She walks out of the room towards the backyard where the celebration was happening. Her eyes roam around until she found Kabir's eyes. She smiles as she tries to break free from her husband's hold.
"I want to go to Kabir". She whispers even though the loud sounds around wouldn't have heard her
He gaze at her and then at Kabir as he nodded. It took more than a minute before he let her hand go and an immediate frown appear on his face as he looks at his palm. She was sure he must be disgusted or something for holding her hand.
She shakes her head to clear her thoughts and walks towards Kabir who straighten from his position once she was closer and his lips twitching a little. A smile for her. It warms her heart even when the gesture is so small.
"You look beautiful". Kabir said as he makes space beside him for her
She sits trying to adjust her dress and Kabir moves to stand giving her the space to adjust her dress without creezing it. She smiles at him.
"You don't have to do that".
"My wife taught me better". Kabir shrugged and she couldn't help but giggle imagining his wife scolding him, "Laugh all you want. Even you know how scary she can be when she is angry. Her dresses are one of her pride".
Her eyes soften, "She loves you".
"So do I". His face appears more humane, then he looks at her, "Do you love him, Ziva?"
Her smile vanished almost instantly and the warmth that she felt just a moment ago disappeared.
Her eyes turn to find him and he was busy standing with his family speaking about something. His face was relaxed and calculating. Yet, his eyes weren't angry or annoyed. He looks genuinely interested in listening to them. He wasn't agitated by them. He was a part of them. A little darker part of them. But still a part. Nothing how he is with her.
"Does it matter? I am married to him".
She saw the anger on Kabir's face before she could feel it coming off him.
"Just like I got you married to him in a matter of hours, I can get you divorce in less time". His voice was stern
"I am ok. I promise. I just- you know how hard it is for me. I never thought about such a big change in my life with everything going on. I think I am still in shock and a bit of euphoria. A mixture of them has caused a bit of anxiety too".
"You didn't answer my question, Ziva". He noted and of course, he did because nothing escapes him
She smiles at him with a heavy heart shielding away her emotions as she always does, "Of course, I do. It took me time to come to terms with. But, he was patient and present".
Lies.
Before he could've asked her further she heard someone calling her name and found Azaan Zafar walking towards her with a wide grin.
"He is an idiot". Kabir said walking away
"Hi bhabhi". Azaan said excitedly, "I finally have another bhabhi to spoil me".
He genuinely looks excited about her. Her heart warms as he talks a mile about how he has been waiting to meet her since the day he heard about her.
He didn't like it.
He should be focused on the conversation his family was having around him. He should be listening to them because he always does it. Yet, his eyes find her in this crowd. Somehow, it irritates him that he had to find her. He wanted to be able to look at her without interruption.
But, each time his eyes find her, the world around him halts. Every time he looks at her he found his heart fluttering. He hadn't even thought of her as a girl not that long ago and she was proving his image of her wrong. So very wrong. Because she wasn't a young girl, she was a woman.
Now, she was his wife.
Yet, she was standing there laughing at something Azaan said to her. Azaan was always the carefree and animated type. He had the charm to lure people into a comfort zone. It seems his charm works on his wife. Because he had never seen her laugh like that much less be carefree. She is always on guard and never a second goes by when she is comfortable around anyone, especially people.
He knows for a fact that she has something against men. He had seen her (and by that, he means he is always looking at her) to know that she never feels comfortable around them. Even when he knows she and Kabir has a history, she is never that comfortable around him. It starts to burn his blood whenever she would look at Azaan and a smile permanently on her lips.
If he thought she looks beautiful this woman just keep raising his standards. Because she wasn't merely beautiful, no, that word doesn't do justice to what he was watching right now. She was ethereal. She was sinister.
She was captivating his attention by existing. That dress was made for her. He would know because when he first saw her in that dress, he had felt his heart beating so loud.
He clenched his fist tightly looking at her as she leans in to see something on Azaan's phone and she gasp looking at him. He can't be that interesting for her. He is just an ordinary playful man, no, a boy. Is she into playful boys? She certainly didn't look that way to him. She is too serious and too quiet to match someone like Azaan's energy. She is more of a person who wants to stay in the shadows and observe. She is someone who will prefer staying in her apartment with a nice movie to going out and doing something wild (like Azaan).
As he starts to think about what sort of person she is, he realizes that he is thinking about himself. He is the perfect match for her. He is quiet, stays in the shadows, and prefers staying outside. He would run at the thought of a crowd and people much like her.
He exhales when she moves away from him. Yet, Azaan continues to chatter a mile. He can feel her energy level dropping and picking at her mood. She looks anxious now. She looks like she is draining slowly even when she tries to keep up with Azaan. He hates how she is ok with Azaan. If only he can kick Azaan-
Before he could finish his thought, someone slapped the back of Azaan's head and he had never felt satisfaction of this sort. He almost felt a smile appearing on his lips to find Azaan's one and only competition - Zaina Akbar.
Zaina looks similar to him at the moment. The girl is as bubbly as Azaan and as much trouble too. She keeps her father on his toes and he can only imagine her future husband.
Zaina holds Azaan's ear scolding him. She manages to take Azaan away and his attention away from his wife. He still felt the tight gripping on his chest and he realize it wasn't just Azaan being near her. His body now physically protests when he is away from her. His body much like his heart wants her closer with no distance between them.
His feet carry him to her. He didn't even stop to think that this all is strange. That he is supposed to hate her. That she is his enemy.
Once he reaches near to the place she was sitting, he knelt in front of her. Just as his hand reaches out and holds her, the tightness in his chest eases. It almost disappears from him. Like it was never there.
She frowns looking at him which makes sense because his actions were as strange to him as they were to her. She opens her mouth to say something but then closes it glaring at him. He had hurt her. Every time he finds his parents in the same room as her, he went back to the past. A past he had tried so hard to hide. He feels like he is back in that darkness with only four walls as his partner. Where he thought the world and colors don't exist until one day he was taken out of it.
Before he could've said anything to her the ladies circle them asking his wife to come along. She tried standing but he was still there holding her hand. He must've imagined it but he saw redness spreading over her cheeks and he could swear his heart stopped.
It was the most endearing sight. A sight he wishes to embed in his head. He did. He continues to gaze at her forgetting everything around and not even considering the reason for that softness to appear on her face. He just continues to look at her. He felt a hand on his shoulder and he turns to his mother's voice (as usual). The trance he was in disappeared altogether. He jumps to his feet not even looking back as he marches to the opposite corner flexing his hand to get rid of the feeling of her touch on him.
"Do you know how to make any sweets?" His mother asked as they enter the kitchen
She shakes her head, "I didn't learn to make anything".
His mother waves a dismissal hand, "Good. Don't make anything for him anyways. I taught him how to take care of his wife and the women in his life. He knows how to cook, clean and do everything else. He should treat you just as your parents did". She stiffen at her words because if her husband started to treat her like her parents she might not live this time, "I already made a dish, we are actually starting a test".
"A test?" She asked confused when she looks at a dish with sweets in it, "What's this?"
"This is kheer". His mother exclaimed happily, "But the twist is that one of these bowls has a kheer with salt in it".
Her eyes widen, "Why?"
"Obviously to test your husband". His mother said gleefully
She smiles awkwardly because she was sure he will not miss a chance to embarrass her in front of everyone. She could feel the anger radiating off him when he tried this kheer. He would jump at the first chance to mock her and insult her to his heart's content. She felt her heart clench at the thought and she tried to dismiss the ladies from following through this plan.
She felt her anxiety rising and her heart leaping out of her chest as the women gathered the men after placing the two large bowl of kheer. The thing was that they asked her husband to try the kheer before anyone else.
"I want to eat it too!". Azaan groaned, "Why must go first? It's just a kheer".
"Azaan, shut up and let him try his wife's cooking first. What is your problem?" Zaina rolls her eyes
She found her husband's eyes on her and she didn't know what to do anymore. She felt sweat rolling down her back as she plans her escape from here. She couldn't even look in anyone's eyes while her husband takes the bowl from her hand and his fingers brushed hers.
She wanted to throw the bowl across the wall or throw him somewhere because the horror of after he tries the kheer was just too much. She gritted her teeth as he takes a small scoop of kheer in his mouth and she can see the exact moment he realize the kheer is not as sweet as it should be.
She waited for him to puke the kheer out or to start acting out to show how disgusting the kheer is. The women kept giggling among themselves. She hold back a gasp when he swallowed the kheer and continues to take another scoop without any words or any displeasure on his face.
"How is it?" His mother asked, "Is it good?"
He gulped another scoop, "It's delicious".
He was lying through his teeth and his lies sent the ladies into another giggling session. His mother extended her hands towards the bowl with salty kheer but he holds the bowl out of her reach.
"Actually". Her husband announced, "I just remember that we have a hospital case we need to go back to and everyone will expect some sweets so I will take these bowls with me".
"All of it?"
He nodded vigorously, "Yes, too many people".
He was after her heart she was sure of it. As much as she tries to guard her heart he was breaking through her guards.