Zaid's POV

Today is my haldi function. It's the 1st of August, and the wedding week has finally begun. I wake up this morning with a huge smile on my face. As soon as I wake up at 7am, Mum and Hafsa barge into my room, buzzing with excitement.

'Zaid, are you up?' Mum asks me, teasingly.

I sit up in bed and nod, rubbing my eyes. "Yes, Mum. You're awake so early?" I ask in reply. She nods, beaming.

Hafsa grins, rushing over to me and giving me the biggest hug. I chuckle, hugging her back.

'At least let me put my shirt on,' I say, laughing.

She smiles, rolling her eyes. "You're my brother. Get up, and take a shower! I'm so excited for your haldi! I've been awake since 5am, making sure that the preparations and decorations are perfect. Even though the function is in the evening."

I nod, getting out of bed and pulling on a white t-shirt. 'I'll go and shower, and then I'll join you for breakfast. Mum, is Dad awake?'

Mum nods, smiling happily. "Of course he is! He woke up before 6am! He just headed out a few minutes ago, to buy some items from the store. Hurry up, both of you. I'll get breakfast ready." She heads out of the room, leaving me and Hafsa standing in my room.

'Zaid bhai! I'm so excited, you have no idea! I can't wait for Zara to come to our home! Argh! It will be so amazing, right?!' My sister says to me happily.

"Yes, it will be amazing," I reply, a small smile playing on my lips. It will be the best. I can't wait to make Zara my wife on Saturday. Finally.

Hafsa's eyes widen in shock. 'I just realised something. You will be married in less than a week! It's Monday today, and this time on Saturday, we will all be starting to get ready for the wedding!' She has tears in her eyes.

"I know." I can't control the huge grin on my face.

'If someone told me this time last year that you would be getting married in a year's time, I would have laughed in their face. I can't believe it, you're marrying my best friend!" Hafsa's excitement is adorable.

I can't believe it either, Hafsa. I can't believe I got so lucky.

Hafsa gushes with excitement about the haldi ceremony this evening, and how it's going to be so much fun. I talk to her for a few minutes, before heading to my bathroom to take a shower.

After showering, I change into a black t-shirt and faded blue denim jeans. I towel dry my hair, and then roughly brush through it. I send Zara a 'good morning' text like I do everyday, before walking out of my room and going downstairs to have breakfast with my family. In a weeks' time, Zara will also be having breakfast with us every morning. I smile, running a hand through my hair.

********

I have breakfast with my family, and everyone's very excited and joyful. Mum, Dad and Hafsa have constant smiles on their faces, while chatting enthusiastically and planning the wedding functions. Tomorrow is Zara's haldi function, and I'm sure that she will look absolutely beautiful. She always does.

I will see the love of my life in less than six days time, but I've never felt so impatient. Time is passing too slowly.

Mum has prepared all of my favourite breakfast foods, including pancakes, hash browns and scrambled eggs. I eat breakfast while talking to my family, and then I return to my room for a while.

I grab my laptop and power it on, while looking around my room with a small smile on my face. I'm remembering the time when Zara stayed here a few months ago, with Hafsa. They both slept in my room, because of the power cut. I remember Zara telling me that if this was her bedroom, she would change the colour scheme as it is mainly black and white. She would make it more colourful.

I wouldn't mind at all. She can change the colours, furniture, bedding, everything to however she likes. If it made her happy, then it would also make me happy. I'll ask her, on Sunday. I grin. Zara, come to me quickly.

The wedding gift which I have bought for her arrived a couple of days ago. I really liked the small but simple design of the jewellery, I just hope she likes it too. It is currently sitting in the locker in my walk-in wardrobe.

I go over to my wardrobe and open it, smiling. The clothes which me, Hafsa and Mum have bought for Zara are all hanging in my closet, opposite my clothes. They're sorted by colour and style. I hope she likes everything which we've bought for her. There are well over 200 dresses, but I don't think they're enough. I wanted to buy so much more for her, but there isn't much time left now for shopping, as our wedding functions have started. I want to give Zara everything.

I spend some time on my laptop before setting out the clothes I will be wearing this evening. My outfit for tonight is a mustard coloured designer kurta with a white pajama. I wonder what Zara will wear tomorrow. Will she also wear yellow or mustard? Or maybe she will wear a green dress? She will look beautiful regardless.

I can't believe that our Nikah is on Saturday. And the rukhsati too, of course. Zara will be mine then, in every way. I will finally be able to hold her, touch her, love her. I will give Zara all the love and care in the world.

********

I change into my haldi outfit at around 6 that evening. The ceremony will be held here in my apartment, in the back hall. The decorations looks great, perfectly matching my outfit. Mum and Hafsa are still rushing around like crazy, even though everything is perfect. They've definitely gone all out while preparing for my wedding, and I'm glad. My wedding with Zara will be the biggest wedding this city has seen in a while.

The ceremony goes very well, and it's a lot of fun. It's over 11:30pm by the time it ends and the guests start to leave. Another day gone by. In less than half an hour, it will be the 2nd of August. And I will marry Zara on the 6th. All my close family and friends are so pleased and excited to me looking so happy and enjoying my functions. They're shocked, seeing me so happy. Zara has changed me completely. She's changed me in every way, for the better.

However, I can clearly tell that a few of my relatives are not very happy. I don't want to think about them right now, though. Not when I'm in such a good mood. I don't want to ruin my mood, needlessly.

I have haldi on my arms, hands, face and even in my hair right now. It's going to take a while to get all this off me, so I take a shower an hour later. I wonder if Zara's asleep right now. It's over half 12, so she must be asleep. Why would she be awake? She's not lost in crazy thoughts about someone at this time, like I am.

I have a lot of difficulty in falling asleep that night. Zara has invaded my mind and heart, and I can't stop thinking about her. Right now, I'm imagining her in her wedding dress. She will be the most beautiful bride, I'm so lucky that she's mine. When I see her walking down the aisle with Uncle, I know that I'll lose my mind.

I send her a 'goodnight' text, which I also send everyday, right before I fall asleep. Crazy girl. She's the first person on my mind every morning when I wake up, and also the last and only person on my mind before I fall asleep every night.

********

"Zaid? Zaid!" I hear Zara's angelic voice calling out my name, laughing softly. She gently ruffles my hair. "Wake up!"

'Zara, let me sleep. I'm tired,' I mumble in my sleep. I pat the space on the bed next to me and smile sleepily when I realise that Zara is right next to me. I place an arm around her small waist, hugging her close.

She chuckles again, lightly pulling the hair at the back of my head. I groan but don't open my eyes.

"Wake up! You're getting late for work!" She says softly but hugs me back.

'I'm not going.' I hug her closer. She feels so amazing in my arms. I want to keep her here forever.

"Okay, don't go then. And stay asleep. I'm calling Aunty, she will wake you up," she whispers with a laugh. She sits up, but as soon as she does, I gently pull her by her arm. She lands on top of me, her eyes widening. I open my eyes and smirk at her beautiful blush.

'You want me to go to work? Only a week has passed since our wedding. You want to get rid of me?' I tease, staring into her lovely brown eyes.

She bites her lip discreetly, shaking her head slowly. My eyes dart down to her lips, and I feel my muscles clench.

"I don't want you to go, but you have to. You have work," she whispers, looking down towards my chest.

A week has passed since our wedding, but Zara still blushes the same way. Her blush makes me crazy.

'You're more important than work, baby. I'm not going today, or for the rest of the week.'

A huge grin appears on her face. "Really?" She whispers, smiling. I touch her adorable dimples.

I nod. She chuckles and attacks me with kisses all over my face, except for my lips. I laugh, holding her closer.

"You're really not going?" She asks, staring into my eyes.

'I'm really not going,' I whisper, grinning at her. I press a kiss to her cheek.

She does the same.

I press a kiss to her forehead.

She does the same.

I laugh, gazing at her beautiful face. How did I get so lucky?

"What's the time?" I whisper, my voice hoarse with sleep.

She tries to shift from on top of me, but I tighten my hold on her, making her blush. She glances at the clock on the far wall. 'It's 6:45am. You can go back to sleep if you're not going to work. I'll get our clothes ready.'

I shake my head, smirking at her. "Okay. You're not getting up, and you're not letting me get up either. Okay, I'm going to sleep. You sleep too." She rests her head on my chest, closing her eyes.

I don't want to sleep now, though. She woke me up, and now I won't let her sleep either.

'I'm so comfortable here,' she whispers, her voice thick.

Is she actually tired now?

I hug her closer to me, rubbing small circles on her back. She groans, lifting her head from my chest and meeting my eyes. "That feels sooo good," she moans, smiling at me.

Damn, Zara. The things she does to my body when she groans like this.

She places a chaste kiss on the top of my chest, before gazing at me again. She's so damn beautiful.

'Can I get up now?' She asks, making me laugh.

I shake my head. "No."

'Why?!' She groans, frowning at me. Then, she takes her hands down to my stomach and starts tickling me. I merely chuckle at her, shaking my head. I'm not ticklish.

In a swift second, I roll us both over so that she is underneath me, staring up at me with wide eyes. I start to tickle her sides, making her laugh uncontrollably.

"Zaid...stop!" She somehow manages to get the words out while laughing.

'Say "my husband is the hottest man in the world", then I'll stop,' I say, my eyes gleaming with mischief.

She shakes her head. I continue to tickle her, smirking. 'Say it.'

She again shakes her head, trying to grab my hands to make me stop. "Please stop!" She laughs, and then frowns at me.

What she does next makes me stop tickling her straight away. She grabs me by the back of my head and kisses me, hard. The kiss is short but hard, and it leaves us both breathless. When we break the kiss, I stare at her in surprise.

She takes this opportunity to crawl away from under me, and runs to the other side of the room, giggling. My eyes darken and I get up and run after her, quickly trapping her against the wall. Her laughter has died down completely.

"I...just..need to select my clothes for today. Do you want to help me?" She whispers, her cheeks deep crimson.

I shake my head, glancing down at her nightgown, my eyes darkening even more. 'They're fine.'

"But, Aunty must be preparing breakfast and I should help her. I haven't done any work at all, all week! You should go and take a shower, I'll....find your clothes. Why are you looking at me like that? What do you want to wear today? And where are you going to take me today?! Zaid, stop staring at me like that. Like...you're going to eat me or something. Let's go somewhere. Shall we go to the park? Where will you take me today?" She rambles, nervously.

'Back to bed,' I mutter, claiming her lips once more. She tries to push me away but decides otherwise the next second, as she kisses me back, threading her fingers into my hair. I love when she plays with my hair. I forget everything when I feel her body against mine. I groan, pulling her closer and picking her up in my arms, bridal style.

********

I awake with a jolt. I sit up in bed, running a hand through my hair, my breathing hard and rugged. I place a hand on my chest to control the racing of my heart. I can't believe I had a dream like this. If I didn't wake up, I'm sure that...

I need to take a cold shower. I get out of bed and glance at the clock on the far wall. 4:30am.

********

Zara's POV

The next day is my haldi function. I will be getting my hair and makeup done today, too, as well as the rest of the functions. My dress for today is green, and it is a beautiful, embroidered but simple Pakistani maxi dress. It has short sleeves, as everyone will be applying haldi today to my arms and face. This dress is even more beautiful than the dress for my bridal shower. I love this shade of green and the style of the dress.

My makeup for today is simple, too. I reach the venue at 7pm from the salon, and everyone compliments my dress, makeup and hair. My eyelids are coated with a gold/light green shimmery eyeshadow, and my eye makeup is beautifully completed with a thin winged liner. It makes my already large eyes, look even bigger. The stunning green and gold on my eyelids brings out the chocolate brown of my eyes.

My contouring and highlight are perfect, and my lips are painted a light coral colour. I love this lipstick colour, I will definitely be wearing it more often.

My hair is styled in elegant waves and pinned to one side, falling over my left shoulder. My hair looks so stunning open, I really love this hairstyle. It suits my face shape and makeup look.

I know that usually, girls choose to wear the traditional yellow or mustard colours on their haldi function, but I wanted something different. I chose green for my haldi look, which is good as my mehndi dress for the day after tomorrow is yellow with a few other colours.

The decorations are absolutely beautiful. Simple, but so stunning. My cousins did a great job. When I walk into the venue with Maryam, the beauty of the hall takes my breath away for a second. Yellow and green. The decorations are all yellow and green, and they look amazing. The stage, where I will be seated, is completely decorated with fresh yellow flowers, which are also in every vase on every table.

My haldi ceremony is a lot of fun for me and all the guests. By the end, my arms, hands and face are covered with haldi and I look funny. Apparently, according to Mum, this haldi will be good for my skin and will make it glow. So I don't mind that my makeup has been ruined. I'm glad, though, that the photographer took several pictures of me at the start of the ceremony, before anyone had applied any haldi.

There are mainly close family and friends at the haldi, which I'm happy about. I get to spend some quality time with my loved ones, as the functions will start to get much more packed and busy. There are probably about 60-70 people at my haldi function, and there will be nearly 400 at my mehndi. The wedding and walima functions will be a lot larger, with over 1000 guests at the wedding function, and of course, well over 2000 on the walima.

All of my family and friends take lots of pictures with me after the ceremony. I really feel like a bride today, or a soon-to-be bride. And I feel so, so happy and excited. Today is the 2nd of August. Tomorrow, there are no functions but I have a salon appointment for tomorrow, as I have a facial, manicure, pedicure, eyebrows, waxing and much more. It will take a while at the salon tomorrow. The girls will be getting stuff done, too.

********

The next day is extremely busy. I wake up at 10am, and have breakfast with my family. Then, I change into a casual navy dress and black leggings, and head out for the salon with Mum and the girls. We're at the salon for several hours, because it takes a while to get everything done. It's over 5pm by the time we're all done at the salon.

We go to eat next, at a local restaurant. We have pizza and lasagna, my favourites. Then, Mum treats us to dessert. It's delicious. I have chocolate brownies with chocolate chip cookie dough, hot fudge sauce and vanilla ice cream.

"I'm getting married in two days," I suddenly say, my eyes widening. My wedding has come so soon, but I'm not complaining. I'm gonna miss my family so much, but I'm excited at the same time to marry Zaid. 

Mum's eyes tear up, but she grins at me. 'Yes, you are.'

"It's come so fast, I can't believe it. I'm so happy for you and Zaid bhai, though," Maryam says, smiling at me. Yes, she calls Zaid 'bhai' now. And I quite like it.

Ayesha nudges me gently, her eyes watering up. 'I'm gonna miss you.'

I chuckle, feeling emotional myself. "Me too, Ayesha. I will miss you too, all of you. Except you, Hafsa."

Everyone laughs at that.

'Ayesh, you know you can come to our apartment whenever you want! You too, Layla! Why are you guys gonna miss her? Nothing will be different, we will all see each other all the time!' Hafsa says, smiling. I can see that her eyes have teared up slightly too, though. As usual, she's trying to cheer everyone up. She's amazing.

"Exactly! Hafsa's right for once! Mum, Maryam, I will always come over and nothing will be different. Ayesha, Layla, we will all see each other often like we do now! Nothing will be different at all! And you all can come to the apartment whenever you want! We'll have sleepovers too, all the time," I say, grinning.

Layla smirks, winking at me. 'I don't think Zaid will let you have sleepovers with us too often, babe.'

My cheeks redden and I shake my head. "Of course he will! He won't mind." My face is beet red.

'You girls are crazy,' Mum says, laughing. They're definitely crazy, saying anything in front of Mum! She doesn't mind at all, though. She's no better than they are. The glint in her eyes tells me this.

"You'll always love me more than Zaid bhai, right?" Hafsa asks me, her eyes widened.

Facepalm.

'Of course I will, you idiot. Don't worry about that,' I mutter, blushing harder. Everyone chuckles, smiling at me.

"I've never seen Zaid bhai so happy before in his entire life! Zara, you cast a crazy spell on him! But I'm glad that you did! He's whipped," she says, laughing.

'Hafsa, shut up,' I say, groaning in embarrassment. Hafsa's favourite hobby is to tease me and her brother.

Thankfully, I change the subject of conversation to my mehndi function which is tomorrow. The girls will be all going to the salon with me, and so will some of my cousins. Tomorrow will be a very busy day, and I'm so excited for it.

My dress for tomorrow is absolutely stunning. I can't wait to see how it suits me, and my makeup and hair.

As much as Hafsa, Zaid, Aunty and Uncle have tried to keep me and the wedding out of the spotlight, the public have somehow managed to find out that tomorrow is my mehndi function. I hope they don't reach the venue like they did the other day, but who knows? I guess we'll find out tomorrow.

Zaid had asked me the day after my bridal party, if I was fine, if the press had bothered me in any way. I told him not to worry, though, because I was fine. And I guess I will have to get used to all this 'fame' now.

The other day, when me and the girls had gone to the boutique to collect my mehndi dress, the public had clicked pictures of me with the girls, posted them online, and they even broke down the outfit that I was wearing with which store I had bought each item of clothing from, and the prices.

Crazy.

I don't care too much, though, as I will have to get used to all this. Being the wife of the CEO of The Malik Enterprises isn't so simple.

*******

We get back home at around 8pm that evening. I head upstairs to my room and the girls help me to get ready my dress, shoes, jewellery and accessories for tomorrow. It's such a beautiful dress. It will most likely be difficult walking in such a big and heavy dress, but I'm excited to see how I will look in it.

After getting everything ready for tomorrow, I go back downstairs and spend some time with my family. Especially with Dad. I know that he's happy because both him and Mum fully trust and love Zaid like he's their own son, but I can also see the pain in Dad's eyes. I've always been my daddy's girl, since the day I was born. And I always will be his girl. Forever.

I watch some football with him, and then make some coffee for the two of us. We drink our coffee and laugh over Manchester United losing against a small team. It cheers us both up, as we're Liverpool fans. Mum joins us a small while later, and we start to talk about tomorrow's mehndi function. It will be a busy day for everyone.

An hour later, I head upstairs to my room, to get some sleep. Mum tells me that it's going to be a long day tomorrow as the function will finish at around midnight. She tells me to get some sleep, and that I can sleep until whatever time I want in the morning.

I change my clothes and take a quick shower, before changing into my black silk pyjamas and getting into bed. I fall asleep within minutes, and of course, I dream of my wedding day with Zaid.

********

Hi! How are all my beautiful readers? I hope you're all well?

How was this chapter, guys? Please let me know if you enjoyed reading it, and also, what was your favourite scene? ;-)

Zaid and Zara's wedding is very soon, it's crazy right?! Haha!

I hope you guys are liking my book, and I think you'll enjoy the upcoming chapters even more...

I'm confused on when I should finish this book. There have been 53 chapters, and I've written the next few. Do you guys want a sequel about Zaid and Zara? Or do you want a different story, which I've planned out?

Another question for you guys.. I have two new story ideas. One is spiritual, the other is a mystery/thriller. Both will have romance, too. Which story do you want me to write first?

I love you all loads, thank you so much for reading! Please don't forget to vote and comment x