'Hey, we are here' I felt a nudge on my shoulder, and I opened my eyes and stared at Shahzaib, who looked away as soon I noticed him.
'We are home' He cleared his throat and got out of the car. I got out of the car and looked at an exquisite home in front of me. I was far from home. I had never been close to a house so big in my entire life. It wasn't obnoxiously big, but it was in an affluent neighborhood and looked posh.
I was too stunned by looking at the house that I almost forgot Shahzaib was waiting for me. I turned and saw him gazing at me instead. He questioned me with his eyes when he noticed my startled face.
'I don't get it,' I said on my way to him.
'Don't get what?' He took out our bags from the trunk of the car.
'Why do you need money when you're already rich?' I went to get my bag, but he stopped me and asked me to ring the doorbell instead.
'You are such a mystery,' I said while waiting for someone to open the door.
'And you? What are you hiding?' I heard him say from behind as he inched closer to me, teasing me.
'I am not hiding anything' I peeked at him and caught him staring at me intently. Before I could say anything, he took my hand in his and gave it a little squeeze just in time when someone opened the door, and I saw his brother. Before coming here, he showed a picture of everyone, so I knew who everyone was. Shahzaib's little brother Yusaf was three years younger than him and married his childhood friend right after college, named Kanwal. They had a seven-year-old son named Saif.
'We have been waiting all day for you, man,' Yusaf said before coming to hug his brother.
'I am Yusaf, welcome home Seher' He welcomed me nicely and invited us in.
I didn't know what to expect, but all the assumptions I had in my mind quickly disappeared when I met the rest of the family. I always wondered what kind of people lived in such big houses. I thought they would be arrogant and show off their money. Yes, they were rich, but they were humane. Shahzaib's grandmother held me so lovingly when I met her that for a moment, I didn't know how to react. It felt like they were all waiting for me instead of Shahzaib. Then I met Kanwal, who made me a cup of tea and offered to show me around the house after dinner. We sat together for a while, and Shahzaib did most of the talking while I stayed safe with saying with few words here and there.
I was just observing everyone and soaking all this new change. I was thinking how different our world was for the rich and poor. In my house, there was dirt everywhere, even when we cleaned our house every day, but I could hardly spot any dirt from anyone. Did the dust also choose the homes of the poor on purpose? Did the wind also favor the people with money and keep them safe from all dust and pollution.
'Is everyone okay?' I heard Shahzaib's grandmother asking me.
'No, I am fine' I smiled at her politely.
'I'll go get started on dinner. Seher, your bags are in the room already. Would you like me to show you your room?' Kanwal asked me a while later.
'It's okay, I'll take her,' Shahzaib quickly said, and Kanwal smiled at her husband before going to the kitchen.
'Of course, you'll manage,' His brother said in a joking tone, and Shazaib knocked his head before coming to me to take me to his room. When we got inside the room, I saw all our bags were already there.
He closed the bedroom door behind him, and we both looked at the bed and then at each other.
'We'll manage,' I said to myself and went to grab some things out of my bag.
'Do you need any help?' He asked, looking around the room strangely.
'When did you come here last?' I asked him, and he stopped shifting.
'I only stay in this room when I am visiting. I moved out a long time,' He said and grabbed a clean set of clothes.
'You need to use the washroom?' He asked before going.
'No, go ahead,' I responded, and he went inside. I took out all the items from the bags and organized them neatly, and put the luggage away. I was putting my clothes in a closet, and when I opened one of the drawers to store my intimate wear, I noticed some photographs. I didn't mean to look, but the pictures were facing up, so I peeked, and I saw a picture of Shahzaib with a girl whose picture I saw in his wallet earlier. They were exchanging rings. It seemed like an engagement photograph. He didn't have to tell me about his past relationships. It was none of my business then why did I feel terrible about it? I closed the drawer immediately, and just as I turned to check another drawer, Shahzaib walked out of the washroom, and I dropped my intimate wear when I saw him standing half-naked in front of me.
'Shahzaib,' I yelled in panic and quickly threw a shirt at him, whichever was the closest to me. Instead of putting on a shirt, he started laughing.
'It's not funny, put on your shirt,' I claimed and went to pick up my personal things from the floor. His laugh died down when he noticed me. I felt self-conscious when I felt his eyes on me as I struggled to find space for my items. He finally put on a shirt and walked towards me. I moved back and watched him as he cleared one of the drawers for me and turned around when he noticed me feeling uncomfortable.
'Thanks,' I mentioned and went to the washroom to change my clothes. We all gathered once again at the dinner table, but I met another addition of the family, his nephew Saif. I had never interacted with children before, so I didn't want to say. I felt terrible when he looked at me, expecting me to say something funny or talk to him, so I just smiled at him, catching everyone's eyes on me.
'Sorry, I don't know how to behave around children,' I excused, feeling nervous for some reason, not because I wanted to impress his family but because I felt bad for letting the kid down when he looked at me with some expectations.
'Don't worry, Saif will take of everything, give him a few hours, he will ease up,' Kanwal responded in a cheering tone. After dinner, we all sat in the living room, and I got some questions about my work and our story. I told them the same tale Shahzaib and I discussed. I worked with Jaan, Shahzaib, and I met through him and became friends, he proposed, and I said yes. We thought it would be nice to keep things simple.
'Shahzaib told me about your father, sorry to hear about your loss...your mother, how is she? If we had known about this earlier, then we would have sent a proper proposal and have spoken to your mother.' His grandmother said to me when she asked me to sit next to her. Instead of replying to her, I gazed at Shahzaib, who was watching us from across the room.
'I am sorry it all happened so fast,' I said shyly.
'Oh no, it's not your fault. We are delighted. As long as you and Shahzaib are happy, we are happy. I waited for this day for such a long time.' She held my hand and caressed it gently. I didn't know how to return such affection. She hardly knew me.
'Your mother, is she happy?' She asked me innocently.
'She will understand' I nodded, and thankfully she didn't ask me anything about it further.
'Do you play piano?' Saif directed a question at me out of nowhere. I turned and saw him standing near the door.
'No, do you?' I asked him.
He nodded.
'Can I listen?' I asked carefully.
'Come' He gestured me to follow him, and I quickly glanced at Shahzaib, who gave me a cool nod. I followed Said to another room which was filled with toys and different instruments. This was a wonderland, a child's dream. I smiled as I checked all the fun games, toys, and instruments around me.
'This is nice,' I stated and sat near the piano. Saif sat on the seat and started playing. He missed a few keys here and there and apologized for each mistake which made me smile. He was trying so hard not to mess up and getting upset whenever he made a small error.
'It's okay, keep going,' I told him.
'I always get stuck at this part,' He complained.
'Can I try?' I asked him, the keys didn't look too confusing. He shifted on the bench to make some room for me. I tried to play the tune but messed up too. I laughed.
'Let's forget about it' I closed the music book, started playing random notes, and asked him to join me.
'My music teacher doesn't play like this,' I heard him say while playing.
'Your music teacher sounds boring,' I replied, and he giggled.
'Is that right?' I heard a voice and turned to find Shahzaib standing a few feet behind us, gazing in my direction. I gave him a questioning look as he made his way to us.
'I am not getting the last part,' Saif said to him. Instead of answering him, he took his hand and slowly played the last bit on the piano, one key after another. He was his piano teacher.
'She doesn't get the last part too. Show it to her too,' Saif instructed him.
'No, it's fine, I got it,' I told them.
'Show me,' Shahzaib demanded just as I was to get up from the bench. I tried to play but messed up. I closed my eyes in frustration.
'I don't know,' I said in defeat.
'Hold on,' I felt him reaching towards me, holding my hand, and guiding my finger to the piano. I opened my eyes, slightly turned my head, and saw his face almost resting on my shoulder as he leaned towards me, my back touching his torso. The tune stopped, but he didn't move his hand from mine. The room was cold because of the air conditioning then why was I feeling so hot?
'I got it' I pulled my hand from his reach and managed to get up from the bench, facing him again.
Before anyone of us could say anything to each other, Kanwal came to the room to ask me if I wanted to see the rest of the house, and I couldn't be more grateful for the timing. My heart finally rested when I walked out of the room and away from Shahzaib's torturing gaze.
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