Love for Rent

x Cookies x

'They will call us inside soon' He took me outside the registrar's office after we filled out all the paperwork. There were two more couples ahead of us waiting to get married. I wonder what their story was? Were they on the run, going against their families to become one? I stared at them. One pair was looking happy, whereas the other one was not looking so bright. I immediately noticed how worried the girl was, whereas the guy with her was on his phone looking at something with a devilish smile. Maybe I was over-analyzing, but the energy I was sensing from her was making me uncomfortable. He didn't seem like a good man.

'Hey,' I felt a touch on my shoulder, and I faced Shahzaib, who was watching me with uncertain eyes.

'What?' I excused. I didn't hear what he was saying.

'There is still time. Do you need anything?' He proposed carefully.

'Cookies,' I told him. He seemed confused at first, but I repeated myself to confirm he heard me correctly.

He smiled and left before I could give him money to buy it from me. I shifted my attention back to the odd couple. The girl suddenly looked in my direction, knowing my glare on her, so I glanced away but then when I kept noticing her eyes on me, I looked at her again, and when I did, she pulled her scarf forward, making a shield between her and the man. Then she leaned back and mouthed help quietly in fear. I thought I didn't read her lips properly, but she did the same thing again, and my heart sank. I looked around to see if Shahzaib was around, but I couldn't spot him. Immediately I dialed his number but ended the call. Why did I suddenly feel the need to reach him? I always took care of things by myself then why did I do such a strange thing. I let that thought slip, and I approached the couple. The other happy-looking couple got called inside the office, so it was just me, and the girl and the man left alone in the waiting room.

'Wow, such a pretty dress' I approached the girl and scanned her face closely. I saw a bruise on the side of her jaw and peered at the man sitting next to her, who was checking me from the bottom up with nasty glares. Men like him looked at this world as their playground. He had no hesitance in his stance even.

'What happened to your neck?' I tried to examine the mark on the girl, but the man stood up and blocked my way before reaching out to her.

'Back off' He addressed me and invaded my personal space, expecting me to step back, but I didn't pull back. He stopped and folded his arms over his chest and pulled his shoulders back to make him look bigger than he already was. I got myself getting scared, but I trained myself to never show my vulnerability to others. People didn't care about our weaknesses. People were there to crush others, not understand them.

'You know, forcing a marriage on a girl is against the law' I raised my voice at him.

He laughed and told the girl to get her things instead. He was about to take her away because he knew I had noticed and what he was doing.

'I won't let you take her' I followed them and grabbed the girl's arm. She was young and weak and in tears. Before I could secure her properly, he moved in my direction quickly and launched at me, pushing me on the ground. I yelled from the top of my lungs, thankfully the guard heard me and blocked the man, but even he couldn't protect her. The man told him he owned her, glaring at the girl to speak in his favor so the guard could let them go, but the girl kept quiet. More people started to gather, and I just noticed Shahzaib coming to me through the crowd.

'What happened?' He rushed towards me and placed his arm around me, taking everything happening around us. I couldn't say anything. My eyes just stayed on the girl. People spoke all sorts of things, the police arrived, and they started questioning her. They all wanted to do their work. For them, it was just part of the day. For the girl standing with wet eyes, however, this was her entire life. I took the pack of cookies from Shahzaib's hand and offered it to her after the police took away the abuser. She didn't know what to do.