Chapter 39

Atifa's pov:

Noticing the look on my face, she added, "As Maaz and Zara will be staying here, they will be occupying the guest room. And since you both just got married, you guys can share the same room, spend some more time with each other and get to know each other."

I wanted to groan and whine at her for doing this to me but I remained silent. I waited for him to stand up and follow me. He seemed to have come back to earth as he stared at her blankly. "But my clothes are in that room." He tried to protest but it was all in vain.

"Oh don't worry about them, I will bring them upstairs." Bhabi jumped in, standing up with a grin. He stared at her, baffled, before slowly nodding his head and standing up.

I made my way upstairs with him following me. Suddenly, I was no longer sleepy, this new thought of having to share my room with a man had invaded my mind, making me highly self conscious.

Opening the door, my eyes scanned the room as I entered. Thankfully, nothing embarrassing was sprawled out, although I wouldn't disagree that my room was a bit messy because of the haywire in the afternoon. Sighing, I made my way towards the bed as I lazily threw the bouquet and my clutch on it before sitting down. He was still standing at the door, examining my room. "Uhh... Welcome to my room I guess..." I trailed off awkwardly, looking away when I caught his gaze.

"It's nice." He replied while closing the door and making his way to the only couch present in my room.

"Jazak Allahu Khairan." I mumbled, glancing at the clock. Taking out my mobile, I opened up Emaan's chat before downloading all the pictures which were already sent by her.

"Wa Antum Fa Jazak Allahu Khairan." He replied back. I was surprised that he even heard because my reply was a mere whisper. "Can I get some water?" I heard his voice as I looked up from my phone.

"Yeah, wait a minute." Keeping my mobile aside and standing up, I took the jug and glass kept on my side table to him. Giving him the glass, I kept the jug on the table behind the couch and sat on the bed, opposite to him.

We sat there in silence for a while, none of us uttering any word. A knock on the door saved us from further awkwardness. Getting up from the bed, I opened the door to find bhabi standing there with a bag in her hands. Smiling, I moved aside, giving her way to come in. "No no, I have to go down now, Maaz is waiting for me." Shaking her head, she handed me the bag before rushing downstairs.

Confused by her behaviour, I closed the door before handing him the bag. "Bhabi gave me this and left." I told him, sitting back down on the bed. Before he could reply, magrib azaan went off.

Glancing at me, he kept the bag aside before standing up. "I guess I will just change after returning from Magrib." Buttoning his blazer, he told me. I stood up while nodding my head as he made his way out of the door.

Sighing in relief at the fact that I was alone once again, I took off my hijab and kept it on the bed. Crazy Emaan! I told her braiding my hair in any kind of style was of no use. No one was going to see it anyway. But she didn't listen to me and went ahead. Although I wouldn't disagree that I did love the hairstyle. Standing in front of the mirror, I perfected the details. Leaving a few strands of hair out as she did earlier, I admired myself. I kind of actually looked pretty. I guess.

With a smile, I turned around and was about to go to the washroom when the door opened, making me still at my place. I looked up slowly, praying that it shouldn't be him. I mean, it would be awkward if it turned out to be him. But to my dismay, it was him. He was gazing at me as I looked at him. His eyes seemed to roam around, taking in each and every inch of my face, making me highly self conscious and nervous. Okay, maybe I wasn't actually looking that good. Shifting from one feet to another, I averted my gaze. Why did he come back?

He seemed to snap out of his daze as he cleared his throat. "Uh... Sorry, my mobile..." He gestured towards the couch. I nodded my head, tucking the few strands of hair behind my ear. Grabbing his phone, he dashed out of the room like it was on fire.

Shaking my head, I realised I was holding my breath. Releasing it, I rushed to the washroom as it was getting late for magrib.

._._._.

I was cleaning the mess in my room after praying while talking to Emaan. She had called to know what happened after she left. It hadn't even been two hours since she left and she wanted to know the details. This girl, I tell you! I didn't know what would happen when she would get married. She would surely call me every hour to give me updates.

"So where is he now?" Her excited voice came from the other side. The call was on the speaker and the mobile was kept on the side table as I folded the extra clothes sprawled on my bed.

"Went to pray."

"Oh okay. Yaar seriously, bhaijaan is so good looking. God! He seriously looked like a-" Emaan started, making me squeeze my eyes shut.

(Buddy)

"Have you called me just to praise him?" I asked her annoyedly.

"Ab agar you won't praise him, to kisi na kisi ko to karna padega na." She teased. I was sure that she was grinning on the other side.

(Now if)

(Someone else will have to do it)

"Haa haa, but tum to mujhe kuch bolne ka mauka hi nahi de rahi ho. So what can I say?" I countered back while adjusting the pillows.

(Yeah yeah, but you aren't giving me any chance to say anything.)

"Accha ji? Chaliye ab hum aapko mauka dete hai, bataiye. How did he look today?" She inquired teasingly.

(Oh yeah? Okay now I'm giving you the chance, so tell me.)

I could feel my cheeks heating up a bit, but reminding myself that he wasn't here, I decided to reply. "Acche dikh rhe the." I whispered shyly before warning her. "Now don't you dare say anything else about him. He is your bhaijaan, remember that."

(He was looking nice.)

She laughed. "Accha accha theek hai, I won't say anything about him anymore. But did you tell him that?" She asked me curiously, and for a moment, it made me think what she was talking about. I realised that she was talking about complimenting him.

(Okay okay,)

Just as I was about to reply, another deep and smooth voice made me freeze in my place. "You were looking beautiful too." For a moment, I was confused about why he added too until I realised he might have heard my conversation with Emaan. Ya Allah! This was so embarrassing and awkward.

Hearing his voice, Emaan suddenly said, "Accha suno, I guess mom's calling me downstairs so I will just talk to you later. Take care and Allah hafiz." Without even waiting for my reply, she ended the call, making me shake my head at her antics. My thoughts once again drifted back to the man standing at the door. I dared not to look back at him.

(Okay listen,)

Actually why was he even in the room? I mean how was he even in the room right now when he should come in after knocking? He came and stood beside the bedside table while folding his arms on his chest. I could feel him staring at me. "Jazak Allahu Khairan." Murmuring quietly, I quickly made the blanket.

"Wa Antum Fa Jazak Allahu Khairan." He replied and as if reading my face, he stated pointing towards the door, "The door of your room was left open." My lips made an o shape as I nodded my head in understanding. I continued my work silently, trying to avoid him. "We still have to pray those two rakaàts. Do you want to pray now?" Standing straight, he asked me.

"Yeah I guess. But I still have to change..." I replied, finally turning to look at him before glancing down at my gown. Since after praying, I started cleaning the mess and even Emaan called, I couldn't change.

"We can do that after praying or else it will be time for Isha." He suggested and I nodded my head before grabbing my hijab.

._._._.

"Ammi I swear I'm full!" I exclaimed, making her shake her head and others smiled.

"But you haven't even eaten anything properly. Your plate is still full. See." She pointed at my plate and looked at me accusingly.

I narrowed my eyes at her, "That's because you keep giving me food to eat." I told her in annoyance and when I saw her starting to protest, I added, "Now don't you even dare deny that. We all saw that. Right?" My gaze flickered to others just to watch them shake their heads and raise their hands in defence.

"No, I didn't see anything." He added fuel to the fire. And he even had the nerve to have an amused smile on his face.

I gaped at them unbelievably. "I wasn't asking you anything either!" I retorted back with narrowed eyes as I turned to look at the kids. "Tell me princesses, you saw ammi taking out food on my plate again and again, right?" I asked them expectantly.

They looked at each other before looking back at me. I narrowed my eyes at them, silently warning them not to lie. "Yeah, we saw that. Right Amira?" Alayna squeaked before yelping as she turned to look at Amira. "Why did you do that?" She asked while rubbing her arm with a pout.

"Why would you say that?" Amira retorted with a groan. "We were supposed to say that we didn't see either." She added, stealing a glance at him. Understanding where this was going and who was guiding her to do that, I glared at her. Noticing my glare, she looked at me before grinning sheepishly. "Sorry."

I just shook my head at her and turned my attention back to ammi. "See, I told you. Now I'm not eating anything else." I told her firmly as I folded my arms and huffed. "Except cookies." I added as an afterthought.

Ammi looked at me with disapproval before taking my plate and muttering something about me being stubborn. I smiled in victory but it was short lived. "You won't even get your cookies." She replied with a smug smile.

"What!? Why?" I whined as I straightened in my place, my arms dropping by my sides.

"No food, no cookies." She shrugged with an innocent smile, making me gape at her. I heard him chuckle and when I turned to glare at him, his chuckles turned into coughs. Ammi passed him a glass of water which he gratefully took and gulped. I could still detect a hint of smile on his face when his gaze flickered to me.

Averting my gaze, I stared at ammi. "But I ate my food na." I protested with a pout, hoping she would melt watching my face and allow me some cookies.

"Yes you did. But not enough. And also, I remember someone having a whole platter of cookies during their nikkah so no cookies for you today." She replied while glancing at me and passing a sweet smile.

Groaning, I looked away and folded my arms. It wasn't like I ate the whole platter all by myself. Life was so unfair.

._._._.