Salar went back to his apartment and called her on her phone. Imama, although she missed him, was sure that he was happy at his place alone. She continued to ignore his calls, assuming that he wanted her to be absent from his apartment.

The next day, she was back to his apartment. She noticed that his fridge was stocked with sea food cans. She hated it. After some time, there was a delivery boy at the door, holding food packets. It was he who had ordered food for her.

She politely called him to say thanks and came to know that he was en route to the airport to pick his parents. She was hesitant to thank him.

When his parents reached their apartment, she was nervous, likely due to her last interaction with Sikandar Usman was a weird one. But her nervousness wore down as the family was really warm towards her. Neither recalled her past, rather they were polite and good.

After some time, she noticed that they were not talking openly due to her presence. When Sikandar Usman offered her to sleep, she gladly took it and went to the bedroom. She realised that his family wanted to keep their reception (Valima) function minimal due to her family. She became aware of the fact that Salar had put himself in danger by marrying her. As a matter of fact, anyone would.

She could not sleep, yet she could not hold back when sleep engulfed her.

-

She woke up when Salar called out for her. She knew that he had not come to bed that night. He informed her that his family would be leaving by 10 the next day. And they had only come to see her.

She woke up and ate some food. When she was about to discard her teabag, she froze upon seeing a can of Ginger beer. Without a question, Salar noticed it and said, "Non-alcoholic drink."

He walked away without a word and she was embarrassed. She would have assumed a better reason if it was someone else's house but it was Salar and she knew his past habits. But he had left drinking 8 years ago. Rather, he drank energy drinks to stay awake and active.

After some time, she went to the bedroom and asked about her earrings. He mentioned that he would purchase her a new pair as the earrings were old.

"These were gifted to me by my father when I took admission in a medical college. The pair of earrings is not old for me. You don't have to waste your money."

She left the room, leaving him to stand in confusion. It was his polite offer to gift her something but she had ignored his advances.

-

Syeda Amma complained about Salar to Dr. Sibt-e-Ali who did not believe anything she said. He knew about the first wife story but he refrained from commenting. After Syeda Amma had said enough, he called Imama and asked about her complaints towards Salar.

Imama had no idea that Syeda Amma would pass the matter to Dr. Sibt-e-Ali. When asked about her complaints, she told everything that was in her heart. He would not inform her when he went out, and they'd been eating food from Furqan's house from a long time now. He also arrived late from office - she said.

Dr. Sibt-e-Ali asked her about her lies that she'd told Syeda Amma - about his first wife. She did not say anything. So, he told her that he would send a car and she should arrive to their place. Salar would drop by directly from his office.

Imama was ashamed but she agreed. She reasoned that Salar would be busy but Dr. Ali was confident that Salar would never say no to him. He had not denied when Dr. Ali wanted Salar to marry a girl totally unknown to him, how would he deny his offer of a visit?

Imama cut the call and dialled Salar. She wanted to inform him about the blunder so it did not come as a shock for him at the house. Instead, he seemed happy when she called. And he offered to take her out for dinner that evening. Imama felt like banging her head to the wall because he was just doing the opposite of what she had said.

She could not say anything about her complaints, instead she informed him about Dr. Ali's invite and he happily agreed. She wanted to go with him that evening to give him a jist of whatever he would face at Dr. Ali's house, instead he was busy in a phone call. After that, they spoke of her Islamabad return but she was afraid of her parents.

-

After their dinner, Dr. Ali chose to raise the topic. He told Salar that she had complaints towards him. Salar had no clue, he simply took turns to watch Dr. Ali, Kulsum and Imama who sat in the same room. He even came to know about Syeda Amma's cold behaviour towards him. His sixth sense made sense because he knew something was off.

He did not say anything. After a while, they left. When the car was quite away from Dr. Ali's house, Salar raised his concerns. He addressed her first concern with respect to his absence during Sehri. He informed he went out with Furqan during Sehri, hit the gym and returned home after the prayer.

When she started crying again, he was upset. He told her not to cry as they were simply discussing over the topic. And she had done the same at Dr. Ali's home.

They reached their apartment and sat together. He talked to her and asked about her problems. She said everything that was inside her and he patiently listened. Every query was solved. Even he had a few complaints towards her but he had ignored them while she seemed to prepare a case against him for his smallest mistakes.

More than being angry at her afflictions, he was upset that the matter was not discussed with him and raised to someone else. His image in Dr. Ali's eyes was not something he could afford tarnishing. He held Dr. Ali in high regards and his opinion mattered to Salar.

"You hold importance in my life more than anyone else. But this is not something I can tell you every day. Your importance in my life is in your hands now. It depends on your actions whether you will increase or decrease it with time."

Imama noticed the softness of his hands as they were placed in hers. He was serious in his words.

"Marriage does not mean that both partners hold each other tightly. Giving each other privacy, respect, and freedom is equally important. If both of us start counting each other's flaws, we won't be able to continue. Honor and respect are the walls of love. If the walls are gone then maintaining the relationship becomes difficult."

He looked at her and smiled, "Isn't it a nice philosophy?"

Imama understood and smiled at him.

"I'm not Allah's perfect man, then how can I be your perfect husband, Imama?" He said, "Allah might forgive my mistakes here and there. You also try to forgive me?"

She was surprised at his explanation. She felt him kiss her eyelids and then he appreciated the patterns on her night dress. All because she had complained that he did not appreciate her enough.

He did not recognise the colours properly. So he tried to lighten the mood and said, "I think I need to have a card of color shades in my pocket in order to keep this marriage upright."

She looked beautiful after she'd just cried - he realised but did not say it out loud, slowly understanding that it would not be a suitable compliment.

-

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Jazaki Allahu Khair.