As planned, Ning Azzahra hurriedly walked towards the sidewalk. To satisfy Zaidan, if he picked her up, the girl sent a message via WhatsApp asking if she chose to walk. While walking along the sidewalk, Ning Azzahra stretched her arms to the sides and breathed in the fresh morning air. To other people's eyes, she looked pleasant — a girl enjoying her morning commute.
"Assalamu alaikum.., can I join you..?" A girl suddenly followed Azzahra's steps.
"Wa alaikum salam.." In a low voice and nodding, Ning Azzahra responded to the girl's question.
"Thank you..." the girl responded back.
Ning Azzahra and the girl walked side by side on the sidewalk. Seeing the girl's appearance, Azzahra concluded that the girl was already working. The girl looked mature and elegant.
"Oh yeah... We haven't met yet. My name is Salsa. What is your name?" suddenly, the girl said her name was Salsa and stretched out her palm towards Azzahra.
"Azzahra..., call me Zahra..." Ning Azzahra smiled and said her name.
"What a nice name, Zahra... You must still be in college, right... because I can see from your appearance." Salsa observed Ning Azzahra's appearance by looking at her from her feet to the top of her head.
Ning Azzahra felt uncomfortable being seen like that. However, She still smiled and continued walking towards her campus. He was not interested in taking a closer look at the girl walking nearby. In her heart, Azzahra felt that something was strange. For no reason, suddenly, the girl came and asked him to get to know her.
"Salsa... looks like you didn't study at UIN. I've arrived at my campus, so I'm forced to leave you alone..." Luckily, Azzahra had arrived at the campus gate and had an excuse to leave Salsa.
"Okay, Zahra. It's nice to meet you. I hope we have the opportunity to go out together or maybe have coffee together next time." With a bright smile, Salsa agreed.
"Hempphh… with pleasure. Bye Salsa... assalamu alaikum..." Ning Azzahra said hello, and without waiting for an answer from Salsa, the girl rushed into the gate.
"Wa alaikum salam..." Salsa returned the greeting and smiled while looking at Azzahra's back. As she walked away, she left her alone.
Because Azzahra was no longer visible to him, Salsa finally rushed to leave the UIN campus gate. It was clear that the girl intended to get to know Azzahra better.
*********
Food Court
Zaidan approached Azzahra, who was seen sitting with several friends. The girl looked relaxed because there was no laptop in front of her. There were only a few snacks and drinks on the table. Coinciding with his arrival, Azzahra suddenly turned and met the man's gaze.
"Hey, Zaid... have you finished your studies?" Azzahra cheerfully greeted the man.
"That's it, dear Zahra... The proof is that I'm already here, joining you..." Zaidan responded to Azzahra's words while pulling a chair near where the girl was sitting.
Without asking the girl's permission, Zaidan sat near Azzahra.
"Halah Zaidan... You could just skip class, right... because you miss Zahra. Just tell us, there's no need to be ashamed of us..." said Nafisah.
"Yes, that's right... You can see from his expression that he seems to long for Zahra..." Novi also answered.
Hearing that her female friends were bullying Zaidan using his name, Azzahra felt uncomfortable.
"Nafis.. Novi,. Don't do that, please. Poor Zaid... his girlfriend will be angry if she hears your jokes. Between Zaid and me, it was pure. They were just friends. There's nothing else." Feeling uncomfortable with the conversation, Azzahra tried to stop the joke.
"Just leave it, Zahra... they're definitely just joking. Moreover, I also don't have a girlfriend; I'm only at the stage of approaching a girl." Zaidan responded to Azzahra's words while looking at the girl.
"But Zaid... everything will be detrimental to you. Especially if the girl you are approaching hears this conversation, it could be a misunderstanding later." Azzahra looked serious.
"Never mind Zahra... do you not know, or are you insensitive. "The girl Zaidan is approaching to become his girlfriend is yourself, Zahra... So, it is legitimate if Zaidan feels happy with our words." Novi suddenly interrupted.
"He.. he.. he.., that's right," Nafisah replied.
Hearing the girl's words, Azzahra was shocked. Azzahra innocently looked at Zaidan, and the man smiled and nodded.
"You all are delirious all day long. Zaidan and I are just friends, guys... don't get me wrong. And what you all need to know is that I can't unite with Zaidan."
So that her friends don't get the wrong idea, and also because they are aware of her current marital status, Azzahra emphasized,
Zaidan was surprised and looked at Azzahra's face. Fortunately, the man could control his expression at this time.
"Nafisah..., Novi, don't tease Azzahra. Remember that Azzahra is the daughter of a Kiyai in East Java, so her nickname is Ning. Don't you know that a Ning can't just randomly choose her own husband? There must have been interference from his parents..." To lighten the mood again, Zaidan made a statement,
However, the young man's statement was exactly the same as what Azzahra experienced. After hearing Zaidan's words, the girl's vision became foggy. Without realizing it, Zaidan had opened the veil he had closed tightly. And suddenly, the girl fell silent, with her eyelids filled with tears. Realizing what had happened to Azzahra, her three friends were shocked.
"What happened, Azzahra... did our words offend you...?? Please, Zahra.., we're just joking, not serious.." Nafisah and Novi approached Azzahra. The two girls tried to cheer him up.
Zaidan also was surprised and took a deep breath. The man's mind wandered everywhere, and he remembered seeing a man come out of Azzahra's room when he was in the apartment.
"You'd better go home to your apartment, Zahra... I'll take you. I'm worried; some people saw you crying." Zaidan swiftly grabbed Azzahra's wrist, inviting the girl to leave that place.
Azzahra looked at her wrist momentarily, but the girl immediately stood up following Zaidan's invitation. Nafisah and Novi just looked at each other but didn't pursue Azzahra's explanation. They just stared at Zaidan, who rushed to take Azzahra away from their place. There was no conversation between Zaidan and Azzahra, but Azzahra obediently followed the man's invitation.
"Novi... it seems like nothing we or Zaidan said was offensive. But why did Zahra suddenly become like that after Zaid spoke?" Feeling confused about what had just happened, Nafisah asked Novi.
"I don't know Nafis either. Or it could be that Zahra is facing pressure from her family, especially regarding her mate. It's just that the girl is trying to keep the problem to herself." Novi took a deep breath and then responded,
"It could be November... But whatever it is, we can only pray that Azzahra can face everything. In fact, I see that Zahra and Zaid are a beautiful couple. "But it all depends on God's destiny; what is good, in our opinion, sometimes does not become good in God's eyes." Nafisah conveyed words of reminder to Novi.
Ultimately, the two girls could only pray for their friend's well-being because there was nothing they could do to help Azzahra.