Iram had shifted all of her expensive clothes to Arzaan's closet in case his family decided to pay him a visit. Other than that their lives were back to normal. There wasn't much difference in their attitude towards each other after signing the Nikkah papers, although Arzaan seemed a bit sad to her. Iram for once assumed that he must be sad because he married a tenth pass cook. But he was the one who proposed the idea so it couldn't be the case. So she decided to get it out of his mouth. And in order to do so, that morning she cooked broccoli and tomato pizza for the breakfast.
She had just set the plate on the table when he descended the stairs.
“Good morning, Iram.”
“Good morning, Sir.”
Listening to her still calling him Sir, Arzaan made a face. “Iram, don't call me Sir anymore. Practice to call me by my name. What if you called me Sir in front of my relatives some day?” And he took his seat.
“Umm... okay, Arzaan. ” She nodded.
Arzaan smiled and turned his attention to the food. He frowned looking at the pizza, “Iram, is that cheese on the crust?”
“No, it's cashew sauce.”
“Oh, alright.” He nodded and picked a slice of the pizza. He took a bite and instantly fell in love with the creamy cashew sauce, “This is so delicious.”
Iram smiled, “I'm glad you liked it.”
Arzaan continued eating the pizza with a satisfied smile. But then he found it weird that Iram kept standing at a side and didn't leave like she usually did. He turned to Iram, “Iram, do you want to say something?”
Iram nodded, “I don't know how you'd react to me asking this but since we got married, I feel like there's a feeling of sadness lingering around you.”
Arzaan smiled, “Iram, you don't need to be worried about it. It's not about you or our marriage.”
“If you say so. Are you comfortable sharing it with me?” She asked hesitantly.
“Yeah, have a seat.”
Iram sat down on his right side and looked at him attentively.
“Umm... my mother was murdered by a servant. Something reminded me of her murderer. And now I'm unable to get it out of my head.”
“Hmm, it's hard to control thoughts, especially the unpleasant ones. But don't worry, you'll be okay after a few days. Whether it's happiness or sadness it doesn't last forever.”
Her words made sense to him. He nodded understanding her point, “Then why you are always so calm and composed? Don't you feel negative emotions?”
Iram smiled, “I do feel negative emotions. Sometimes I feel sad about being born in a poor family. My life would have been so different and better if I was born in a rich family. But then I realise that if I were born with a silver spoon, I wouldn't be the way I am. I would be a shallow rich kid who doesn't understand the concept of struggle and hard work.”
“Being born in a rich family is a privilege indeed. But when you live a life full of luxury and privileges, maturity comes very late. Unless you go through a tragedy.”
“Arzaan, why life is so unfair?”
“Life isn't unfair. These classes are made by the society. Iram, humans have this very bad habit of dividing themselves. In every religion, when there's a conflict of beliefs they divided themselves rather than accepting their differences. Life wouldn't have been unfair if some people weren't greedy and arrogant.”
“Why is it so hard to be a good person?”
“Because we have ego which drowns us into feeling bad for ourselves when someone else achieve something. We tend to forget that we started doing it for happiness, not to be on top.”
“Cooking makes me happy. What makes you happy?”
“Seeing happy people around me. Happiness is infectious.” He smiled.
They fell into silence afterwards. Iram looked at the cold pizza and said, “Your pizza is getting cold. You should finish it.” And she stood up from her seat.
“Iram, start wearing the clothes I bought for you on daily basis. I don't want to be caught off guard if someone decided to come unannounced. ”
She nodded and left.
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As expected, Arzaan's stepmother Aamna came to meet them unannounced. Alishba quickly signaled Iram who corrected up her appearance. She threw away the apron and freed her hair from the tight bun. She was wearing a lavender suit that day. Arzaan too quickly came downstairs.
“I didn't expect you to pay us a visit.” Arzaan smiled at her bitterly.
Aamna chuckled. She put the bouquet of roses on the coffee table and sat down on the couch.
“Of course, I had to come. I'm eager to meet your wife. Where is your wife?” She smiled slyly.
Arzaan called for Iram, “Iram.”
Iram came out of the kitchen hearing his voice. She immediately felt intimidated by Aamna's presence. The woman visibly looked cunning and arrogant, two qualities Iram was afraid of. She had always stayed miles away from people who possessed these negative qualities. Because she was too simple to understand their intentions and could fall for their tricks very easily.
“Assalam Alaikum.” She smiled.
Aamna eyed her from top to bottom. She looked unimpressed.
“I didn't know Arzaan's choice will be so average.” Aamna retorted in her sugar-coated voice.
“She doesn't need to look exceptionally beautiful to get into my heart. Iram is perfect for me. Because she cooks delicious food. And she doesn't seduce married men.”
Aamna's head snapped in his direction hearing his last sentence. It was directed towards her.
Iram sensed the tension and offered to prepare tea for them. She ran to the kitchen and prepared three cups of tea. She put the tea and cookies on a tray and went to the living room where Arzaan and Aamna were sitting in silence and glaring at each other. As soon as Aamna took a sip of the tea, she couldn't help but moan at the taste.
“Hmm, I never had a tea so tasty. Now that gives me another excuse to visit you both frequently. ” She saw Alishba passing by and stopped her, “Take this bouquet and put it in their bedroom. ”
Alishba nodded and took the roses to Arzaan's bedroom. But that order made Arzaan suspicious. He was damn sure that there was something wrong with those roses.
Soon Aamna left and they sighed in relief.
“You have a dangerous stepmother. ”
“I know.” Saying so he went upstairs to check the bouquet of roses.
•••
Question: One lady around you whom you really dislike.
Me: Our neighbor. She's a teacher by profession but loves to mess with people for no reason.
•••
Thoughts 💭
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