The Addiction of Love

XII

"Fine." Mahnoor said. Zafar moved aside to let her enter the room and closed the door behind them.

"You can't be standing there like that. Wear something." She snapped at him.

He shook his head, picked up the black kurta from the bed and wore it.

"Now how am I going to stitch the button on the kurta?" She folded both her hands on her chest.

"I am sure you can do it just fine. Now hurry up before a whole search party comes to get me." He ran his fingers through his hair to set them.

She rolled her eyes before asking for a needle and thread. He brought out the emergency kit, that consisted of some basic medicines, cotton and a needle and thread, from one of his drawers and passed her that. Putting the thread in the needle, she stood in front of him and started working on his button.

He finished setting his hair and then looked down at her. Her concentrated facial expressions made him smile.

"Why are you angry with me?" He asked, making her pause and look up.

When their eyes met, she realised their proximity and looked down immediately. "I'm not angry."

"Don't lie." He said, "You never behave this cold with me."

"Why do you care anyway?" She snapped.

"Why won't I care?" He retorted back. "You're my cousin."

She humorlessly chuckled. "That's the problem. You think of me just as a cousin." Then she got back to sewing.

He kept staring at her as he mentally deciphered what she said. She finished tucking the button, cut the thread from a pair of scissors and started leaving, but his hand went around her waist to stop her. Her breath hitched, but she still didn't look at him.

"Noor," He called her, and she gasped. How could she not? He called her with that nickname after ten years. When she was named, everyone in the family started to call her Noorie lovingly, but the five year old Zafar gave her the name Noor. And no one else was allowed to call her that. As she grew up, Zafar became her savior and she loved the fact that he had a special name for her. But when Zafar turned 18, he had to leave for London to pursue his degree in business. When he returned after five years, he had matured and she had turned from a little child to woman. Those five years brought some gap and awkwardness between them and he never called her Noor again.

"Noor?"

He said her name again, and her eyes filled with tears.

"Did you mean what I think you meant?" He asked her seriously.

A faint blush appeared on her face and she tried to get out of his hold. When he didn't let her go, she lightly poked his chest with the needle in her hand.

"Ouch," He jumped and his arms loosened. She made a run towards the door. He tried to hold her back, but she was fast.

"Naughty minx!" He commented when he heard her laugh.

Shaking his head, he smiled to himself.

______________

The bride and groom were made to sit together when the nikah started. First the bride was asked, and Seher wasted no time in replying. Then Ahad gave his agreement. And they were bound in the holy bond of nikah.

Ahad turned towards his wife and gently pulled up her veil to reveal her beautiful face. She shyly looked up at him and gave him a smile that made his heart skip a beat. She was his now. He leaned in to kiss her forehead, and everyone around them hooted.

Mahnoor clapped at the PDA of the new couple with a huge grin on her face. Who knew that the strict Ahad Khan would be such a softie for his wife. The couple was led on the stage where they could greet guests and accept gifts, while the dinner was also served.

Mahnoor was standing in one corner when her eyes fell on a tray kept on one of the tables. It was a tray full of gajras. She remembered Almaas had ordered them for all the female guests. Mahnoor loved gajras, but since she didn't want to put it on her hair and possibly ruin her bun, she just rolled the string of beautiful white jasmine flowers around her wrist. She sniffed on it and smiled fondly, while her eyes unknowingly looked for the man who'd become the reason for her happiness lately. And she found him. Talking to Saba.

Zafar felt someone's intense eyes on him, so he scanned his eyes across the hall and his search finished when he found Mahnoor staring at him. He gulped in horror looking at the death glare she was giving him and he excused himself from Saba immediately. He started walking towards her but she turned her heels and walked away. He followed her because he knew that if he didn't control the situation right away, it'd be really difficult to pacify her anger later.

"Noor," He shouted her name as they came out of the hall.

She kept walking. But it didn't take him long to catch up. "Noor, wait."

She jerked away from his hold, but Zafar caught her again and pulled her inside an empty room.

"Leave me!" She shouted at him.

"No," He closed the door and pushed her against it. Then he sandwiched her between the door and himself. "Not until you listen to me."

"Saba was listening to you just fine. Go, talk to her." She replied.

He chuckled. "You look cute when you're jealous."

She stayed quiet while glaring at him.

"I wasn't talking to her. I was telling her that I can't marry her." He said, while his fingers gently grazed down the length of her arm.

This made her eyes widen a little. "Really?"

He nodded, and she subtly smiled.

"Why won't you marry her?" Asking shyly, she looked down.

He entwined their fingers together and brought her hand up. She thought he'd kiss the back of her hand, but instead he put his nose in the gajra around her wrist and took a deep breath. "Because I want to marry someone else." He said, directly looking into her eyes.

This made her blush hard. She pushed him away and tried to leave the room, but his words had her step halted. "I'm talking to your baba tomorrow. Get ready to become Mahnoor Zafar Khan very soon."

She pleasantly gasped and ran out, while Zafar stared at her with a grin plastered on his face.

🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸

To everyone who were expecting them to kiss, I'm sorry!

And those who don't know what a gajra is, it is a string of jasmine flowers that is worn in hair by women.

Today's question

Tulip or Rose?

I'd say tulip.