Chapter 49 #8
Without even looking at her, Zaviyar calmly emptied nearly every flavor of Pringles into the trolley before replying,
"Main apni biwi ke liye le raha hoon.", He placed another can inside.
(I'm buying these for my wife.)
"Aur tum mujhe mana nahi kar sakti.", Safiya looked at the mountain of snacks.
(And you can't stop me.)
"Theek hai... lijiye.", She surrendered with absolutely no regret. After all... Who said no to snacks?
(Fine... buy them.)
With the trolley nearly overflowing, they wandered toward the cosmetics section.
The supermarket stretched across two spacious floors, each divided into neat sections, and the makeup aisle glowed beneath bright white lights. Safiya stopped abruptly.
"Umm... rukiye zara. Mujhe ek lipstick leni hai."
(Um... wait a second. I need to buy a lipstick.)
She began testing shades, but the intricate mehendi covering both her hands made it impossible to judge the colors properly.
She turned toward Zaviyar.
"Haath aage karo zara."
(Hold your hand out for a second.)
Without questioning her, he obediently extended his hand.
She applied one shade. Then another followed.
By the time she was done, over twenty different lipstick swatches decorated the back of his hand in neat streaks of reds, pinks, browns, mauves, and nudes.
Zaviyar stood there with complete seriousness, studying every shade as though they were reviewing evidence for a court case instead of choosing lipstick.
His brows furrowed in deep concentration while Safiya kept comparing colors against his skin.
Not far away, two girls around in their early twenties paused beside another aisle. They exchanged amused glances before quietly giggling. The sight before them was almost unbearably adorable.
A towering, stern-looking man patiently standing in the middle of a supermarket with his hand covered in lipstick swatches... while his woman debated colors with life-or-death seriousness.
Neither Zaviyar nor Safiya noticed the attention.
At that moment, they were far too invested in finding the perfect shade.
"Ho gaya select?", Zaviyar glanced at the collection of lipstick tubes scattered across the counter, then at Safiya, who still looked thoroughly conflicted.
(Done choosing?)
"Nahi... thodi confused hoon. In paanch mein se kaunsi loon?", She held up the five shades she couldn't decide between.
(No... I'm a little confused. Which one should I buy out of these five?)
Instead of giving her a random answer, Zaviyar actually studied each one with surprising concentration.
After a long moment, he pointed at three of them.
"Yeh teen le lo. Yeh wali zyada red hai... aur yeh wali bahut hi dark hai."
(Take these three. This one's too red... and this one is way too dark.)
Safiya blinked. He... actually had opinions. He didn't just say, 'take what you like' trying to not get involved.
"Theek hai."
(Alright.)
Without questioning him further, she handed the chosen lipsticks to the salesgirl.
"Please, yeh pack kar dijiye."
Once the purchase was done, Safiya picked up a lip balm from the nearby shelf before turning to Zaviyar.
"Yeh laga dijiye zara... mere haath bhare hue hain.", He took the lip balm from her.
(Please apply this for me... my hands are full.)
"Haan... abhi laga deta hoon."
(Alright... I'll apply it now.)
Then, almost as an afterthought, he added with complete seriousness,
"Baad mein mitana bhi mujhe hi hai."
(And later, I'll probably be the one wiping it off too.)
The meaning behind those words took a second to register. Safiya's ears immediately turned pink. She quickly looked away, pretending to be fascinated by absolutely nothing.
By the time they reached the billing counter, the cashier looked up and instantly recognized Safiya.
"Bahut din baad aayi."
(You've come after a long time.)
"Haan.", Safiya smiled warmly. The older woman glanced toward Zaviyar, who stood beside her with their shopping bags.
"Aur yeh kaun hain?", Safiya's smile softened.
(And who is he?)
"Oh... mere husband hain."
(Oh... he's my husband.)
The cashier's face lit up.
"Shaadi ho gayi tumhari? Congratulations."
(You got married? Congratulations.)
"Thank you.", Safiya smiled shyly before the zaviyar picked up their bags and walked out together.
She walked in front, speaking about her life back when she stayed in Almora and he carried the bags while listening to her attentively.
For some reason, he started to like it here.
He was seeing this carefree side of her.
She wasn't burdened to speak or stay in a particular way.
She was just being herself. And he could feel how they could be as close as they wanted without judgement or constant reminder of status and responsibilities.