His Temporary Wife

seven

Wafa was shivering.

She curled up on the sofa in a very uncomfortable position and hugged herself tightly, yet the cold felt so unbearable. She couldn't sleep with so much coldness.

She looked up at the AC and clicked her tongue in displeasure. She wasn't used to so much cold and Shahzaib can't sleep without an AC. Of course, he was typically rich like that. She didn't mind it until yesterday. She didn't mind it as long as she had her warm and comfortable blanket with her.

But then a mug full of coffee fell off her hands just before she was going to sleep and now her blanket was reeking of its smell. She can't possibly use that. And Wafa was too adamant to ask Shahzaib for a spare one. He already has one that he was using and she had no idea where are the rest. Or if he even had any spares. She could go to the servant quarters and pick one from there but the gates of the west wing will be closed after eleven.

It's way past that and Wafa was left with no option but to shiver.

Shahzaib was sleeping too. It didn't feel right to wake him up, not after what happened in the evening. It's been a week to that long drive and Wafa could say things have gotten so much better. They were cordial with each other and could make normal conversations without fighting over every little thing. It almost felt unreal.

That is until this evening. Almost as if the universe was unhappy that they were not fighting.

They got into a massive fight regarding her internship. Wafa was still mad at Shahzaib and so was he at her. They both had their own justifiable reasons to be angry. Wafa sighed as she thought about it.

Her teeth were clattering at this point, unable to take any more of the cold. Feeling hopeless, she got up from the sofa, wrapped in her thin shawl that did nothing to help her.

She was going to walk out of the room, but her foot trembled in the darkness which ended her with twisted ankles. A painful yelp escaped her lips waking Shahzaib from his sleep instantly.

"What happened?" His voice was filled with the huskiness of sleep and she bit her lips before turning to face him, "um, nothing. Get back to sleep. I-"

Wafa blinked as Shahzaib was already in front of her, her breath hitched feeling his scent near her. She looked up at him nervously. He was an inch taller than her and his eyes were gazing at her sharply. Almost as if he was worried about her. The sudden brightness of the light made her close her eyes for a second before she faced him properly again.

"Why did you wake up? I said it was nothing." She finally managed to get out some words from her mouth, "I'm just wondering. Why are you so stubborn?" He asked in return. His tone was clipped and unfriendly.

Wafa feared if their fight earlier has ruined whatever friendship they'd created so far. It felt too good to be real anyways. She has gotten attached to him more than she'd like to admit and that was so scary to even think about it. This was not going to end well. She knew it from her heart. 

There was no trace of sleep on Shahzaib's face now. There was only anger. Probably because of their fight.

"What did I do now?"

She frowned at his question as he walked toward his bedside table and picked up the AC remote.

Her heart rate began to spike as he switched it off with a shake of his head and walked towards her once again. Did he just do that? For her sake? She stared at him in disbelief.

Wafa's legs trembled again, as he approached her. She was still a shivering mess, but now her heart was feeling heavy too. Something about the way he cared for comfort, made it so difficult for her to breathe.