. . .
❝Once upon a time, a girl fell in love with her husband and made the stars realise that they'd gotten her soulmate wrong.❞
. . .
It's a daunting thing, your first love. It's new, making you unsure and doubt whether it's love or just a mere...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
"MAY I HAVE THIS DANCE?"
Focusing on Zayaan's outstretched hand, letting his repeated question reverberate around us, I took a deep breath and slipped mine into his, allowing him to pull me onto the dance floor. This time, I told myself that it would be the last time. No more mixed signals, no more weaknesses for hope.
Even if his mixed signals were so bright, they were the only source of colour in my life anymore.
He pulled me flush against his body, threading our fingers together and placing the other hand firmly on my hip. I raised my hand to his shoulder, letting it lay there naturally as we swayed to the soft music. The band was just beginning their second ballad of the evening, the first having already passed and every single person here was expected to have danced by the third — and last — one.
"What's wrong?" Zayaan murmured.
"Nothing."
"You look so sad." His fingers grazed the corner of my mouth, having left their position at my hip. "Smile, please."
I let my lips curve up, cracking a poor attempt at a smile. "Is this your way of torturing me? Making me dance with you, making me smile while shoving it in my face that this is the end."
The song that had gradually increased its pace hit the chorus, and I pulled back as Zayaan twirled me around. All the other couples mirrored us and I mentally laughed at the irony of them copying us. Us in all our messy glory.
"That's not my intention whatsoever, Fatimah."
"Then?" We both inched back, circling one another before the chorus reached its peak and Zayaan picked me up with a spin.
"Maybe our relationship doesn't have to be defined by all the mistakes we've both made in the past. Why can't we allow this moment — now, today — to define it?" He eased me back into my feet. "Not a jumble of what-if moments but instead a beautiful dance."
I watched him, watching the way the royal blue of my dress reflected back at me from his eyes. It seemed perfect, with the way his suit was a navy blue and an almost perfect match in colour to my outfit. Because that's what we were: a sequence of nothing but almost.
"Stay in the now with me for however many seconds we have left. Forget about yesterday. Forget about tomorrow. Forget about what the future holds for us. Just listen to what the beat of your heart says right now."
He may as well have been speaking gibberish and I understood nothing of what he said. There was no future for us, except for an endless black hole.
But I still nodded, allowing him to guide me through the dance. Allowing him to guide everyone through the dance as they mirrored us. We were right in the middle of the stage, immersing everyone in a sea of false joy.
