Her smile widened, and she looked up at me, batting the thick, long eyelashes that framed those beautiful soulful eyes, "Maybe if you fixed your husky voice, and stopped looking at me like that I wouldn't blush."
There was no denying how physically attracted I was to this woman, but it made my heart skip a beat to think that she too may be attracted to me. I wasn't a bad looking guy by any means, and I hit the gym frequently enough to be in reasonable shape as well. But there was a certain thrill associated with being able to elicit a natural visceral reaction from the woman you were so deeply in love with just by looking at her. It forebode well for our married life.
For now though, I knew I needed to stay within my boundaries so I stepped back from her and 'fixed' my voice.
"Fine. But the rules change when you are my biwi, and I will look at you however I want."
She shook her head, laughing softly, and started to walk towards the hospital. "Dr Khan, we will talk about the rules when I am your biwi."
I couldn't be certain if a subtle note of disappointment lingered in her voice, but if it was there, she would be justified. I was yet to speak to my parents about us. That wasn't due to lack of effort on my part. The moment I returned home from Maliha's wedding, I had dialed my sister's number. She had an uncanny grasp of our parents' activities and their perpetually shifting temperaments.
Plus, she was supposed to be an ally.
***Flashback***
"Your prayers have been answered, little sis," I told Sehr proudly on FaceTime.
"I just gained a 100K followers on Instagram overnight?" my wanna-be influencer sister chirped instantly.
"That is what you pray for? Kuch sharam karo." (Be ashamed of yourself)
"Kyun? Kidher likha huwa hai I can't pray to become more influential online," she shook her head and rolled her eyes. "Anyway, what was I supposed to be praying for?" (Why where does it say..)
"My shaadi, silly," I told her, still processing the events that unfolded on the balcony just a few hours ago in subfreezing temperatures. I could barely contain myself as I recounted the story of my unfortunate blunder with an idiot, resultant anxieties, the heartfelt confession of my love, and ultimately, my proposal to her.
Her mouth dropped open.
"You actually proposed? Out on a balcony, in the midst of snowfall, during her sister's wedding? And you didn't even take a picture? How are you going to remember your special moment?" she exclaimed incredulously.
I smacked my forehead, "I'll remember it each morning when I wake up to see her right beside me!"
"Yes, but- "
"Sehr, focus. There is no point in proposing if I don't get married to her. So, where are Ami and Abu these days? I need them to talk to Madi's parents, asap."
"Well your asap will have to wait, thanks to this coronavirus thing. Abu has been on a very hectic travel schedule across the world." Her smile suddenly disappeared, "And I think you should wait for him to be in a better frame of mind before you speak to him about Madi. He is still holding out hope for you and Fatima."
***End***
His decision to travel while a new dangerous virus was wreaking havoc in large parts of the world seemed perplexing, until Madi pointed out: a significant portion of the raw materials crucial for many industries around the world were sourced from China. The situation was dire enough that my father still had no concrete plans of returning to Pakistan, and I was starting to feel a tad bit guilty that I wasn't the son who stepped up when his father needed him to.
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Lãng mạn#2 in the desi medical romance series He couldn't get over his ex-fiancé who had unceremoniously broken off their engagement just five days before their wedding. She was engaged to a man who did not respect her or her work. Neither were looking for...
19. Delay
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