Substitute Priest For Chayra

Before Stepping

Happy reading 😘😘😘

Two weeks after Alif and Elmira divorced, Zidan flew to Java to pick up her father and her mother. Zidan intends to ask for the blessing of his parents to marry Elmira, a young widow with one child.

Zidan's father and mother did not give their blessing before meeting Elmira in person.

After two days in Java, Zidan returned to Cairo with his parents.

Zidan asks Alif to pick up the three of them at the airport. With pleasure, Alif obeyed the request of his best friend. Chayra and Elmira prepare dinner together.

"Assalamu'alaikum." Zidan said his greetings and pressed the doorbell of his house.

"Wa'alaikumsalam --" There was a reply from inside the house followed by the sound of the creaking of the door opened.

The door is wide open. Elmira stood behind the door holding her Dzikra-daughter.

Elmira reviews the smile and invites Zidan, Alif, and her two future in-laws to come inside after she kisses the back of Zidan's father and mother's hands in turn.

They went inside and landed body weights on the sofa in the living room.

"Dad, Mother, this beautiful woman will marry Zidan. She ... Elmira Najwa Shahla's. And this beautiful daughter ... Dzikra Aulia Shahla." Zidan introduced Elmira and Dzikra to both of his parents.

"That's pretty. No less beautiful when compared to Sarah," said Late spontaneous.

Elmira's forehead shriveling. He asked Zidan for an explanation in his neutral language.

Zidan let out a long breath and then exhaled slowly. He hesitates to open his voice, giving an explanation about Sarah. Name of the woman named by the mother.

As if he understood what his son was thinking, Laras also returned with a word.

"Elmira, Zidan has told you a very dark story of your past. We as parents understand and accept it, because in this world there is no perfect human being. Everyone must have done khilaf and sin, not except ourselves. And LIE, if anyone claims to have never done khilaf. Maybe in this world there are a few people who do not want to admit the mistakes he did and realize that he is not perfect. All they see is the error of others and consider themselves perfect. They forget that perfection belongs only to God-"

"Elmira, daughter. Each of us has a past. You have a dark past, so does our son, Zidan-" Laras paused for a moment and stared fixedly at the now pajamas' face.

"Before you go any further, mother is very hopeful. Mother wants, you can accept each other sincerely and sincerely without coercion. Because of the robustness of the household ark, it depends on the initial foundation to build it."

"Our son is not a perfect man. Zidan did the biggest mistake of his life. When he was in the second grade of High School, Zidan had a relationship with his adopted sister. That's Sarah. We as parents are very negligent. Until we lost. Zidan and Sarah aren't just dating. But they commit adultery, until Sarah contains the flesh of Zidan." Laras sighed deeply, striking the sense of tightness that was still present when he remembered the error his son had committed.

"Not responsible for marrying Sarah, our son asked Sarah to abort the fetus she conceived. For that reason, they are still High School. Because of his immense love, Sarah also obeyed Zidan's request. Sarah almost lost her life during the abor-si process. Since then, Sarah has hated Zidan. And Sarah's hatred of Zidan killed her immense love. Sarah left our house and never came back. All this time, we've been trying to find Sarah's whereabouts. Nil. Sarah was engulfed by the earth-" Laras's vocal cords were choked so that she could no longer continue her words.

"Zi, really? Are you really doing that mistake?" Elmira's voice tones vibrated. He tried to hold back the tears that were almost spilled.

Zidan nodded faintly. He did not dare to look at the face of the woman he loved.

"Yes, El. I did that mistake once. And I'm so sorry about it. That's why I never had another relationship with a woman after parting ways with Sarah. But since knowing you and knowing the story of your dark past, the door of my heart that has been closed for a long time has reopened. I sincerely love you, El-" Zidan said with earnestness.

"Zi, if one day Sarah comes back, what about me? You keep me or you choose to go back to him?"

Zidan raised his face and then ventured to look at the bead of Elmira's eyes that were framed with glass. "I'll keep you, El. Because you are my future. While Sarah, my past."

"Then, how do you atone for the sins and mistakes you once committed against Sarah?"

"I will give and do whatever he asks. Except, give me my heart and marry her. I'm not gonna give my heart to her, El. I won't marry her either. Because in my heart this is your name and I just want to have one wife. Kamu - Elmira Najwa Syahla. The only woman I want to make a wife --"

"Should I believe what you said, Zi?"

"Yes El. You must believe my words. I accept you without regard for your past. And I hope that you will accept me without regard to my past. I want to open a new page with you, without looking back to the past."

Hygiene ....

There was only the sound of a time machine needle ticking along with a heavy breath.

Elmira scooped the air deep before the decision was made ....

🌹🌹🌹🌹

Connect .....

As the author has said. The novel the author wrote this time, is different from the novel the author wrote earlier. Here, the author highlights the imperfections of his characters.

So, if there are brothers who love less pleasing, the author set a sincere apology from the heart.

Not that the author wants to justify or support the mistakes that Alif and Zidan did. The author only writes the message from this story that the author wants to convey. 🙏🙏🙏

Jeannette Walls once said, "no one is perfect. We are all just a step away from the beasts and a step away from the angels."

Sorry if there is a wrong word and scattered typo.

Thanks and much love 😘😘😘