"Y-ye a-aap k-kya..., (W-what a-are y-you..)" I abruptly shut up as I saw him giving me a hard look through the mirror. Lowering my eyes, I tried my very best to ignore the fact that a man was seeing and touching me in such an exposed state, but tha...
¨But Mama-¨ Khateeja Aunty glared at Madiha whilst forcefully handing over a packet of medicine to her.
¨No buts, young lady! Be useful for once and go give this to your brother,¨ Passing Madiha a stern look, she turned around the way she came and hurried back inside. I'd offered to help her with the cooking or even just providing her with a little assistance, but her being the sweet lady she was, didn't let me touch a thing.
I got slightly startled as I suddenly felt someone place something in my hand. I turned my head around to find Madiha giving me a pleading look.
¨Yaar bhabhi please aap jakar ye dey dein bhai ko, unka aaj puray din mood off tha aur har choti choti baat par mujhe daant rahe thay. Please na, meri pyari, pyari bhabhi, (Sister-in-law can you please go and give it to him, his mood has been off since the whole day and he's been snapping at me for every little mistake. Please, my beautiful, beautiful sister-in-law)¨ Not wanting to draw any more attention to us, which Madiha's constant ¨convincing¨ was bound to get, I gave her a quick nod and rushed into the house.
The last thing I needed was another round of teasing.
I walked into the house and went up the stairs to Suleiman's room. I hadn't been here ever before, considering both I and Suleiman's busy schedule the last few months. He had been out of the city 90% of the time while I was busy studying and preparing for my exams, so we rarely met or even talked these past few months. I let out a sigh as I reached his room and knocked on the door.
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
(Her current outfit)
¨Ajao, (Come)¨ My heart clenched in worry as I heard his tired, dejected response. Even his voice sounds tired, just how much stress has he been under? I opened the door slightly and found him sitting on the bed, leaning against the headboard. From what I could gather, he had probably just woken up. Whenever we could talk or meet up these last few months, which was very rare, he always assured me that everything was going perfectly fine, and I being my stupid self compleltey bought his fake assurances. How could I not have seen past his whole ¨I'm okay¨ facade and noticed just how delusional I'd been!? I internally cursed myself at my carelessness and stupidity. I was brought out of my thoughts when I heard a throat clear and looked up to find Suleiman giving me a surprised look.
¨Hooriya, tum? (Hooriya, you?)¨ I gave him a slight nod and walked over towards the bed. He and I both knew how extremely shy and reserved I'd been around him after that car accident, so much so that I couldn't even talk to him for more than 2 minutes without lowering my eyes, and I'd practically made it my mission to avoid a physical confrontation with him as much as I could the first two weeks. He eventually found his own way of ¨accidentally¨ bumping into me everytime he came over to visit. I suppose his reaction was justified after all the intentional avoiding I'd done.
¨Jee, w-wo Mama ne apko dawai dene ko kaha tha, (Yes, M-mama told me to give you medicine)¨ His expression immediately changed into a irritated one as he eyed the medicine in my hands. I gave him a confused look.
