As the silence settles, I notice there is music quietly playing from somewhere. A beautiful song gets louder and louder as the silence becomes stronger and stronger. Ayaan walks into the other and turns the music up louder from somewhere. I curiously follow him.
The song restarts. (A/N: Iinked to side) He turns around and holds out a hand. “First dance?”
“Really?” I ask nervously. Though there was no reason to be nervous.
“Of course. It’s tradition,” he steps closer. I place one hand in his and the other on his shoulder.
“Did you enjoy the day?” he asks.
“I did. Everyone was very happy,” I nod.
“Were you happy?” he emphasizes. I freeze in my spot but he spins me around nevertheless.
No one ever asked me if I was happy. “Were you?” he asks again.
I open my mouth to say something but nothing really comes out. So I just nod.
“Good. I was too since you asked,” he teases. I roll my eyes and look around the room. The entire room just screamed ‘honeymoon suite.’
Mortified, I can only imagine what it looked to our mothers.
“Song’s done. Unless you want another dance,” Ayaan grins. I step away from him and roll my suitcase into the middle of the room to get out my clothes to change into.
“Let’s go to sleep. I have to be up again at 8am to put my mask back on,” I scowl. He just chuckles and tells me I can take the bathroom first.
“you go first. But where will you sleep?” I ask before he goes anywhere. There was only one bed and we were not going there.
“The couch,” he says it like it’s the most obvious thing in the world.
I frown. “Let me take the couch. I’ll fit better than you.”
“No, don’t be daft. It’s not a problem,” he shakes his head. “Take the bed. You need to sleep more than me anyways.”
“Sure?”
“Positive. Now I’m going to get out of this,” he tugs at his sherwani. I give him a small smile as he heads into the bathroom.
I start off with taking off my veil and then my makeup all the while humming along to the music still playing quietly in the background. Ayaan’s water turns off so I drop the earring I was taking off and quickly gather things to make his bed.
As I take two big pillows and a blanket, Ayaan leaves the bathroom and I go barreling into him. We both fall backwards because he trips on the bottom of my dress onto the bed.
The water from his hair drips onto my face and I instinctively turn away from the impact. He notices and slowly, his thumb comes up to my face to wipe the water from my cheek.
I stop breathing as his finger lingers on my face, the only thing between our bodies being the big pillow I was holding.
The intimacy of the moment scares me and I quickly push him away. He stands up instantly, muttering a small sorry.
A little shiver passes through me as the air hits my body again. Of if someone walked in
Two people, one a bed covered in rose petals, covered by a flower canopy, in a room lit by candles. Oh the humanity.
I hand him the stuff and he leaves the room. I’m able to take off everything I can but my dress remains. I realize that I’ll need him to open the buttons on the back of it.
“Ayaan?” I call out.
“Yeah?”
“Can you help me please?”
“With what?” he comes back into the room. I point to the back of my dress in the mirror. He walks over and stands behind me.
He looks at me through the mirror for a long minute. “I like you like this. Wedding dress, no jewelry, kind of smiling. This is how you should be all the time,” he pokes my arm before starting on the buttons.
He undoes them all without any funny business, which I greatly appreciate. I tell him to close his eyes and I scurry to the bathroom with my pajamas in my hand.
I end up showering instead. Ayaan’s on the phone when I come back out. “I ordered a quick snack. I don’t know about you but I’m starving,” he huffs, falling onto the bed.
“Thank God. I didn’t eat anything earlier,” I sigh in relief. I quickly run a towel through my hair and then clean up the things we’ve left lying around.
The doorbell rings not too long later and a bellboy drops off a pizza. I do a little happy dance on the inside and plop down on the couch beside Ayaan.
He hands me a slice on a paper plate and we both lean back, out feet propped up on the table and our hungry stomachs being fed.
“This is the life,” I sigh.
“Happy wife, happy life,” he winks.
After we ate, we prayed, and then went straight to sleep.
I got up way earlier than I needed to but the soft, warm, rose-scented bed knocked me out like a hammer last night and I slept like a rock. I got dressed in my t-shirt and sweats and ordered breakfast for Ayaan and myself.
I had no idea what he liked so I ordered some generic things. Then I laid out my outfit for the reception and arranged my jewelry and accessories around it. And then his too.
I got up way too early.
“Morning,” Ayaan walks into the room and past me to the bathroom in here with the shower.
“Hey,” I mutter two seconds too late. A couple minutes later, I hear the shower turn on. I sit on the bed and scroll through my Facebook to pass the time. There are hundreds of pictures of the wedding with me or him tagged. I never go on Facebook so there are also hundreds of notifications.
“How long have you been up?” Ayaan comes out of the bedroom with a towel around his neck.
“Just over an hour,” I turn off my phone. “Breakfast just arrived. We should eat up before we have to get ready for the shoot.”
“What time’s the photographer coming?” he asks as we walk to the front room.
“Around one. The makeup artist will be here in an hour but apparently bhabhi is dropping by before that,” I add on as I read the just-arrived text from Kismat.
We help ourselves to the food and finish breakfast. Bhabhi arrives just as I’m done with Zinat. They both sit and chat for a bit before I slip into my dress. The makeup artist arrives and I spend the next two hours getting ready for the night ahead.
“So,” Kismat asks once Zinat leaves with Ayaan. Once I was ready, I would join Ayaan in the lounge one the first floor that we were doing the walima photo shoot in.
“So?”
“Did you guys, you know…?” she trails off with a smirk.
“Bhabhi! You know everything and yet you still ask me!” I can’t help but snicker at her genuinely interested face.
“Oh come on! He’s fit as hell and so sweet. I’d give it up of he flashes me then dimples,” she shrugs innocently.
“Is that what my brother does?” I mock.
“I don’t kiss and tell,” she winks. The makeup artist lets us know we’re done. I gather my things and make my way done to the lounge while Bhabhi gathers our things. Someone would come by and pick it all up.
“You look so beautiful,” Zinat hugs me as soon as I enter the room. Ayaan gives me a small nod over her shoulder, making me chuckle.
“Alright guys, let’s have lunch first,” she leads us over to the little table some waiters were setting up.
They really planned every single detail. Kismat joins us too then. Lunch is simple; pasta, breadsticks, and a bangin’ shrimp salad.
After lunch, we finish up the photo shoot. It’s much easier today since we did this all yesterday but it’s a bit more fun since the girls are there.
Once the shoot is done, we head back to the same banquet hall. It’s around 5 so we have an hour till people start arriving. Both our families are there and the hour flies by with just hellos.
Ayaan and I will have to go through the entrance jazz again since we’d have many different guests today.
We’re escorted to what was the bride’s room yesterday and my makeup is touched up.
“Bhabhi, selfie!” Mannat comes to stand beside me with her phone in her hand. I can’t so no to her sweet smile so I nod and plaster a smile on my face as she takes the picture.
“Bhai, you too,” she calls Ayaan over. He comes and stands on the other side of me, bending down to my level.
“Closer bhai,” Mannat waves her hand in front of me. He leans closer and closer till she’s okay with it which is when his face our faces are pressed together. She snaps the pic and then is standing in front of me within seconds.
I turn my face at the same time Ayaan does and not realizing how close he was, our noses press together as if we were characters in a Disney movie. Both our eyes are wide and we both flinch back instantly. Mannat giggles and hands me her phone. She’d captured it in a photo and I had to admit, we looked pretty “adorkable” as Ali likes to put it.
The night passes by even faster than the last. I meet so, so many of Ayaan’s family members and they all seem really sweet. The only off part about it is when his father’s aunt mentions some girl and everyone hastily stops her from speaking further.
Afreen. That was her name. Who was she? A girl from his past?
Nevertheless, I had fun. He had so many girls in his family, completely opposite from mine, and it was nice to have a more comfortable atmosphere.
I even got to know his best friends. They were all pretty cool, and it was nice to see Rizwan again. After that time I met him in a coffee shop, it felt like we would become good friends too.
The girls stole Ayaan’s shoes at one point as promised, and made him pay another hefty amount for them. The poor guy.
And now we were sitting in chairs with our backs to the classic “bride or groom?” game. Jannat helps me slide my heels off and we let everyone settle down before Ayaan’s cousin starts the game.
He would ask a question and we’d raise the shoe of the person we thought fit the question.
“Alright, bhaiya and bhabhi, first question. Let’s start easy. Who will always be right in the relationship?”
I raise my own shoe and look over my shoulder to see Ayaan holding up my show too. “Bhai, good choice!”
Everyone laughs. “I’m starting to like you a lot more now,” I whisper over my shoulder. He chuckles, setting the shoe back down.
“Second question: who’s the better cook?”
I raise up Ayaan’s shoe and I can see over our heads he did the same. Everyone laughs again and I can only imagine how red our faces will be by the end.
“Who will wake the other up for fajr?”
I put my shoe up. From what his sister’s had told me, he was an even heavier sleeper than I was.
“Yeah probably her,” Ayaan admits slowly. I bite my lip to hold back a laugh.
And so the questions go on. Better driver, messiest, in control of the remote, one with better sense of directions, more organized, smarter etc.
It was fun to say the least till the last question came up to embarrass the crap out of both of us.
“Who is more romantic?”
Well so far it was him but what did we know? We were no better a couple than a bunch of two year olds.
Neither of us raise up shoes and a couple people boo. I look up to see it’s Ali, Yusuf, and Ayaan’s friends.
Zinat thankfully ends the game there and moves us for the next game.
“It’s totally me,” Ayaan whispers to me as we move back onto the stage.
“Whatever rows your boat mister,” I roll my eyes. He just grins in response.
Towards the end of the night, I met the two people I knew I would be meeting today for sure: Ayaan’s aunt and uncle with whom Emma, Liam, and us two would be staying.
Ayaan’s uncle was the US ambassador to the ever-exotic Maldives, explaining his accent. He had one son who was still there, with his two daughters already married off and living in other parts of the world.
I was a wee bit excited, not gonna lie. I mean, living in the Maldives would a free vacation with an unknown expiry date. Agent Graham had worked out the details for school so we wouldn’t fall behind or miss anything.
They chatted for quite a bit, and I couldn’t help but love how relaxed they were. I think I was around people like my father and grandfather too much. They were such stick-up-their-arse types.
Actually most of Ayaan’s family was pretty laid-back.
“How you holding up?” Ayaan asks me as we walk over to the doors to make our grand exit. The crying and drama happened all over again but even I felt it this time. When my brothers hugged me, tears brimmed my eyes too.
Who knew when I’d see them again once we left.
“I like your family,” I admit to him. “They’re all so sweet.”
“It’s because they all live so far from each other. They don’t see each enough to the others throats out,” he laughs at his own joke. We get into the car that would take us to
“How much of your family lives here?”
“Zinat’s, mine, and my mom’s brother. Everyone else lives pretty far away or in other countries,” he explains.
“That’s nice too. It’s feels better when everyone comes together like this,” I mumble.
“Yeah,” he sighs but there’s something in his voice. I look over at him to see his eyes lost in thought.
We went back to his parents’ house and they welcomed me with open arms. I got a very brief tour of the house again and then we’re led to his room.
Our flight was at 7 am so there really was no point in sleeping. We’d have to be up at five and it was past midnight. Instead, we change into something more comfortable.
“Would you like to sleep anyways?” Ayaan asks me.
“I’m okay. We can sleep on the 11 hour flight,” I yawn despite my words. He chuckles and grabs something from under his bed before sitting down beside me.
“If you don’t mind, I’m going to finish something up,” he sets the box down in front of us. From inside the box, he takes out a camera.
“You do photography?” I ask curiously, watching as he inputs his memory chip into his MacBook.
“A little bit. My cousin Waseem, who we’re gonna stay with, got me into it when we were kids. I took a couple classes in high school and got really into it. Would you like to see?” he asks like a little kid asks if you want to see their finger painting.
I nod and he scoots closer, showing me the photos on the small camera screen. They’re actually incredible.
It’s mostly photos of his family but there are some of scenery and our campus. He gets to a beautiful street photo and I stop him.
“Where’s that?”
“Somewhere in Toronto. I go with Abu on business trips all the time and any opportunity I got for free time, I went exploring,” he explains.
“You’re brilliant at this. I’m impressed Zafar,” I nod appreciatively.
“Thank you. Want to see more?” he asks nervously. I nod eagerly this time and he opens up a folder on his laptop. We spend two hours looking through all his travel photos and he tells me all about the things he’s done.
It’s so weird just listening to him but it feels so natural. He’s so passionate about the world and about people and places. It makes me feel elated as if I went through it all too.
“Hey,” he nudges my arm. “You got lost there for a second.”
“Sorry. I just…” I can’t manage to actually say anything out loud.
“What? What’s wrong?”
“It’s just, listening to you talk. It’s nice. You’re so passionate about everything,” I shrug shyly.
“I grew up with too many girls,” he snickers.
“I grew up with too many boys.”
There’s a comfortable silence for a bit before he clears his throat. “I need to talk to you about something but it’s…. awkward.”
“What?” I ask hesitantly.
“Mum very awkwardly asked me to talk to you about…. it.”
“What’s it?” I look at him in confusion.
“It,” he says again. His face goes slowly redder, from his jaw to his ears.
Ohhhh….. “Shit, really?”
“Yes. I promised he we’d chat but I just want to you to know that you can trust me. I won’t do anything to disrespect you. Unless you want to. Then that’s okay too, we can talk. Not that I want to. I mean not that you’re not really beautiful but I-”
“-Ayaan,” I put a hand on his arm to stop him before he embarrasses either of us more. “I appreciate that. Thanks.”
He scratches the back of his head in embarrassment. “Sorry.”
“No it’s okay. Um, thanks,” I flinch at how awkward the mood had gotten and avoid looking at him like he was the plague. He mumbles something about getting a snack and leaves me with his laptop. I continue scrolling through the photos, knowing he won’t mind.
I get to the end of the family album when a photo of a really young Ayaan and a girl comes up. She’s beyond beautiful, and looks very much like him. Same dimples, fair skin, light eyes.
She’s evidently older with her hands around him and a teasing smile on her face. They’re in this very house too, sitting on the sofa. It’s been almost 45 minutes since he’s left and he hasn’t returned yet for me to ask him.
Did he really get that embarrassed that he just disappeared? Or decide to eat it away? I close the laptop and quietly make my way downstairs. The entire house is dark as the night, the only light streaming in from the windows and from the living room.
I make my way there to see Ayaan completely passed out on the sofa and a bag of baby carrots in front of him.
Unconsciously I end up beside him, watching his chest rise and fall with each breath. Never have I wished harder for things to turn out differently. Kismat was right. He’s the perfect guy for any girl.
And there really is no reason why I can’t make this work. He said he’s willing to give this a try. But then again, it would mean I would have to actually open up to him.
And that’s not happening.
I pick up his carrots and go to the kitchen. I put them away in the fridge and then head upstairs to do something.
Having a textbook or two right now would’ve been useful. He probably has one though. I find one on his desk; a textbook for one of our criminology classes.
I end up in the Maldives with no recollection how. I knocked out beside Emma as soon s the plane left the tarmac. The salt water smell is refreshing, reminding me of the two times we’ve been to the beach in the UK.
I get up and knot my hair into a bun to keep it out of my face. Ayaan’s asleep right beside me and it doesn’t look like he’s getting up anytime soon. It was dark outside and the clock read 4am, so I doubt anyone would.
The house was a bungalow, resting right at the end of the beach. Someone had opened the patio doors of our room, thankfully, so there was a cool breeze coming in through the screen.
I slip out of bed and look through my suitcase for pajamas. I change on the spot, not bothering to go into the bathroom and then step out on the patio.
The water was beautiful here. And the night was perfectly warm but cool. Apparently they’d been dealing with excessive rain here so the weather was much cooler than it should be. It was perfect.
It was around 10am back home which explains why I was wide awake now. I would call home but my phone’s dead and frankly, I enjoyed the silence.
Just the sound of waves, and the leaves bristling against each other. SubhanAllah, it felt like heaven.
“You’re awake early,” Ayaan comes outside. He takes the set beside me and runs a hand through his messy hair.
“I feel like I’ve slept for months,” I grimace.
“Ditto. Jet lag sucks. I called home as soon as we arrived. Mum sends her salam.”
“You shouldn’t have woken her,” I chide.
“She wouldn’t have slept till I did.”
True. I feel a little self conscious in my appearance so I subtly let my hair out and move some around to in front of my shoulders.
“The sky’s beautiful,” he says, looking up. It was in pink and orange hues, just preparing for the sunrise. I could hear some birds now too and the weather was getting warmer.
“I could sit here all day and watch the water,” he continues. I nod in agreement.
“Well we’ve got some time to do so,” I point out.
I turn to see him looking at me intently. His face is curious, but carefree. “Yeah. We do.
There it is, as promised!! Kind of a filler chapter but it'll pick up from here. And for all those asking for Safyaan *cough Afreen cough* moments coming soon!! Thanks for reading lovelies!!