Tangled Up

Chapter 30: How are you, my love?

The events of the evening were still fresh in Aria's mind, the words and the tone exchanged between her and Fariha replaying in her head, causing a lump to form in her throat.
But all this didn't stop her from putting a smile on her face infront of Rizz and his friends.
Rizz could sense the tension between the ladies in the living room but he decided to give some space to his wife as he knew pressing the issue when it was like a hot lava would only make matters worse.
Aria was impulsive but had a very soft heart. She tend to say words to defend herself from any harm and reacted to things just to not feel weakened by her own heart but even though her mind and ego overpowered her for a small amount of time, her compassion eventually overtakes them.

But again, that needed time. Sometimes just a few minutes, sometimes days.

And Rizz was now very much aware how much time one issue will take and as per his good judgement, he knew Aria would need to sleep over it to calm herself down.

Just as Rizz cared for Aria, she was not behind in the caring game as well. She made sure she was chirpy and bubbly the whole car ride to Rizz's friend's house. She made sure to charm everyone with her smile and polite talks. She gave genuine compliments and made people feel one more reason to feel good about themselves.

Aria was in the living room with Rameez's wife, Naura and some other ladies when the door bell rang.

Naura was busy with some work and Aria being the closest to the door volunteered to open it.

"Don't worry, I'll be back to continue my weird online classes horror story.", she promised as she walked towards the door.

And as she opened it, her breath got stuck in her throat as she blinked thrice to make sure she wasn't dreaming.

"How are you, my love?", greeted Kabeer with a smile that Aria knew never bought anything but trouble.

Aria's confusion changed to frustration and then finally anger as she glared at the man infront of her.

"Get out.", she seethed, her tone blanketed with anger.

Kabeer hummed in nonchalance as he stepped closer, clearly unaffected by Aria's raging eyes and the situation they were in.

"Well, technically you cannot kick me out. Because A, this isn't your house. And B, I've been invited by the person who actually owns this house."

"Hey! Naura! See, I made it!", Kabeer greeted enthusiastically looking right behind Aria but in a distance.

Aria stepped aside as she saw Naura making her way to the door, with a pleasant smile on her face.

'How naive she is.' Thought Aria.

"Oh! Kabeer! Rameez was just about to give you a call. Come, come! Glad you could make it. Oh! And that is Aria. Remember, I told you about Rameez's friend and his wife? Anyway, please come and have a seat.", Naura ushered Kabeer and Aria couldn't help but hold the door knob with so much rage that at one point she felt it would either be her palm bones or the heavy metal that would give up.

Walking back to the bunch of ladies Aria realized that Kabeer was still knew how to charm the women. She rolled her eyes as she saw him indulging in a conversation with one of the single friends of Rizz.

For Aria, bearing Kabeer was difficult. But she knew Rizz wasn't that patient.

So she hurried to the backyard to find Rizz who was busy setting up the barbecue.

"We might have a problem.", she whispered as she ushered Rizz to the side.

"Are you okay? You feeling good?", Rizz questioned in concern, his palms on his wife's forehead trying to detect the fever, if any.

Aria chuckled as she playfully swatted his hand away.

The words 'Kabeer is here' were almost on the verge of spilling out but she stopped them.

She stared at Rizz and just blinked to come up with something else.

"Uh... I... we ran out of liquid soap for dishes. Remind me to grab one on our way home.", she lied as her emotional reticence came in.

Rizz furrowed his brows in confusion and then slowly nodded.

"Aight, captain! Come, try these delicacies I roasted.", Rizz grinned and Aria excused herself saying Naura needed her help with something.

She made her way back into the house, determined not to let Kabeer ruin something of the happiness that was left in her life with Rizz. Kabeer ruined enough and she wasn't going to give him the satisfaction of victory. She wasn't going to make him that relevant as that of something that affected her, her husband or her married life.

A hand came from a passage and cornered her.

Aria was about to scream thinking it was Kabeer but was more surprised to see Vajeeha, Rizz's friend.

"Hey. Sorry to scare you like this but I really wanted to tell you something.", she said with urgency and Aria looked at her with concern.

"That Kabeer guy...I guess I'm crushing on him!", she squealed and Aria controlled herself from rolling her eyes again.

Vajeeha was the one Aria bonded with the most, courtesy to shared interests in shows and sitcoms.

Even though it sounded ridiculous to Aria about how someone can fall for Kabeer and his ugly self behind that charming face and facade, she knew she couldn't blame anyone as she was once stupid enough to do that.

After listening to Vajeeha babble for few minutes,  Aria went to the living room only to find Kabeer gone and she sighed in relief.

She suddenly felt annoyed at everything and her hair that were let loose on her shoulders weren't helping so she tried fishing out her hair clutch only to realize her sling bag was missing.

After looking for it everywhere, she turn to the entrance passage only to find Kabeer holding her bag as if he was already waiting for her to find him and fetch it.

The smirk made it more annoying for Aria.

She stomped forward and snatched the bag from him and checked it to make sure none of the belongings were missing.

"I didn't open it. Don't worry. Didn't know you were into these kinda bags."

"Listen. I'm now sure you certainly don't have a life to go to so you come into mine everytime and disrupt its peace. Because that's what leaches like you do. Y'all suck on other people's happiness. I'm done with you, a long time ago. I am done and I'm tired. And I'm very much glad to kick you out of mine and my husband's life. You better stay away or come up with a better plan because this time I'm not going to let you ruin my peace. Now get lost."

Aria's belligerent tone did shake Kabeer a bit.

As she turned around, he grabbed her wrist, pulling her towards him.

"You, my love, are just blinded by your anger. You have a darkness within you, something so intense that can burn the light Rizz buries within him. You need someone who can handle that darkness within you. And you know it better than anyone else that nobody but I can complement it. And I'm not like you. I won't leave you at the end of the tunnel. Like you did.",  Kabeer's voice was low and intense, his words feeling more heavier than Aria expected.

She could feel Kabeer's breath on her neck and she could do nothing as if his words paralyzed her.

When she finally gained ahold of herself, she wished she did it some moment before.

Because infront of her stood Rizz, his face pale, his eyes red as if he was hit by a huge wave of betrayal.

Kabeer let go of Aria's wrist and moved out of the house, a triumph smirk back on his face.

He knew he was again a step closer to achieving the trophy that went by the name 'Aria'.

But little did he know love was never a competition and the lover was never a trophy.