A Piece Of His Heart

Twenty-seven

Eliza

With half a heart, I wore the necklace that Shazia Aunty had given to me to wear, my mind wandering places and stopping at a certain memory of Waleed and I as he had put the necklace on me on our wedding night in front of this very mirror, in this very room.

Now, he was nowhere in sight.

I chose to leave my hair free to tumble down, covering the large area of skin the dress exposed my back.

A knock sounded on the door and I turned my head toward it, draping my pink dupatta on one shoulder. "Bhabhi, are you ready?" Shifa's voice came from the other side and I quickly opened the door for her, taking in the sight of her in a purple dress with silver needlework.

"Yes, I just need to wear my heels." She followed me into the room as I took the shoebox and then the golden heels from it to slip onto my foot.

"You look beautiful, Bhai's going to drop dead." I laughed at her teasing words, hoping she didn't catch onto the sad undertone of my chuckle.

"All I say for you is that your future husband is going to be a very lucky man." I put my arm through hers as we walked down the stairs, both of us managing our dupattas with the other hand. Shazia Aunty muttered 'Masha Allah' under her breath as she came to stand in front of both me and her daughter. But I never felt anything less than a daughter to her, just as I'd taken her for my mother.

However, my eyes seemed to be moving on their own accord as they searched for a certain dark-haired man who held my heart in his hands, and he wasn't being very gentle with it right now.

Aunty put her hand on my other arm. "Waleed's outside, I'll get him." She whispered knowingly just as my eyes widened in shock.

"How..."

"I was in your position once, too, Eliza. Though I still search for Asad in a room full of people, and then Waleed and Shifa." I bowed my head, slightly embarrassed that I'd been caught and equally in awe of Asad Uncle and Shazia Aunty's love and relationship.

Waleed entered just then, phone in hands as his thumbs flew across the keyboard, typing rapidly. When he looked up, his eyes met mine because I'd been staring at him. He was dressed in a charcoal grey suit with a lighter grey dress shirt underneath. Just as my eyes swept over his form, taking in his appearance, his did the same and I saw them linger over my face for a second too long before he averted his gaze, finding more interest in his sleeve than anything else.

Shazia Aunty, who'd previously been standing next to Uncle with his hand on her back, ushered Waleed over while simultaneously managing her elegant golden saree and asked him to stand beside me so she could get a few pictures. I moved closer to him, letting our arms brush together for a beat and send my heart into a frenzy before I hooked my arm through his elbow and rested my hand over his bicep, feeling the muscles stiffen under my touch.

Last night had been just as torturous as now was. He'd taken one side of the bed, strictly keeping to it for the entire night and his back turned to me. When I was done with tossing and turning in bed for long because I couldn't sleep with the heavy weight on my chest, I'd gotten up to see if he was awake so I could apologize.

He'd been asleep, soundly, while I struggled to even close my eyes for two seconds.

"We should get going." Waleed spoke suddenly, startling me and I jumped by his side. Almost like it was on instinct, his hand curled over mine that still held his arm. But it was gone before I could relish in the sense of comfort.