Pov Samira
With a smile on my lips, I opened my eyes. Esan was sleeping peacefully beside me, my head resting on his chest, his face buried in my hair scattered everywhere.
Memories of the night flashed through my mind as the light of day flooded into the room. My cheeks warmed automatically, he had shown me how much he loved me, and how perfect we were for each other, making me rediscover my own body just like his, I had once imagined our first night together but I didn't think it would be so intimate, so splendid.
There had been no rosewater love songs, no vanilla-scented candles, no flower petals on a comfortable mattress, but still, everything had been so sweet.
Esan finally wiggled slightly against me before opening his eyes, he was lost at first, and looked in all directions trying to find his bearings, then he set his eyes on me, a radiant smile spreading across his face.
"Assalam Alaikkum Mrs Farooqi" he said lovingly.
"Assalam Alaikkum Mr.Farooqi" I replied in the same tone, smiling.
He placed a kiss on my forehead, and I savoured the sensation, then he devoured me shamelessly with his eyes, and I suddenly remembered, looking at his naked torso in what state we were in, I clutched the blanket to my chest even though I was wearing his shirt which, by the way, was the only thing I was wearing at the time.
"You're shameless, Esan," I said, closing his eyes with my hands.
His only reply was a mocking laugh, and he took my hand, which was covering his eyes, and looked at me mischievously, "I'm shameless? Me, Samira, you don't seem to remember which of us was more shameless last night," he said teasingly.
I blushed, this morning I'd decided to look more like a tomato than a human. "If you keep this up, there won't be another night like this" I threaten him falsely.
And it worked, he gave me a frightened look and held me tightly against him. "Esan, we have to leave now, it's daylight" I reminded him as I saw him fall back asleep.
"I don't feel like it Samira, I'm fine with you at the moment, I don't want to leave our cosy cocoon" he said in a sulky voice reminding me sometimes that he was close to a five year old child, and to think that he was a father too.
"Esan, are you really enjoying this time? "I asked him.
He shook his head vigorously, "even more so because I'm standing next to you?
He shook his head again sharply, "So you're going to love it even more when these serial killers join us soon because we're taking a lot
of time to leave, it's great ! We're even going to be able to share our huge blanket with them" I said, ironically playful.
He shook his head sharply a third time, smiling, before understanding my words correctly : "WHAT...? BEURK! NOT EVEN IN A DREAM" he shouted as he got up to sit down.
I burst out laughing and he glared at me "Samira, you really like spoiling my romantic mood, we don't need to have children in the room to do it, you know how to do it on your own" he said, sulking, making me laugh even harder.
But then I saw him turn his head at me, and I got back up, approaching him on my knees. "Esan, don't pout at me, I'm sorry," I said, holding back his head.
He gave me a sidelong glance but continued to look the other way, so we're going to do this the hard way. I plant a kiss on the corner of his mouth and he immediately grabs me to kiss me before releasing me.
"Stop sulking, you know perfectly well that you're incapable of not talking to me or looking at me for more than 5 minutes", I remind him.
An amused smile broke out on his lips, "You've really got something to say this morning, it's all right, you're forgiven, Mrs Anti-Romantic" he replied, amused.
"Let's stop blabbering, we've got to go, get dressed! "I reminded him in an authoritative voice
"Of course," he replied, trying to remove my top.
I slapped him on the hand to stop him" Can I ask what you're doing? "I ask him, holding my shirt firmly against me.
"Samira, how am I supposed to dress if you're holding my shirt hostage? "he said teasingly.
I looked at my shirt for a moment, having forgotten that it was his, even though I'd only remembered that detail fifteen minutes ago.
"Well...Esan don't look at me like that... It's your fault, you've mixed me up with your morning romances" I defended myself, even though I knew from the way he arched his eyebrows that my answer was absurd.
"A very pertinent justification" he added sarcastically.
I glowered at him, and he gave me an innocent smile. "Turn around on the other side so I can change and give you your shirt back" I said, half changing the subject.
I heard him chuckle, "Samira, seriously, you're embarrassed that I should see you when I had more than a glimpse of you last night," he replied, amused.
Ignoring his remark and red-faced, I force him to turn the other way, "So shy, my wife" I hear him whisper to himself.
"Esan, you'd better not turn around!" I warned him sternly.
I gave him one last look, grabbed my chudidar and hastily undid the buttons on his shirt. "Esan?" I call to him in a small voice.
"I'm still not looking, I promise, Samira, my eyes are closed," he replies softly.
I took off his shirt completely and put on my chudidar, finally approaching him and handing him his path, which he picked up, grumbling that I didn't trust him. It's not that I didn't trust him, the truth is that despite the intimacy we shared, I was still a very modest person. "Good boy", I said, placing a kiss on his forehead as he pulled on his shirt.
He smiled at me and his hand made its way down my back, up the closure of my chudidar to the top. "Thank you", I whispered to him.
We get up, ready to leave, we should absolutely thank the old couple again, as we leave the room my eyes fill with fear.
"Oh dear, Juliette and Romeo, how do we meet again?" said Arvind ironically, standing surrounded by his men.
Esan stood in front of me, I was lost, where was the old couple, they hadn't done anything to them had they?
"Esan..., we've got to get out of here," I said, grabbing his arm in fear.
He turned back to me, nodding with a confident look. He was thinking. "Listen, Samira, nothing's going to happen to us, it's me they want, you're going to get out of here, and I'm going to go with them" he said, probably losing his head.
"I hope you're joking Esan, I won't let you go with them, either you come with me or I come with you, there's no way we're going to get separated" I tell him angrily.
"Samira, please try to understand the situation, we're in danger, the only way out is for one of us to go with them, and the other to go and look for help outside" he tries to reason with me.
I shook my head negatively, begging him not to do that, it's out of the question, those brutes were just waiting to kill him, no, no, never a wife could let her husband go to his death.
"I'll come with you without retaliating, let my wife get out of this," he said, advancing towards them.
Arvind and his men nodded positively.
"Esan !" I called but it was too late, they had him trapped.
Arvind advanced towards me and slapped me hard, knocking me to the ground, my ears ringing from the brutality of the blow.
"You know far too much, we told you to stay calm but you had to come back to save your husband, you're a real pain in the arse, that's why you're going to die first, and don't worry your dear husband will be joining you in barely an hour" he said mockingly with his cursed laugh.
The noise alerted Esan to the situation, and he rushed towards me. He put his hand on my left cheek, and I cowered against him, in his arms. "Esan's not going with them," I cried, and his arms held me tightly to him.
"I'm not going, not now that they've dared to lay a finger on you, I'm going to smash those monkeys' faces in, one by one, and then we're going home," he said seriously, wiping away my tears.
And then, before I knew what was happening, Esan gave Arvind a huge blow, making him fall backwards, and he started punching all the men in the room without stopping, I was amazed at his techniques.
"He looked like a ninja" said my amazed mind.
I couldn't believe it, I married a ninja, Esan became a ninja when he was angry, once the men had all been neutralised on the floor, I remembered the moment when my attackers had ended up on the floor in the car park agonising in pain.
He came back to me, helping me to my feet, "It might swell up" he said, touching my burning cheek.
"Are you a ninja secretly employed by the country ?" I asked him at a loss.
"No, of course I'm not ! Samira, have you forgotten that my parents made me practise almost all the fighting arts, or what" he asked me, offended that I hadn't remembered, but I really wasn't aware of the details.
I smiled as I cleaned his slightly blood-dripping lips, pressing down hard. "Ouch!" he exclaimed, wincing in pain.
"That's for trying to leave me alone and go off with your new best friend for ever," I said with satisfaction.
"Bestfriend for ever? Are you serious? Samira, I was just trying to protect you" he defends himself, smiling mischievously.
I was about to start confusing him just to annoy him when a huge thing burst in my face after an immense noise, I closed my eyes, touching my face, I felt a liquid dripping and I opened my eyes constantly with a horrified expression that it was blood.
"Esan..." I said as I looked up at him, and my heart began to pound with unease.
His chest...., it was open.... A lot of blood... Too much blood coming out...
"Samira..." he tried to say, but fell to the ground, losing his balance.
I followed in panic, catching him just before his head hit the ground. "Esan... Esan..." I call out, screaming.
"I'm fine. Samira.., everything's fine, I told you, I'm a big guy" he said weakly, smiling at me.
I burst into tears, I had to call for help, how...? I was looking everywhere for a solution.
"Maybe you're looking for this?" said a voice, handing me a mobile phone.
And I hurried off to the hospital, explaining my situation, telling them what village we were in and cursing myself for not knowing the exact location.
"Esan, please hold on for me? Help's on the way" I said, patting his face to keep him awake.
He smiled weakly at me, and I tried to warm him up. "I told you not to think yourself happy with him, you shouldn't have humiliated me that day, now he's paying the price for you," a voice said angrily.
At last I recognised the voice in question, I looked at Harshad, he was looking at me with great satisfaction as tears rolled down my cheeks.
"You're just a coward, attacked from behind, that's all you know, Esan will be fine, Allah won't separate me from him, I trust him but you, just wait, I don't know whose face you'll dare to present to our lord after what you've done" I said angrily, looking at the gun he was holding in his hands.
My gaze focused on Esan, "Please stay with me," I said gently, placing a kiss on his forehead.
I felt an immense pain in the back of my head "Let go of me!" I screamed, he was holding a handful of my hair in his hands pulling it so I could look at him properly
"You could have stayed nicely in that idiot's house, I could have finished my job, killed him, got his property back and then come when you're completely devastated by your new life as a widow, and married you, we would have had cute kids, but... but.... INSTEAD, ONCE AGAIN, YOU'VE RUINED EVERYTHING! he yells angrily, pulling my hair even tighter
I glared at him, he was a psychopath, he needed to end up in an asylum. "Never in my life would I have been the wife of someone like you, you don't respect women and you're nothing but a filthy murderer, how many people have you already killed ? Probably hundreds, Esan is the only one I love" I told him clearly, pushing him away from me.
I heard him chuckle "The truth is Samira, I've loved you for a long time, I've been watching you for over 2 years, I was with you in New Zealand, and I followed you to Islamabab, you're just too blind to understand my love, that Esan, he doesn't deserve you, how many times, I've seen you crying secretly for him" he confessed, sending a chill down my spine, I couldn't believe it, he'd been watching me all this time, so these strange things that were happening during my studies, it was him, he followed me everywhere, I turned my attention back to the place, his expression was close to that of someone obsessed. But he wasn't worth it. Esan had closed his eyes.
"Esan please open your eyes" I begged him.
His breathing was very irregular,
"Sa..mira.." he whispered ramblingly
I could hear the sound of the owner of the gun springing into action: "Since you're so blind to accept my love, I'm going to send you off to your deaths together, so enjoy it, it's my wedding present to you," he said ironically.
I closed my eyes, protecting Esan's already badly wounded body.
"Ya Allah, save us, save us Allah" I begged sincerely.
I heard this huge noise again and was expecting to feel a huge pain in my body, but when I opened my eyes, I knew I was in trouble,Harshad lay neutralised on the floor, dozens of policemen and ambulance drivers surrounded me, they rushed towards me, and quickly lifted Esan onto the transport stretcher, I didn't really understand what was happening but my gaze wandered to the old couple standing near the door.
The paramedics started to move the stretcher outwards, and I started to follow in a hurry, stopping in the middle of it with the siren noises making my head spin.
I felt strange, my body was shaking with spasms, I ended up collapsing on the floor, a nurse rushed towards me, to try to help me but darkness quickly filled my consciousness, and I fainted again.