43
"Jaan, are you ready?" Rehaan knocked impatiently at the bedroom door.
"Just one more minute." Rehaan at once cursed himself for making her hurry hearing her reply.
"No, it's okay there's no rush-" The door opened and Shahwar came out wearing a lavender dress with tiny white flowers, her cheeks were so pink that when she smiled he was unable to even blink.
"I'm ready, let's go." She grabbed her tiny purse and stepped out of the room, Rehaan was in a trance.
"Do I look weird? Should I change?" She asked when he didn't start walking towards the living room.
"Come here." He held his hand forward for her to hold, she looked at it for a while and then when he didn't move it away she reluctantly put hers on his palm.
"You look perfect." He took out a small box from his pocket and opened it. It was the ring he'd bought for her. Shahwar stared hard at the sight of the thing. It was such a blatantly outrageous diamond which her husband slid into her left ring finger that fit her with precision.
"This is for me?" She looked at her own hand in his with astonishment.
Rehaan kissed her fingers and then looked at her, "Does my Shahwar like it?"
She now could hear her heart beat, "It's for me?" She couldn't believe he'd get a ring for her, that too, such an atrociously beautiful one. He knew what making a girl wear a ring like that meant right?
"Of course it's for the love of my life. A very, very late wedding gift." He made a sorry face pressing his lips together with a sigh.
Shahwar looked at him and then realized he was wearing the polo shirt she'd gifted him on his birthday. Her shock was growing more and more at what was happening. He'd never worn it before, he'd never gifted her anything so intimate before, Shahwar felt like it was all unreal.
"Do you not like it Shahwar? I'll get another one for you, no wait, we'll go and-"
"It's very beautiful Rehaan." She didn't know what to say other than that.
"Sure?" She nodded with a small smile, "Alright then, let's go." He held her hand in his and walked out.
They had stopped at the entrance of a hotel, Shahwar wondered why they'd come there for lunch.
They were escorted to the open air garden area where the entire place was almost empty except for a table with few people.
Rehaan held her hand in his and walked towards the table, "Jaan, we're going to meet all my friends, properly this time. " He whispered in her ear.
Shahwar stopped walking and Rehaan halted two steps ahead with her hand in his, he turned to look back at her, "What happened?"
"I don't want to go in front of them." She was trembling slightly while speaking. If she'd known the lunch would be about meeting them, she'd have refused right away when he had asked her last night.
He stepped back and stood in front of her, "I'm here with you, look at me Shahwar."
She blinked trying really hard to not start her idiotic crying again and looked at him. "I know it's hard my love, but they're all waiting now, come please."
She gulped down her anxiety and closed her eyes taking a deep breath, "Right." He could hear the almost close sob in her voice.
They both reached the table in less than a minute and Rehaan pulled a chair for Shahwar to sit. She sat down without looking at most of them, avoiding eye contact.
"Hi bhabhi, hey Rehaan." She heard a voice and nodded.
"Good to see the compliance team here." Rehaan remarked at all of them.
"When you send a message, we can't really say no, can we?" Omer grinned. Rehaan had sent his jet to fly them all over to Barcelona personally.
Shahwar felt so conscious of herself sitting there, she knew they were going to talk behind her about her being the replacement wife. Suddenly she felt Rehaan's hand on her trembling fingers, holding them firmly.
"My love, let me introduce you to everyone, I know you must've forgotten most of their names because they aren't very memorable personalities." He spoke loudly and Shahwar lifted her face up hearing his words.
"Omer, Imaad and Haider, they were in school with me, we also share the same unfortunate fate of being together at my university, Cambridge." Rehaan pointed towards the three of them and they stopped smiling.
"The great young women we have here are my mother's best friend's daughters, we interned together at the London Museum of Arts for a month; Barkat, Filza and Afshan.
They all married some very influential men sitting here, with us.
Though I feel that's the most they have done with their lives, unlike you my darling.
" Shahwar's cheeks turned red as Rehaan went on.
"Afshan, do you know my wife got herself a job in Paris within two days of our arrival. Shahwar can speak French, Spanish and Italian exceptionally well. She can help you with it, I know you were trying to get lessons last month, mom told me." Afshan looked down not meeting his eyes anymore.
No one was speaking or talking to each other now. The table was silent. Dur e Shahwar was looking at her husband like he'd done something she couldn't have ever imagined or expected.
"Now, everyone, start apologizing." He passed a cold cruel glance at them, "To my wife. And make sure you do it in such a way that she's able to forgive you all, because if she doesn't, then I'll make sure your entire life is apologetic." They all looked at him and then Shahwar.
"Sorry bhabhi. We were very uncivilized with our conversation that day." Haider was the first to speak.
"Yes, I'm, I'm truly sorry for all that came out of my mouth, I can be very negligent and didn't even once think of how shallow I sounded." Afshan apologized to Shahwar with a genuine tone.
Someone else started to speak but Shahwar didn't want that, she didn't want them to say sorry to her. "It's alright." She smiled at them with her hands raised trying to tell them to stop. "Rehaan please." She turned to look at him and shook her head.
"It's okay sweetheart, when you do something wrong, you're supposed to fix it too. They know what they've-"
"Rehaan." She squished his hand below the table.
"Alright." He brought their hands up on the table holding hers and kissed her head. Shahwar thought she was going to faint. Had her husband been replaced by some clone company? "You guys are forgiven." He declared looking at them and they all exhaled with relief crossing their faces.
"Also today's lunch is a celebration for my wife's new job, from me. There's not a day I don't wonder how did my luck truly started to shine to get my Shahwar in my life." The waiters started to place small boxes next to each person's place at the table as Rehaan sat lost in his wife's eyes.
"What's this?" She averted her gaze at the box.
"See for yourself." He was still looking at her not even blinking for a second.
Shahwar took the box and opened it, it had the King Jewels logo on it and inside it were two things. There was a note and a customized charm. Hers was a beautiful daisy flower. She saw others had different ones of their own favorite thing. She picked out the note in her hands and then read it.
'My proudest moment, my Shahwar, I'm indebted to her for completing me.
Rehaan Kazmi.'
Everyone had that note inside their boxes and they were all reading it, she saw them smiling whilst Rehaan's eyes were still in the same trance. She couldn't believe what was happening. His friends seemed to have started talking normally with each other and showing their charms to one another.
She kept her box inside her purse pressing her lips together firmly and glancing at him after every movement.
"Wow. Your ring, Dur e Shahwar bhabhi, it's stunning." Filza gasped pointing towards Shahwar's hand.
"Thank you." She smiled at Filza.
"You're the luckiest, you'll only get diamonds all your life." She said enthusiastically.
"No, I'm the luckiest, I got something that's more precious than the most expensive diamond in the world." Rehaan corrected Filza looking at his wife with a huge grin on his face.
So, now what do you think will happen?