Her Step Husband

|thirty two|

Huzaifa shrugged his shoulders. "Your Tashfeen Papa has left me with no choice. I can't believe that he will tie me with the ropes of love of my mother like this."

She bit her lower lip in anxiety. "So are you just pushing yourself for this marriage because of this?"

"The answer lies in your question, Glasses," he murmured.

"I can say no, Huzaifa. For...for your sake," she said, truthfully making Huzaifa give her a disbelieving look. "I wanted to do that earlier too but every time I saw Aqia Mama sad for you, I couldn't gather the courage."

Huzaifa sighed. "Of course. But I don't live in the eighteenth century, Unaiza. I am a practical guy. I am not like those guys from books or movies who consider the arranged marriage a hit to their ego. You will find me devoted to this relationship. Well completely devoted to you until I find the woman of my choice and marry her."

He just said the last line to test her. To see or hear any reaction from her. However again, there was none. She didnt move a bit and her expressions remained the same. Perhaps she was finding this a chance to pay back the favors of Aqia and her family. And part of the reason was her fear of remarrying a stranger. But she definitely looked weird to Huzaifa.

Girls fought like wild cats for their guys. Even Inaya became a feral lioness whenever he used to tease her with his jokes about finding another woman.

Huzaifa stretched his neck. "Get ready."

Unaiza raised a brow. "For what?"

"Well, I wanna enjoy the last day as an unmarried guy. As the bachelor Huzaifa and Unaiza. Like we used to go for ice cream and diners in the past as friends. I wanna recreate it," he told her.

Unaiza's eyes widened before she laughed slightly. "You are forgetting that our mehndi is about is start in a few hours."

Huzaifa pretended to check the time by staring at his wristwatch. "Still there is plenty of time. We will just go to the ice cream parlor nearby."

"How cc..can I go like this? There are so many guests in the house," she stuttered in panic.

He smiled cheerfully. "From the back door. Well by jumping from your window into the garden."

Unaiza's eyes widened but soon she understood that this was the start of this. He was a guy who loved adventures and she should get ready for this ride because she herself submitted to this dangerous and addictive journey because of her crush and love.

         

             

                      ________________

Unaiza closed her eyes in fear as she put her right foot on the ridge near the small terrace attached to her room. Huzaifa was leading her and after a while and a lot of fussing, she was able to jump into the garden. Thankfully there was no one here. She had changed her bridal dress into a simple one while Huzaifa had worn a leather jacket and covered his face with a mask. He also put a cap over his head. That was to hide himself from any fan.

Huzaifa was the one to ask her to change the dress as the peculiar yellow color pulled attention. She again became worried.

"A bride is not allowed to change the mayon dress before the wedding. Aqia Mama says it brings bad omen," she voiced her anxiety.

Huzaifa laughed out loudly. "So what bigger can occur? Your groom will die. C'mon glasses, I bet your Tashfeen Papa will be thrilled to hear that I..."

"Don't always talk rubbish, Huzaifa," she nearly yelled, as tears filled her eyes.

"My goodness, nothing will happen, Iza. That's just made-up things. Do you seriously believe in it?" He challenged her. 

She shook her head. "But Aqia Mama says it."

"There's no relation between these two, Unaiza. Well, if you want everyone to gawk at you and I pull out their eyes, then go like it," he reasoned, folding his arms over his chest.

She lost the words to explain her condition which was the effect of his statement. After all, she had changed her dress.

"Let's go on my heavy bike," he announced enthusiastically.

Unaiza's jaw dropped upon hearing it. She always fantasized about a ride with him on his black heavy bike and now this was happening. Was she dreaming?

As she sat behind it on the seat, her mind whirled around as his captivating scent roamed around her. She put a hand over his shoulder but even the heavy fabric of the jacket didn't stop her to feel butterflies in her every nerve ending. Because these feelings weren't related to any physical thing, they were connected to her pure love and fascination.

Huzaifa wore the helmet before turning his head. "Shall we?"

She nodded wholeheartedly.

"Better to be careful. Don't fall," he chuckled before turning on the engine and moving the bike ahead.

She blushed at his statement. That was her first ride on the bike so she got alarmed for a few minutes. But soon she adjusted as Huzaifa had minimized the speed for her sake. Mostly he was used to much better speed than this but he knew Unaiza would be panicking.

That was the day they enjoyed once again so much. That was only the second of the two times they were alone somewhere. One was when she wanted to trick herself into thinking that he was her boyfriend for an evening before she married Sarim and now this. They ate ice cream together and exactly before two hours before the planned function, Huzaifa managed to drive them back to home as he promised. That was just a span of half an hour so she wished that none found her absence. And even if they did, they gave it to the supposed shower she had to take as Unaiza had locked her room from inside before leaving. 

"I hope you enjoyed today," Huzafa asked with a heartwarming smile.

She flushed but nodded anyway. "I did."

She really loved this day and that was for sure.

"I think I should go before anyone can find me missing. Thanks for today," Unaiza asserted with gratitude before moving away but she was put to a halt in her way when she saw Aqia approaching them.

"Where did you both go?" Aqia glared at both of them one by one before she snarled angrily.

                  ____________________

AssalamoAlaikum/ Hi guys!

Many people were asking me for double updates so I finally did this.

I thought to give you a surprise so I hope you liked it. ❤

What will Aqia say now?

What's Huzaifa's motive behind this bike ride?

What will happen next?

Plz, vote and comment ❤❤