🍂Husn-e-Ishq🍂

Sadqa |3|

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"We've made arrangements for your sleep at Ramsha's room. It's already past 10 pm. You can go upstairs," said Ramsha's mother handing Shauqat a lamp to make his way visible to the room. "Children are sleeping in my room. Talk to her and convince her," she added.

Shauqat listened to her last words with great concern and nodded with a positive gesture. He took the lamp and increased its intensity to make his way.

Ramsha was folding some of the cloths and was about to keep them in the wooden boxes meant for her wardrobe when she heard a decent knock at the door. She understood who that could be. While she was dusting the bedsheet she heard another knock with the same softness in its rhythm. She decided to ignore it and continued arrange pillows on the bed. It knocked for the third time and a little rigorous than before when Ramsha turned towards the door and asked, "who's there?"

"I'm Shauqat." Much to her hesitation he was brief in his answer.

She was silent hearing his name from the another side of the door. After rolling the corner of her dupatta round her finger she walked in an unenergentic speed to open the door. The door was opened and there stood Shauqat with a lamp in his hand and hope in his eyes.

A reason that allowed Ramsha to open the door was she had no other option to this as everyone present in the house was expecting her to do this and also after showing down Shauqat a couple of times since he had arrived made Ramsha felt guilt towards her attitude in treating him.

She realized that  he was her husband after all. He married her and made her his other half. He shared all his happiness and sorrows of life with her and also loved her children more than anything else. How could she hate him for something she had never found him doing with her own eyes? This question had struck her mind for the first time seeing the face of Shauqat like that at the door.

She stepped back and with her eyes asked him to come inside. She, finally, showed a positive sign in listening to him and talking everything out transparently with her husband.

Shauqat walked slowly until his knee touched the corner of her bed. Turning back to towards his wife who was still standing at the door and was fixing its bolt he went close to her and helped her shut the door. They both faced each other and silently walked together and sat on the bed simultaneously.

Shauqat looked at her in the face and began, "you had your dinner?"

"Yes," she said in a suppressed tone.

"Is it right time for you to talk about something important?" he questioned her directly with a calmer mind.

She paused for a moment and, "yes," she confirmed.

"Ramsha, whatever has happened in our relationship since last six months cannot be forgotten in a blink. I understand, we both need time and you need it more than I need. There may be some things, some questions going on in you mind that you're trying to ask yourself and thus, this makes us delay our decisions."

Ramsha looked at Shauqat with ease in her heart. The way he began addressing their problems showed him to be a wise person to discuss things with.

"You only say, Ramsha, how easy it will become if we talk our heart out to each other and get our misunderstandings removed directly and on a compromising note! I know it's easy to say than to execute but can't we just give each other a try?" Shauqat moved his hands towards her and looked into her eyes by holding her by her shoulders.

Ramsha, who was looking down by all this time said, "I've forgotten everything bitter existed between us. And you see the situation, we have stood on the verge of separation but we never had a fight. I questioned myself many times- How can I leave my husband who, even being a wrestler by profession, has never raised his hand on me. This question makes me feel like a culprit. I'm your culprit..." She held his palms tightly and rested her head on his shoulder, sobbing.

"No Ramsha, you're not. See, you've observed this. When none of us wanted this it means somebody else wanted to create barrier between us. You only say how this had happened? Did I start it? Or you were the one to start finding faults?"

Ramsha raised her head and kept looking at Shauqat's face who had his eyebrows furrowed, looking at the lamp, while speaking to Ramsha.

She questioned him , "but why my brother wants to ruin our relationship?"

"To extinguish the jealousy in heart and yes, for money too," said the husband angrily. "

Money, how?"

"You know it very well you're the only daughter of your father. And you've got two brothers- Shamim and Raheem. This elder brother of yours is a middleman of moneylenders and the younger one is a factory employee. Who do you think will try to expand his business? Obviously Shamim. He invests, and cheats too, in akhadaa and other events. And it is him would would always be in the need of accumulating capital for investment. Ramsha, believe me, my experience with this world says he has eyed on your share of property from your father. That's why he wants to break our relationship and keep you confined to his house so that he can benefit from your share."

Ramsha's jaws dropped hearing such a shocking revelation from Shauqat about her brother. But she immediately normalized her astonished expression and said, "I can expect this only from such a brother," and closed her eyes.

"Let it go. Our understanding each other was more important. That has happened. We've talked everything openly to each other, I don't want anything else from my fate. But Ramsha, I promise, I'm always there for you against whoever seeking to cause you inconvenience or come between us."

Ramsha looked Shauqat's face with love in her eyes. She raised her hand to touch his face and came a little closer to his ears, "I'm so proud to have you as my husband," she whispered.

"One thing I want to to tell you about me." He grabbed her hands.

"Yes," she asked.

"If your brother has told you anything regarding my links with Marathon akhadaa then I'm taking the responsibility of his statement to be false. I knew, in the past too, he had used its name to spread negative rumors about me."

Ramsha began to look at him with some uneasiness in her heart. She nodded at him and was about to add a yes to his remarks when he said, "you are the first person I've been in relationship with and till now you're the last one. I pray no one may ever replace you in my life."

His words gave Ramsha immense joy in heart that she was unable to hide it. She extended her hands and raised her body a little to hug him with his head completely buried into her bosom. Shauqat immediately wrapped his hands around her waist and pulled her down.

He held her face in the enclosure of his palms and began looking into her eyes, "I've brought the jewelries that was sent by you through the parcel. That was my first gift to you after we got married. I'd like to decorate you with it once again," saying this he rose up from the bed and was about to leave for the guestroom for his luggage when Ramsha caught him by the corner of his kurta.

"Don't leave... please,"

He turned back to look at her and said, "I'll be back in a jiffy."

"I'll wear it when you take me with you to your house. As of now, please stay." She blushed while asking him not to leave which made Shauqat powerless before her desire. He came close to her and began to scan her from head to feet. All this time, Ramsha was smiling and stealing some glimpse of her husband she'd look down abashed.

The man in love then reached his hand out to the adjacent table and lowered the flame of the lamp allowing the magic of the moonlight to glorify their beautiful night.

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