Unlikely To Happen

Part 13 -Bucket Lists

They saw her marriage to him as a blessing, as something that love would blossom from. Maleeha doubted it. She was trying to make her marriage work, but she had to work harder. She chose to be in the marriage, she chose to marry Zaakir and now she would not make him miserable.

She could not foresee happiness for herself, she agreed to marry Zaakir because he was safe. She had no feelings for him, so there was no way that she could fall for him. There was no way that she could be hurt by him. She could not see herself falling in love with Zaakir.

He was everything that she didn't want in a man.

She stood under the spray of the shower and cried her heart out, glad that Zaakir wasn't able to see her this vulnerable or hear her cry. He wouldn't get to see her weak. Not after how the day started so calmly, so peacefully.

"So, why are we doing this?" Maleeha asked Zaakir. She was bored and didn't like walking in silence.

Zaakir turned around angrily and stared at her. He was not a morning person, and he hated talking in the morning. However, the sun was in his eyes which caused him to squint menacingly at her. "Because I want to do this!" he hissed.

Maleeha hid a smirk and pretended to look at the sandy path that they were walking on. She glanced at the dying grass in the winter's morning, admiring the way the sunlight lit the path. "Hmm," she said non-committedly. "Or is because of that Bucket List thing that you have?"

"Don't be an idiot!" he growled at her, eyes narrowing even further, but she saw a blush tint his cheeks.

"Ha! It is!" she declared happily. "You are ticking off your bucket list!"

Realising he was defeated, Zaakir tried to salvage his pride. "So what?" he challenged as he bent down to her level, effectively being to glare at her.

She smiled brightly at him and carried on walking with a spring in her step. "Nothing," she threw over her shoulder, which confused Zaakir. "Huh?" he mumbled.

His eyes were saucers, staring at her back in utter bewilderment. "Maleeha has no questions?" he asked loudly, mockingly. "Unbelievable!"

She looked over her shoulder and smiled at him while wiggling her eyebrows. She was unusually happy and playful.

"Really?" he pressed, undoubtedly shocked at her quietness.

She let out a dramatic sigh. "Oh, alright," she said as if it were an effort she couldn't bear. "If you really want me to ask questions, I will."

He groaned, but the small twitch at the corner of his mouth gave it away. Maleeha poked his side. "You asked for it!" she warned him.

In reply, Zaakir only grinned broadly. "So," she said happily. "What inspired you to write your bucket list?"

He gave her a dull look, unimpressed with her unoriginal question. "A high school assignment."

She frowned, unhappy with his short reply, but she knew he would do something like that. "And yet you still kept it?" she laughed. When he didn't reply, she asked her next question. "So, how did you do in the assignment?"

He gave her an amused smile, as if he had a secret that he was going to share with her. "Not that great," the smiled broadened, "I handed it in late, because if I didn't then I wouldn't have been able to graduate. My teacher was extremely unhappy with it. She had my handwriting was pathetic and sloppy, she said that the list lacked 'creativity and it did not highlight my true essence'." He laughed mockingly. "She said that it didn't show a sense of uniqueness and my personality did not shine through."