Urooj (Pakistani Short Stories)

Raqs|IV|

Hadeed stared at Nameer and Momina blankly. "No way. It's irresponsible, reckless, and dangerous. We will not be engaging in this."

"Let's do it!"

He turned to Sunehri, his mouth dropping open, as she threw her hair into a ponytail. Her eyes were narrowed into slits and the kohl that lined them made even Hadeed a little fearful of the look in them.

"Are you insane?" He hissed as Momina handed Nameer a wad of money.

"Nope. But are you really gonna let them disrespect us like this? I say we do it."

The evening had barely started. The sun was low over the horizon and the dinner party guests had retired to the back lawn. Hadeed's closest family had settled into the wooden gazebo, sharing drinks and snacks and that's when the topic of motorcycle racing had come up.

Because Nameer had just scored very high marks on his finals and had been rewarded with a heavy bike, that meant he challenged anyone he saw fit to a race.

Hadeed himself had been quite the motorcycle fiend back in his college days. Now he wasn't as inclined.

"You can do it right?" Sunehri raised a brow as he led her aside, pulling her gently by her arm.

"Love, look at us. We're not exactly dressed for a race." He pointed.

Sunehri looked down at her saree, the nude pink complimenting the rosy hue of her blouse. She was glowing, her cheeks pink, lipstick all but gone, and hair in a high ponytail, exposing the skin of her neck.

Hadeed wanted to just sit by her and admire her, maybe have another coffee as they talked.

"So what? I'll just hoist it up a little. You don't know this about me but I have never lost a challenge. Once Ahmed challenged me to a bike race down a hill. I won. I got hurt but I won."

Hadeed smiled endearingly at her. "I haven't ridden in a long time. It's not dignified and I'm too old to be going around doing—!"

She placed a finger against his lips, leaning closer. "Shush. You're 34. Not 64. You're not old. Okay?"

He nodded, mildly amused by her stance as his hands found her waist.

"The second thing is we're gonna get on that bike and race like its no one's damn business because it's fun and someone needs to humble that kid. Got it?"

He nodded again, feeling excitement course through his veins. "If we end up in the hospital, darling, it's going to be on you."

She grinned at him, reaching up on the tip of her toes and planting a kiss on his lips. He sighed, tugging her closer and deepening the kiss, feeling strangely comforted by the scent of cardamom and cloves today.

She leaned back a little, eyes heavily lidded, out of breath.

Hadeed pressed a feather light kiss to her lips again. "Will I get a reward if I win?"

She guided his mouth back on hers in another slow kiss. "Of course."

Ten minutes later, he found himself on his motorcycle after years, the wind rushing past him, his wife's arms wrapped around his stomach and chin nestled on his shoulder as she cheered loudly, screamed obscenities at his cousin and he found the circumstance so incredibly bizarre. One month ago, he was sitting alone in his room lying in bed and watching TV as a form of entertainment.

"Hadeed, we should move side to side a little so that it looks like you're going to crash." She whisper shouted near his ear. His cheeks were red with the wind, with the heat of her body.