BEST OF BOTH WORLDS

CHAPTER 9: WILLS AND UNWILLS

Maheer looked at the twin's identical retreating figure as they walked somewhere else to have a private chat. She hoped Saad can break the news to Murtasim without hurting him.

"So your name is Maheer, right?" She looked at the woman who was left behind in the room with her.

Meerab. Her newly found sister-in-law.

She seemed to be a nice girl. A bit impulsive maybe.

Maheer felt ashamed as she thought about how she reacted to Saad talking about Meerab. She could feel her cheeks flush in embarrassment. She doesn't think she could ever meet Meerab's eyes.

Maheer didn't know what was wrong with her or why she had reacted the way she did. She just knew that Saad smiling and talking about Meerab had bothered her.

Meerab, the girl who was supposedly his cousin.

His real cousin, unlike Maheer. A cousin who was of the same standing as him, unlike her. A cousin who had his mother's approval, unlike her.

"Yes and you are Meerab, right?" Maheer tried to smile.

"Yup." The girl gave a beautiful smile again. She seemed genuinely nice, unlike her mother-in-law. Maheer decided she liked this Meerab.

"So, how did it come to be? You and Murtasim?" Meerab looked startled at the question. She kept fidgeting with the huge diamond on her ring finger.

"Oh, well, our fathers had promised to wed us when we were young." She let out an awkward chuckle. "What about you and Saad?"

Now it was Maheer's turn to be awkward. She had no wish to tell Meerab about the circumstances of her marriage. Maa Begum already had a bad enough impression of her and she had no plans of making it worse.

"Oh, ours was like you too. Our fathers decided to get us married." That was it. There was no need to bring back the bitter mistakes of her past.

"You guys seem rather close?" Meerab leaned forward. Her eyes were gleaming with interest.

"Yes, Saad is my best friend. He is the sweetest guy on this planet!" Maheer liked where this conversation was going. She was happy as long as it stayed away from mentioning anything that will make her out to be the dishonored daughter everyone back in Karachi had painted her to be.

"Really?" Meerab suddenly laughed out loud. "It's so hard to believe that when he has the same face as Murtasim."

"Why? Were you two not close?" Maheer genuinely thought Meerab and Murtasim had a similar relationship as Saad and her.

Maheer could not fathom how they could be cousins in the same house and not have a bond as close as she and Saad. Half of the fun in your childhood is just your cousins.

"Well, he was rude. And always used to order me around like he was some kind of king!" Meerab scrunched her nose in distaste. "When we were little, if I asked him to pass something to me, he would literally throw it at me!" Her nose flared up in anger.

"She forgot the part where she would throw it back at his face."

Meerab and Maheer both looked at the door at once, startled by the sudden interjection. The girl in yellow, who was with Meerab, stood there at the door with a smile plastered on her face.

"Maryam!" Meerab exclaimed at the newcomer. "Why are you standing there and spying on us? Come here!"

The girl, Maryam, walked inside with a shy smile and greeted Maheer as she took a seat next to Meerab. Meerab put her arm around her shoulder as Maryam made herself comfortable.