— H O O R —. . .“I hope it goes well,” I mumble, standing beside Zahir, watching my family members leave. Under the sky that is veiled with darkness and diamonds that keep kissing it, I watch our family members leave us for an urgent matter that calls their presence. They wave at us one more time, smiling softly. However, Zahir is still with me. It is only a family function they need to attend, yet very important from their perspective. They invited Zahir and me, too and we reasoned that we would be there on the very day of the celebration, because we were invited fifteen days before the grand celebration of the union in another town by my father-in-law's brother's family. Dad told us that it was his brother's, youngest daughter's marriage. I was excited to go with them but Zahir, as grumpy as he is, refused to go with them. He said, ‘Dad, I have work.’ Like we do not know, ha?Then Dad said, ‘Am I unaware of this?’Then Zahir said in a monotonous tone, ‘Of course, you are not,
— H O O R —. . . “Tum dono ek dusre ko kaise jante ho?” I ask him, kneading the dough, putting all my attention there. (How do you two know each other?)Behind me, I hear the sound of doors opening and closing. Not sure what he is doing but definitely, I am not letting him help me, or else he will hurt himself once again. The billionaire boy looks good at handling money and commerce. He also looks good at cooking, by the way, but I want no risk. “Hum dono?” He steps closer, “Dost hai, yar. Kafi salo se ek dusre ko jante hai.” (We two? We are friends. Have known each other for many years.)I hum, continuing my work. He comes to be beside me, soon asking the most expected question, “Kuch madad karu?”(Need some help?)I cock a brow at him as I watch him gulping down water. “Rehne do, nazuk kali.”(No need, delicate bud.)He groans, keeping down the bottle as he gives me an annoyed look. After all, I gave him a very pretty nickname to tease him. I can't help but chuckle, going back
— H O O R —. . .Amid the silence, only the sound of the graphite in my grip rubbing against the plain sheet can be heard. My forehead hurts when by constantly frown at the screen. I keep massaging my forehead from time to time but the very next moment, I forget to keep myself neutral and end up frowning tightly at the sheet. Finally done, I groan and let go of the pencil. Paperwork is cruel. I grab my water bottle and take a sip when someone knocks at the door of my cabin. “Come in,” I say, taking another sip. The corner of my eye watches the door opening and not to my expectancy, Mr Hunt steps inside. “Mr Hunt?” I quickly get up, keeping the bottle down on the table. “Hey, don't bother yourself,” he says, smiling at me as he nears the table. I nearly roll my eyes. Well, nearly. I can't be disrespectful towards him for no reason. But he said I am pregnant. I try not to laugh at my own silly joke. “Good afternoon,” I say quietly, smiling at him. “Good afternoon.” He nods his
— H O O R —. . .“Zahir!” I utter, tapping his bicep. “There's an ice cream parlor!” I tell him quickly before we are far away from it. “Huh? You want ice cream now?” He grumbles, still driving. “Yeah, so what? Come on, stop the car, Zahir!”“Hoor, it's raining outside. I don't want you to —”Guess what? It is going to take an argument for him to get agreed with me and I am ready to do it. Let's get ready, Hoor. “Zahir, nothing will happen to me. Now, I want the ice cream, and get me one.”“No, Hoor! Try to understand —”“No, Zahir, you try to understand!” I snap at him, taking him by surprise. He looks at me with those wide eyes, stopping the car right there. “Hoor?” He almost whispers, scared. I shut my mouth, pressing my lips tight and staring at him blankly. Giving me that confused and scared look, I know he is scared of me and now, he will bring me a cone or anything I desire. “Tum pregnant ho?” He asks instead, still confused. (Are you pregnant?)I stare at him amazed. W
— H O O R —. . .Another meeting I have to attend. But the fact it is with Zahir, I am not going to make a fuss about it. I like being with him as I have told myself already and I think even if I am going to be tired after it, it is pleasant. The path is wide and serene. The spotless floor reflects the base of my sandals as I take long strides towards my husband's cabin. I am greeted by an employee on the way. Like always, I pass the person a small smile. I keep the file close to my side, my fingers gripping it tightly. My step falls upon the brightness spreading over the floor, entering through the glass walls of the building. It is like molten gold spreading over the shiny surface of the floor. How pretty it looks after the rain has fallen. I miss the smell of wet soil. I tug a strand of my hair behind my ear when my shoulder collides with someone and I stumble on my butt. My palms are pressed badly against the surface of the floor and my butts hurt. I hiss under my breath as
— H O O R —. . .I had a hard time focusing on my work. All the while, I kept thinking about Zahir and Siya. He is gone with her and the woman with him has no trust of mine. The things that have been happening between us are a reminder of an alarm over and over again. I can't help but get worried about it time and time again. I think of Zahir almost all the time.However, I had to focus back on work. The pain in my ankle kept reminding me of its presence whenever I tried to move my foot. I got no other way than to keep it still, not even letting it move an inch. As spoken earlier, I am good at handling physical pain. It is too much. Time elapsed and finally, it was sundown. My work has ended two hours ago. I do not have to add more. Work is endless, to be honest, but my working hours and the schedule I decided for myself contained only the hours I spent doing that stuff. I move the chair as I face the glass wall of my cabin. I behold the beauty of nature once again, leaning aga
— H O O R —. . .“How was your meeting, by the way?” I ask as soon as he starts driving. I could not get to ask it before. He straightly asked me about my foot. “Very well,” his answer is short. I nod my head. “Good to know,” I mumble. I know Siya handled it well because it used to be her job. “But I missed you there,” he suddenly reveals in a gentle whisper, getting my quick attention. I stare at his side profile and the calm look on his face makes me wonder if I heard it right or if it was just an illusion. “What?” He asks after a few seconds pass. I used that moment to stare at him and nothing more. “N-Nothing,” I say, chewing my bottom lip as I look away. “I thought you said something,” I add soon, getting no reply. I sigh. Illusions are beautiful. We reach home. Dinner is made like always. Dad calls and soon, we are engaged in video conversation through Zahir's laptop. I am happy after talking to my family members. It is refreshing. Time passes. I do not tell them about
— H O O R —. . .The day was not as boring as I imagined. I could not go to the office but I could work from home. Zahir allowed me that. Well, he actually told me not to work too much and I do not even think I did it. It was just that I woke up late today. I remember how Zahir treated me this morning. He woke up before me. I could hear the sound in the background of doors opening and closing. Before he wore boots, footsteps made no noise but after he got ready, I could hear them. I made no sound. I was tugged into the bed and was breathing peacefully. I saw him walking here and there as he got ready and attended two calls right there in those hours. Finally, when he got ready, he moved to me. “Want to sleep for some more time?” He asked me, standing in front of me by the edge of the bed. I peeked at him behind the soft quilt. I nodded my head silently, pushing my face into the pillow. “Of course. Don't walk or try to do anything. You can work from home if you get too bored b