"Today You are You. That is truer than true. There is no one alive, who is you-er than you!"— Dr. Suess
I am dreaming, I am sure of it. I see Simba wearing roller-blades, and dancing spinning circles around Kulsoom Nani, who is....spanking Areeb with her cane. Most strange it is. Definitely dreaming. Adiba is munching something besides me, and trying to poke me in the arm now and then. I tell her to quit it.
"You have drool all over your neck Minnie." she pokes me again.
"Ouch! THAT hurts Adiba! QUIT IT!" I frown at her.
"WAKE UP MINA!" She shrieks right inside my ear. I scramble awake finally.
"Whaa?? what the HELL?" I squint sleepily at a widely-grinning Adiba. She is dressed in comfy silk pajamas, and looks way too well-rested for 7:30 in the morning. I scowl at the analog clock on my wall, and poke her right back.
"Are you high or something? waking me up at this ungodly hour!" I try rubbing out the sleepy after-effects from my eyes. Adiba bounces back excitedly on my bed, spreading crumbs all over my bed-sheet. She was munching on one of the creme donuts from last night. Gross.
"I am high alright. HIGH ON SUGAH BAYBEE!" she squeels. I scowl some more. I hate morning people. Fine, you love waking up with the birds and the bees; no need to spread your joy to the rest of us! My best-friend and sister, is not only a morning person at the moment, she is also on a mile high sugar rush.
"When did you wake up?" I growl at her. She gets up and strides to my dressing table where she has perched a steaming hot coffee mug. EMV yawns; 'This better be for me, or I am turning on The Bitch Mode.'
Thankfully, Adiba hands me the cup, and I spend long minutes simply inhaling the creamy goodness. I feel half-way human already, as I quietly sip my venom of choice. Adiba peers cautiously at me; "Feeling civilized yet?" I grunt back.
She shrugs and goes on; "I woke up like more than an hour ago! got freaking hungry, and bored, so I kind of raided your fridge." She makes an apologetic pout.
"It's your fridge too now!" I say between sips. "Where's Ali?"
Adiba turns pink at the question. "He's uhhh, tired out. Still sleeping. We had a long night..."
I nearly burn my mouth trying to swallow hurriedly. Sputtering like crazy, I gasp out, "STOP RIGHT THERE! TMI (Too Much Information) DUDE. TMI!!!" I may have been curious if she had married anyone other than my brother, but seriously I had no wish to listen to her describe her wedding night with details, I would have to pour acid on my brains afterward.
She sticks her tongue out at me; "I wasn't going into details! we just talked. A LOT." Her color deepens at this confession and her expression turns dreamy.
I am suddenly envious of her. I try to stop the feeling, but it is so natural, and uncontrollable that I can't help it. She has something that I will probably never have; A partner who loves her as she loves him. There's a shared perfection, and comfort in what she has with Ali. It is not dramatic, or over-the-top. It is real. Without pretension, conditions and deceit. I inwardly repeat "Mashallah" (praise to Allah) and a bunch of other prayers for their eternal happiness. I want them to remain untouched from my envy.
After I got over my sleepiness, I actually reveled in having Adiba around. She had never been allowed to stay over at our house (because of Ali), even though I had gone for sleep-overs at her place. We had fun planning a brunch for today. I was treating the newly-weds from my own pocket. When Ali joined us in the planning, the whole process took all the more longer because they couldn't stop staring at each other. EMV wouldn't quit making gagging noises, even though it was kind of adorable.
Mom and Dad were eager to push us out the door, because of all the early-morning ruckus we were making. So we ended up heading over to Lal-QIla restaurant for our Sunday Brunch, quite early. The picturesque food place is modeled after an old Mughal Palace, and the entire experience takes you straight back to the days of sword wielding, turbaned sultans, riding majestically on horses. The food is historically, and aesthetically relevant to the theme of the restaurant. Me and Adiba spend hours gushing over the architecture and the Mughal art on the walls. Ali was more interested in menu items of course. We had a lovely terraced table on top of an ancient-looking turret. We were served by attendants dressed in clothes straight out of the movie Mughal-e-Azam. I had also arranged a little surprise for my favorite couple. Halfway through their meal, a group of old-timey royal announcers approached our table, bearing swords, drums, and trumpets. One of them loudly (and in indecipherable, ancient Persian) proclaimed the arrival of a wedding cake for Shehzada Ali and Shehzadi Adiba (Prince Ali and Princess Adiba)
The whole scene left them wide-eyed and shocked, while I shot a phone video recording the whole thing. We were in stitches of laughter by the time, the attendants whipped out an honest-to-god sword to cut the cake with. Needless to say, both of them had a mini-tussle over who'd get to hold the sword. I was laughing over the entire scene so badly, that I'm sure my video will be all shaky and messed up.
While we lazed about and debated a third round of buffet helpings, Ali left us alone to attend to a work-related phone call. Adiba yanked me closer and said in an undertone; "I forgot to ask you about it yesterday, but now I am getting too curious....What's the deal with you and Shehzer?"
I had taken a bite of a spinach croquette, but her question was so abrupt, that it made me cough it right up. I was so flustered, that I debated darting around the entire scene, but I have never been much of a liar. It felt weird having a secret that Adiba wasn't privy to. I hadn't even mentioned Shehzer's interest in me, or the fact that my engagement to Areeb had caused him to leave the city.
I drag in a long breath; "It's complicated."
Adiba snorts; "What am I? a pre-schooler?, I can deal complicated Minnie, now dish!"
I end up telling her everything about my encounters with Shehzer. Her expression grows wide-eyed when I tell her about his proposal. She is appropriately sympathetic over the guitar party fiasco, and righteously indignant over Areeb's contributions to the complicated scene. I don't know why, but she is ecstatic over his recent actions for me. Her eyes are gleaming with determination as she whispers to me; "Minnie. The guy is head over heels in love with you. You have got to get him to propose again!!"
I recoil from the very idea of another relationship. My heart races, and my hands are clammy, and we are only discussing stuff at this point. I do envy her love with my brother, but I am very scared of it for myself. What if he runs away from me too? What if his actions are a ruse to get me to commit?
I am very insecure about my ability to maintain a relationship with anyone. the reasons for which are pretty obvious. Truth is; I don't trust him with my heart.
"Adiba, I don't think I'm ready for marriage." I stress back.
She waves away my worries; "Of course you're not ready to marry anyone else! but this is Shehzer. Call it a gut feeling. but I think you have feelings for him too, you're just not ready to acknowledge them."
I open my mouth to argue, but Adiba stuffs a croquette inside it, to get me to shut up. I chew angrily, as she continues; "Babe, you need someone like Shehzer in your life, someone who puts you before them, and before you pile that bullshit excuse on me, let me tell you; this is more than just a gorgeous face." She leans forward for emphasis "You. Like. HIM!!"
Of course, I like him. What's not to like? He is the single most caring, and compassionate man I have ever come across. His humor, his wit are just part of the many things that endear him to me. That is the root of the problem I guess; I don't want to get too attached to someone. This gives that person immeasurable power over you. The power to hurt you if/when they leave.
I shake my head to disregard Adiba's eager suggestions.
"Even if he were to propose again, I'm not sure Mom and Dad will agree that easily, he does live abroad...."
"If who were to propose again?" Ali's voice makes both of us jump. He is staring coldly at me, his expression more serious than I have ever seen. I swallow noisily. Adiba is biting her lips, and pretending to blend with the background. Ali's tone brooks no argument this time; "Mina. I'm asking you for the last time. Who. Proposed?"
I'm not sure why I am so scared of giving out his name. Ali won't kill him or anything; because in all honesty: Nothing Happened. Ever. I look desperately towards Adiba for help, she gives me a helpless shrug.
"Mina. A name." Ali growls out.
"Shehzer did." I blurt out. "After Areeb's proposal. He had no idea I was already committed. Please don't confront him or anything, I swear he was very polite and civilized thr-"
Ali holds up a hand to quiet me.
"Did he approach you about it after the breakup?" he grills me.
"N-No!" I stutter.
"Do you like him?"
"Yes....NO!...I DON'T KNOW ALI! Geez!" I scowl back at him. "I don't like your tone! I'm not a criminal OK?"
His expression has softened to contemplation rather than murder.
I have a feeling that Shehzer will receive a similar grilling soon.
AGH!! Why is my life so crazy?
A/N:
Hi there lovely people!
Photo in description is of Karachi's Lal Qila restaurant as mentioned in the chapter. It is a must-have experience for history buffs and foodies! Oh! and the whole sword-cut-cake and royal announcer scene actually can be arranged for newly weds! LOL. :D
DO Vote and Comment!
<3 Cheers!