His Sabah

XII

"Will you come?" Sabah asked, twisting her hands in front of her anxiously.

Salim, who was reading the paper and drinking his daily coffee, didn't look up from the small print as he gave his reply.  "No," the word was spoken bluntly and without any emotion. 

Sabah felt her heart drop at his answer even though she had known that it would be in the negative. Sighing, she dropped her hands and nodded, trying not to let the disappointment show on her face. 

"Okay," she whispered softly, leaving her place by the couch where Salim was and walking towards the wardrobe in which she had hung all their clothes. "I guess I'll just go by myself."

At this, Salim finally reacted. "Where?" he asked. From behind her, she heard the newspaper rustle, as if he was setting it aside or folding it over. 

"Um," Sabah started, hope filling her heart at his sudden question. "Well, there are these fancy dinners they have down in the banquet halls every few days. And—"

"Fancy dinners? What fancy dinners?"

"It—it's just this dinner. For the people on the cruise. Like...like a formal night sort of thing. And I just thought, since we've been on the cruise for a while now and haven't really done anything, we might as well go. It might be fun," she tried, turning around and staring at him with pleading eyes. He glanced up at her momentarily and then sighed.

"I don't do fun," he said shortly, standing and slapping the newspaper down on the coffee table in front of him. Sabah flinched at the loud noise it made and took a step back as Salim neared.

When he saw her expression, he rolled his eyes and scowled, then turned the other way, walking into the bathroom and slamming the door behind him. Sabah watched it for a moment and then sighed, giving up on trying to get him to come with her and turning towards the closet to get her own clothes.

She had had enough. If Salim didn't want to enjoy their honeymoon, she wasn't going to sit here and let herself wallow in despair and anger with him. She could have fun on her own. She'd show him.

Huffing in irritation, she grabbed one of the fancy dresses she had brought along with her, admiring the beautiful red net embroidery all across the chest and sleeves. Smiling at the lovely work, she draped the cloth across her arm, glancing at the bathroom as she did. She didn't know when Salim would be out, but she didn't want to wait outside for him for however long he would take. So, taking a deep breath, she decided to simply change where she was. Quickly, she stripped off her shirt, replacing it with her dress as hurriedly as she could, her heart racing the entire time. 

She was just pulling off her pants when the bathroom door swung open. At the sight of Salim's foot coming into the room, she let out such an ear-piercing scream that he jumped and rushed back into the bathroom and slammed the door shut behind him, shouting a loud, "Fucking shit! Why are you changing in the middle of the goddamn room, idiot!?"

Sabah felt her cheeks redden and heat as she quickly pulled on the tights that went with her dress. "I—I'm sorry," she mumbled, still on fire with embarrassment. "I didn't want to wait and—"

"I'm coming out now."

"Okay."

The door opened again and Salim burst into the room, his face flushed, as well. The sight of it nearly made her laugh despite her humiliation. After all, it was very rare to see him so shaken up.

"God, don't ever do anything like that ag—" His angry flow suddenly stopped short when his eyes landed on her.

Feeling suddenly shy under his gaze, Sabah looked down and away, her skin beginning to crawl.