Chapter 3 - Propinquity and Jealousy
The Same Day (November 27, 2014) - 6:00pm
Zain's POV
I leaned against the frame of the door waiting for her to notice me, but she was engrossed in curling the last strand of her hair perfectly. She looked absolutely breathtaking in the black and gold saree she was wearing, her waist bare with some kind of jewellery hanging around it. Her blouse had full but sheer sleeves with some kind of pattern but the back of the blouse was almost non-existent. And I would be lying if I said that I didn't love it. Words like goddess, temptress, exquisite ran through my head as I watched her move around the room, she looked positively sinful and I for one felt robbed of not having the pleasure of seeing her in a saree before. She would always wear a suit when she wore Indian clothing and I always thought she looked pretty in those...but her in a saree was like a whole another level. Like I was normally hot, no matter what I wore, but Mamu Ki Bhanji lost her mind when I dressed up nicely, she definitely liked me in shirts and ties, but who can blame her?
I internally slapped myself again for not truly realizing how beautiful she really was, if I thought she was beautiful when I saw her two years ago she was ethereal now. She pulled her hair over one shoulder as she stared at herself in the mirror. I decided that I should make my presence known because this girl would never notice. I let out a whistle causing her eyes to go wide before she looked up in the mirror, I saw anger flash in her eyes before she realized that it was me. Her eyes looked bigger than they usually did lined with kohl and some kind of shimmery substance, it was almost as if they could suck you into their depths. Not like she needed to do that, she could just look at me with her eyes half open and it would still do the trick. Sigh, I am so whipped.
"You should wear sarees all the time." I said pushing myself off the doorframe and walking into the room. It smelled like her, a hint of her vanilla perfume, it was sweet but subtle and calming, it drove me crazy.
"Tum yaha kya kar rahe ho?" She asked putting on her earrings as I came to a stand behind her, our eyes meeting in the mirror. [What are you doing here?]
"Aayat neeche gayi toh mujhe laga ki tum bahut lonely feel kar rahi hogi." I said wrapping my arms around her waist, my hands resting on her bare stomach causing her to gasp. Damn, her skin was soft. I dragged my hands across her stomach, slowly, I felt her shiver in my arms and the goosebumps under my hand. I love how reactive she is to my touch. [Aayat went downstairs so I thought you might be feeling lonely.]
"Zain koi aajayega." She said but didn't try to move away but leaned into my touch. Yeah, like I was really going to let her go anyways, I wanted to pick her up and lay her down on the bed and just stare at her, but alas, I had to beat that part of myself down, sadly. [Zain, someone's going to see.]
"Toh aane doh. We match by the way." I said as she looked at my black tux with a gold tie, we looked flipping perfect standing together, looking at the mirror made me realize that...along with the fact that she was flipping gorgeous. [Let them.]
"Obviously Barkat's doing." Aaliya said, of course. The devious little sister was in what she claimed was OTP Heaven. I had of course looked at her like she had two heads when she was jumping around my room with happiness, and then she explained to me how Aaliya and I were the cutest couple like ever, which we definitely were, but she was deriving way too much pleasure from our relationship and now she was plotting to make us wear matching clothing, seriously.
"Tumhe tie nahi baand ni aati kya?" Aaliya laughed looking at how I had knotted the tie. [You don't know how to tie a tie?]
It wasn't pretty but I got confused with the whole under and over thing, hey, don't judge me! There are some things that even Zain Abdullah can't do, shocking, I know. Aaliya turned around in my arms and unknotted it with her deft little fingers before starting to tie it the proper way. And I'd be lying if I said that I didn't think of her doing this everyday of my life, she'd fix my tie, give me a kiss and try to send me off to work...try, I'd probably end up carrying her back to bed and try to spend my time in a more enjoyable way. Haha.
"Wifey waali feeling aa rahi hai." I said as she worked on my tie, my hands decided to make my way around to her bare back now causing her to shiver again. I loved touching her, I smiled realizing that she was just as affected by me as I was by her.
"Tumhe nikaah karne kaa shaunk hogaya hai kya?" She teased, a beautiful smile on her face. Man, even her teeth were perfect. [Are you suddenly planning on getting married?]
"Maybe...tum ab theek feel kar rahi ho?" I asked observing her closely. [Are you feeling okay now?] She looked like her energetic self and not as pale as she did before. Or that may be her make-up. I had a love-hate relationship with make-up, it made her look nice of course, but she looked absolutely perfect without it too. Without make-up she looked real and I just wanted to kiss the living daylights out of her. With makeup she looked ethereal, almost unreal, but her red stained lips called out to me and I still wanted to kiss the living daylights out of her...but I wasn't allowed to mess her lipstick up - she absolutely hated that.
"I am okay." She replied smiling. It took me a moment to realize that she was answering my question, she was feeling better now.
"I wouldn't say okay." I said causing her to look at me confused. "You are beautiful." I said and she smiled, I am so smooth that even butter would be jealous, I surprised myself sometimes...actually not really, I was born smooth, I charmed all the nurses in the maternity ward from the first day.
"And you are very cheesy." She laughed. I am not! Okay, I am, but only when it comes to her.
"You love it." I shrugged.
"Maybe. Ab neeche chale?" She asked fixing my collar. [Let's go downstairs now?]
"Yaha pai hi theek hai neeche jaa kar mein yeh nahi kar sakta." I said pecking her lips. [I think we're okay here, I can't do this if we go downstairs.]
"Zainnn!" She said pushing me away, yet blushing. "Kisinai dekh liye naa toh...jaaaooo." She said pushing me out of the room. [What if someone sees...GO!]
"Have you been working out?" I asked, my feet, surprisingly, moving as she pushed me across the room to the door. "This is so unfair." I said standing outside the door. "Mein pichle doh saalo mein tumse sirf 12 baar milaa hoon, aur ab tum mujhe bahar jaane ke liye keh rahi ho." I pouted. [I've only seen you about 12 times in the past two years and now that you are here you are pushing me out of the room!]
Even though we'd been...ah, dating, I guess...for two years I'd only actually seen her a handful of times and it pissed me off that I still couldn't spend time with her despite constantly being within 20 meters of her.
"ZAINNN." Fahad's voice came from down the hallway causing me to stand up straight. I could see Fahad bhai leaving his room and I automatically broke into a fast walk...away from Aaliya's room. I am sure I heard her say "pagal" and laugh as I rushed down the hallway having no excuse for why I was in that part of the house. Fahad Bhai looked as nervous as ever, it was almost as if he was sheep going to get slaughtered, actually, the poor man was just scared of the gossiping aunties of Mumbai, yeah, they sucked...balls. They were way too loud, had way too many opinions and were way too fond of matchmaking. Their matchmaking usually resulted in their daughters trying to throw themselves into our laps, not going to happen aunties. Not going to happen at all.
The mansion was elaborately decorated in reds, whites and golds. White and red flowers hung in between the columns that went around the main hall, the furniture that usually took over the space was replaced with tables and chairs covered with white tablecloths and red napkins. I sucked at decorating and stuff like this but I knew good taste and decorating when I saw it. Mamu ki Bhanji outdid her self again, she had a knack for pretty decorations and organizing parties, a fact that my mother absolutely adored about her. Actually, my mother just adored Aaliya, period, and I flipping loved it because I am a Momma's boy at heart and I am glad that she likes the woman I love, sue me. But this information must be kept confidential at all times, I have a reputation to protect after all!
To be honest, I'd seen the look of relief that had flashed across my mother's face the minute Phoops had said that they were all coming to help with the wedding. Everyone was very excited about it having had to wait a long time for Fahad Bhaijaan to get married, it was the first wedding in the family after all.
I walked down the stairs as the guests continued to pour in, it was the same hundreds of people that always came and I knew for a fact that the aunties would soon find one hundred things to gossip about. I heard many speculating the reason behind the party as I walked around, they seemed to know that an important announcement was on the horizon. I noticed that many of them watched Nafisa Bhabhi with interest as she was adorned in a beautiful gold lehenga and walking around with a huge rock on her ring finger that was clearly evident from even across the room. It was like a homing-beacon for the beady eyes, her ring was way too big but she loved it. I knew for a fact that Aaliya would want something more simple and I loved that about her. Ah, this wedding is making me think too much of marrying Aaliya...and I flipping liked it.
Dad was of course being a good host, he was at the door with mom greeting his guests, waiting for everyone to arrive before he could take to the stage and announce the engagement of his oldest son. And I was doing my part, avoiding aunties at all costs and conversing with a group of my friends along with my best friend and Nafisa's younger brother Rizwan. The latter seemed to be a bit too interested in looking at the opposite side of the room staring at Aayat. Ah, young love - another one bites the dust, ladies and gentleman!
"Agar usse itna ghooro gai toh kal tak tumhara bhi nikaah ho jayega." I whispered to Rizwan.
"Nahi...mein Aayat ko nahi dekh..."
"Acha? Meine Aayat kab kaha?" I laughed causing Rizwan to blush, no one fools the Zain Abdullah dude!
"Holy, woh kaun hai Barkat kai saath? She's so hot." Shawn said. [Who is that with Barkat?]
I didn't have to turn around to know who he was talking about and I tried my best to not express the need to slap Shawn across the face due to the way he was looking at my Aaliya. So I turned around and looked at a more pleasant sight, her eyes met mine as soon as I turned around. She smiled at me before turning back towards Barkat. It was hard to not notice the amount of men that were staring way too intently at the stairs, and it was hard to not stare daggers at them for looking at my sister and my girlfriend like that. Assholes.
"Yo, is she single?" Shawn asked, this dude doesn't know when to shut up, why was I friends with him? I turned around to find that he was still staring at her, his eyes wide. I took a deep breath and counted to ten in my head, you can't hit people Zain, this is a party, you cannot break his nose no matter how badly you want to.
I don't think it worked though because one more look at Shawn caused me to almost yell at him. "Don't even think about it." I snapped and I knew that he noticed the anger behind my tone because he trembled a bit.
"But who is she?" Kartar asked, seriously. You too? Don't look at her! Why am I such a possessive asshole? But why are they staring at her like that? Seriously. I knew that I had to be somewhat civil as Barkat led Aaliya towards their group. The Zain in my head, aka my alter ego, was jumping around and standing in front of Aaliya yelling "MINE" but I sadly couldn't do that and was forced to introduce her to my friends knowing that they would spend all night following her and asking her questions if I didn't.
"Hello Bhaiyoo's friends!" Barkat chirped as they came to stand next to me, Aaliya stood beside me and looked at me questioningly, she obviously noticed how tense I looked. I shook my head at her before turning back to my friends.
"Guys, this is Aaliya." I said before introducing all of them to Aaliya not giving them the chance to shake her hand or anything. "She's not feeling well today so don't bother her." I said in a tone that I knew they were not quite accustomed to but one that caused Aaliya's eyes to go wide. My friends seemed to get the gist of it though and started talking among themselves. All of them but Shawn who was still looking at Aaliya. Asshole.
"Bhaiyoo, we should go now." Barkat said noticing the exchange and then pointed towards the stage where their father stood along with their mother and brother.
"Yeah, let's go." I said as we walked away with Aaliya, the latter stood beside Aayat and her parents as Barkat and I joined our parents on the elevated platform in the middle of the room along with Nafisa's parents, Nafisa and Rizwan.
"Hello Everyone." Dad's voice rang out in the room causing people to settle down and move their attention to the stage. "Thank you for joining us today, would you like to do the honours?" He asked turning towards my smiling mom.
"I would like to introduce you all to my future daughter-in-law, Fahad's fiancee, Nafisa." Surraya said as Fahad and Nafisa stepped to stand beside them and applause rang out in the room. Rizwan and I started hollering causing Aaliya to laugh. I smiled at her waggling my eyebrows and then looking at Fahad and Nafisa and then back at her, I think she understood the gist of what I was trying to say because she blushed as a grin took over her face. Yeah, this will happen for us too, and I want it to happen sooner than later all of a sudden, I think I am just tired of spending time without her.
"We would also like to use this opportunity to formally invite you to the Nikaah which will take place two weeks from now, that is the longest we could make Fahad wait." Dad announced causing laughter to ring out through the room.
Everyone started moving towards the stage to congratulate the couple and our parents as soon as the announcement was made. I of course had to stand there and was privy to everything that was being said around me. Some of them were surprised, others happy that their guess was correct and some lamenting the fact that the oldest Abdullah son was no longer available. And then there was a group of ladies to the right who were intently looking at Aaliya as she laughed at something Fahad Bhai said before she walked over to Nafisa who was standing a meter away from me.
"Congratulations...Bhabhi." Aaliya laughed hugging Nafisa. "I am glad this day is finally here, waise aapne Fahad Bhaijaan ko juch zyada hi bhagaya." She said as they both burst out into laughter. [I think you made Fahad beg a bit too much.]
It was no secret to the family that Fahad had been proposing to Nafisa for the past few months, each proposal more extravagant than the last as he worked his way down the article from the internet. It wasn't until he climbed up a pipe outside her window and into her room with a ring and flowers that she said yes, apparently she just wanted a true heart-felt proposal.
"Hey, mujhe thank you bolo, abhi toh mera inhe aur bhaganai ka iraada tha." Nafisa laughed. [You should thank me, I was planning on making him wait longer.]
"Acha hua apne haan kehdi, nai toh mujhe roz phone karke taang karte." I quipped coming to stand beside Nafisa and Aaliya. "Miss Universe, the aunties of this city await you." I laughed. [It's a good ting you said yes, or he would have kept calling me to complain everyday.]
"Oh joy." Nafisa said sarcastically before joining Fahad.
"Mamu ki Bhanji, itna hasnaa band karo, waha saari auntiyan tumhare ko dekh kar impress ho rahi hi, aise hi rishtey aane shuru hojaynge. Aur phir mujhe sabko daraakar bhagana padega." He whispered. [Stop laughing so much, all those women seem to be taken with you...and then they'll start their matchmaking business and I'll have to scare them away.]
"Tumhe aur koi kaam nahi hai?" She laughed. [Don't you have something else to do?]
"Yaar, hasna baand karo, tum haste bahut zyada khoobsurat lagti ho." [Stop laughing! You look really pretty when you laugh!]
"Kitna backwards compliment hai." Aaliya pointed out. [That's a very weird compliment.]
"Oh hello MKB, mein yaha tumhari compliment nahi karnai aaya, jab mein tumhari compliment karne aaya thaa taab toh mujhe bahar nikaal diya tha." I said remembering back to earlier. [Ha, I am not here to compliment you right now...when I was trying to compliment you, you kicked me out.]
"Kitkit, tum compliment kum aur chance zyada mar rahe thai." [Because you were trying to do a lot more than that.]
"Haan, toh aur kisi par thoda chance maroonga." I shrugged causing her to smile. [Well obviously, who else would I flirt with?]
"Aapi, aap itna smile kyun kar rahi hai?" Aayat asked coming to stand beside them. [Why are you smiling so much?]
"Kyun, smile karne pai tax lagta hai?" She asked looking at her sister. [Why? Is there a tariff on smiling now?]
"Nahi...woh usually aap Zain ko dekh kar gussa-type hotai ho, smiley-type nahi." She observed. [No...it's just that you usually look mad when you talk to Zain, not happy.]
"Hi." Rizwan's voice came from behind Aayat. Ah, bless you for saving us from awkward covering up my friend, I mentally gave Rizwan a high-five.
"Hi Rizwan! Kaise ho? Kitni der baad mil rahe hai naa?" Aaliya smiled also glad for the interruption. We didn't miss how Aayat seemed to freeze, ah, so this is a two-way thing. [Hey! How are you? I haven't seen you in a while!]
"Theek hoon, waise aap aaj bahut achi lag rahi hai, aur aap bhi." He said standing beside a blushing Aayat. [Fine. You look very nice today by the way, and you too.]
"Thank you." Aaliya smiled looking at Aayat and then at Rizwan, who was staring at Aayat before she looked at me, a knowing glint in her eyes.
"Aaliya! Yaha aana!" Mom's voice came from behind us. [Aaliya! Come here!]
"I'll be right back...I think." Aaliya said before walking towards my mother, her mother and Nafisa who were surrounded by a group of women.
"Aur yeh hai Shabana ki badi beti, Aaliya. Saare decorations ka kaam isne hi sambhala hai, mujhe toh samajh hi nahi aata ki mai iske bina kya karti." I heard mom say. [This is Shabana's oldest daugher, Aaliya. She decorated the whole place today, I don't even know what I would have done without her.]
"Salaam." Aaliya said as the women all smiled at her and then began their round of interrogation, asking her questions about what she did, how old she was and anything and everything in between.
"Miyah, aap kisko ghoor ghoor kar dekh rahe hai?" Shit. Busted. I turned to my right to see my dad and Aaliya's dad staring at me smiling.[Who are you staring at?]
"Mein...kisiko nahi. Actually, sab mujhe ghoor ghoor kar dekhthai hai." I smirked causing the two of them to laugh. "Mein toh sab se baach kar reh-raha hoon, nahi toh saari raat mujhse tarah tarah ke sawal pooche jayenge." I covered. [Me...no one! Actually, everyone is staring at me...I am just trying to hide and avoid their one million questions.]
"Aaliya toh phass gayi lagti hai." Usman said looking across the room. I knew of course, because I'd been staring at her the whole time. [Well, it seems like Aaliya has been found.]
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