"SWEATHEART?" A female voice echoed, its tone at once sweet and aggressive.
"You know it's a bad habit, Dear." It was a woman in her late twenties who exudes an eerie aura, marked by an intense presence and lack of beauty. Her low volume hair and uneven complexion add to her tense and jittery demeanor, and her sharp, piercing eyes reveal underlying turmoil. She is characterized primarily by a deep-seated anger that flares up out of the blue, making people cautious around her and making her feelings of loneliness and resentment worse. She was wandering around the house with a pair of cutters in her hand, going through each room.
"Huff huff huff." The seven-year-old boy was gasping and panting as he ducked under a small patch of shade away from the person speaking to him. She was getting closer and closer to him, and he could hear every step she took and count her breaths with ease. Her rapid mood swings, which included anger, hostility, and unexpected sweetness that he failed to comprehend made him even more terrified.
The same voice, tinged with frustration, echoed again, "You know, sweetheart, that the more you defy me, the harsher your punishment will be." "So come out and be a good boy."
His little demeanor was shaking and quivering with fear of the person, and his eyes were wide open in terror at the possibility of being caught. He was gasping and breathing heavily from fear and from spending so much time in a small, dark space.
"Oh yes, I've found you."
He could see her smiling eerily through a tiny gap as she walked into the room and headed for that secret space, his only safe haven.
"No, stop." While he was asleep, Aiden woke up from this horrible nightmare. He shook his head, letting go of the dream he had just had. "Huff, huff, huff," gasping and breathing in every breath of the surroundings before he sat down and looked around, eventually finding her on the couch, staring at him in confusion and terror. As if his voice had scared her to sleep, she was gripping her blanket.
He smiled and ran his hand through his thick black hair, telling her, "Don't worry, it's just a dream now, I am used to it." He further mentioned, "Go back to sleeping. I'll make sure that doesn't happen again from now on," and then he got out of bed to head to the restroom.
Three days have passed since their wedding. The whole situation and the misunderstandings he faced were unknown to his mother and sister, who were not even present at his wedding because of Nani Jaan's steady decline in health and hospitalization. Only a few close relatives attended the marriage, which was kept more private and minimal at the Baig residence due to Nani's health. Aiden, as per her agreement, apologized to her, breaking all of his rules and acting out of character, for the mess he has created, in front of his family, and also stopped Taya Jaan from causing further issues for Amirah and others.
However, who could stop the relative from talking behind her back? They only observed her humiliation in front of the entire crowd and prioritizing someone else during her primary Rukh sati time, not noticed his apology to her. Hessah was aware that she would be the talk of the town for the rest of her life and that she would be slandered for her husband's rejection and lack of desire. However, it was all for her father, who had never done anything for her in her life. But she always had a special place in her heart and always would be.
Even though Aiden was disappointed that he didn't get his desired outcome, he accepted his mistake and took responsibility for his actions, as he always did despite his rude and arrogant personality. He wasn't particularly enamored with Amirah. Since he was a young child, he has been surrounded by beautiful and charming people, and he has thought that only attractive people could cultivate those qualities because he has seen how their beauty is reflected in their sweetness in tone and grace in behavior. Additionally, he believed that the less attractive people in all of his encounters had unpleasant and irritable demeanors with some sort of inferiority complex, which was the cause of their rage, anxiety, and aggression. And that's why, because of her inherent beauty and other admirable traits that Prof. Zaviyar mentioned, he believed she would make a good wife. And besides, who could know better than him the extent to which an individual with an inferiority complex may go?
With his hand in the sink corner and his eyes fixed on the mirror, he was managing his emotions. His expression readily conveyed the emotion he was feeling; it was wrath rather than fear. He had crimson eyes that seemed to be about to bleed. He was trying to suppress his wrath, due to which his veins were plainly evident on his temple. He had become mired in his own past, while everyone else had moved on. He could never truly forget that 7-year-old boy, no matter how many times he forced himself to do so. In his dreams, he would always herd his naive voice with terror and fear, looking like he were pleading with him for assistance and demanding to be taken out of that dark hell by his hand. He stared at his reflection for a few more minutes before opening the tap and starting to do wudu.
She decided to offer salah rather than go to bed and then get up for salah because it was already fajr. She waited for him to come out, and when he did, she went inside. When she came back, she discovered him standing in an iqamat, utterly unaware of his surroundings, offering salah. She witnessed him offer all five of his daily prayers during the three days she was with him, and she couldn't help but be impressed by this quality. In all her life, she had never seen a man offer salah with such intense focus. Moreover, she never thought he would be performing a salah at all. If she were a judgmental person, she might have called him a hypocrite, but he never jumps to conclusions based solely on appearances. Because Allah alone is aware of each person's actual essence.
........
"Dear, do you want something else?" Sharzeena Begum asked her if she wanted anything else because she was barely eating breakfast while she was lost in thought.
"Ah? No, Aunty, I'm fine. It's good." She abruptly snapped out of her reverie and gave her a gentle, smiling response.
"I made a special omelet using my own recipe, Bhabhi (my sister-in-law)." Ayesha, who was occasionally staring at her, timidly invited her to have this omelet.
Since that day, Aiden has been witnessing his sister's grating and disgustingly unexpected behavior, which he could not help but shake his head in annoyance.
She and Aiden visited the three of them at the hospital on the first morning following the wedding. Sharzeena Begum wept with delight at seeing his son's wife, Nani Jaan, who had just awoken from slumber, kissed them both on the forehead and wished them well, saying, "May Allah keep you both together. Ameen." However, Ayesha who was going to keep her anger in check and made a self-promise to ignore them since she had once again missed his brother's special day, froze as soon as she saw her Bhabhi taking off her face covering and exposing her face. She was wearing a simple wine-colored coat, abaya, pairing scarf of the same hue in a lovely and sophisticated manner. She felt as though a ray of light was coming from her face, and she looked so radiant in the gentle morning light. Her calm and gentle demeanor somehow captured her heart in a subtle way. In Ayesha's case, it must be the one who believes in love at first sight. When Aiden noticed his sister that she had been standing in the same spot for a while, he gave her a little shoulder bump, but she was unable to withstand it and passed out in his brother's arms while grinning and staring at Hessah.
"Oh wow, it's really good, dear." After tasting that omelet, Hessah responded with gratitude.
He was transported back to that day by her voice.
Ayesha blushed at her comment and gave her another shy smile.
"Why don't you feed your Bhabhi with your own hand, Ayesha?" said Aiden, who was at his breaking point, in a mocking tone. He narrowed his eyes and continued, "And by the way, the speed with which your Bhabhi is eating, requires someone help to feed her properly by hand." smiling mischievously at Hessah before adding, " If it's not me, it's you."
In response to his comment, Hessah simply gave him a look that was obviously uninterested. Ayesha, however, angrily retorted, "I don't need your advice for what to do for her."
"Well, my little dummy, you do need my advice. I know better how to treat her carefully since I am her only husband." Given her obvious lack of interest in his conversation, Aiden responded in a flirtatious manner while looking at her intently to get her to respond.
Sharzeena Begum and Nani Jaan were grinning broadly as they watched their children play this little game of scabble. When he noticed his son engaging with his daughter-in-law, Hamid Sahab, who was worried about their relationship, also smiled in relief.
"If you're her husband, so what? I'm sure I can take better care of her than you can."
"Oh really!" He said in a mockery and further added after suddenly changing his tone as flirtation, "Why won't you be asking yourself after some days who took care of her better?"
"Will you guys stop discussing me?" Hessah, who could not stand his remark any longer because she knew that his comment was only meant to annoy her, smiled softly because of his family's presence, and spoke up gritting her teeth, while looking into his eyes who was also staring at her with his deep playful eyes. "And since I can take care of myself perfectly, I don't need anyone. Thank you!"
He secretly delighted in her reaction, which was precisely how he wanted her to behave, since all he wanted was for her to be interested in his conversation. He continued to stare at her with the same playful eyes without blinking.
Eventually, Hessah, who had hoped that he would look down first, looked away nervously, because she could not bear to look at him any longer.
He chuckled at her response to his gaze. Unbeknownst to him, it was the first time he had actively sought a girl's attention during a conversation. He started compelling a girl to talk to him without realizing it. In this way, he began doing a lot of things that he didn't do for anyone else without realizing it.