doing a project with Noor," I grabbed my office phone.

"Its good to see them get along," mama excitedly said.

"It's quite the opposite, you see," I nervously laughed.

"Oh, my! Why? What's wrong?" She asked

"For some reason, he - can you send two cold water bottles, two sandwiches and make sure the meat is halal. Lastly two bowls of fruit salad," I ordered,

"Anything else?" James asked

"Mom, dad. Do you need anything else?" I pulled the phone away from my ear

"Coffee for me," dad answered, looking through my office, which I really don't mind because of him I am standing right here.

"Lemon ice tea. I love that drink," mom smiled.

Going back to the phone, I said, "one hot coffee with one cube of sugar and one ice lemon tea. Send it to my office now," I commanded, then ended the call.

"Where is your manner, young lady?" Mom scold.

"Sorry. I'll say thank you when James brings it up," I grinned.

"You were saying something about Omar," dad looked at me.

"He doesn't get along with people. Especially Noor and his father. I don't know what to do," I rubbed my forehead.

"Oh my," mom gasped.

"He is very discourteous to Noor. He was so rude to the point where he made her cry one night. Let's hope that everything goes well today with Omar and Noor, InshAllah," I rubbed my face.

"We found out one piece of information about this 'Usman' guy. However, I am not sure if this will help you or not," dad stated.

"Just one?" I asked.

"Apparently, yes, for now. But my men are still on it."

"I don't believe this. For the past year, we have been hunting this guy down. This guy is sneaky and clever. Every time we find some information, he somehow erases it," I sigh, taking a seat.

"To me, I think if we go from this evidence, we can get more info on this guy. Alhamdulillah at least we got something," he gave me a smile.

"Alhamdulillah. What did-"

I was interrupted by the knock on the door; I excuse myself and then opened the door to see James came in with the food.

"Anything else?" He asked.

"No. Thank you for bringing the food. Would you please tell Robert to bring in the file?" I replied.

"Yes, ma'am," he spoke. He walked out of the room. Closing the door, I walked up to my plants to water them. I went back to the sofa.

"Are you only drinking? I specially ordered this food for you. I know you didn't eat anything yet," I grabbed the fruit salad bowl.

"Rachel is his sister," dad stated.

"You mean James?" I chew on my fruits.

Shaking his head, he answered, "Rachel is Usman's sister."

"What?" I choked on my fruit.

♕ 3 R D P O V ♕

Could there be an actual good reason for him to do this? Or is he just fooling around?

Nothing he thinks of, matches the reason behind his father, leaving them. Each possible justification that comes up to Omar's mind doesn't go with the explanation of his father choosing his stepmother over his mother.

He stopped punching on the punching bag right after hearing a sound behind him. He turned around to see Noor standing there. He looked down to see himself shirtless. In embarrassment, he quickly put on a man tang top.

"Nerd?" He called.

Her heart exhilarated, hearing his deep voice calling her. Her whole body was shaking, and she couldn't think straight.

Omar looked straight at her back. An idea popped up. He couldn't help himself from smirking; he sure was going to enjoy this!

"Nerd? You can look now," he said, taking off the boxing gloves.

"No!" She muttered, not believing him.

"I promise. I am fully dressed," Omar looked at her.

Noor hesitated at first. However, she finally turned around but kept her head down, looking at the floor. She watched Omar's every step just didn't dare to look at him. He took a step forward. He walked closer to where Noor was standing. Her eyes never left the floor.

Noor looked at his every footstep, which she realized that he was moving toward her. She instantly knew what he was thinking, and she will not let it happen.

"Don't you dare come near me, Omar!" she warned, taking several steps back.

"Oh really," he challenged, taking another step.

Noor took a step back, but what she didn't know is, that was her last step before her back connected with the wall behind her. She tried to dodge him, though he quickly put his arms on the wall next to her head. Butterflies formed in her stomach. She never felt this new feeling before. He leaned closer toward her, exactly he made sure none of his body parts touched Noor.

"Move back! Don't touch me, Omar!" She exclaimed, wrapping her arms around her waist and pushing herself into the wall.

"Wouldn't dream of doing it," he smirked, grabbing the towel next to her.

He turned around and walked up to the stairs. He was so sure that Noor was angry. Never, in her life, did she felt this embarrassed. Her hand formed into a tight fist. He played with her. Again. He toyed around with her emotions. He made her feel dumb and stupid.

Tears rolled down her cheek. She wiped her eyes, storming up the stairs and into the living room. As she took her project material, she heard Omar talk to someone. She got up and listen.

"What are you doing here?" Omar directed to a male.

"I came here to talk to you, son," the man answered.

The men sounded like her Uncle. Uncle Walid. Did he really meet Omar? Uncle Walid did say 'son,' She wondered.

"Didn't you already talked to me yesterday," he sighed in irritation.

"I know your mother taught you better than this," Walid said, not liking the attitude.

"At least my mother taught me something. She also taught me how to deal with people like you," he remarked.

"Look, all I am trying-"

"Then stop trying because it will not work. Unless you are willing enough to state your reason. Clearly, I can see not. So until next time, bye," Omar slammed the door shut. When he did that, a pang of guilt hit him, he wasn't supposed to act that way towards any of his parents. Although he couldn't help it. It was a simple thing to share.

He turned around to see Noor, standing there with shock. She couldn't believe her eyes. She doesn't get why he was so rude toward Uncle Walid.

"You're not supposed to talk to your parents like that," she crossed her hand over her chest.

"You're not supposed to eavesdrop on someone else's conversation!" He snapped

Great, he is grumpy now.

"Why do you hate him?" She asked curiously.

"Why are you so nosy?" He snarled.

"Why are you so rude?" She calmly spoke.

"Because I want to be," he shot back.

"You can't be rude to anyone you hate. Goodness toward your parent is an indication of a person's excellent cognizance of Allah. This is because no worship can take a person toward the happiness of Allah faster than exhibiting respect to his or her parents for the sake of Allah," She followed behind him.

"I heard something like that before," Omar muttered.

"Yes, Imam as-Sidiq (peace be upon him) has said this. If you knew this, then why did you behave like that," she said down on the sofa.

"I don't know. I was enraged that he wouldn't share his reason," Omar rubbed his forehead.

"You should try to think in a calm mind. When you are angry, you're only feeding the Shaitan. As soon as you're angry you should say Bismillah, recite Qur'an or a dua, do wudu or keep quiet" she suggested

"You're right. I should try to talk to him. Thanks, Nerd. I will be right back," he smiled, getting up.

Noor was very pleased that Omar understood without arguing or yelling. She loves helping others. It feels as if she was helping herself. It makes her happy, seeing others happy. Releasing a sigh, she started to work on the project.

The things I do for this guy she smiled thinking that