(5)

In the middle of the night when he was deep in slumber, the little whimpers of his wife woke him up.

Rubbing his tired red eyes, he peeked at the wall clock that stated that its two in the morning. His attention then diverted towards his wife who was crying softly. She was leaned against the headboard while her hands covered her face.

Reluctantly, he went near the bed and perched beside her legs.

She stiffened after sensing the dipping of the mattress beside her.

Tenderly, he removed her delicate hands away from her face.

"Z-Zara, what happened? Why are you crying?" Staring at her with soft eyes, he mumbled with utter devotion.

His fondness melted Zara's heart. Hiccupping, she shook her head.

"If there is nothing then why are you crying?" Wiping her tears with his thumb pad he whispered.

Averting her eyes from him, she bit on her lips while muttering, "Not everyone is told everything, there are some things which are for our heart only."

A dramatic gasp left his mouth and he placed his hand on a hand, "you won't tell me, you won't tell your secret to your best friend!"

"Stop being overdramatic!"

Scoffing, he rolled his eyes.

"Then try to be quiet, there are other people who like to sleep peacefully without hearing anyone's bawling in the middle of the night."

"You're so mean!" Huffing, she crossed her arms and looked at him accusingly.

The room was only illumined by the side lamp on Zara's side. The sharp air of the air conditioner made her shiver and she snuggled in the comforter.

"You're calling me mean whereas you're the one sleeping on the comfortable bed with a soft quilt."

Narrowing her eyes, she squatted straight on the headboard. "What else do you want? Do you want us to sleep on the same bed?"

His ears tinged red, clearing his throat he mumbled in embarrassment. "I didn't say this."

"Then stop taunting me."

"You're taking advantage of my situation Zara."

He pointed an accusing finger towards Zara.

"Really! Please tell me what is your situation?"

"You know." He grumbled.

"I'm sorry but I'm not a mind reader like Edward Cullen, please elaborate your situation." Batting her eyelashes, she confided sweetly.

Sighing a large breath, he facepalms. "Don't make it harder than it already is."

Pulling his hands harshly away from his face, she looked straight into his eyes. "What is your situation? What am I making hard? Tell me because for the love of God, I can't seem to solve your riddles."

Averting his eyes, he mumbled with lowered eyes. "I'm just very awkward and uncomfortable, I never imagined marrying at a young age heck I never comprehended marriage, I'm still trying to process it all."

"So, what do you want from me? and look at me when I'm talking to you!" She uttered sternly. Affan hesitantly peeked upwards and soon both of their eyes clashed.

Her caramel brown eyes waited for his response.

"I-I just don't want anything to change between us, we could live like we used to live before, like friends, like cousins."

Hope-filled eyes, he blinked at her.

"Of course Affan, I also don't wish for anything different between us, we just have to live in one room and I promise nothing will change between us."

A smile settled on his lips and he again moved to hug her but stopped midway, coughing, he again averted his eyes.

No matter how much close they were, they never had any physical intimacy between them, and Affan's hug yesterday was new to both of them.

******

Puffing, Inhal was cleaning their room which was scattered with the little toys of her daughter.

"Zarrar, how many times do I have to tell you not to buy new toys for Mirha every time we are on an outing."

Throwing a sandy color teddy bear on the basket, she groaned loudly.

With his grinning face, he entered their room but upon seeing an aggravated Inhal he tried to escape.

"Don't you dare to stride away from me, come here and help me in the cleaning"

Scanning the whole room, he stared at with dilemma.

"What's there to clean? everything is in its position."

Raising an eyebrow and putting a hand on her waist she glanced at her with distrust. "You call this clean? Have you seen the unkempt bedsheet? Have you seen the scattered toys on the floor? Have you see your wet towel on the bed that would leave damp blotch on the bedsheet, have you-"

"Okay, okay my clean freak wife calm down a little bit." Holding her hand in his, he moved towards the black leather sofa which suited well with their room's theme. Zarrar had a bland taste, and only black and grey consisted in his color book.

"I bought you these gajras when I went to drop Mirha at Mummy's." Her delicate wrist was now embellished with fresh garlands.

"You're such a teenager Captain Zarrar." Giggling, she shyly peeked at her husband. She forgot that she was scolding him mere seconds before.

"Just for you my love." Placing his forehead on her head, he muttered lovingly.

"How are Zara and Affan? Are they coping well with their new relationship?"

"They both have their way, they are behaving like they used to, it will take some time they will be fine, don't worry."

Inhal heaved a breath, "Do you think that this decision was best for both of them."

"I think it is, sooner or later it was bound to happen, it was Chacha's last wish." Rubbing his face, he replied.

"But they don't love each other!" At this, a chuckle left Zarrar's mouth.

"You also didn't love me when we got married." Smiling, he wriggled his eyebrows.

"But you did, and in their case, both don't have these kinds of feelings for each other."

"Don't worry Honey, one is madly and deeply in love." Smirking, he caressed her hand with his thumb.

"Who is it?" Curiosity bubbled inside of her.

"Time will tell you, just wait and watch."

"Fine then, get up and clean with me." Groaning, he followed his wife.

**********

She pushed his tall figure away from the mirror and stood in front of it.

"Getaway, for the past fifteen minutes I'm waiting for my turn."

"Go to your room then, go and get ready there." He again positioned himself in front of the mirror again.

Hissing, she whacked his back with the back of her hairbrush.

"This little hit won't make me move, try something harder Zaru."

"Oh yeah, wait a second then."

Shaking his head, he again returned to his previous work knowing that her attempts would be futile.

Oh, how wrong he was.

Shrieking loudly, Affan held his sore toe where Zara put pressure with her pointed heel.

"The giant finally moved!" Grinning, she stood in front of the mirror.

His feet throbbed with pain, scowling at her, he exited the room while yelling loudly.

"From now on no free cake for you from the cafe."

A week passed and both of them hadn't talked about their marriage after day that. They both share the same room but remain like they used to before.

After about ten minutes, she joined him in the car.

Muttering 'finally' under his breath, he started the ignition, his Mercedes Benz

Smoothly strode on the road.

Fixing his ray bans, he cleared his throat. "Don't tell anybody that we got married."

A chill ran down her spine.

"Why? Are you ashamed that you are married to me?"

"It's not like that!"

She scoffed. "You don't want your girlfriends to find out that you have a wife now." She didn't know why his sentence agitated her when she was the one to accept that nothing would change in them.

"Where did that come from!" His voice become loud a bit, his narrow eyes declared that he was getting angry.

"It didn't come from anywhere, it's the truth which you are denying."

"For the love of God, shut up Zara, you are being delusional."

She stayed quiet after that, her silence disturbed him, glancing at her, he heaved an exhausted breath and spoke again.

"Why would I marry you if I didn't want anyone to know, I just need some time to process it al-"

She interrupted him. "You took pity on me that's why you married me."

Just this sentence ignited a fire in him. This sentence of her aroused rage which was unknown to him.

"YOU THINK THAT I TOOK PITY ON YOU!? WELL, YOU THINK RIGHT. YOU ARE THE BIGGEST MISTAKE OF MY LIFE. BECAUSE OF YOU, MY WHOLE LIFE IS DESTROYED." He shouted, the steering wheel was clutched tightly, cutting the blood supply making his fist appear white. He wanted to hurt just like her words hurt him, they sliced through his heart. This little girl sitting beside him was his whole existence, marriage was new to him, he wanted to give it time, he wanted to give them time. But both of them lacked communication skills.

Tears welled up in her eyes, and little drops of tears fell onto her cheeks.

The car was now facing the wrath of his rage, he was exceeding the speed limit. And everything happened in a swift motion, the car got out of control. He turned the steering to stabilize the car but to his bad luck, the car hit the massive tree which was on the side when he turned.

The loud shriek of Zara hit his ears, his heart thumped loudly in his ears, he didn't care if died today but he didn't want anything to happen to her.

After hitting the tree, the car rolled down the side of the road, he shielded her with his body as much as he could.

After some moments the car stopped swiveling.

Blood seeped down from their bodies.

Both of them didn't know if the other survived or not.

Maybe their story ended before it even started.