Chapter 45

Saad's pov:

"What are you doing here? You should be the one to go shop with her." Bhabi scolded me angrily while glaring at bhai. "At least you could have told him to go with her. Even if he doesn't know about these things yet, you do know about them, right?" She scolded him, making him squirm under her gaze.

"I wasn't thinking about it?" He tried to reason but in vain. Bhabi just shook her head in disappointment before looking at me, waiting for me to go.

"Do I have to go?" I asked, already feeling bored.

"Yes." She replied with a sweet smile. Since she didn't wear a niqab yet, unlike her, her expressions were very much visible for us to see.

"But I don't want to go." I groaned in hopes of her letting me stay here.

"Saad. No excuses. Go to her." She replied sternly.

"And what should I do after going there? I don't even know anything about ladies shopping." I replied annoyedly.

"Well for starters, buy a nice dress for her. Since you guys just got married, she should be wearing beautiful heavy dresses. So go and start with that." She happily advised me.

"Beautiful heavy dresses? Won't it be uncomfortable? And also, we are just going to stay at home so what's the need for that?" I asked her, frowning.

"Okay, buy whatever you guys like. Now go before I drag you there." She warned while narrowing her eyes at me and folding her arms.

Sighing, I made my way to where I saw her going earlier. The excited voices of Alayna and Amira coming from a particular corner confirmed that I was, indeed, going in the right direction.

Coming to a halt near them, I rubbed the back of my neck, not knowing what to say or do. She was checking out a few dresses with Emaan commenting on them while Alayna and Amira stood beside aunty at the far end of the aisle with big grins adorning their faces as they frantically nodded or shook their heads. I was still amazed by how easily they seemed to have blended together.

"Black or maroon?" Her soft and confused voice brought me out of my thoughts. I noticed her holding two dresses in her hands as she examined them thoroughly.

I had already seen her in black dress the day we met for the first time. And I would actually like to see how she looks in maroon colour. Without thinking about anything else, I heard myself answer her question, once again, surprisingly both of us. "Maroon." I have been doing a lot of things without my conscience being present in the present and it was starting to scare me now.

Hearing my voice, she glanced at me before turning back to look at the dresses in her hand. Even through her niqab, I could see her avoiding my gaze and I realised I was staring at her. And smiling too. Averting my gaze, I cleared my throat, trying to take my mind off of a few thoughts invading my mind. Emaan grinned at me before calling me over with a wave of her hand.

"Dekho bhaijaan ko bhi Maroon pasand aaya. Now we are going to buy the maroon one, no excuses." Emaan told her, snatching the dress from her hands before making her way to aunty.

(See, even he loved maroon.)

Standing a few feets away from them, - as it was better for both of us - I pocketed my hands before trying to start a conversation. "So... Umm... Did you like anything else?" I questioned as my gaze surveyed our surroundings.

She shifted in her place before looking down at her hands. "Not really. Honestly, these aren't my type of dresses." She replied with a shrug while turning around, facing me.

I nodded my head while glancing at others. "Okay. Kuch aur dekhna hai? Yaha... pr...?" I asked her in hopes of getting away from the frequent glances stolen our away from her mother and Emaan.

(You want to check out something else around here?)

"Jee. Uhm... Chalte hai phir?" Her reply came out more like a question, which made me suppress my smile. Nodding my head, I headed out of that aisle and she followed me.

(Yeah... let's go?)

We roamed around for a while until a dress caught my attention and I stopped in my tracks. It was a yellow coloured long anarkali stopping just a few inches above the ankle. It was plain, save for the satin golden border and some embroidery on one shoulder and on the joint of the bodice with the flowing dress. And it also had full sleeves which was a plus point. It was so simple yet looked so beautiful.

"Want to check it out?" I heard her voice from beside me, startling me. I glanced at her before looking back at the dress.

"Yeah I guess." I replied, uncertainly. I didn't know what would we even do after checking it out. I mean, I liked that dress but that didn't mean she liked it too. And who else could I buy it for if not her? Mama didn't wear these kind of dresses and I didn't think it would be nice to give it to bhabi because I liked it, not bhai or bhabi.

Okay wait, I was getting confused myself. It was not necessary for me to buy it. We could just check it out, right? Yeah, silly me! Getting worked up over nothing.

I heard a chuckle from beside me, bringing me out of my thoughts. Shaking her head, she went to where the dress was and started checking it out. I followed her and stood a few feet away from it, watching her.

"Do you like it?" We both asked at the same time and I could feel the heat rushing to my face as I looked away. Good thing I had a beard. Alhamdulillah for that. I dared to steal a glance her way and saw her looking anywhere but me as she played with the sleeves of her abaya. Chuckling nervously, I rubbed the back of my neck.

"Do you like it?" I asked her, looking away.

"It's nice." Her reply was meek, quiet, maybe uncertain too?

"Let us take it then." I suggested slowly and she nodded her head before moving back to stand beside me. She seemed to be avoiding my gaze, which made me realise even she was flustered. A small smile tugged at the end of my lips and this time, I didn't try to hide it.

I was about to ask the worker to pack it when she stopped me suddenly. "But wait! This isn't what I want from you. Agar ye aap uss promise k mutabik dila rahe hai to mujhe ye nahi chahiye. Mujhe kuch aur chahiye." She told me while looking down. Her voice soft, stubborn and cute. Wait what? Cute? Really Saad?

(If you are buying this according to that promise then I don't want it. I want something else.)

Shaking my thoughts away, I asked her, amusement dancing in my eyes. "Accha, kya chahiye aapko?"

(Okay, what do you want?)

"Wo mai aapko baad me bataungi." She muttered playing with her fingers.

(I will tell you that later.)

"Accha theek hai. This gift isn't according to the promise, don't worry." I replied, the smile still present on my lips.

(Okay, alright.)

._._._.

I should have known the moment I agreed to her promise that it would be something troublesome. I actually knew that she was going to ask me for something which I didn't even think of, but this? This was just way too hard. Especially since her mother had warned her not to have any more sweets. Which included cakes, pastries and cookies.

And here I was, standing in front of the bakery, with her bugging me to buy her a cake. One whole cake for her alone. Which was going to be kind of impossible if her mother finds out. "See, you can't back out now. You promised me." She reminded me and I could hear the warning in her voice.

"Yes, I know but can't you choose something else? I mean from everything that you can choose, you chose a cake?" I whispered, trying to change her mind. But it was already set.

"No. I don't want anything else. I just want my chocolate cake." She replied fiercely, making me squeeze my eyes shut. This girl! Ya Allah help me. Both the mother and daughter duo are going to kill me one day, I thought.

"Okay let's see. If-" I was about to try to argue one last time when she cut me off.

"Just answer me. Are you going to buy it or not?" She inquired angrily, making me sigh in defeat.

"Okay, yes I will buy it for you." I replied calmly after taking a deep breath. Her eyes crinkled from the corners, letting me know she was smiling in triumph. "But only when we will be leaving the mall." I added sternly.

Her smile fell and she looked at me fiercely. "But-" She was about to protest when this time, I cut her off.

"No but's or anything. If you want it then you will have to wait for it. If not then it's okay. Tell me." My voice was surprisingly stern, making her shut her mouth as she glared at me.

"Okay." Came her annoyed reply and this time, I smiled in triumph.

I only agreed to her promise because I felt like I was only annoying her or making her angry since the time I arrived here. I wanted to apologise for that because I was not like that as a person. I didn't even know why I was behaving like that in front of her and now that I think about it, it kind of made me feel like I was... I didn't know. But I just felt like I shouldn't have behaved that way.

Ya Allah! My thoughts were muddled up and were confusing me too. I just meant to say that, I promised her to apologise and make her happy, but now she was kind of making me regret my decision because I didn't know how her mother was going to react.

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▪ Which is your favourite sweet?

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