Anisa's POV:
"Stop asking me that kinda stuff, Maryam!" I cried out, burying my face into my hands and blushing with embarrassment. Maryam, my maternal cousin, a girl older than by two years with dull skin and bright grey eyes, smiled cheekily.
She straightened herself, moving away from me.
"I was thinking you would tell me all the juicy stuff but looks like you're too shy about it. I'm just going to guess you actually did it."
The beautiful embroidered pink shirt she was wearing made her skin glow, almost making me jealous. She was an Eastern beauty while I looked neither Eastern nor Western.
"Nothing happened! Really! Your questions are just so explicit! I can't help it if I get embarrassed." I told her waving my hands in exasperation. She burst out laughing. "Is this really the same Anisa I met three years ago? We used to be so casual about this kind of conversation."
I pouted. "It's different when you take someone's name specifically and then ask about all that…" I whispered to her, to ensure no one in that room would hear us. She nodded knowingly with her mouth forming an 'o'.
"But you're married now!" she reminded me. "And to a handsome guy, I've heard. There must be romantic scenes you can tell me, right?"
I stopped, thinking about the past two days. We did have some romantic moments, but it almost felt like a sin to call them that. I didn't want to be in a relationship of that kind with stupid Ali Hassan.
"We didn't, really. Real-life marriage is really different than what they show in stories." I told her even though that was not true. Under normal circumstances, real-life marriage was like the ones they showed in movies and stories, usually. At least the starting few years. But because Ali Hassan was such a douche, I couldn't bring myself to even consider this a legit relationship.
Or maybe I wasn't willing to.
I turned to Maryam who looked at me like she wasn't convinced. "I don't believe it." She said. Just then, Asma Baji rolled over to us with a bright smile pasted on her face. One she had on the whole time we were there. "What're you two whispering about? I wanna know too." She sat down beside me with curiosity written all over her face.
Maryam laughed. "Come on now Asma Baji. You can't be sitting here with us. Your place is with all the old aunties over there." she didn't point towards the group of the old women chatting away in a corner but her eyes showed where. Asma baji gave her a playful glare. "What're you talking about, Maryam? I just turned 17 this March." We all knew she was lying but we laughed anyway.
"You have a 17-year-old son yourself. When did you get married then, Baji?" I joined in. "When you were a year old?" as I added that, Maryam started laughing loudly. And like that, we spent the next fifteen minutes teasing Asma Baji about her age when finally I became the topic of conversation again.
"So Anisa," Baji turned to me. "How's your life doing with Ali, huh?" she was poking fun at me but genuinely asking me that at the same time. I shrugged. "Fine, I guess. We do have the advantage of going to school together and being project partners." I told her casually.
She narrowed her eyes at me. "Yeah but what about your romantic life?"
As she said that, I looked away trying to avoid eye contact. "Why does everyone here want to know about that?" I groaned. She leaned in closer, her expression getting serious. By that, I was certain that if I told her the truth then she would announce it everywhere and a scene would be created. Ali would probably get a few scoldings from Salman Bhai and Imran and my relatives would be worried about me.
"Because it's important for healthy marriage life. Do you even act like his wife, Anisa? Taking care of him and all." she started sounding serious about it and Maryam felt the change of atmosphere but despite that, she couldn't help herself and leaned in to listen anyway.
I frowned. "I try to.". Asma baji shook her head in disapproval. "No, no, Anisa. That's not how it's supposed to work. I'm not telling you to serve him or take care of him like a maid but showing affection is important."
I sighed. "And what about him, baji? Isn't he supposed to fulfill my duties that were handed over to him by Allah? If he doesn't do that then why should I?" I started getting a little angry. Asma baji frowned in confusion. "Is he bad to you?" she asked, worry starting to rise on her face.
"Oh, Allah. Why did father have to marry you off so early? I knew it would be hard for you to adjust to this."
I quickly stopped myself. Asma baji wasn't supposed to know the whole truth about Ali being my number one enemy.
"No, he's not bad to me. It's just that both of us are busy with ourselves. We go to school together and come back. That's basically it."
She shook her head in disapproval again. "That means you haven't gotten close to him even once?" She half gasped half-whispered. I turned red with embarrassment. "No!"
"Is it because you're bad to him?"
I quickly shook my head in no giving her a look that said 'Come on'.
"Does your father in law cause problems for you?"
I shook my head again. "No, no! He's really nice to me."
She started thinking for another reason. Once she was done, she looked at me again.
"Is it because he doesn't find you attractive then?"
I was about to shake my head again but I paused to think. Did he find me attractive? I would've said no if he hadn't said what he said in the car. The scene returned to mind and I started blushing.
"I don't think so." My voice was small and my cheeks were beetroot red. A teasing smile spread on Asma Baji's face. "Judging by the look on your face, I don't think I have to worry much." It was like she had read my mind and knew all about the car scene. I looked at her.
"What do you mean?" I quickly asked.
"I'm sure he said something sweet that's making you blush like that." She said with a mischievous glint in her eyes. When the heavy air turned light, Maryam piped in as well. "And she was saying that they didn't have any romantic moments. I'm sure she's done it as well." she sulked.
Asma baji looked at Maryam with widened eyes. "Get your head out of the dirt, Maryam." and before I thought that baji was going to stop her from saying such things, she added making me sink into my seat. "If you ask her like that, she's not going to tell us anything." she laughed.
"Come on, baji! It's nothing like that!"
Maryam winked at me while baji leaned in even closer. "Did he take the initiative or was it you?" At that, I closed my eyes shut and put my hands on my face to cover it. My face heated up and I looked like a fresh, red tomato which made both of them erupt in laughter again.
"You haven't even done it yet and you're blushing like that," Maryam said between laughter. Both of them gave each other a high five and I wished I could give Maryam a piece of my mind right there and then. "By the way, Anisa. You look so hot I'm sure Ali's heart must be in a frenzy." Maryam commented.
"That's true. Ali must've wanted to—"
I threw my hands up in exasperation. "Okay, that's enough!" I cried out. Both of them giggled at each other ignoring me. "What do you say we go shopping and get Anisa something to spice things up?" Maryam suggested and my eyes widened. "Shut up, Maryam!" I smacked her shoulder and she winced in pain.
"Ouch! Now I'll really get you something like that!"
Asma baji laughed but then stopped. "How do you know about all this, Maryam? You're unmarried and still a teenager." she teasingly scolded her. Maryam just shrugged. "This is the new generation, baji. These things aren't a secret anymore. We knew all about this when we were thirteen, right Anisa?" she looked at me to back her up.
I nodded. "Yup, although now I think it's a good thing I knew about it beforehand. Who thought I was going to get married so early?"
And that's how the rest of the night passed. We had an amazing dinner where I was "finally reunited with my husband" as said by Maryam. I had to admit, after all that conversation, I couldn't even look at him in the eye. I even tried to avoid him but of course, I had to end up going to his house again.
I sighed in frustration.
I couldn't face him anymore!
"You okay, Anisa?" I was shaken out of my thoughts by the one person I was dreading to talk to. Ali looked at me with a doubtful expression with his face a little close to me. "You've been silent the whole ride and even now you're not saying anything."
I shook my head shakily. "Just a bit tired."
"Did you have fun there? I liked the food. The Qourma was the best. I've never tasted anything like that before. And the beef Kebabs were just mouth-watering." He started making small conversation as he talked about the food. I tried to listen to him but Asma Baji's words weren't leaving my thoughts.
I didn't want to admit it, but I was feeling very paranoid about my looks and my body. Maybe even insecure.
We were in our room and I was just going to the washroom to get ready for the night when Ali started speaking to me out of the blue.
Surprisingly, I had never seen him talk like that. It looked like he really enjoyed himself there. He was still ranting about the food and the people when he stopped.
He raised an eyebrow at me as if I didn't give him an answer to something and narrowed his eyes. As if something was written on my face, he stooped in a bit closer. I tightened my grip on my nightdress that was crumbled up in my hands. He came even closer. "You all right? You're spacing out a lot."
Closer.
Blood rushed to my face when he was just a few inches apart. "I… Err… Am just a…" I tried putting my words into a sentence but it did no good. He just came in even closer when I finally stumbled backward and my foot slipped. I let out a gasp.
The ground was taken out from under my feet and I felt myself in the air for a second. In the spur of the moment, I saw Ali reach out his hand and I quickly grabbed it which gave me support. His other hand flew out and grabbed me from my waist. He pulled me closer to him as if I would fall if he didn't. His left hand was tightly wrapped around my waist while the right one held my own hand.
I didn't realize how tightly I was hanging to him because my heart was beating so fast. Not because the fall I was just going to witness would be painful but because Ali was so darn close!
"Whoa," he looked down on me and I was lost into his eyes for a moment. "That was close."
I kept on looking at him shamelessly when he smirked. That's when I snapped to reality and face palmed myself. What just happened? When I was finally back to my senses, I felt his burning touch on my waist even through my clothes. Before I could let myself out of his grip, he said something that made me go numb.
"Let me take you to bed, princess."