Chapter 20
Reshma
Reshma looked at the henna on her hands and then eyed the glass on the table in front of her. ‘Niya? NIYA?’ she called to her cousin, who took her time ambling towards her.
‘What is it? I’m watching all the grannies gang up on Sho, asking him when he plans on settling down. It’s so refreshing that they’re ganging up on him rather than me. Makes a nice change.’
‘Poor Sho. Listen, my henna’s not quite dry enough for me to use my hands yet, can you hold the glass for me while I drink, please?’
Since her henna was completely dry, Haniya stepped forward and held the glass while Reshma used the straw to ease the dryness in her throat. She’d been talking and laughing so much, she finished most of the contents of the glass in one go.
Things were beginning to wind down – finally – and most of the guests had left, leaving just a few stragglers and close family members behind.
Reshma felt exhausted and couldn’t wait to get back to the villa.
Her feet were killing her and her ears were sore with the weight of the earrings weighing them down.
She spotted Daadi sitting with her friends, still going strong, and wondered how she had the energy to keep going.
Well, if Daadi was in the mood to keep on partying, then she was free to.
Reshma was ready to call it a night. She’d been up since the crack of dawn and with the nikah ceremony tomorrow, she desperately needed some shut-eye.
She bid Haniya a good night, and spotting Zafar still sitting with Uncle Jawad, she made her way towards them, each step making her wince.
She reached her uncle and bumped his shoulder. ‘What have you two been nattering about all evening? You’ve had your heads together whenever I’ve looked your way.’
‘Didn’t you feel your ears burning, pet?
’ Uncle Jawad chuckled as he turned to her, his jovial face a comforting sight as always.
Unlike her own father. She’d caught glimpses of him, but they hadn’t crossed paths all evening.
He’d not sought her out and she’d not looked out for him either.
She had run into his wife, however, who had offered her a tight smile when she was told by Auntie Ruqayyah that Reshma had made most of the arrangements that day after she’d complimented them, before giving her aunt a list of things her own children excelled at.
So mature.
‘How is my girl doing anyway?’ Uncle Jawad asked. ‘Happy?’
‘Yes. Look.’ She held her hands out for her uncle to see, much like she used to as a child whenever she had henna done for Eid.
‘It’s lovely, just like you.’
She giggled. He always said the same thing, whether it was her or Haniya. Even when they wore new clothes, he’d say they were lovely, just like his girls.
He grinned at her and then cupped her cheek. ‘Tired?’
Reshma nodded. ‘Yeah, my feet are sore.’
‘Hmm. I believe that’s a summons for you, son.’ He looked towards Zafar, who smiled as he stood up.
They bid everyone a good night, but Daadi said she wanted to stay a bit longer.
‘Are you sure? It’s been a long day for you,’ Zafar said in concern.
‘Don’t worry about me, Dad . If you give me the keys, Jawad or Bilqis will bring me back. You two carry on.’ She waved them off and turned back to the conversation she was having with Uncle Imtiaz’s mother.
They said another round of good nights because that was how her family rolled and then she and Zafar were slowly making their way back towards the villa.
Her high-heeled sandals were really causing her grief, the balls of her feet feeling like they were on fire, but the idea of walking barefoot made her squirm when Zafar suggested she take her sandals off.
‘Eww. No, thanks. I’d rather deal with the after-effects of the sandals. Besides, it’s not far now.’ Though it was still further than she’d have liked.
Zafar stopped and faced her. She stopped as well and looked at him in confusion. He looked around them, presumably observing the silent path behind them and in front of them.
‘What is it? Did you hear something?’ She instinctively moved closer to him. She hardly expected a lion to leap out at them, but still, that didn’t mean there wasn’t some kind of rodent or reptile lurking. She’d seen a few lizards – or were they geckos? – around the area.
‘Lift your arm. And be careful of your henna, don’t want to ruin it.’
‘Huh?’ She automatically did as he asked and lifted her arm closest to him but had no idea what he meant until he swooped and in one fluid movement lifted her up in his arms. She instinctively put her arms around him, mindful of her forearms as they almost brushed against his kurta.
‘What are you doing?’ Of course, she knew what he was doing, but what she meant to ask him was why.
‘I’m carrying you so that you don’t have to walk the rest of the way to the villa and your poor feet won’t be any more battered than they already are. Otherwise, you’ll have to wear trainers to the nikah tomorrow.’
‘Oh.’ She didn’t know what else to say. In some way or another, this man was surprising her every day and she was getting to a point where she had no idea what he’d do or how to respond to him at times. Like now, though she knew she felt touched by his consideration.
He started walking towards their villa, and she was about to grip his shoulder when she remembered that while the henna was mostly dry on her hands, the dry and flaky paste could still stain his kurta if it hadn’t already, not that he seemed to mind.
In fact he seemed completely at ease with her in his arms.
His aftershave wound its way through her nose as she took in a breath and she felt the urge to bury her nose in the crook of his neck.
She shook her head to try to dislodge the thought and Zafar looked at her in question. ‘Everything OK?’
She nodded, bouncing slightly in his arms as he effortlessly covered the remaining distance to the villa, coming to a stop at the welcome mat outside the front door.
She looked up at him and his eyes were focused on hers before they slowly moved down to where she had her lip clamped between her teeth.
It was something she caught herself doing quite often lately and she had no idea why.
Maybe it was her version of a nervous twitch.
Zafar’s lips parted and Reshma’s eyes zoned in on them as he snaked his tongue out and rolled it over his lips, slowly and sensually, making her back arch infinitesimally.
He began lowering her legs, bending his knees as her feet touched the ground, sending shafts of pain and a tingling sensation up her legs.
His other arm was firmly clamped around her waist and held her close to him while she tried to keep her henna-covered hands off him.
What she wanted to do was move closer, run her hands across his broad shoulders and chest and feel the firmness of them through the thin fabric of his kurta, like she had while they’d danced together, but she couldn’t.
And thank God for that. Tiredness was making her delirious.
‘Keys?’ His voice sounded like his throat was coated with gravel and Reshma felt a shiver of pleasure careen down her spine. She wanted to hear him say her name with that voice.
Seriously, what had got into her? Her mind was warring with her heart, which was warring with her body.
She was in such an intense state of confusion, she wasn’t sure which would come out on top, but what she did know with some certainty was that her body seemed to be the heavyweight in that battle this evening.
‘Reshma?’
Oh God. The way he just rolled the R of her name. She wanted to close her eyes in ecstasy.
‘The keys? Daadi took my set.’
‘Th …’ She cleared her throat, giving herself a moment to find her ability to speak coherently. ‘They’re in my bag.’ She slowly eased away from him, lamenting the loss of contact, and held her arm out, from which her little pouch was dangling.
It looked so ridiculous in his hands as he untied it from around her elbow and pulled the keys out. He opened the door and then stepped back, scooping her up once more and surprising her, because he didn’t have to. She only needed to take a few steps into the villa.
He stepped into the villa and, using his shoulder, he closed the front door.
He walked towards the sofa and lowered her onto it, hovering over her as her back hit the cushions.
The soft light from the lamps reflected in his eyes, making it look like there were small flames in them.
They roved over her face and she did the same, taking in his features as though she were seeing them for the first time.
Which, in some ways, she was. It was certainly the first time she was seeing this side of Zafar.
A corner of his lips curved up as he edged back and then lowered himself onto one knee beside her. ‘May I?’
He pointed to her feet and she nodded – she couldn’t do anything with her hands until she got the henna off them and the last thing she wanted to do was get henna onto her lehenga.
Zafar put his hand under the hem of her lehenga and clasped her ankle before she could present it to him and, with the utmost care and the gentlest of touches, he undid the delicate buckle at her ankle and pushed the strap off the heel of her foot before removing the sandal and putting it on the floor beside him.
He held her foot in both hands, resting it on his bent knee, and with firm pressure, he pushed his thumbs into the heel and then up, towards her toes, eliciting a pleasurable groan from her which nothing could have stopped from coming out.
He massaged her toes and the arch of her foot for a moment more and when he lowered her foot to the floor and let go, she just about held back from whimpering in protest.