“Waise building mein thodi baatein ho rahi hai aapke liye.[146]”
“Ji?[147]”
“Aap dono shaadi-shuda toh hai na?[148]”
Amaal blinked, offering her a smile that she hoped was reassuring.
“Secretary mere shauhar hi hai, unhe bas apna nikah nama de dijiyega… woh kya hai, sawal nahi uthne chahiye.[149]”
“Hmm…” she smiled.
————————————————————
Amaal shut the door of the flat that he had left open for her. She set the bags on the floor and stood there, lost. She glanced at the kitchen that was once bare, now full. She glanced at the hall that was her bedroom. She glanced at the closed door of his bedroom, Samar’s fortress. He was right, this wasn’t living together. This wasn’t even…
The bedroom door clicked open and he was there, changed into a pair of tracks and a thermal full-sleeved sweater. All covered up again.
“Why are you standing here like this?”
“Huh?”
“Amaal,” he stepped up to her. “What happened?”
She shook her head, licking her lips to moisten them. Suddenly, they felt too dry. Even her throat felt dry.
“Samar?”
“Hmm?”
She swallowed.
“I met that first-floor aunty downstairs.”
“Hmm?”
She stalled. Their eyes remained connected, and she didn’t know how to say it.
“Amaal.”
She inhaled and spat it out in one breath — “She thinks we are married or she implied that she knows we are not married but we should be and submit our nikahnama to the secretary who is her husband.”
Samar stilled. His jaw ticked. His mouth opened slightly. A second later, he closed it and nodded — “Then let’s get married.”
Yes.This was not it. This was not living together. This wasn’t her exhaustion of the last six months. This wasn’t any of that.
Amaal stepped away from him and walked into the hall. She sat down on the sofa and reached down to unbuckle her heels. One by one, staring at the window where the sun blazed over icy mountains in the distance. She felt Samar’s presence in the hall. She did not look. She set her heels down in one line and massaged the skin of her ankle, staring out aimlessly.
“You did not answer me.”
“That wasn’t a question.”
“What?”
“That was a compulsion.” Amaal found herself saying, the steel inside her forged after being liquid for so long.
“What difference does it make? End result is the same.”
She closed her eyes, feeling herself going farther and farther from him. Why was he hellbent on making this easier?
