"Are you ok?", I asked him, searching his face for any visible signs of injury.
'I am now", he smiled and squeezed my hand.
He leaned into me as we sat together on the white and gold sofa in front of the sheer white screen decorated with layers of red roses and white lilacs, selected to match our dresses.
"You look so beautiful", his voice rasped and his hot breath on the side of my face made my breath hitch.
"Thank you", my mouth was so dry, I could barely get the words out, "You look really handsome as well"
But that brief conversation was the extent of our communication for the next hour, as guest after guest came up to us, inquiring about Kamran's ordeal, and congratulating me on my graduation, and both of us on our wedding. We smiled, we waved, we replied to questions, all as if we hadn't just waited for 5 freaking years to be here next to each other, and just lived through the most harrowing experience of our lives while we were literally hours away from getting married.
There was so much I needed to ask Kamran, and say to him. But mostly, I desperately needed to feel his reassurance that he was unhurt after what he had been through. Even though he had said he was ok, I could tell he wasn't. He was quieter than before, answering in shorter sentences than usual, gazing off into the distance at times. And I couldn't comfort him in the way I wanted to. Even though he was right next to me, the heat of his body warming mine, his musk scent tantalizing all my senses.
Kamran had the patience of a saint, but I was nearing the end of mine when Ami thought it was a good time to take family pictures. And rude or not, I decided I had had enough, for a bit.
"Ami...time out, please", I said loud enough for everyone on the stage to hear.
"Kya?", Ami looked at me with confusion. (What?)
"You can't call timeout at a wedding", Zaviyar laughed, "Yeh cricket match tou nahi hai" (This is not a cricket match)
Even Kamran looked baffled, but while I may not have used the right term to describe what I wanted, I was determined to get a break from being put on display.
"What I mean is, Ami why don't you serve dinner. I am sure Kamran and Safdar must be hungry after their long journey"
"Oh of course, of course. Let's do that", she replied immediately.
"Thank you, and uh...I need to go wash my hands"
"Chalo I'll help you", Ameerah started to pick up the slight trail of my lehnga but I had other ideas.
"No thank you, Kamran can help me", I smiled politely, but took the trail from her with one hand, grabbed Kamran's hand with the other and was already halfway down the path to my front door when I became aware of the perplexed eyes on me and I realized that I probably looked like a runaway bride, except I was dragging my husband behind me.
Oh well, too late to turn back now
The closest room I could get some privacy in was the downstairs guest bedroom. And soon I found myself standing in front of him, much like I had almost 8 months ago when he had first come into this house. Except, now I was his wife and he was my husband, bound together by a bond ordained by Allah Himself for all of eternity.
"Are you ok?", Kamran asked, his hand still clasping mine.
The absurdity of my actions was sinking in, but I still needed to tell him something important.
"No, I am not Kamran. I am sorry for acting like an idiot out there, but I was so worried about you and I know you said you're ok, but you don't look ok. And I just needed to have some privacy to...", I blurted without taking a breath.
CITEȘTI
A Midsummer Weekend (The Extended Version)
Proză scurtă"I used to think that I fell in love with you at first sight, but now I think my soul fell in love with yours the moment we were paired in heaven" His fingers gently caressed her cheek as he whispered to her, "I think I've loved you since long befor...
20. The Wedding
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