Hey peeps! Here with an other update!
But before you dive in, please do read the note below ⬇️
I've been updating quite regularly as I would like to think; two times a week. I don't have any exams going on nor do I have anything to deal with atm, so I have plenty of free time on my hands.
I've only written till about Ch 11 of this story so far, so after that updates might get a whole lot slower. I just want to apologise in advance for that. And also, being an author is no easy job, there's a lot of effort and creativeness put into these stories we publish, so please bear with this lazy (only temporarily 😅🤣) author of yours!
Picture above ^^ (Suleiman's house)
But for now...
Enjoy 🌹
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Suleiman's POV:
I slammed the door shut as soon as I entered my room. How dare she!?!? How dare she talk about some other man with such admiration and love, that even right in front of her own bloody husband! And that bhai- I was seething in anger as I banged my fist against the wall. Oh, how I wish to teach her a lesson, to show her what being in my nikkah, being my biwi (wife), means. I started seeing red again as I recalled how she was smiling when mentioning those two bastards! They are lucky she didn't mention their names, or else even their dead bodies would never be found. And as for that Hooriya-I gritted my teeth.
Taking out my phone I opened Whatsapp and looked up my wife's number. It wasn't difficult finding her number considering who I was. As soon as I found it I immediately started typing.
Me: Kesi ho jaan? Aj bara puranay ashikon ki kahania batai ja rahi thein (How are you, love? You sure seemed to be telling a lot of stories about your past lovers today). I pressed the sent button as I sat down and poured out some water for myself. After about 10 minutes, I got my reply.
Hooriya: Who is this?
My anger began to rise again seeing her ignorant behaviour towards me. Has this woman seriously already forgotten who I am?
Me: Tumhara shohar (Your husband)
No reply.
Me: Kya howa? Shohar ka naam sunke he itna shock kyu? Kahin tum kesi aur ko tou expect nahi kar rahi thein? (What happened? This much shock on hearing your husband's name? Or were you expecting someone else?)
Even the mere thought of another man calling her at this time of night had my insides hurling with rage. Not being able to rein it in anymore, I quickly dialled her number and luckily for her she picked up immediately.
"J-ji? (Y-yes?)"
"AINDA MAI TUMHARE MU SAY KISY GHER MARD KA NAAM BHI NA SUNO, AI SAMAJH! BIWI HO TUM MERI, SIRF AUR SIRF MERI! (I DON'T EVER WANT TO HEAR ANOTHER MAN'S NAME FROM YOUR LIPS EVER AGAIN, UNDERSTOOD! YOU ARE MY WIFE, MINE AND ONLY MINE!)" I completely lost it as I heard her soft, melodious voice coming from the other side. Did she speak the same way to those bastards? Leaving abroad, did she ever-
"Suleiman, please, calm down. Ap meri baat tou sune, aisa kuch nahi hai. Wo sirf stupid se crush the jine mein kab say bhol chuke hoon. Aur jahantak hamare nikkah ke baat hai, uspe hume jald se jald baat karni chahiye, (At least listen to me, it's nothing like what you think. They were just stupid crushes I had and I've already gotten over them. And as for our nikkah, I think we really ought to talk about it as soon as we can)" I somewhat calmed after hearing her explanation, but that look in her eyes when she mentioned those two idiots still had me on edge. That look belongs to me and only me. Her everything belongs to me!
"I don't care what they were, but I don't ever want to see you so much as think about them, understood? You are now my legal wife, and neither of us can change that fact, so its better if you accept the fact that you are now a married woman and should stay away from other men!" I heard her sigh on the other hand as I ran a hand over my face.
"Aur hain, khabadar jo ainda se mujhe bhai kaha (And yes, don't you dare ever call me bhai again). Trust me, jaan (love), you don't want to face the consequences," I gritted my teeth as the horrific scene of her calling me 'bhai' played in my mind again.
"Suleiman, ap please samajh ne ki koshish karein. Meray liye ye sab accept karna assan nahi hai. Aur waisay bhi mein apko aur kya bolati? Jab sub apko bhai kehte hein tou mai bilawaja apka naam kyu lun? (Suleiman, please try to understand. It's not easy for me to accept all of this. And besides, what else should I have called you? Why should I have called you by your name when everyone else was calling you bhai?)" Her angelic voice somewhat calmed me down as I sighed and walked over to the balcony to get some fresh air.
"Hooriya, I know our marriage didn't happen under the best of circumstances, but I've already accepted it as a play of fate, and I hope you do as well. Tum meri biwi ho, aur ye haqeeqat ab koi nahi badal sakta (You are my wife, and no one can change this reality now). I wanted to give you some time to accept this reality, which is why I didn't contact you for the last two weeks. I also think it's best if we let everyone know about our relationship as soon as poss-" I was rudely cut off by Hooriya's panicked voice.
"Nahi! Please, abhi nahi. Itney arse baad ap subse se mulaqat hui hai, mei nahi chahti ke iss khabar sey sabka acha khassa mood kharab ho. Hum trip ke baad batein gay tou zada acha hoga (No! Please, not now. I've met you all after such a long time, I don't want this news to ruin everyone's joyous mood. It will be better if we inform them after the trip)," I sighed. I had absolutely no intention to hide the fact that Hooriya was in my nikkah. We didn't commit a sin, nor did we intentionally get married secretly, so there was no reason to feel hesitant about telling everyone the truth. But Hooriya...I took a deep breath. If she needs time, then I'll gladly give it to her. I don't want to impose this marriage on her.
"Okay, we'll tell them later, but we shouldn't hide this for much longer. Anyways, I heard you wanted to join the foreign office?" The whole foreign office thing didn't exactly sit well with me. Being the oldest son of a nawab (a very rich man of sorts) meant I held a lot of power, but that power also came with responsibilities. It meant that moving from Karachi wouldn't be easy for me, and neither did I want to live without my family.
"Yes, it's been a dream of mine since I was a kid. I always wanted to follow in my baba's footsteps, and it's also a huge passion of mine. I love travelling and exploring new cultures, which is mainly why I love diplomacy so much," I smiled. My wife's one impressive lady.
"You're certainly a rare one, aren't you? I haven't met many women, or anyone for that matter, who wanted to go for a career such as diplomacy. It's quite impressive. But, Hooriya, you do realise that once all this is sorted out, we will have to live together, right? I'm just worried how we're going to have a normal married life with you living abroad and me living here in Karachi," I voiced out my concerns while looking up at the starry sky. I might not know much about marriage, but communication was a huge part of any relationship, and I wanted to be honest with my wife in every sense. I heard her gasp on the other side.
"How did I not realise that!? I...I don't know. This has been a huge dream of mine since...well...since a long time. I don't know...I just...," Her voice started getting hesitant and worried as she trailed off.
"Hooriya, if I could I would never ask you to let go of your dream, but it's not in my hands. I'm a nawab, which makes my responsibilities here too important to leave behind. And besides that, I'm a very family oriented man. I don't like the idea of living away from my family, and neither do I intend to," Silence. Neither one of us spoke anything for the next one minute. Getting frustrated, I was about to say something when she interrupted me.
"Aur mai? Mere armaano ka kya? Kya unky koi ahmiat nahi hai apke dil ke kareeb? Ap itnay confidence se kese kai sakte hein ke mai apna zindagi bhar ka khwab khoron gi? Apko kya lagte hai, ke mai ek aurat hoon iss waja se sacrifice karoon gi? Esa mai hargiz nahi karoon gi! (And me? What about my wishes? Are they not important to you? How can you so confidently say that I will just abandon my lifelong dream? You think just because I'm a woman, I will be the only one doing all the sacrificing? I will never do that!)"My eyes slightly widened hearing her angry tone, but before I could retort, she cut the call. This reminded me of the woman I had met at the airport - full of red, hot and blazing fire. I had realised how inconsiderate my words sounded the moment I said them, but my ago got in the way of my apology. I sighed in frustration as I texted her sorry.
Read.
No reply.
I had clearly messed up.
Hooriya's POV:
After one week:
"Bohat acha plan hai, hamare bache bhi mulq ki khoobsuraati dekh lein gein, aur Usman say bhi iss dafa ek proper mulaqat hojaye gi, (It's a very good idea, our kids will be able to see the beauty of our country, and I'll also have a proper meeting with Usman this time)" My family had arrived two days ago, and my father was already over the moon about the trip and the prospect of spending time with Usman Uncle and his family, who were also my husband's family.
Thinking of my husband reminded me of the argument we had a week ago. Our first fight. What he said had completely blinded me with rage, but after that anger faded away, I felt bad for acting so rashly. I might not personally know him, but I've only ever heard people praise and appreciate what a great son and brother he is. This fondness mainly comes from Yaqub Chachu and Bilal, who practically considers him his older brother. Yaqub Chachu has always had good observational skills, and if he thinks that Suleiman is a good man, then he most certainly is. He isn't one of those typical desi (Pakistanis are also referred to as this sometimes) men with the same old "a wife's job is to have children and run the household" mentality.
"Hoori Api!" I looked up to find my brother giving me questioning looks. "Are you alright? This is the fourth time I've seen you so deep in thought since I arrived. Is something bothering you?" Omar asked, sounding worried. I smiled at his care.
"Kuch nahi hua, Omar. Bus CSS exam ki thori tension thi, (Nothing happened, Omar. I'm just a bit worried about my CSS exam)" Omar seemed to have bought my lie as he gave me an encouraging smile and told me not to worry about it. I loved my brother to the moon and back, and his constant encouragement and support just added to the reasons why I loved him so much.
Later that night, Usman Uncle and his family came over to meet us all. Suleiman couldn't make it as he had to go on some urgent business outside Karachi, which sounded weirdly suspicious to me as it reminded me of the day I'd first met him. He had kidnapped a man in broad daylight right in front of my very eyes, and I'd completely forgotten about that poor man until now. I was such a terrible human, I internally chided myself. But rather than jumping to conclusions, I was going to handle this like a sensible woman by directly asking Suleiman. And that can only happen when we go on our trip two days later, because I don't have the courage to call him and possibly get caught. When I said I didn't want to ruin everyone's good mood, what I really wanted was more time to avoid the catastrophe I knew would be coming my way. I sighed as I thought about my family's reaction to this whole ordeal, specifically my father. He was very overprotective when it came to me and his reaction was bound to leave quite a big impact on this whole situation.
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And that's a wrap! Hope you liked it :)
Do comment please, I really wanna know what y'all are thinking about this so far.
Till next time,
K