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‘Are you seriously telling me to give up my dreams and my career for a man? And one who isn’t interested in me and is seeing someone else?’

‘Err, not when you put it like that,’ she responded weakly.

‘What’s wrong with Noah?’ I demanded, as I struggled to choose between a red floral maxi-dress and a blue floral jumpsuit.

‘Nothing’s wrong with him, per se,’ Dina said carefully. ‘I just wonder if he’s Islamically and culturally compatible with you, that’s all. Plus, I really don’t see your parents being happy about you wanting to marry a half-English personal trainer with no degree.’

‘He’s Muslim,’ I said a tad defensively. ‘He doesn’t drink. That says a lot these days, you know. And you know he’s trying to become a physiotherapist!’

‘I know, but what are his life goals? Is he trying to become a better Muslim, a better person? Is he the man who’s going to help you grow in this life and the next life?’

‘He’s already helped me grow massively!’

‘How? You’ve known him for what? A month?’

‘I feel like I’ve known him for nearly a year because of the list,’ I admitted. ‘The list has helped me grow so much.’

‘It has,’ Dina conceded. ‘In some aspects. You’re more assertive, more confident, you understand yourself more. But how else has it helped you grow? Are you closer to God? Are you a better human? Only you can answer that.’

As I sat on the plane, replaying Dina’s conversation in my head, I told myself that while the list didn’t help me get closer to God, it wasn’t supposed to. That was a journey I was going to have to embark on myself, it had nothing to do with Noah or Zakariya or anyone else.

Landing at Sabiha Gokcen Airport in Istanbul, I managed to get a taxi that would take me all the way to my hotel, which was near the Galata Tower. The first thing I noticed was how hot it was, much hotter than I thought it would be. I broke out in a sweat before I made it inside the cool, air-conditioned cab despite the thin cotton of my shirt. But it didn’t matter because I HAD MADE IT and as the car drove from the Asian side of Istanbul across the bridge to the European side, I couldn’t stop staring out of the window and drinking up the sight of all the lights and majestic mosques.

Checking into the modern little hotel right next to the famous tower was easy enough and as I showered and got into bed, I struggled to fall asleep from the excitement and nerves of being in an unknown city completely on my own.

A text pinged through from Zakariya, straight to the point as usual:

ZAKARIYA: Salaams, have you arrived?

MAYA: I have! Thanks for checking in. You OK?

ZAKARIYA: Yeah, can’t sleep for some reason.

MAYA: Me neither! I’m too excited to sleep!

ZAKARIYA: What’s your plan for tomorrow?

MAYA: How do you know I have a plan?

ZAKARIYA: I know you love a good list, Maya Rahman.

MAYA: Haha, you’re right, I do Basic touristy stuff tomorrow – Blue Mosque, Hagia Sofia, Grand Bazaar. And then there’s other stuff I wanna do like go to Topkapi palace of course and a nice fancy dinner at Nus’ret hopefully.