|| S H A N Z E ||

After putting bangles in my wrists, he sneaked out of the room and left me alone. I looked in the mirror last time and sighled heavily. The door of the room again opened which startled me. I turned around and saw my cousins who came to take me. We all walked out of the room and all my cousins including Mahira split into two lines.

Both of two groups held the yellow colour cloth and made me stood under it. We all walked out of the house to where everyone was gathered. The farm house was decorated beautifully and everyone was scattered all over the farm house.

Many photographers stood in front of me and clicked photos as I walked to wherever my cousins were taking me. Suddenly, my eyes searched for one person with whom my name was attached for lifetime.

There were two seating arrangement; the right side was were I was supposed to sit and on the left side was where groom was supposed to sit. And that was where I found him sitting on his seat with our grandma and his mother on his each side.

All the eyes were on me but my eyes were on the one person who I just noticed how heavenly handsome he looked in mustard kurta with embroidery designs on the neckline.

I quickly looked away from him and looked in front of myself. A small smile stretched on my lips when I noticed Hasan looking towards me.

He stopped in front of me and put his hand forward for me. I was about to put my hand in his when Zeeshan's word rang in my brain.

"Next time, I don't want to see him near you. This time I stopped myself but next time I will not stop myself and will do something which you will hate but I won't."

"Shanze!"

I looked up at Hasan who took my attention towards him then looked from his shoulder at Zeeshan who was glaring at Hasan and fisted his hands.

"Come on, Shanze! I hope you will not make Zeeshan waiting for you like this," Hasan said, again taking my attention from Zeeshan to him.

My cousins giggled as I made him waiting for me. I hesitated before putting my hand in his. He walked me to my seat and helped me sitting there. Our grandma was elder in the whole family so she started the mehndi rituals.

While elders were doing mehndi rituals, my and Zeeshan's cousins took the dance floor and were having fun there. When once elders were done with mehndi rituals, Mahira came and went to Zeeshan. She sat in front of him, near his feet and held his hand.

"Ask your sister in law what she wants in return to leave your hand," Zeeshan's cousin said with a teasing smile.

"Can anyone explain me what is this?" Zeeshan asked, irritatingly and looked up at grandma for an explanation.

"It's a ritual in which bride's sister held the groom's hand and asked a gift in return," Grandma told him with a smile and came to sit beside me.

I looked up at Zeeshan and Mahira then at their hands and felt a little uncomfortable. I quickly looked away from them and looked down at my hands.

"I want a promise!" Mahira stated which made looked at her with a frown.

"I want you to take care of my sister even in hardest time of your life which you may will face soon. So, do you accept it?" She added looking at him.

Zeeshan looked up at me and captured my soul with his eyes. Everyone was waiting for his answer while I was waiting for him to clearly hear my crazily beating heart and to see any sign in his eyes.

"I do!" He said with a straight voice.

There wasn't any sign of emotions nor there was any spark in his eyes.

They says, eyes speak but his eyes are not speaking.

Without any word Mahira pulled her hand back and quickly excused herself before disappearing in the crowd.

• • •

I was sitting silently on my bed and looking around my room for the last time. Last night, I slept with mom last night and had heart to heart conservation. Door of my room opened and Hasan stepped in the room with a smile.

"Are you ready?" He asked me looking at the bags on my bed.

He approached my bed and took the bags from the bed. Inside those bags were my clothes for today function and my jewelry and shoes.

"For what?" I asked him with a sigh and stood up.

"For... everything?" He asked, slowly.

"Honestly, I don't know. I don't know if I will take care of all these new responsibilities or not," I mumbled.

I sighed and walked to the door with my shawl in my hand but he grabbed my hand and pulled me back. I turned around and looked up at him.

"I have faith in you and I know you will definitely take care of all those responsibilities," He said, softly.

I smiled at him and pulled my hand from him. I draped my shawl around me and walked out of my room with heavy steps. Tears started to form in my eyes and my heart started to beat with a loud thud.

Today, I am officially going to leave my parents house forever and going to live with Zeeshan.

I stopped in the living room and my eyes searched for my mom there but I didn't find her and I knew she would not come in front of me right now. Because she couldn't see me leaving this house. I hugged my every cousin and in the end turned to Mahira.

"I will miss our fights," She whispered and quickly wrapped her arms around me.

I wrapped my arms around her back and hugged her tightly. She cried silently on my shoulder and held me more tightly.

"Don't leave me," She sobbed on my shoulder.

I pulled away from the hug and held her face. I wiped her tears with a small sad smile and kissed on her forehead.

"I am not leaving you. You can always come to meet me or I can also come to meet you," I told him and again kissed on his forehead.

I pulled away from her and stepped back slowly. My cousins hugged her while I walked out of my house. Stepping out of the house was making my feet and heart both heavy.

Finally, I stepped out of the house with quivering lips and heavy feet and a lot of happy and sad memories flashing in my mind. Dad was standing near the car and looked at me when I reached to him. He hugged me and kissed on my head.

"I will see you tonight, at the function," He whispered, emotionally but held himself together.

I pulled away from the hug and quickly wiped my tears and nodded my head at him. He kissed on my forehead and opened the door of car for me. I climbed inside the car and buckled my seatbelt as dad closed the door. Hasan put my bags in the backseat and climbed in the car.

He started the car and driving away from my house. I watched my house getting smaller and smaller from the rear mirror and closed my eyes with a tired sigh. The whole ride was silent on which I was thankful of Hasan.

When we reached the salon, I climbed out of the car silently and took the bags from the backseat and went inside the salon without any word.

"Mrs. Khan!" I told the girl, on reception, the name on which the reservation was.

She smiled at me softly and took me to the room where I was going to doll up. I changed into my today's function dress and sat on the chair for the makeup and hairstyle.

Dad had specially made a reservation for me here because he wanted his daughter to look most beautiful bride on her special day. And about others, dad was making their reservations here too but all of them stopped him because they wanted to ready on their own. Mom and Mahira also stopped him because Mahira was an expert when it came to makeup and hairstyle or fashion.

The beauticians made small conservation with me which was helping in decreasing jitter feelings. There were four girls around me; one was for my makeup and hairstyle and other three were her helpers. Once they were done, they set my dupatta on my head and helped me to stand up. I looked in mirror with a smile slowly stretching on my lips.

"You look gorgeous," The makeup and hairstyle artist complemented.

"Thank you so much," I whispered with looking at myself with an awe.

My phone vibrated in my small clutch and I pulled it out of my clutch. There was message from Mahira.

Mahira: Are you ready?

Me: Yes!

Mahira: OK! We are almost there to pick you.

I read her text and put my phone back in the clutch. Two minutes later, she appeared in the room but stopped in her track.

"Oh my God! You are looking so gorgeous," She whispered and slowly came to me.

"Thank you, Mahira. And you are also looking beautiful," I told her and kissed on her cheek.

She smiled at me and collected my things from the salon before helping me to walk out of the salon. She helped me sitting in the car in the passenger seat then climbed in the backseat. I looked at the driver seat where Hasan was sitting and looking at me with open mouth.

"I think you need to close your mouth, Hasan bhai," Mahira told me and moved forward to close his mouth.

I giggled at him and Mahira also joined me. Hasan cleared his throat and started his car. A chuckle escaped from his lips as he drove his car.

"You are looking pretty," He said glancing at me with a smile.

"Thank you," I thanked him and smiled back at him.

We all settled in silence again and I felt the thick tension between the two of them. I looked at Hasan then at Mahira from the rear mirror.

"What happened between you two?" I asked them.

"Nothing," Mahira whispered and looked out of the window.

I narrowed my eyes at her then looked back at Hasan who sighed slowly and clenched the steering wheel tightly. Before I asked him, he stopped the car and looked at me with a small smile and dull eyes.

"We are here!" He whispered, slowly.

I looked from the car around the area and noticed we were in front of the hall. Mahira climbed out of the car and came to open my door. She helped me to climb out of the car and adjusted my dress.

"Shanze?" Hasan called me which made me to look at him.

I looked at him in return and waited for him to say what he wanted to say but he didn't speak anything.

"Nothing," He said with a sigh and smiled at me but it didn't reach his eyes.

I nodded my head and turned to Mahira who was looking around the area.

"They are already here?" I asked her.

"Yes, and everyone is waiting for Bride's entry," She told me and stood beside me.

She helped me to walk to the door of the hotel where almost thousand people were waiting for me. I took a deep breath before looking up at the door.

"Where is Hasan?" I asked her and looked around for him but he wasn't in sight.

"I don't know he was here a second before," She whispered in confusion.

His car was parked in front of the hotel but he wasn't there. The door of the hotel opened slowly which made me look at it. I felt many eyes on me which made me feel nervous.

There were many flashes of cameras in front of me which was making me blind. I took a deep breath and walked slowly inside the hotel with my eyes down on the red carpet. Mahira was behind me and helping me with my dress.

I felt like the distance from me to the stage was never-ending. Finally, just as I reached near the stage, I looked up at the man who stole me from my family. He was in creamy colour sherwani and his cuffs had gold and silver pearls. He had same colour of turban on his head with gold and silver pearls on it.

He came forward to me and put his hand forward for me to take. I slowly put my hand in his and climbed on the stage. I stood beside him and looked forward with a small smile at the photographers and guests. My parents and his parents came to meet me and gave me their blessings. Mom had tears in her eyes when she looked at me but she controlled herself.

The whole function passed too quickly and all the rituals ended soon and before I knew it was time for me to leave with Zeeshan. I was standing next to Zeeshan's car and hugged my family members one by one. I held my mom tightly who was crying on my shoulder. Dad pulled mom away from me gently and hugged her. I turned to Mahira and hugged her.

"Don't let anything happen to your newly bond," She whispered and cried on my shoulder.

I held her tightly and sobbed on her shoulder. Someone pulled both of us away from each other and made me to climb in the car. I tried to hold my sobs and tears back but it was useless. Someone sat beside me and passed me tissue papers.

The whole journey, I spent by wiping my tears and controlling my tears. When the car stopped, taiama, who was now my mother in law or should I say my new mom, helped me to climb out of the car. Soon Zeeshan came and stood beside me. We both walked to the door of the house and stopped there when Rania appi stopped us.

"You can't enter inside the house until you, Mr. Zeeshan pick your beautiful-like-fairy wife in your arms," She said pointing her finger at Zeeshan who was beside me.

"You can't say no, son," His mom said, sternly looking at Zeeshan.

I felt my cheeks burned and I glanced up at him through my long eyelashes. He sighed before bending down a little and picked me in his arms. My breath hitched and I looked at him with wide eyes. I put my hands on his shoulders and held him. He stepped inside the house with me in his arms and everyone made him to take me to the living hall.

When he entered in the living hall, I looked at him and pressed my lips together to hold a chuckle. I didn't know I was that heavy until I looked at his face expression which he was trying his best to control. He put me down on my feet and sighed in exhaustion which didn't go unnoticed by me.

Grandma told me to sit on the couch and when I did, she put someone's kid on my lap. In our family, an elder puts a kid on the bride's lap because according to my ancestors or elders, that means there will a kid soon in her arms which will be hers.

After that ritual, they did more rituals before taking me to Zeeshan's room which was now also my room. I sat in the middle of the bed with my dress spreading around me. The whole room was decorated beautifully with flowers and scent candles making the room romantic which was making me nervous.

I could hear my own heartbeat and felt myself getting sweaty. All the lectures of mom was ringing in my ears which was making me scared and gulping every second. I didn't know how long I was in this condition but, suddenly, the door opened slowly with faded giggles.

I glanced at the door before looking down at my hands on my lap. He was standing near the door and was closing the door. I played with my fingers nervously and tried to control my crazily beating heart. The bed dipped and he sat beside me slowly, facing me. Before he did something, his phone rang.

He pulled his phone out of his pocket and answered it. I looked up at him slowly in confusion, thinking who was calling him at that time. The curious wife inside me woke up quickly which was something new for me and was telling me to inquire who was calling him.

While I was controlling the curious wife inside me, I noticed his face expression turned into stone cold and his eyes were getting dark with anger.

. . . . . . . . . .

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