The Wrong Wedding

Act-24

The sound of alarm ringing for Fajr, pulled me out of my deep slumber. Slowly and carefully, I loosened my hold on her and switched off the alarm. After turning on the lamp, I went back to face her. Her hair was covering half of her face, while she let out short and even breaths.

'Even in sleep, she looks like an angel.' I thought, my eyes wandering to her hand clutching at the front of my shirt, absentmindedly in sleep. For the past month, we had been sleeping together in my room; eversince the last time she had come here to sleep.

I knew that she still didn't fully trust me, but it was comforting to know that she was willing to give us a shot and was gradually letting me in through the barriers of her heart.

Peering down at her face, I couldn't help but smile. My one arm was wrapped around the small of her back, so I brought my free hand to brush away the hair falling on her face. This made her quiver and a slight frown appeared between her eyes. These days even her slightest actions seemed to amuse me. The more I found out about her quirks, the deeper I fell in love with her. It made me feel like the luckiest man to have her in my life. I hoped I could try and appreciate her more.

Before realising it, I had bent down to place a soft lingering kiss on her cheek. Yet, it was only enough to get a moan out of her. Despite myself, I chuckled. Still not willing to give up, I continued trailing soft kisses on her temple, eyes and nose. But before I could reach lower, she woke up with a sigh; only to close her eyes with a slight groan.

"Wake up, sweetheart—" I murmured against her ear and brushed a kiss on her neck; earning a moan in response.

"Zai—wake up, my fair love—" I moved away to tug a stray strand behind her ear, only for her to snuggle closer and hide her face in my chest. Smiling at her cuteness, I wrapped my arms around her and closed my eyes with my chin resting on top of her head.

"Zaira—honey, sweet darling—Please wake up? It's time for Fajr." I returned softly, placing a kiss on her hair. For a moment, I could only inhale in her fragrance, until she finally pulled away and cracked her eyes to meet my gaze. There was nothing but sleep etched on her face, yet, she managed a small smile and nodded at me, before letting go of my sweater.

Placing a final kiss on her forehead, I let her go.

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After coming back from jog that I would go for right after praying, I would buy her a rose from the shop next to our house. It was a daily routine that I had picked up from Gramps. Mum mentioned once that Dad used to do the same for her. I guess he got it from Gramps as well.

"Zai—I am leaving." I called out while putting on my shoes and caught her coming towards me with my lunch. I never thought I needed lunches, until she started packing me some. Don't think I have ever liked any food more than this, before. Mum would usually be too busy to pack me lunch. So, I had always unconsciously envied the kids who brought lunches to school. It might not feel like a big deal but I appreciated and liked it more than anything.

"I'll pick you after Academy, today." I continued while getting up; taking the brown paper bag from her hand and stuffing it in my bag. Her response came in confused raised brows.

"But you get off later than me—" Her voice trailing as she followed me to the door.

"No court today, thankfully. Also, since it's friday, I thought we could hang out later." I shot her a grin, while slinging my bag over my shoulder. Her response came in a shy smile, and she averted her gaze towards her hands which were clutching at the hem of her shirt, nervously. I had by now picked up on most of her habits. One of them was this and the other was chewing on her lower lips when at a loss of words.