Scarred Petals

Chapter 9

She sat in front of the mirror as her mother braided her hair and Maliha applied nail polish on her finger nails— a rose pink shade, similar to the lipstick staining her lips.

Fariya had requested for a very intimate nikkah ceremony. So intimate that only her mother, Maliha, and Shehryar's parents would be present except her and him.

And when Shehryar had said that he'd qubool her even if she came to marry him in her pajamas, she ditched the idea of getting a new dress and made work with a ivory dress she'd gotten for eid, but replaced its rather plain dupatta for a heavier, more sparkly one.

She was a bride after all.

Sadaf twisted the braid she'd made out of Fariya's hair into a bun and pinned it in place with shimmery hairpins before setting the dupatta over her head and pinning that in place too.

Since Shehryar had to stay in Pakistan for the next few months, he'd rented a house close by to her house, in the same neighborhood, albeit it was much smaller than hers, considering only two people would be living there. While Shehryar's parents were due to fly back to Canada tomorrow morning.

"Duniya ki sabse khoobsurat dulhan hain aap, baji." Maliha complimented as she capped the vial of nail polish and set it back in the drawer.

*"You're the world's most beautiful bride, baji."

She'd also gotten over her bitter feelings for Shehryar for her Fariya baji's sake.

Fariya smiled. "I'm pretty sure that's exactly what you said when your sister got married, but thank you."

Sadaf leaned down and kissed the top of her head. "She's not wrong, though. You look beautiful, Ma Sha Allah."

About thirty minutes later, Fariya walked out of the room, holding onto her mother's arm. They hadn't decorated the place much either except for a few strings of fairy lights hanging around. In the center of the coffee table sat a glass vase with white roses plucked from her garden.

A garden she was certainly going to miss almost as much as her mother, and even Maliha. She wished her father had been here to see her become a bride. She just knew he would've definitely been happier about her marrying his brother's son rather than his friend's son.

Her mother led her to the sofa and sat her down. Saima joined her, kissing the side of her head and whispering a few words of praise in her ear.

Meanwhile, as Fariya got ready to become his bride, Shehryar gelled back his hair and straightened the cuffs and collar on his kurta before pulling on the matching, ivory waistcoat. He sprayed on his cologne, then tied a watch onto his wrist, right in time before his father entered the room.

Yousuf walked up to Shehryar, his eyes glinted with pride at the sight. He hugged him and mumbled 'Ma Sha Allah' under his breath as he patted his son's back.

"Have patience with her." Yousuf reminded Shehryar who nodded somberly.

"You don't have to worry about it, Dad. I've got all the patience in the world when it comes to her. However, if you do keep me in this room any longer, I will literally burst." Shehryae wanted to see Fariya, and he was unapologetically desperate for even a glimpse of her. His parents and Fariya's mother had been strict about some tradition of them not seeing each other before the nikkah. Those days had been torture for him, especially whenever he went out into the garden and saw the white roses she loved so much.

Yousuf laughed at his son's impatience and patted his shoulder. "Sabr rakho, pehle moulvi ko to aane do phir tum bhi neeche chale jana."

*"Have patience, let the moulvi come first then you can go downstairs as well."

So he plopped back down on the bed, catching sight of the white roses from his window once again.

What seemed like hours or even days, but were in reality just a few minutes, his mother came up to his room to escort him downstairs, all the while teasing him about how beautiful Fariya looked.

Patience was turning out to be a hard quality to find in himself at the moment.

But when the side of her profile came in view as he descended the stairs with his mother on his arm, his breath hitched. Her head were lowered and her eyes seemed closed as her lashes swept against her rose-tinged cheeks, the color darkening as it reached the curve of her lips.

"Nazar neeche, janab. Abhi biwi nahi bani aapki." His mother reminded him, teasingly nudging his side with her elbow. With great effort and a wistful sigh, he wrenched his eyes away from her face and lowered his gaze.

*"Lower your gaze, mister. She isn't your wife yet."

Fariya was occupied with her thoughts but when sounds, voices, reached her ears, she looked up from her lap, only for her eyes to clash with a pair of dark irises that were focused solely on her above the large, tall vase of white roses placed on the table between them.

Her heart screeched to a halt as he smiled softly at her, the rest of the world fading away to let the two of them have their moment.

Little moments they'd shared were what had led to this, why they were here, mere minutes short of getting married and being bound to each other for the rest of their lives.

Shehryar sagged, a little disappointed when her attention was stolen from him by the Imam coming to sit down on the sofa between both of them as he sifted through the papers in his hands and began reciting the question he had most certainly memorized after being a marriage officiant for years now.

Fariya willed herself to stay calm and her voice to stay steady as she repeated 'qubool hai' thrice. But nothing could have stopped her hands from trembling as she penned down the signatures on the papers that her mother held in front of her.

Sadaf wrapped her arms around Fariya as a tear slipped down her face, in the memory of her father. He should've been here with her today. It was worse that she exactly imagine how he would've smiled and hugged her.

The Imam turned to Shehryar then, whose heart had almost stopped when he'd seen her trembling hands and tears. His fists clenched by his sides as he, too, repeated 'qubool hai' three times and signed the papers before everyone's hands raised for making dua.

Shehryar prayed, with all his heart, that he would get to spend a long lifetime with Fariya.

But despite it, one thought outshone all others as he lowered his hands and his eyes found her, his lips curling up into a smile he no longer cared to hide.

Fariya was his wife now, and he would spend all his days loving and cherishing her.