Adhura Alviida

red wedding

Zoya sat in front of the mirror as she adorned herself with the veil and brought it over her face. She looked ethereal in a figure-hugging white gown. Her hair neatly tied into a bun and minimal jewelry adorning her. She had secretly always wished to have the wedding of her dreams in a white gown, American-like ceremony but with her first marriage, a wedding ceremony in itself was not a possibility. In her second marriage, the spur of the moment forced them to hurriedly get married, something they were potentially not even ready for.

She brushed those negative thoughts aside as she saw the hotel room's door open. It was Noor.

Dressed in a soft pink saree, she looked so mature and so less like the quirky girl Zoya remembered she left in Mussorie.

"Mashallah!" Noor said in exclamation. "You look like an angel, Maya!"

Zoya blushed at her comment and lowered her eyes. "Is he here?" She asked shyly.

"So much impatience! Arre...don't worries he hasn't ran off...yet!" Noor giggled.

"It's your time to enter, Maya, your groom is waiting for you with baited breath." She chuckled.

Zoya blushed a beetroot red as she felt her heart thumping against her chest. She was happy, no doubt. She was marrying the man that supported her through hell and back when she was left to die. But she could not ignore the feeling of a negative vibe in her soul. She felt something untoward was about to happen two days ago and the feeling had not subsided. She tried her best to mask her nervousness with positive thoughts as she was accompanied down the staircase by Noor.

Their nikaah was an intimate ceremony so they kept it amongst a few close friends and co-workers. Since neither of them had any family, they decided to still invite a few people to mark this memory with. However, Zoya was rather ecstatic that her sister was here to witness this. Although, Noor had absolutely no idea that she was with her sister, Zoya relished in the fact that she was there. The one bearing witness from her family to her nikaah, In this moment, Zoya couldn't help but miss her ammi and abbu as well. Though she tried to brush the memories of everyone away from her mind, she longed for their presence. Her parents would have loved Sahir. They would've been so happy for her. Her eyes welled up as she thought of the circumstances that kept her from being with them.

As she reached the end of the stairs, she saw him sitting in a tuxedo, looking dapper as ever at the center of the hall. It was then reality dawned on her. Her life was about to change forever.

She was made to face him as she sat down and he could not stop running his eyes all over his soon to be wife. Though she kept her eyes down under her transparent veil, she could feel his gaze on her.

Sahir could not thank Allah enough for blessing him with this angel in his life. He thought about how drastically his life had changed when Zoya came into his life over a year ago. He thought of their happy memories, how she would cook for him, how they would crack jokes on the couch as she fought with him innocently, how he began looking forwarding to coming home just to see her bright smile that could make his whole day. He knew the world might've thought of him as Zoya's savior, but in his mind...she was his savior. She rescued him from a boring black and white life and threw in a rainbow, enhancing his dull life. And here she was, sitting in front of him ready to be his wife. The imam's voice brought him out of his thoughts.

As the prayers were recited, they both cupped their hands asking Allah to bless them in this new stage of their life. The agreement of Mehr was confirmed and lastly to solemnize the marriage, the Imam asked them...

"Sahir Azeem Chaudhary, kya aapko yeh nikaah qubool hai?"

"qubool hai." He responded with a large smile on his face.