The Game

"At Least I have a place to sleep, " she whispered, looking at the sky.

She was grateful that she got a place to spend her night without having to cross Amaan's path. Adjacent to his room, there was a wide space surrounded by the glass railing, on one corner there was a metallic garden swing with a leg rest. There was a sliding door separating the room and the balcony and of course it was covered with blinders.

'It must be Raina's idea, she always wanted to have a balcony and a swing to spend her evening time while reading and enjoying tea', she thought while lying on the floor and glancing at the swing.

"Always a dreamer who achieved what she wanted", she sighed.

Asmaira could not close her eyes for a second, she was continually thinking of ways to take care of Kabir without Amaan's knowledge. Though she was not used to a soft bed or it was not like she couldn't sleep without a mattress, however this time she could not feel comfortable as the night was cold and the cool breeze was making the floor freeze making it difficult to sleep. To make the situation worse, she had to wake up before Amaan so as to avoid crossing his path or he might do things to harm her. With that thought she shivered, though the temperature was already freezing her.

She slapped her forehead, thinking about her cell phone which she left at her parent's house.

"How can I be so stupid not to get my cell phone", she scolded herself.

'Well, so who was going to call you? Is there anyone who would call you that you thought of carrying the phone', her conscious sarcastically reminded her.

Yes, who would be calling her now. This was her home now and this was her family. Most of all, she was here for Kabir and going forward also it will only be Kabir for her.

"At Least I can ask Maya to lend me an alarm clock", with that thought she felt relief. Every day she doesn't have to worry about how to get up early before Amaan does.

Suddenly she glanced at the sky as if talking to someone and said, "Ray, Are you happy now? I will take care of Kabir as you wanted. I will fulfill your wish, no matter what, even if it means to face Amaan again and again".

She used to call Raina as 'Ray' as in her ray of hope and strength.

While she was thinking of ways to live in the same room with Amaan and hatching plans to take care of Kabir, Amaan was on the other side of the room opening his wine bottle one after the other. As his father has forced him to stay in the mansion he could only drink when he was in his room. Looking at Raina's picture he started recollecting all the endearing memories of them.

It has been 6 years of their love, their unconditional and irrevocable love. Every corner of the room was designed by Raina. She wanted to make it their 'love den' each corner filled with their love.

"This is my room and you need to take my permission to make any changes", Amaan said while crossing his arms and smiling at his wife who was busy drafting a set of designs to decorate their room.

"And who said you are the only owner of this room", Raina said without even lifting her head and continuing her drawing.

This annoyed Amaan who could not stand his wife giving attention to anything else than him. He was obsessed with his wife and wanted her undivided attention to him. He walked towards her, gently grabbing her design and said, "I said".

When it comes to work Raina never liked disturbance even from her husband. She frowned at his childish behavior and had to ask him, "What I should do to take your permission?".

Like her husband she too crossed her arms and leaned back on the couch.

Getting the response he wanted he gave an evil grin and leaned towards his wife. They were just an inch away from each other, he slowly touched her ear with his finger and said in his sexy voice, "how about a kiss?".

Closing her eyes Raina said, "Hmmm" as if mesmerized with his fingers touch. She continued, "And?". For a moment Amaan was surprised with her submissiveness yet he didn't think of foul play. To him his charm has worked on Raina. Pulling her closer to his chest, he lightly brushed his lips against hers and said, "and how about making babies tonight?".

Raina, whose eyes were closed, slowly opened them and gazed at her husband's deep green eyes, giving a seductive smile. She moved her hands and started unbuttoning his shirt. Seeing Amaan totally lost in her, she tiptoed and put her lips near his ear and whispered, "In your dream", with that she bit his ear making him whine in pain and pushed him.

"Argh! You are gone now baby", He grinned while rubbing his ears, while Raina was slowly stepping back and started to run laughing.

"Raina.....................", Amaan broke out of his memory and looked around with blank eyes as if not believing that it was a dream.

Two broken souls under the same roof were struggling with their own past and remembering the same person; Raina.

The entire night Asmaira forced herself not to sleep or she would end up waking up late and face Amaan. It was still dawn and the sun was setting to rise. She grabbed her quilt slowly sliding the door, she tiptoed towards the closet. Afraid to make any noise, she walked like a ghost in the dark. She grabbed her toothbrush and a new set of clothes peeping at Amaan's direction who was lying on his stomach with all the bottles scattered around him much to her shock, he was lying on the floor with the same clothes he wore last night. He was heavily sleeping, even if there was a bomb blast Asmaira was sure he won't wake up. With that her confidence grew and instead of going to Kabir's room to freshen up, she chose to use Amaan's bathroom. Within 15 mins she was out of her room and the first thing she did was to find a place for her morning prayer. To her surprise, she saw one or two maids who said they were on night duty.

'Who would need them at night time?', she asked herself.

When she heard that there was a separate prayer room, she was wide eyed with amazement. 'Indeed, I have underestimated them'. She was happy as she finally felt comfortable.

From the maid's conversation she learned that morning time is the busiest in the mansion as everybody leaves for their respective work. Salar, Jamshed goes to the company while Fariya and Hania go to their NGO after Salar, later Ishaal will leave for her boutique by 10am which leaves her alone with Kabir and Amaan. They said since Amaan has stopped living in the mansion for a year they don't know his routine. Asmaira thanked them and continued with her prayer.

After a few hours during breakfast she saw Fariya and Salar were in deep conversation while Hania and Ishaal were not to be seen. She hesitated for a moment and went to the kitchen as she didn't want to disturb Fariya. To her surprise, she found both Hania and Ishaal in the kitchen guiding the staff with the breakfast. Seeing her Ishaal said, "Good morning! I heard you were up early", holding her hand and making her sit on the kitchen chair.

"Well, I am an early riser, I can't sleep till late", she whispered while trying to make her reply audible. Somehow she couldn't make eye contact with any of the Hashmi and reply in a normal tone. Fariya has already spoken to Hania and Ishaal about her nature and asked them to make her feel comfortable. Ishaal was not surprised by her response.

"I have taken a few days off from my work, would you like to join me? I will help you with the rest of the things. Maya can help you show around, but since you are part of Hashmi's I will help you with the rest", she could not directly tell her that her mother in law has asked her to revamp her look.

"What about Kabir?", Asmaira said with a confused look, ' I am here for him, why do I need to act one of them?', she thought to herself.

"Don't worry about him, Amber will take care till then", Ishaal smiled and patted on her shoulder.

At the table, Asmaira wanted to ask Fariya for help but she could not gather the courage to talk in front of Salar. She was still petrified of him. Sensing her uneasiness, Fariya later asked her.

Asmaira still remembered Amaan's warning last night and directly she can't ask Fariya for help. She chose her words wisely and said, "Since I am here as Amaan's wife, I wanted to know about his routine as well as likes, dislikes like Kabir, I was wondering if I can prepare his breakfast before he leaves for office."

To Fariya it sounded that Asmaira was ready to take her role as a wife and trying to work on her marriage, however the truth was, Asmaira wanted to know when Amaan leaves and come back from office so she can plan her time with Kabir and also since she can't directly ask him, not to make him suspicious of her action.

Fariya beamed so brightly, but the next second her smile stopped. If only she knows when her son comes and goes, she could help Asmaira. But this didn't stop her. She called Salar to make Amaan come back to his office now that he is gradually moving on. Salar initially thought it would be still early to call him back to work, but one demand from his wife and he obliged happily. Who said a ruthless businessman doesn't have a heart, but only for their wife.

When Amaan woke up it was already noon, his head pounding and his vision still blurry, however, the first thing he thought was Asmaira, 'What is that witch up to now?', he thought while rubbing his temples. He knew she would be up to something and wouldn't obediently listen to him and keep quiet. As if he knew the answer, without freshening up, he marched towards Kabir's room wanting to catch her red handed.

Without any warning, he stormed into Kabir's room much to his disappointment he only saw Kabir with his nanny and a maid whose back was towards Amaan who was cleaning the room. Ignoring the shocked expression of Amber he walked around the room to see if she was hiding from him. He checked the closet and the bathroom still could not find the trace. Still not sure he went out of the room.

'He came here finally to his son's room, I should tell Madam HAshmi, she would be so happy', Amber thought. She continued thinking, 'After Asmaira madam came, he also came to Kabir's room, Is it a coincidence?'.

"Madam, Sir has already left", Amber said while looking at the maid's back.

Asmaira sighed in relief and turned around, "Please don't tell anyone I wore maid's clothes".