• n o o r •
It was Friday, the day of our reception and our last night in Lahore. My makeup artist had done my makeup to perfection and set my hair open. My outfit was made with different hues of pink, golden and white and studded with hundred of small crystals. It was a gift from Aunty Afshan--- Mom, as she had asked me to call her now that she was my mother in law.
Dania, the makeup artist was setting the dopatta on my head in a way that it left most of my hairstyle on display, when the door to the bedroom opened and Faaris walked in.
I turned around to face him and found him all dressed in a black three piece suit and a tie that matched my dress. I hate to admit but he looked really handsome in the suit, all classy like a Hollywood actor.
Dania decided to ditch me at the exact moment and made her way out of the room, leaving me alone with Faaris. I looked around awkwardly, waiting for him to stop gawking at me and say something.
"Uh... Everybody is waiting downstairs." He said.
"I'll be ready in a minute." I said and tried to set the dopatta on my shoulder but it wasn't an easy task, thanks to my heavy jewelry and outfit that acted as a huge barrier. "Ugh, can you check if Dania is outside? My dopatta isn't set yet." I said to Faaris.
"Let me try." He said and walked over to me.
Heat crawled up my cheeks when he stepped into my personal space. Since we have been married, we had maintained a proper distance between us but now, he was towering over me and his eyes were fixated on my dopatta, analyzing it.
"Where do I start?" He said in a confused voice.
"There are pins on the table." I pointed towards the safety pins.
He picked up one pin and then set one end of dopatta on my right shoulder. His fingers then curved around the shirt material and I felt his breath on the side of my face while his fingers grazed the skin of my shoulder. Thanks to the heavy layer of makeup on my face, he couldn't see me blushing.
"Ouch." I said when the sharp pin grazed my skin.
"Sorry." He said and angled his neck to concentrate on what he was doing. "It must be a torture wearing this."
"Hmm. But you don't get to dress up like this every day." I said.
While I was looking to the other side, I felt his eyes on me, observing me from very closely. I whipped my head to him, catching him looking at me red handed. His sudden embarrassment gave me pure satisfaction and I bit my lips to stop myself from smiling.
"It's done." He said, scooting away from me.
"Thanks." I said and stared in the mirror one last time before leaving for reception.
Downstairs, the whole reception hall was decorated in deep violet and white. With all eyes on us, we walked from the entrance to the stage side by side, passing fake smiles to everyone around us. My parents and Mom and Dad, all of them led us to stage and there, we were seated on the fancy couch.
"You look radiating." Mom said and I returned her smile.
"Such a beautiful girl." A woman, who was probably Faaris' relative said to me. "You are a lucky man Faaris."
"Indeed." Faaris replied with a forced smile. Would it kill him to sound a little convincing?
"You can hold each other's hands now. Don't be shy." My maternal aunt said.
"It's fine." I said, hesitating.
"Aww. They are so shy." Another uncle said.
God, who are these people and why haven't I seen them before?
"No, we---" My words got stuck in my throat when Faaris took my hand in his large one and interlaced our fingers. I looked at his direction and found him smiling at whatever a teenage boy was saying to him.
His hand was large and warm against my small and cold hand. Holding hands might seem like a small deal but it wasn't for me. It felt weirdly intimate to have my fingers intertwined with him in such an oddly comforting manner.
The whole party went like that, with different relatives coming to greet us and saying their congratulations. Faaris and I mantained the act of a loving couple by holding hands and passing fake smiles to each other every now and then.
I heaved a sigh of relief when the function finally came to its end and we were allowed to retire for the night. Most of the guests had left so Faaris and I made a mutual decision to go back to our room now.
"Stay a little. You haven't eaten properly." Mom said.
"Let them go, Aunty. They are obviously eager to be alone right now." Maheen said and my eyes widened in embarrassment.
"Maheen!" I gave her a hard glare.
"What? Did I say something wrong, Faaris Bhai?" Maheen winked at Faaris, who looked just as embarassed as me.
"When did you become so shameless Maheen?" Mama scolded her and she pouted in return. "Go beta, take some rest." She then said to me.
I nodded and once again locked one hand around Faaris' arm and held my dress with my other hand. "Sorry. Maheen doesn't think before speaking." I said to him once we were out of hearing range of everyone.
"That's a common issue with Pakistanis." He muttered under his breath. I rolled my eyes at this and controlled myself from stabbing his foot with my five inches heel.
Once we were finally outside the hall, I left his arm and walked in front of him instead. He silently followed me to the elevator, and from there to our suite on the top floor.
The whole suite was a mess. Half of the luggage had been packed for our flight tomorrow and the rest was yet to be packed. I made my way through the suitcases into the room and then towards the mirror.
Taking off all the pins of the dopatta was harder than setting it in the first place. By the time I was done with it, I had more than ten safety pins on the dressing table. Putting the dopatta aside, I then slowly untangled my hair and took off the bobby pins one by one. Thankfully, unlike my Barat, my hair didn't end up looking like a bird's nest this time.
"The function was... Ya Allah!" I screamed as soon as I turned around. Behind me, Faaris was standing with his naked chest and a T-shirt in his hands. "What are you doing?" I asked, staring at his muscular chest with wide eyes that was staring back at me.
"I'm changing obviously. It's not exactly a rocket science." He said and put the T-shirt over his head. The muscles of his stomach clenched with each movement and my cheeks started to burn at the sight.
"There is bathroom for that. You don't see me changing in the room." I said, putting my hands over my eyes.
"Don't be overdramatic Noor, I'm not entirely naked." He said and walked past me. I peeked from the space in between my fingers to see if he was decent.
"If we are going to live together, you need to change such habits of yours." I said.
"You don't hear me complaining about your bad habits." He scowled.
"What bad habits?" I rested my hand on my hips and asked.
"Look around. The whole suite is a mess because of your clothes, shoes, bags and what not." He said.
I felt embarrassed at his accusation but I chose not to let him know that. Instead, I held my head high and responded, "News flash, I'm a newly wed bride who brought her whole life with her in few suitcases. Of course, there will be mess. You mister, need to learn how to compromise."
"I'm compromising. Do you think I wanted to share my room with a woman?" He said.
My nostrils flared at this. "Well, men aren't a delight either. Your shoes stink, do you know that?" I said.
His brown eyes widened at my words and he frowned. "No, they do not."
"You better get your sense of smell tested, Mr. Faaris Humayun Shah." I said as I checked my suitcase for a night dress.
"Ugh, why are we even arguing Noor?" He groaned from behind me.
"You started it." I shrugged.
"I did not." He said.
"Whatever helps you sleep at night." I said and made my way into the bathroom to change.
By the time I returned to the bedroom, he had made himself comfortable under the blanket and now his eyes were on his mobile screen. Turning off the lights, I lay down on my side of the bed and turned my back to him.
"Good night." I heard him say.
"Good night." I replied.
•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
Now that they are finally married, their lovestory is going to start. Buckle your seatbelts.
My creativity is at an all time low. Writing even one sentence seems like a difficult task. Pray for me. 🥺
Noor's dress