Chapter 5 - Every Rose

                                    

                                          

Ian
Tonight was... beautiful, to say the least.
The stars were out, which is a rare occasion here in London. I mean it wasn't raining either, nor was it cloudy.
And, more importantly, I had secured permission from Aliha and her parents to marry her. 
I'm going to marry Aliha. Wait. 
I'm going to marry Aliha!
On the drive home I couldn't stop smiling. 
Alhamdulillah! Thank you, thank you, thank you Allah!!!
I stopped at the local masjid on the way home. After praying Isha, I offered two more sets of two nafl prayer. The first two were in gratitude to Allah. The second two were to pray that everything would be smooth sailing from there and that I got her. 
After I finished with my witr, I got to the entrance before I was stopped by a brother coming in. 
"Assalamu alaikum, you probably don't know me well other than being someone who comes to this masjid, but I manage security for the masjid. Here, my security licence." He said, giving me his licence. I took it out of its plastic wallet, held a good look and deducted it was probably real. 
"Wa alaikum assalam. Is everything good?" I replied. He sighed. 
"Not sure. I noticed in the camera some strange behaviour. You're in the G63, parked next to a blue BMW, right in the corner, yes?" He asked. I nodded slowly in reply. 
"When you came in, there was a black Corolla three cars behind. It's been here parked across from yours for a while. I went out after salah to the car park before everyone else came out, and from what I could make out from it, there's one guy in there who hasn't come out yet. He's still there. I'm gonna assume he's not planning on going out anytime soon, not until you go. It may be you he's waiting for, or it may be nothing."
Well, at that point I had to think. If this person was really following me, I needed to draw them away from anywhere important and find out who it is, and more importantly why they're following me. 
If they wasn't following me, then I'd know once I take him on a tour of half of London. 
"Jazakallah khair. What's his reg?" I asked the man. 
"Wa iyyak. It's YR71 JXZ." He replied. I gave him salaam, thanked him and left. 
In a calm fashion I walked to my car. I acted as if the car wasn't there at all. As soon as I got in I saw him, putting his seatbelt on. I kept my eyes up whilst on my phone I dialled a number.
"James, need a plate tracing. It's 'Yankee Romeo 7 1 Juliet X-ray Zebra'. Possibility he's tailing me. Driver is a male, Caucasian, short hair, slim build." As I spoke, I started my engine and proceeded to drive towards the exit. In my mirror, I saw the lights of the Corolla turn on. 
I turned out onto the road and proceeded at the speed limit, checking my mirrors for the car. 
There it was. Three cars back exactly. I turned a left and, just as expected, it turned left too. 
"Got it boss. Black Toyota Corolla, registered to Enterprise Rent-a-car. Was rented out to a Benjamin Richardson. Want me to send in units?" James replied over the phone.