"Half-time, a single point, and the Warrior team from the University of Sydney won the match and qualified for the final match of the tournament at the big stadium" shouted the commentator
The students cheered from behind the bleachers of their gymnasium, where the basketball match was taking place between their team and their opponents from a neighbouring university. The players from the Warrior team rehydrated by drinking their water, while listening to their coach's latest crucial advice.
Zainab wasn't missing a beat, her gaze focused on the team's star player, the captain, Harun Zafar, standing with his water bottle in his hand, his forehead sweaty, despite his tiredness and jerky breathing, he listened determinedly to his coach while motivating his team for the final moments.
"Aren't you jealous ?" asked Reema, Zainab's best friend.
Zainab looked back for a moment at her best friend, who was busy stuffing her face with onion crisps, and motioned for her to look a little further down, which she did.
She saw dozens of young girls devouring Harun with their naked eyes, some openly saying how much they loved being his girlfriend, others inventing strategies to make him fall in love with her.
Zainab pouted as she adjusted the duputta of her chudidar, which earned her several rather judgemental looks. Her family had moved from Pakistan to Australia, where they had settled about ten years ago, but Zainab was proud of her origins and her religion and she wasn't going to change it for anyone, least of all for foreigners who took the liberty of labelling her.
Pouting, she snatched the packet of crisps from her best friend.
"It's your stupid nice husband who's causing your frustration and I'm the one who's suffering the consequences", Reema mumbled, putting a soothing hand on her best friend's shoulder in spite of everything.
Zainab pouted even more, her best friend wasn't wrong, Harun was her cousin and her husband, their respective families had already decreed their alliance a long time ago and they were soon to celebrate their one-year wedding anniversary. However, they didn't live together, Harun had asked that he be financially independent so that he and Zainab could live together, and their family had taken a positive view of this.
To Zainab's great detriment, she had been madly in love with him since she was a little girl, but when she is constantly told that he is going to be her husband, her childish heart eventually falls under his spell.
But she wondered if this was the case with Harun, they had so little conversation that Zainab remembered every word of their entire conversation. His strange behaviour towards her bothered her, and when he asked her not to tell anyone about their relationship, she was even more hurt.
She had told herself that it wasn't to start a rumour, as he was well known, but as time went on, she thought that maybe he was ashamed of her after all, as no one even knew they were cousins. Zain was an intelligent and likeable girl, but Harun apparently didn't think so.
Only Reema was aware of the situation, she had been his best friend since he arrived, the only one not to have judged him, she was half Pakistani and half Australian.
"You know, you should divorce Harun, OK he's handsome but he shows no consideration for his own wife, and you should marry Shahrukh Khan instead, I mean he's handsome and he's got an extraordinary character" said her friend.
Zainab had a smile on her face, Reema couldn't go a second without criticising Harun, she knew she was really angry about the way he openly ignored her at university.
"Reema, he's already married" Zainab reminded her with an amused smile.
"Argh. Wait, I'll find you his sozie, we'll see if Monkey can keep up with him" she assured him.
Zainab shook her head from left to right at her friend's follie." I've already told you not to call Harun, Monkey", she scolded her.
But Reema simply stuck her tongue out at her friend before looking for a suitor on Zainab's phone. She had already warned him that she would stop calling him that the day he stopped behaving like a monkey and actually treated his best friend like a princess.
"It's not my fault he likes eating bananas so much", Reema added with a laugh.
Zainab frowned to show her displeasure, although she held back her laughter so as not to indirectly betray Harun.
"Sorryyy" murmured Reema before concentrating on her task of finding a husband to surpass the captain of her university's basketball team.
Suddenly, Harun's gaze met Zainab's, pleased, she waved shyly but without emotion, and he refocused on the players in his team.
Sadly, Zainab lowered her head. "Monkey" shouted her friend, annoyed at what had just happened.
This time, Zainab said nothing. "Who does she think she is, the Queen of England, to get Harun to talk back to her? She looks like a country girl in that get-up", said a girl behind her, mocking her friend.
Zainab had heard them all, as had Reema, and the latter came furiously towards her, grabbing her by the bun.
"Who's the country girl here? She's my best friend Zainab and she has every right to say hello to Harun and kiss him BECAUSE IT'S HER ...." Reema was about to continue when she recognised the alarmed look on her best friend's face, telling her not to go on.
She reluctantly let go of the mocking girl, who backed away in fear. The commotion had drawn the attention of others, including Harun, who was looking at Zainab with an annoyed expression. She lowered her head, she didn't want Reema to tell anyone that she was Harun's wife but the fact that he wasn't defending himself at the moment and that he was furious with her on top of it, broke her heart, why had he married her if she was such a burden to him? After all, he hadn't been forced, his family had even been prepared to marry her off to someone else last year if Harun didn't want to, but he accepted.
The end of half-time came and the last match began, Zainab saw Harun struggling on the pitch with his players, and finally after thirty minutes, Harun scored the final point, qualifying his team for next month's final tournament.
Zainab got up at the same time as the others to shout and applaud the players, who were relieved to be on the pitch. They hugged each other, showing their brothershood. The stands emptied, and Zainab rushed over to Harun to congratulate him when Tania, the head cheerleader, jumped into his arms.
"BRAVO Harun" she said, hugging him tightly.
Harun looked at Zainab without making a move,
"I wanted to tell you, but Harun, I love you," said Tania, pulling back slightly before flanking her and kissing her by surprise.
With this last vision, Zainab rushed towards the exit without asking for anything else, tears in her eyes, she sat down on the bus.
"How could he ? How could he ?" she asked herself angrily, trying to control her tears, but this only made them worse
Zainab couldn't believe it, Harun didn't give her any rights over him but he let a girl kiss him without even getting angry, it was decided Zainab had had enough of this charade, one year soon.
However, it was when he saw another girl in his arms that the realisation hit him: he would never accept her as his wife.
As soon as she got home, she stood in front of her parents: "AMMI, ABU, I HAVE DECIDED, I WANT TO DIVORCE HARUN, I NO LONGER WANT TO BE HIS BURDEN" she shouted fiercely with certainty.
Her parents and little brother looked at her as if she were possessed by a spirit, they were relaxing with a film and the next second Zainab arrived like a flash to tell them her new wish.
Zainab took no more time and ran off to her room, throwing her bag on the bed and sitting down.
"It's decided, I'm going to give you your deliverance Harun by divorcing you and marrying Shahrukh Khan's sozie", she muttered to herself contentedly.
She may have been smiling, but she knew she wasn't going to forget Harun any time soon, let alone marry Shahrukh Khan's sozie or any other man.
***********************************************
Lying on her bed for four days, she watched a K-drama to escape her thoughts.
Zainab's parents, following their daughter's sudden wish, knew that something had happened between her and Harun, their nephew, that had hurt her so much that she wanted to divorce him. They knew how much their daughter had been in love with Harun since she was a child, but they also knew that marriage was not all roses, that it had also had its ups and downs, and they had understood that the main key to flourishing in marriage was communication between the spouses and respect.
"Zainab bacha, explain to me what happened between you and Harun," her mother asked gently, stroking her forehead.
Of course, they weren't going to make any decisions until their daughter had explained or discussed things with Harun, but she could be so stubborn sometimes.
"Nothing, I just realised that Harun and I are meant to be cousin, not anything else," she said, turning her attention away from her phone screen.
Her mother rolled her eyes at this reply.
"I'll be back with some fruit, put your phone down here, you've already got a fever, don't overheat your head by looking at anything" her mother said scoldingly, taking her phone with her out of the room.
Zainab sighed heavily, pulling her blanket back over her face. Her period had started two days ago, and as usual her body was giving her all sorts of symptoms, from a constant fever to aches and pains to a huge stomach ache and loss of appetite.
"Ya Allah, why is everyone against me, I just don't want to suffer any more, is that too much to ask?" she complained to her lord, exhausted, no one was taking her request seriously.
Her parents thought she'd just been bickering with Harun but no, she really wanted to separate from him, as much as it hurt, she couldn't see any other solution, she couldn't go on with this feeling of being a disgrace to him and seeing other girls openly touching him without him doing anything about it, she wasn't a robot to feel anything. She was hurting too, like every other human being in this world.
The door to her room opened again, "Ammi, please put the bowl of fruit on my table, I'll eat it after I've slept a bit," she told him tiredly.
But suddenly her blanket was gently pulled away from her face and Zainab struggled to her feet, holding her hot water bottle to her stomach with the rest of the blanket.
"Ammi, I told you I was going to eat later" she said as she opened her eyes, but fell silent as soon as she realised who was sitting on the edge of her bed, looking at her intently, she was unsettled and stared at him for a moment as if she were dreaming.
Was it really Harun ? She wanted to grab his cheeks to pinch them and then take him in her arms even more because of her hormones, which demanded a lot of affection and comfort, but she changed her mind as she remembered the last situation in which she had seen him.
She grabbed her blanket and pulled herself back into her original position. If he thought that just because he had come here, she was going to jump into his arms, surely not.
"That's what you were about to do," his conscience took care to remind him.
Zainab rolled her eyes, it was her hormones and not her that had wanted to jump into his arms.
"Aren't you going to ask me why I'm here ? Harun asked him calmly.
In reply, Zainab pulled her blanket tightly over her and closed her eyes.
"I've heard that apparently you want to divorce me ?" he asked again.
"If you know, why are you asking me? Hurry up and accept this happy choice for both of us, Shahrukh Khan's sozie is waiting for me" she replied sarcastically.
"Who told you it was a happy choice for me to divorce you ?" he asked in an irritated tone.
He couldn't understand who had put it into his head that his marriage to Zainab was unhappy.
Suddenly, Zainab stood up, surprising Harun. "Stop lying, you never wanted to marry me, we don't talk to each other any more than we do to strangers, the mere fact that someone might know that I'm your wife makes you ashamed, you ignore me all the time, The proof is that last time I said hello to you, you ignored me and then that girl made fun of me, you glared at me, and finally you let Tania kiss you without reacting when I'm right in front of you, how else am I supposed to interpret it? You don't love me, that's all, there's no point in coming here to sort things out because my parents asked you to," she shouted her four truths at him
Under Harun's bewildered gaze for the first time, she went back to bed, starting to sob. Harun sighed; just as she might have thought he didn't love her, he didn't think she'd misinterpreted his actions
"Zainab, I didn't think you were suffering so much, I had no idea, if I've always been so distant with you, it's because you were the girl I was supposed to marry a long time ago, I never knew how to act naturally with you, I often lost my temper with you, and I'd get quiet but I'm in love with you, and have been since the days when we played in the mud during the big showers in Karachi, I've never let you out of my sight here, not for a moment, I've always taken the time to tip off any boy who dared to approach you, and when Khala and Khalu announced to my family that they wanted to marry you last year and that if I didn't want to do it, they would do it with someone else, I can tell you that I almost felt the world crumble around me, I wanted to get married when I could give you everything, but to see you with someone else, I would never have allowed it, that's why I agreed that we would get married but live apart, I want to be financially able to look after you" Harun admits sincerely
Zainab stopped crying, her ears ringing as she heard Harun's first confession. She removed the blanket from her face and looked up at him, making him smile as he came closer.
"This year was crucial for me, I had to get my team selected at all costs so that we could find sponsors, then I would be financially independent from my parents to live with you, if you only knew how much I was looking forward to this match to make my dream of waking up every morning with you possible" he told her dreamily
Zainab felt her cheeks warm up, "I asked for our relationship to be kept secret to avoid any students creating problems, I know that some of them are real psychopaths, that's why I ignored you when you greeted me, I didn't want that to sow doubt, I just wanted to protect you but once again, stupidly, I made you believe that you were a disgrace to me when you're my proudest asset, a beautiful, intelligent and sweet woman "he continues, smiling
Zainab took in the information bit by bit, "But... But... You let that girl kiss you in front of me," she said hurt
"I didn't mean to, when you came towards me, I wanted to take you in my arms but she jumped into mine before I could do anything, and the moment I recognised your hurt look, I froze and she took the opportunity to kiss me, , but I didn't respond, and I pushed her straight away, getting as angry as hell, but before I could do anything, your friend messed me up before almost sticking one in me," she explained, half amused, half serious
Zainab lowered her head, she could imagine Reema trying to stick one in her face but it was a pity she was small and couldn't reach Harun's face, but Zainab loved her friend even more, always there to defend her
"She..a..when.. Even stole your first kiss... Which was supposed to be with me... You can't do that... I'll have to give you... Mine..." she admitted, still sulking angrily ; she'd understood that it wasn't Harun's fault, but if she came across Tania in the corridors, she was sure she'd come after her with a cane
She closed her eyes as Harun's lips pressed warmly against hers, his hands possessively grasping her waist and pressing her against him, Zainab's hands passed around Harun's neck, pressing on the nape of his neck. They released each other a minute later, breathless, looking at each other with love and desire.
"Zainab, you will be my first kiss, and all my other first times, have no doubt about it " Harun assured her.
Zainab pressed her forehead against Harun's, smiling. "Are you going to tell everyone that I'm your wife ?" she asked, full of hope.
He took out his phone, and did something before showing the screen to Zainab who couldn't believe it, he had just posted a photo of their nikkah where just below he had written in legande," My biwi, My love, Happy 1st wedding anniversary 🎂❤️"
The photo already had over 6000 thousand likes in the space of two seconds, with just as many comments. Many people were shocked to learn that they were married, but happy for them, they made a beautiful couple.
"You are my pride and joy, my wife, Zainab, and I'm not ashamed that everyone knows it. You have every right to me," he assured her, placing a kiss on her nose
Emotionally, Zainab was knocked out, she had wanted so much to hear his words and now Harun, her husband, the man she loves, was really telling her. Her head was a mess, her nightgown even more so, but she felt like the most beautiful woman in his eyes.
Harun, in a sudden teasing mood, pushed Zainab onto the bed, standing over her, and stopped. "I'm going to heal all the wounds I've made for you," he said mischievously
And with that, he crushed his lips to Zainab's, letting his hand slip under the tunic to caress the free skin of his wife's belly, making Zainab melt under her husband's new gentle torture, he took a malicious pleasure in biting her earlobe when suddenly Zainab pushed him away
He looked back at his khala, Zainab's mother was coming into the room, apparently too busy, he hadn't heard the door knocking. Zainab adjusted her tunic, lowering it as she saw her mother's amused smile.
"Do you still want a divorce meri bacha ?" Zainab's mother asked, teasing her daughter
Zainab hid against Harun's chest, avoiding showing her scarlet face.
"Mmh Khala, let's just say that Zainab can't be angry with me for long," he replied in the same tone.
To her surprise, Zainab saw Harun settling down on his bed before drawing her against him. He helped her eat the fruit by stroking her head. Zainab felt so good.
"I want you to take care of me like this every time I have my period," she ordered him.
Harun laughed and nodded, he was ready to take care of her every second like that, not just during her period. A few moments later, Zainab fell asleep and Harun looked at him tenderly, placing a kiss on his forehead.
Only he knew how much he had wanted to live this moment with her, he couldn't believe that he had succeeded in making her think that she was a burden to him, when his khala called to tell him that Zainab wanted to divorce him, his heart had stopped beating, he had worked so hard to hope to live with her and she was going to leave him, no, he had to prevent it, he had already bought their flat, the last preparations were being finished and next month they could move in.
"I love you Zainab like crazy, don't ever try to leave me," he whispered to her, his heart clenching
He would never let her go, never
He just admired her exhausted face She wasn't his secret wife, she was simply HIS WIFE.