Of Broken Hearts and Tears

Chapter 25

"Say yes sweetheart." Maya's father told her but she sat there rigidly. She tried to open her mouth to answer the maulvi but no words were coming out. Her throat felt constricted. She couldn't do this. 

The past week had flown by and before she knew it here she was sitting at her own nikah. She was wearing a traditional maroon dress with intricate embroidery at the hem of the shirt and jewelry adorning her neck.

She wanted to get out of this and just refuse but she couldn't humiliate her family. She couldn't do this to her parents.

She didn't have a choice. She wished she hadn't agreed to this in the first place. She wanted to run away and never look back.

The maulvi repeated the question and she managed to croak out a yes this time with a quaver in her throat. She was surprised they could even hear her voice.

Maya dreaded what would happen next. She really hoped that Zayan wouldn't agree too. She didn't want to get married.

Maya waited with baited breath to hear Zayan's reply as they asked him. 

Zayan couldn't even focus on what was going on around him. He kept zoning in and out as his mind went back to when he had been his nikah the first time. He had been so ecstatic at that time that his happiness was not contained. 

This time around, however none of those feelings were there and there was only the fact that he had to do this that he replied in the affirmative. He didn't know how life would be from this point onward. The uncertainty of the future scared him more than he would ever admit. Would he able to give Maya the rights she deserved as his wife? What did she think of the fact that he had been married before this all? He didn't know the answer to all that.

All he could comprehend was that they were married now. Now he had to move on whether he liked it or not. Had he committed a mistake?

Maya sat there frozen. 

Why did he say yes?

Her soul was aching, her heart was crying, and her mind was blazing.

She wanted to let out all her emotions. She wanted to cry her heart out. But she couldn't. Her throat had tightened and when a few ladies congratulated her no words came out.

She was taken to the stage and Areesha helped her get on the the stage and made her sit beside Zayan. She tried to move away from him. But there was no space. She sat their stoically as guests came and went congratulating them. She didn't know if she had smiled at the guests. She tried to smile for the pictures but she didn't now how they had come out. In all the pictures her head was bent down as if out of shyness. Everyone else didn't know that she was trying to control the tears from overcoming her.

Everyone around her had a smile plastered on their faces and the atmosphere was on of joy and delight as they celebrated the wedding. It was ironic how everyone one else was happy but the real people who were supposed to be happy were far from it. Toddlers and young girls run around and wires of the camera men snaked around the banquet hall as they clicked away pictures. 

Strings of light decorated the hall and the atmosphere was of festivity. If it had been a normal wedding Maya would have been the loudest girl teasing the bride and groom. She had always been free spirited like that but now everything had changed. She couldn't remember the last time she had been happy. 

The hall was bustling with noise as she tried to drown out the noise. The loud gossiping voices of the ladies were competing with the giggles of the children.

On a side of the hall, a buffet composed of a wide array of desi dishes was arranged and when the food was served, everyone rushed to the buffet as if they hadn't eaten for days. If there wasn't food in wedding no one would probably even show up.