Unlikely To Happen

Part 7 -Tying The Knot

Maleeha stared him, eyes wide as she tried to process what he said. She knew what he said, but it didn't make sense to her that he worried about her reputation. How could someone so heartless be worried about her? She didn't understand. "Uh, sure, yeah, that's cool," she stammered out. "It makes sense, I guess," she added as she tried to tie it all up in her mind.

She turned in her chair and was about to step out of, but he called her back. "Maleeha," he said softly. She looked at him. "The Nikkah changes nothing between us."

Maleeha nodded. "Except that I can actually smack you for being stupid," she added like a smart mouth and walked out of his office with a satisfied grin.

***

They had just returned to Zaakir's -their -place. It was nearly eleven o'clock at night, and Maleeha was beyond tired. Her feet hurt and she felt sluggish. Her black abaya was heavily embroidered and it made her feel worse. What annoyed her more was the fact that she had dinosaurs doing back flips on trampolines in her stomach. And although she had agreed to marry him, she wasn't ready for a relationship between them.

She disliked him.

Signing the Nikkah contract had not resolved any of their issues between them, nor had it suddenly poured buckets of love in her heart. Their Nikkah had made it -at that point -Halaal for them to touch one another and that is as far as Maleeha wanted it to go to.

"Hey, Maleeha!" Zaakir shouted, gaining her attention after he showed her their place. "Listen, this is where you are sleeping tonight. I couldn't clean out the other bedroom without arousing suspicion in my parents. For tonight, you can sleep on the floor."

Maleeha was so shocked that it felt as if her eyes nearly fell out of her head.

"WHAT?" she yelled back at him. "The floor? The freaking floor? No ways," she said with raised eyebrows and a determined look.

She grabbed fistfuls of her long abaya train to avoid tripping even though she was wearing black All Stars as she walked around the room to the bed. "I will not sleep on the floor. Thank you very much."

He grunted at her stubborn look, her defiant look, but he tried to keep his temper under control. "I have never slept on the floor," he said calmly as he breathed heavily through his nose. "So, there is no way that I will start doing it now. And especially not for you!"

She scoffed, as if she couldn't believe his utter disrespect. "I don't care! I wasn't brought up sleeping on the floor either. I will not sleep on your dirty floors! You can sleep on it!" Her eyes were burning with lack of sleep, she was tired and moody, but most of all, she was emotional to a degree she did not understand. Her clothing and make up and jewellery added extra weight that she could not manage with at the moment. It all compounded on her and it made Maleeha twice as snappy as usual. "Look, whatever. I am going to shower and change," she told irritably as she walked to her bag and searched through to find her pyjamas. After she did, she hurried to the bathroom.

When she came out of the bathroom and re-entered the bedroom, she found him sitting on the corner of the bed in his own pyjamas. Many thoughts ran through her head, but she was too tired to thoroughly dissect them, as she ignored him and strolled to the opposite end of the bed and slid between the sheets. "MALEEHA!" he growled out annoyed. "That is my side of the bed."

She made herself comfortable in the pillows and bed, but she gave a satisfied sigh. "Yeah, well, I suppose you're sitting on my side then," she said calmly. "And I'm already comfortable now. Sleep well, I hope that the floor isn't too cold!"