Father of the Bride

Chapter 22- The Wedding: Part II

Sitting in her bed between the red silk sheet, Kara painted her toenails green and pink in a distinctive pattern. Dressed in her skimpy black chemise, Kara's long black hair draped around her bare shoulders as she watched the large screen tv humming along to the music. She looked around for the remote to increase the volume but couldn't find it. With cotton wool between her toes, she patted the bed searching for the remote. The apartment was a mess, cups, clothes, dirty plates everywhere.

"How many times have I told you to get a cleaner Nav?" She called out to him. But he couldn't hear her in the shower. Kara swung her legs off her bed and searched for the remote through the drawers. She flicked his shoes, shirts, and books aside in fury. On the dressing table, his briefcase was wide open, Kara rumbled through his folders in curiosity. Sandwiched between bills she found a red wedding card. Taking it out she read Ayaaz and Amirah's name on the card.

"25th?" She looked at her mobile realising it was today. Why didn't she know about it? Feeling left out and in the cold, she didn't understand why Nav had the card.

When he appeared from the shower with a towel wrapped around his rounded stomach, Rajah Naveed Choudhary rubbed the towel in his small line of hair. Kara sat on the edge of the bed waving the card at him.
"How did you get this?"

Rajah Naveed went through his wardrobe looking for his vest but couldn't find it. "This fuckin' place is always a mess. Why don't you clean woman?!"

"I'm not your wife! I told you to get a cleaner." Once again, she waved the card in his face. "What is this Nav? Amirah is my best friend. Why have you got this?"
"I have no business with that woman." He slipped into his shirt without his vest. "I was on the committee for her charity. But she used me for money, contacts and led me on." He snorted.
"Who? Amirah?"
"Mahnoor Qureshi." Rajah Naveed spat out. "The woman is a scarlet woman. When I proposed to her she didn't refuse! She let me think I had a chance. All the time she was with him." Rajah Naveed Choudhary could feel the anger rise in the pit of his stomach. Even the mention of Mahnoor made his blood boil, especially seeing him with Khizar Khan.
Kara was confused. "You proposed to her? When?" She felt cheated, even though she was meeting Rajah Naveed behind his wife's back.
"She said she would think about it. But all the time she was with him." Rajah Naveed felt like a fool for the first time in his life. "She betrayed me. She thinks she can use me. Never. These women. Married to one man whilst leading another on."

Kara sat on the bed drowning in confusion.

"Auntie is not married." Kara cleared the confusion.

"She is!" He yelled. "She's lying. She told me only when it suited her."

"So, who is she supposed to be married to?" Kara sniggered.

"Him!" Rajah Naveed pointed at the card with his long accusatory finger.

Kara stared at the card blankly. "Who?"

Rajah Naveed snatched the card and tore it in two. "The father of the bride. The doctor!" He flicked the pieces on the bed.

"Dr K?" She gasped. "No. No! That can't be true." The words stuck in her throat. "No!"

"Mahnoor thinks I'm stupid." Rajah Naveed stomped around the bedroom searching for his trousers.

"Does Ayaaz know?" Kara couldn't digest the ugly facts.

"I don't care!" Rajah Naveed flicked his hand. "They can all go to hell for all I care. I refuse to go to the wedding."

Kara sat on the bed with the pieces of card in her hand whilst Rajah Naveed continued to curse. His voice faded. Amirah's screaming voice replayed in her head when she confessed to everyone that her father had secretly married. Did she know who it was? Why didn't she tell her? Why didn't Dr K tell her when she visited him?