Z A I D A A N

I could feel it. I could feel her eyes drilling holes in my head.

I casually whistled and turned on my heel, knocking on the door as I asked,

"May I come in, Dadijaan?"

My wife's dadijaan, and her cousin who was in the room looked up and as the older woman nodded, Husna muttered a Salaam and rushed out.

But as soon as she stepped and saw the daggers thrown my way, she glanced at me and then at her cousin, who stood there motionless and filled with rage, and stifled a laughter as she went god knows where.

I stepped in and kissed dadi's hand,

"How are you, dadi?"

She patted my cheek, "Alhamdulillah bache. What are you doing here? Are you here to see my granddaughter? Wait for just three more days, you'll have her all the time!"

Either she was oblivious to the entire situation, or she was just hoping for a lot. I controlled my will to roll my eyes and said,

"Nahi, dadijaan. Mai toh aapse milne aaya tha!"

She laughed and shook her head,

"And why is that?"

"Because," I kneeled down infront of her, "mom wanted you to give your granddaughter this."

I placed a small velvet box in her hand and she raised her eyebrows,

"Mom wanted to give, or you?"

I shrugged, "Allahu Aalam."

She chuckled at my response and then her eyes trailed behind me and she glanced at me, amused,

"Kainaat. What are you doing there staring at Zaidaan? Do come in."

Even without looking at her, I knew she was red in the face as I heard her footsteps approaching behind me.

I turned around and smirked at her pink cheeks.

She adjusted the dupatta on her head and pursed her lips, looking anywhere but at us.

Her lips were in a straight line and though she had her eyes downcast, I could see the long eyelashes that framed her eyes and the shadow the cast on her cheekbones.

Her milk tone was startling on her dim yellow kameez and I admit, I openly stared at her like a creep.

Because god, was she beautiful?

I snapped back to reality when she said,

"I wasn't staring at him dadu, I was glaring at him."

The emphasis she put on the word couldn't be stressed enough in her cold gaze.

I found my lips curling.

Feisty.

Dadijaan said nothing, but handed her the velvet box,

"Your husband here, wanted to give you a prewedding gift."

She eyed me wearily before looking away, saying nothing.

"Kainaat can be a little too much to handle at times, but her heart is made of diamonds."

I smiled at dadijaan,

"It's a good thing the ring inside is made of diamonds, dadijaan. Maybe everytime she sees that, she'll remember what her heart is made of and how precious she is."

I didn't look at her while I said that, but the sound of her pazeb was enough for me to conclude that she ran out of the room.

Of shyness or something else, I didn't know.

I talked to dadijaan a bit more before I made my way out and met Khalifa.

We did a brotherly hug and he patted my shoulder,

"We're gonna be family soon."

"InshaAllah."

His eyes darkened for a minute and my gaze flickered behind him, where I saw a way too familiar figure looking at us, when she saw me looking at her, she pressed deeper into the wall in attempts to hide herself.

I smirked again and focused back on her brother,

"Kainaat is the dearest to my heart, Zaidaan. The fact that the elders chose to do this does not stop me from harming you if she ever comes home with tears in her eyes."

I looked him in the eye and removed my Armani coat, and rolled up the sleeves of my button down white shirt as I took my time answering him,

"I may be forced into this, but I'm a man of my word. Me and Abaan, we both are. So if you entrust the women of your house in our safety, be rest assured that day or night, we fight our lives for theirs. But Allah knows what is best for us, Alhamdulillah."

I saw from the corner of my eyes how her mouth went agape and this time, she glared right in my eyes before stomping in the room, much to my surprise.

"Bhaiya, you need to go pick up Sahifa ."

He turned to the source and smiled, "Oh, Kainaat, I will go now. Just make sure Zaidaan feels at home."

With a smile my way, he went out, leaving us alone.

But I was pretty sure we weren't alone when I saw Husna peeking from the kitchen and telling something to her aunt.

"Do you need something?"

I shook my head but stepped closer to her,

"Just wanted to tell you, that the ring is your engagement ring, seeing as we didn't have one. Don't think that I got it to you myself, it was mom's idea."

Her eyes flashed and I was more surprised when she stepped ahead and pointed a finger at me,

"Just because we're tied in a matrimony, doesn't mean you have to put up the act of the good guy in my home. I will never love you. And anything that connects me to you, or whatever this marriage is, hold no value for me. I . Don't. Care."

And as she turned on her heel, her cheeks flushed in anger and a fire in her eyes, I caught her wrist before I could stop myself and pulled her back, turning her in the process so that she faced me, our faces inches apart, and pinned her arm behind her back,

"You're a tiny girl, Kainaat. And we are married. You will move into my house in three days, get rid of your ill feelings. I have nothing against you. And if not for yourself, then atleast put up the act of a happy couple for the sake of your family. But if you want them to see you suffer, then it's your wish."

I saw how her expression changed from anger to shock and then a mix of both as she lowered her gaze and breathed hard.

My eyes roamed around her face as I uttered those words and when I realised she was too shocked to do anything, I stepped back.

Still holding her hand, I took the velvet box from her other hand and flipped it open, struggling to hold her hand while simultaneously taking out the ring.

"I won't run away, release me."

I smirked for the nth time and said,

"I don't think I trust you that much, wifey."

She smiled at me, the devilish kinda smiles,

"How can you not trust me, my love, when you're destined with me?"

She almost spat out the words and her tone held venom, if voices and looks could kill, I'd fall dead right now.

Disregarding how she squirmed her wrist in my hand in an attempt to free herself, I calmly and slowly, ever so slowly just to annoy her, slipped the ring in her finger and held her hand with both of mine, enjoying her discomfort and the softness of her palms in mine.

"Well," I said, "doesn't it look better in your finger?"

"It sure does." She replied back, sarcasm lacing her tone.

When I saw her focusing on the ring, her expression for the first time nuetral and her cheeks the colour of white lillies, with no tinge of pink and her posture relaxed, it seemed as if she forgot her hand was in mine while she gazed down at her finger in deep thought, gazing at her new possession with fascination.

When I'd stared at her for a good few seconds, I decided to break her concentration and lifted my hand, which held hers, and bought it closer to my lips, placing a light kiss on her knuckles.

That seemed to startle her as she stared at me with enlarged eyes and she gasped.

My lips lingered over her knuckles and then I smirked at her horrified expression, before dropping her hand and patting her head as if she was a kid and walking away.

Leaving her paralyzed as she stared ahead with her mouth hanging open.

I didn't look back but the sound of her pazeb clashing against her bony ankles and her feet against the tiles told me she had run off somewhere deeper into the house.

Of shyness or something else, I don't know.