Chapter 21
Zafar
Sunlight shone through the curtains they’d failed to draw the night before and streamed into the room, filling it with golden light.
Zafar stretched his arms and heard his back click in at least two places.
He lay against the pillow, a deep sense of contentment filling his entire being.
He smiled as his thoughts went to the night before and he couldn’t stop his very satisfied smile from widening.
Turning over, he looked at Reshma’s beautiful face. His wife. The woman he’d spent most of the night making sweet, sweet love with. The woman he was in love with.
The thought had his mind slowly coming to a standstill as his breath lodged in his chest until he forced himself to inhale deeply.
He sat up, rubbing his hand against his sternum to ease the sudden tightness there.
He swallowed the dryness in his mouth as his heartbeat thundered in his chest, the sound of it reverberating through his ears until it almost drowned his thoughts out.
Almost, but not quite.
Because one thought refused to be drowned out. It went through his head like an incantation, getting louder and louder with every beat of his heart.
He felt so much more than affection for Reshma. He loved her.
He was in love with her and the thought didn’t scare him nearly as much as it should have, or he thought it should have. In fact, it felt … right.
The tightness behind his sternum eased as he took another deep breath, his heartbeat slowing down gradually to its normal rhythm.
He was in love with Reshma and it felt good. In fact, he felt ecstatic about it. The world hadn’t come crashing down around his ears. Everything still seemed very much in place like it had five minutes ago.
Was it because of the closeness between them last night?
Perhaps, though Zafar knew it wasn’t just that.
This feeling hadn’t come out of nowhere.
It felt too familiar for that. What was new was the depth of it.
It felt so much more … intense than anything he’d felt towards her before.
It was like the seed of something that he’d given barely any thought to and now suddenly it had blossomed and the strength of its roots suggested it hadn’t happened overnight.
As for last night … it hadn’t been the first, second or even third time and yet it had felt like the first time.
Not in a clumsy, awkward way, but in a magical, beautiful way.
The feelings and emotions that had bombarded him from all sides had left him feeling like his entire being had fallen off its axis and then been put back again but the right way this time.
The sense of closeness he’d felt to her had been unlike anything he’d experienced before and he was certain it had been different for her too.
He looked at her again, feeling himself fill with a lightness as he gazed down at her sleeping form.
She lay on her side, her arm flung out of the duvet but her other hand tucked under her cheek.
Stray strands of hair sat against her rosy cheek and her nose stud glimmered up at him. She looked peaceful. Content.
His eyes went to the henna patterns on her hands, the staining on them even darker than it had been last night. He could smell its pleasant fragrance and it took him back to the morning after their wedding.
It was strange how a certain smell could invoke a particular memory.
For him, the scent of henna was something he’d probably always associate with the morning after his wedding because he could remember waking up to it, with Reshma’s hand not far from his face, resting on the pillow.
That morning too, he’d woken up and just lay there, half propped up on his elbow looking down at her and taking her features in.
He remembered finding her beautiful even then, but more so now because he had got to know her more.
He knew how amazing she was and how much goodness she had in her and it humbled him.
She’d been nothing but giving towards him, even when he hadn’t deserved it.
But he wanted to. He wanted to be worthy of her and her affection.
Maybe even more than that if she could bring herself to feel that way towards him.
God knew he felt so much more than that for her.
Feeling a sudden burst of energy shoot through his body like a firework which wouldn’t let him be still, Zafar picked up his phone and looked at the time. It was just gone ten.
He was tempted to wake Reshma and convey his feelings in some way, but she looked so peaceful and he knew they had another long day ahead of them, with Saleema and Nomaan’s nikah ceremony later.
There was time enough to tell her. Besides, not all feelings had to be verbally expressed. He could show her in other ways too.
He got up and put his swimming shorts on, before making his way downstairs. He noticed that Daadi’s bedroom door was still closed. The party animal had got in pretty late last night and was obviously sleeping her social hangover off.
Zafar softly opened the patio door and stepped outside into the garden, going straight towards the deep end of the pool and diving in.
There was no denying the daily swims had had a decent impact on his stamina and he kept going until he felt his arms and legs become heavy, though not enough that his mind had stopped going through its newfound revelation.
His love for Reshma which seemed to be all-consuming.
He made his way to the edge of the pool and rested there, taking in the sight of the beach in the distance.
Soft shuffling had him looking around, but he couldn’t see anything.
He looked up and saw Reshma leaning against the balcony, looking down at him.
She smiled at him, delightfully dishevelled in an oversized T-shirt – his, if he wasn’t wrong – and her pyjama bottoms. She gave him a wave.
‘Care to join me?’ he asked.
‘No thank you. As tempting as the pool looks, I’ll give it a miss. I’ve got an appointment with the hairdresser and make-up artist.’
‘Pity.’
‘Hmm.’ She gave him another wave and went inside.
Zafar shook his head and heaved himself out of the pool, deciding to get a head start on breakfast while Reshma got ready to go out. When he went back into the villa, Daadi was already standing at the island.
‘How’s my favourite party animal? Ready for round two today?’ He kissed her on the cheek and she scrunched her nose.
‘Hmm. I needed tea five minutes ago. Once I’ve had a couple of cups, I’ll see what I fancy committing to,’ she grizzled and Zafar held back from laughing at her. He set about making breakfast, giving Daadi her tea before doing anything else.
Reshma came down twenty minutes later and they all sat down to eat, the pair of them exchanging shy, covert glances like young lovebirds.
Zafar had just put his knife and fork down when his phone rang, bursting to life with Murad’s name flashing on the screen.
‘Aziz! How’s it going, sugar?’
There was silence on the other end.
‘Hello? Murad? Can you hear me?’ Zafar moved the phone from his ear, checked the screen, which showed the call was still connected and then pressed it against his ear again. ‘Hello?’
‘Who are you and what have you done with Zafar Saeed II? I must warn you, I’m not as rich as him and can’t offer you much for his safe return, but let me see what his brothers say. Just don’t break his face, he’s ugly enough already.’
Zafar rolled his eyes. ‘Have you tried auditioning since we last spoke? At least others might get entertained by your stupidity.’
‘Oh, thank God. It’s you. I got worried for a minute. You sounded so happy and energetic, I thought an imposter had taken your place.’
‘Bog off, Murad.’
Reshma’s eyes widened and he winked at her.
‘Ah, you have company, don’t you? Otherwise, you’d have used language a lot more colourful than that, I’m sure.’
‘Is there a reason you called, other than needing to word vomit?’
‘Tut. Yes, I did.’ The cadence of his voice shifted subtly. ‘Have you got five minutes to spare from your tropical retreat for me? I need to run something by you about the hotel deal.’
Zafar straightened at the mention of the deal. His dream project which he’d let slide to the back of his mind. In fact, he’d not thought about it at all in the last few days, he realised with an immediate tinge of guilt. ‘Yeah, sure. Give me five and I’ll call you back. OK?’
‘Sure, no worries. It’s not like I’ve got a beach to go and sun myself on. Take your time. Oh, and, Zaf?’
‘What?’
‘Don’t panic. I just need some numbers from you. It’s nothing to worry about.’
Zafar had known Murad Aziz for thirty years and knew him better than the other man realised he did. Even though he’d not said it, Zafar had picked up on his unspoken word. There was nothing to worry about.
Yet.
Zafar groaned as he undid his tie for the third time. Why couldn’t he get the knot right? He’d been wearing ties since he’d been ten years old, so he’d been doing them for long enough to be able to tie one with his eyes closed. But today he was all thumbs.
He threw the tie onto the chaise and decided to find his cufflinks. He looked in his suitcase and on the dressing table but couldn’t find them and his frustration began mounting.
If only Murad had allayed his concerns earlier when he’d called him back.
Zafar couldn’t shake off the feeling that there was so much more Murad wasn’t telling him, but he had no way to confirm that short of calling Ibrahim or his father and demanding an explanation.
Or flying back and getting answers face to face.
Why had Murad needed to go over the financials with him when Murad was as good with numbers as Zafar was?
He moved towards the bedside table to see if his cufflinks were there. There was no reason for them to be there because he’d not worn them yet, but his mind was racing and he was about ready to—