Chapter 8

“So, do you make a lot of mistakes with your thesis?” Marwan asked. Zalina had asked the lecturer about it in class earlier.

“Madam said that I should use the faulty results and explain the reason why it becomes like that. She also pointed at a few other kinds of stuff but overall, my thesis is fine,” Zalina beamed with a smile.

She felt relieved that there was no big mistake in her thesis.

“Good for you…” Haikal sighed. He also asked the lecturer about it and he made quite a lot of mistakes. Luckily, the mistakes were not big but all the small ones he did would deduct quite a bit of his marks.

“You must have done it while playing games, right?” Zalina glared at him. Haikal fell silent indicating that it was the truth.

He diverted the attention to Marwan immediately, “Marwan is the best, you are basically done with your thesis, right? Madam praised you for it too!”

“It is not that amazing though…” Marwan was shy. Haikal kept praising him after that and Zalina joined in the fun too.

They continued chatting while eating when Marwan suddenly asked, “Let’s eat some cake after the presentation?”

“Cake?” Zalina’s eyes lit up. It was not a secret that she was a cake lover. Marwan and Haikal knew about it. Not only them, but the whole class was aware of it too.

“Are you making it?” Zalina was excited.

“That’s why I am asking,” Marwan smiled. It was also well-known that Marwan was good at making cakes. He made a lot of cakes in the past for his classmates although the main eater was between his best friends.

“What flavour are you making this time,” Haikal asked. Haikal was not a fan of cake but he did not hate it. Eating it once in a while does make them taste better.

“I am not sure. What do you guys want?” Marwan asked.

Both of them spoke at the same time.

Zalina: “Orange”

Haikal: “Chee- Orange!”

Marwan glanced at Haikal, “You want cheese?”

“Huh? No, I want orange,” Haikal shook his head.

“Then, I will make both,” Marwan added. He knew of Haikal’s punishment so he decided to make both of them. Probably a layered cake of cheesecake with orange-flavoured sponge cake on top.

“Will you have time to make a cake?” Zalina was worried. They were at the end of the semester and they had a lot of work to do. Moreover, they would need to prepare for their internship too. There was too much stuff to do.

“Don’t worry. It is not that hard to make a cake,” Marwan reassured them. Since Marwan was fine with it, the duo decided to accept it.

They talked a bit more about cake as Marwan wanted to know if they wanted to add other things to it. Haikal did not ask anything but Zalina the cake lover asked for a lot of things.

They talked about it until they finished their lunch. After that, Marwan left to pick up Maisarah. However, before he left, he got a call from Muaz.

“Assalamualaikum. Why are you calling? Is it about Kak Ngah?” Marwan picked up the call and asked.

[...Angah? What happens?] Muaz asked in confusion. He called Marwan to ask about the kids.

“Err…” Marwan stuttered. He thought that Maisarah told Muaz too. Since Muaz was unaware of it, he knew that Maisarah wanted to keep it a secret.

[Wan?] Muaz asked.

“Well…” Marwan decided to tell him what had happened.

[Is she okay?] Muaz asked calmly.

“She said she is fine and I am going to see her right now,” he replied.

[Hmm… Update me after you see her. Also, don’t tell Ayah and Ibu about this if it is not serious] Muaz said.

[Anyway, I need your help a bit. I will be late tonight, so, help Ibu take care of the kids for a bit]

“Oh, okay. Don’t worry,” Marwan replied.

[Also update me after you meet Angah] Muaz reminded Marwan again.

“Okay, bye,” Marwan hung up the phone. He started his bike and left the campus.

***

Muaz hung up the phone and he rubbed his forehead. He opened the chat app and messaged Maisarah.

[I heard the story from Wan. If you need help, call me] and he sent the message.

[Okay] Maisarah gave a simple reply.

Muaz clicked on the name ‘Aleeya’ and typed in a message.

[Are you late tonight too?] Muaz asked. He waited for a bit and stared at the ‘tick’ mark below his message. It was greyed meaning it was not read by the receiver.

30 seconds later, the grey ‘tick’ turned blue meaning that Aleeya read the message. Then, besides ‘Aleeya’ name, there was an indicator ‘typing’ meant that Aleeya was typing her message.

A few seconds later, a new message arrived.

[Sayang, the earliest I will be home tonight is around 9. I am sorry. We have a lot of work today] Aleeya replied.

Aleeya was Muaz’s wife as well as Danial and Danish’s mother. She worked at the secretary office of a big company and was always working late every day.

Muaz expected this but he was still disappointed. He replied, [Make sure you have your dinner and don’t forget your prayers too]

[Okay. I love you. Assalamualaikum]

[Love you too. Waalaikumsalam]

Muaz put his phone in his pocket and he sighed. “Should I just eat with my parents tonight?” Muaz pursed his lips.

“Work, work,” Muaz mumbled to give himself a bit of boost to work well that day. He passed through a corridor when he heard someone talking on the phone.

“What do you want to eat tonight?”