"If you're sad, add more lipstick and attack."- Coco Chanel

It took barely a couple of weeks for us to put together a small intimate Nikah ceremony for my brother. Adiba insisted on a very simple "White wedding" theme, which was very different from the Big-Fat-Red affair Pakistani weddings usually are. We chose a nearby community hall for the reception while the actual Nikah was performed at a mosque.

I was so busy with all the details of wedding preparations that I hardly had time to contemplate the lack of a "Double Wedding" this time. Occasionally, I'd get pangs of despair, but I quelled them. I was done being miserable over something which was obviously never meant for me. Maybe God saved me from a troubled marriage.

Initially, whenever I reflected back to THAT night; I could remember little beyond my own anguish over Areeb's betrayal. As time passed, I was able to recall the incident with a more critically detached sentiment. I still couldn't believe my EX-best friend was capable of something like this. He wasn't a stellar human being (Duh), but drugs and women were never part of his equation. Perhaps I never knew him as well as I thought I did, but Ali and Adiba couldn't fathom his actions as well. He had said some things about his being forced by "Life" to indulge in drugs. I refused to make excuses for him, but I was sure there was more to his story than he let on.

Try as I might, I couldn't hate him. I didn't love him anymore, not like I used to, and I could certainly go through my whole life without wanting to see his face; but I couldn't hate him with my full heart either. We had our separate lives now, but in a deep, obscure corner of my mind, I wished he'd sort out his shit, if only for his parents' sake. I think it was best that Areeb and I were never really head over heels in passionate love with each other. Whatever affections we had were purely based on our life-long friendship. I think it would have hurt infinitely more if either of us were that deeply vested in our relationship.

The morning of Ali's rain-check wedding was astoundingly lovely, weather-wise. Karachi's weather revolves around clammy hot, and mildly hot during this time of the year, but today it decided to be extremely tolerable. There's a light wind, and barely any sun at all. I find myself eagerly anticipating the event. I grab Simba and twirl him around my room for no reason at all. His hisses, and mews back in protest. When I drop him in his litter box, he totters drunkenly around it, dizzy from my spinning. I laugh out loud at the funny sight. It seems like ages since I laughed so freely at anything. It feels liberating!

As afternoon approached, I dressed quickly in my fancy blue dress.This particular dress was supposed to be part of the wedding "Wardrobe" gift my Mom designed for me. I try not to think too much about it though. I adored the color at first sight, it was an electric blue flowy silk dress that ended a couple of inches above my ankles, blue silk pants underneath, and a shimmery dupatta around my neck, completed the look. The silk changed colors whenever I moved, somewhere between blue, indigo, and emerald. I straightened my curls for a sleeker look, and went pretty crazy with the makeup. My eyes were dramatically highlighted with dark eye-shadow. The blue-green color of my eyes seemed to reflect back the dress, and seemed even brighter than usual. My lipstick was a matte burgundy shade, which my Mom would most definitely raise an argument over, but I was armed with excuses. It was my brother's wedding after all! that too, to my best friend. I had to dress for two different celebrations now! So there!

It turns out, Mom was so harried over arranging everything for Adiba and Ali (after the Rukhsati-the bride's departure from her home, to ours) that she hardly payed me any attention at all. Ali was so adorably nervous, it took a huge amount of self-restraint to not make a crack about it. I found him absently petting Simba, as he tapped his foot against the floor. I smiled inwardly; cat allergy, my ass!

"You scared bro?" I prodded him.

He scowled back, "Why would I be scared. I'm not the blushing bride! I don't have to leave my home for another, nuh-uh! Not scared at all." tap, tap, tap.

I smirked, "Oh yeah? Then why the hell are you hugging my cat"

Ali stopped stroking his fur, and stared aghast at Simba . The kitty meowed lazily, which I now translated from Cat-speak as: "Don't stop the grooming, slave!"

"I swear, I have no idea how he got me to touch him. Your cat has hypnotic abilities" Ali gingerly pushed Simba away, despite a number of Kitty curses being meowed at him.

"It'll all be fine Ali. In a couple of hours, I'll get a real-life sister!" I beamed at him, yanking at his carefully styled hair playfully.

All too soon, Ali left for the mosque, with Dad, and a few other male relatives. Me, Mom, Kulsoom Nani, and a few close Aunts and cousins, headed over to Adiba's house in order to witness her end of the Nikah ceremony.

Adiba's Mom and sisters had completely hidden Adiba under a bundle of huge Chaddars (Shawls) so that we couldn't even see her face and dress properly. Apparently, it was a tradition that Larkay-Walay (the Guy's family) shouldn't see the bride and her dress before the actual Nikah. I argued, and pleaded to no avail. In the end, I had to make do with muffled conversations with Adiba through the thick veil. She didn't seem nervous at all.

While her father, and a couple of witnesses prepared the Nikah documents (legal wedding papers), I felt her pinch me through all the fabric she was swathed in. I jumped in surprise.

"What?" I furiously whispered in the general vicinity of her face.

"Guess what's for dessert tonight?" She hissed back excitedly.

I rolled my eyes. Only my best friend would be more interested in dessert than the the fact that her bachelor status was about to be revoked within seconds.

"How the hell would I know? This is your event!"

"Two words sis. Creme. Donuts." She wriggled with excitement after delivering this news. I had to elbow her in the arm, to get her to sober up, because both our Moms were passing us "Mom glares", and I was the only one who could actually see stuff at the moment.

"Aren't you even a little bit nervous?" I ask her.

"Pfft... No way. I am excited! I'm moving out of this place, FINALLY! away from pesky little sisters, and the same old room. A girl wants change occasionally."

I blink. Wow. My brother WAS the blushing bride in this scenario.

"Wait! what do you mean, PESKY little sisters?" I hiss at her. "You'll still have ME there. And just you wait, until I turn into the evil-bitch-face-sister-in-law I actually am."

A passing female cousin of Adiba gasps loudly, I catch her gaping at me horrified. Uh-oh, guess she overheard me. I grin back sheepishly; "JOKE! it was a joke! I swear...."

The actual Nikah takes a mere couple of minutes to get over with. Adiba had already gone over the document carefully, it documented all her marital rights and responsibilities. An appointed "Lawyer" asked Adiba whether she willfully accepted my brother's hand in marriage, She replied with a muffled "Qubool Hay" (I Accept). The question was asked thrice for good measure, and each time Adiba replied back. Then, she was asked to sign the document that tied her to my brother. That's it. She became Mrs. Ali Amin. Just like that! I now had a sister! Amidst all the teary congratulations, and happy hugs, Adiba yelled out a protest.

"CAN I PLEASE BE RELEASED FROM THIS TENT NOW? I FEEL LIKE I'M BACK IN THE WOMB!"

All chatter, and laughter stopped, as everyone gaped at the newly wed Bride of three seconds.

"WHAT? I'm married now, I can't possibly ruin myself for a future marriage by being outsp-"

Adiba's horrified Mom and sisters ran to disentangle the suffocating bride from her prison, pretty sure they just wanted her to shut up.

Kulsoom Nani was beaming about the whole scene, chortling over Adiba's guts.

"GIRL! You have a set of nerves on you! Hmmph! good thing it is! Good thing! SO glad I chose you for THAT BOY!" She thumped her cane with amusement, and waddled closer to us.

Adiba narrowed her eyes at the dragon; "You told him that I would end up producing midget kids if we got married."

The dragon smirks back; "Yet here you are! married years earlier than you would have, if I had let THAT BOY take his time wringing his hand, and biding his time to propose."

Dragon-1, Adiba-0

............

I helped Adiba refresh her light makeup, and fix her hair before we headed for the reception area. Her dress was a simplistic, yet highly detailed white piece that looked gorgeous with her no-nonsense short hair. I couldn't help hugging her again and again with suppressed love. My sister! The word itself was so novel for me, I wanted to keep saying it.

After arriving at the reception area, I helped Adiba get settled on one of the couches strewn around the spacious hall. I had work to do.

As is tradition, (and Sunnah); after the Nikah is done, the groom's family has to distribute some sort of edible party favor among the guests. I got together a few cousins, and we hauled the sacks of party favors stuffed in Kulsoom Nani's car boot. The men were returning from the mosque as I directed the sacks back to the hall. I spotted my brother beaming as he accepted hugs and congratulations from the male guests. I grinned back at the sight, momentarily forgetting the heavy sack in my arms. Suddenly the sack was gone from my hands, and I found myself staring up at a smiling Shehzer.

"Girls shouldn't lift heavy weights." he joked, "They develop these manly looking biceps if they do."

I. was. speechless.

"What? Simba got your tongue?" He grinned at me. Why is his grin so beautiful? It is completely superfluous I tell you, because he looks beyond gorgeous in his sky-blue traditional Kurta Shalwar. Probably the first time I have seen him out of jeans. I must say the man can pull off Desi with perfection!

I force myself to speak; "Hey. What are you doing here?" Ugh! could I be ruder? the guy gifts me a cat, and I'm interrogating him about his travel habits!

His grin fades away; "Ali invited me, rather forcefully. I took a day off and headed down here. Will head back to Lahore in the morning. It's barely a couple of hours of flight-time." I flush guiltily at that.

"I'm so sorry if I was rude! I didn't mean it that way. I was simply not expecting to see you here." I shyly tuck away a lock of stray hair behind my ear. The silly thing gets tangled up in my silver chandelier earrings, I tug useless at my ear, and wince in pain when it refuses to untangle from the knot. Darn you pretty jewelry!!

Shehzer deftly shifts his sack under one arm, and leans forward to gently release the strands from my stupid earrings. I blush crimson when I smell his clean sharp aftershave scent. I hold my breath while he works on my ear. His stubbled jaw is set, and his eyebrows are lowered in concentration. He is too close, too male for my comfort. EMV has fainted dead away.

"How come you're always saving me?" I whisper to his too close profile. Brown eyes dart back to my own. His expression is unfathomably deep, it's like he wants to say a lot of things, but something is holding him back.

"Because you're you." he replies simply, and steps back to heave the sack more securely in his arms. "So where do you want this heavy thing?"

The change of topic brings me crashing back to earth. I reluctantly allow Shehzer to follow me back to the hall. Mom is glaring at my tardiness, and shooting curious glances at Shehzer. I try my best not to blush guiltily. I'm never wearing chandelier earrings again!

EMV has recovered by now, and is floating dreamily on clouds, 'I'd wear it; and I'd get it all freaking tangled up in crazy hair!.... if only I could get Hot stuff to do the honors! *SIGH*'

The rest of the event passed without any awkward encounters between Shehzer and me. He seemed to avoid me after our...scene, and I made no effort to actively seek him out.

Adiba and Ali looked absolutely adorable together as they exchanged rings, posed for pictures, and pretty much just made lovey-dovey eyes at each other. The dinner was delicious and I helped Adiba steal donuts from the buffet, "For Tomorrow". Knowing my new sister, she'd probably polish them off during the night.

After all the prerequisite Rasm (traditional rituals) Of the wedding had been performed, it was time to take Adiba home with us.

While her family wept, and delivered overly emotional goodbyes, Adiba tried her best to tolerate all the hugs and kisses. This was a typical Pakistani Rukhsati scene. You'd think the bride was sacrificing herself to fire demons rather than getting married. Ali was terrified of the tears, and the thinly veiled threats from his in-laws to "Take care of Our Girl!". I saw Adiba's eyes twitching with the urge to roll her eyes while her sisters, Rimsha and Kinza loudly (and dramatically) sobbed all over her shoulder.

"They told me yesterday that they couldn't wait to occupy my room, and my old makeup stuff. Excuse me, while I drown in these tears. Hmmph." She muttered to me. I giggled out loud, drawing a number of glares from the sob-fest, Adiba was turning into Kulsoom Nani! Holy Truffles! Ali would love THAT!

......................

A/N:

Longest chapter, in the history of this book!!! :D Oh, and I have no idea, what you guys did, but my laptop is fully recovered now Alhamdolilah!

I had loads of fun writing this one for some reason. ;)

PS:

Photo in description: ACTUAL wedding photos of Shehroz Sabzwari (My Ali) and Syra Yousuf (My Adiba). You have no idea how much this satisfies my OCD! :D LOL.