Another Forever

4 3 | g a l a

There was an art exhibit at a corner so I went to that side of the hall and began to appreciate the paintings. A waiter passed by me and I took some appetizers from the tray. I haven't had lunch today due to the parlour apportionment so by now, my stomach was grumbling.

A particular painting caught my attention and I stared at the intricacies of the design. I had always been fond of arts and I still regret why I didn't pursue a degree in fine arts instead of graphic designing.

"You have an eye for the art." A masculine voice said. I turned around and found a tall blonde man standing behind me. He looked like in his early forties, with some grey hair peeking out of his head. Nevertheless, he was good-looking for someone of his age.

"It didn't need a genius to figure out which one was the work of a connoisseur among the amateurs." I replied.

"Allow me to introduce the connoisseur." He bowed slightly and extended his arm for a shake. "Owen Riggs."

I nodded, not shaking his hand. "Noor."

"And what do you do, Miss. Noor?" He asked.

"I am a graphic designer. I'm doing an internship in Shah industries." I replied. "I must say, your work is amazing, Mr. Riggs."

"Thanks. By the way, I'm looking for a web designer. You can swing by my office. It's a block away from your current workplace." He said.

"I'm not looking for a new job right now." I said.

"First rule of working Miss. Noor, never say never. Here, keep my card." He said and handed me his card. I took the card and put in my handbag.

Thankfully, I didn't have to small talk anymore as Faaris appeared out of nowhere all of sudden.

"I was looking for you, love." Faaris said on reaching me.

"Riggs," he then acknowledged him. "I see you have met my wife."

"Oh. It was a pleasure indeed." The guy said to me and then left us alone.

"Are you bored?" Faaris asked.

"Yes." I said honestly.

"Come on." He held my hand and pulled me to the main hall where a soft soothing music was playing. Few couples have moved to the centre of the hall, swaying along the romantic music. Faaris held out his hand for me and it took me a moment to realize he was asking me for a dance.

"I don't know how to dance." I said.

"You just have to follow my leads." He said.

We reached the dancing couples and Faaris guided my hands to his shoulders. He then snaked his arm around my waist pulling me towards him. My breath hitched as I found his face mere inches away from me.

He swayed me gentle with the music, his proximity making my heart do summersaults in the chest. Our movements were in perfect sync. We had forgotten about the world around us and the only focus was each other. I felt all giddy and gooey inside. Nobody could say we were in an arranged marriage because from a distance, it looked like two people head over heels for each other.

Faaris rested his chin on my shoulder blade and kept moving with the rhythm. It was a perfect straight out of a fairytale moment and I wished I could capture it somehow.

We would have stayed like this if a waiter hadn't collided with me and emptied some of the orange juice on me.

"Oh my God. I'm so sorry ma'am." The poor waiter looked horrified.

"It's okay." I said. "It's all good. I'll go run some water at it." I said to Faaris.

"Should I come?" He asked.

"No. It's fine." I said and went to the bathroom. The juice had lightly stained the hem but I didn't want it to leave a stain. So I went into the bathroom clean this and that's when I met a familiar face coming out of the toilet stall.

"Hayat," I said her name.

"Noor." She washed her hands, not looking surprised to see me. She was wearing a golden gown with heart shaped neckline, her hair pulled up in a bun.

"I didn't know you were here." I said.

"Of course you didn't. You and Faaris both seemed to have eyes for each other only." Her words were laced with saltiness and I felt bad for how things turned out between Faaris and Hayat.

"I'm sorry Hayat for whatever happened between Faaris and you. But believe me, nobody wanted this to happen back then. It was all some sort of twisted fate." I said.

"Oh is that what he told you?" She said.

"What?" I asked in confusion.

"Tell me Noor, has Faaris confessed the truth yet?" She attacked.

"What truth? What are you talking about?" I asked.

"You really are clueless, aren't you?" She rolled her eyes. "This wasn't just an arranged marriage by luck. Faaris had feelings for you for a long time."

"That's... That's not true." I said, feeling lightheaded all of sudden.

"He had a crush on you since childhood. And he hated that you always chose Usama over him. I was always a second choice for him, a settlement, a compromise. He liked you and he probably was over the moon when he got to marry you, to an extent that he probably forgot about his promises to me." She spoke each word with hatred and I felt the bile rise to my throat. Each and every word was like a shard to my chest.

How could Faaris not tell me this?

"Poor Usama. First being kept in secret by his brother and now, the love of his life is falling for the same person. Maybe it's good that he died." These were the last words she said after which she stomped out of the bathroom, leaving me standing there like a statue.

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•