Mehendi & Moonlight || Ana

Chapter 15:: The Wedding

"God, I'm sweating so much." Shams gulped, patting the damp tissue on his forehead.
"Boy, you look like you're about to die," Ajay commented, getting out of the car. Atif and Wahi stood there, glancing at each other. 
"Chill out, Shams. You won't die." Kabir said. 
He got out after Shams, dusting his black sherwani. 

"I think they're already there, holding the gate," Atif said. 
"I swear... where's the other car?"
"They're here." Kabir gestured at the cars that lined behind them. Everyone got out, putting Shams at the front and made their way to the entrance. 

"There they are..." Ajay whispered, swallowing a lump in his throat. 
"Seems like your honey is going to cost a lot of money." Kabir tried not to laugh, watching the army of women awaiting them. 

Nisha prepared the plate with sweets and orange juice, standing at the front. 
"Ay! They're here!" Adisha spoke. 
Adil peeped his head between Nisha and Adisha, grinning at Soha who was walking beside Shams. She waved back, not quite returning the energy but Adil seemed content.

"Ah... what's with the gate holding now?" Atif asked. Nisha raised her brows, replying, "Do you need a historical explanation, Mr Atif?" 
"Of course he does. He's dumb." Wahi commented but got a smack in return from his side while laughter from the other. 
"What's up with that signboard?" Ajay laughed, pointing at Adisha holding a huge signboard that said, 'No Money No Honey', with Priti's face cutout plastered on the O of Honey. 

Nisha's eyes travelled from the groom to the one beside him. He was already staring at her, something intense igniting in his eyes.

She gave him a small smile, feeling her heart thumping loudly in her chest. He looked drop-dead gorgeous. Handsome was an understatement. 
At a time, she wondered why Bengali men thought wearing black would make them look hot. She had underestimated the hotness of Bengali men all her life until she saw him. 

When she thought her standards were too high and no one was ever physically appealing enough to interest her, she had been wrong.

Kabir Zaid proved her so wrong that she could cry about it. He looked hot in that black sherwani.

More than hot.

He was a burning fire that blazed so fine, the entire room could be dismissed. And the fact she used to find clean shaved beards weird until she saw him.
How come he was the living resistance to every prejudice she carried?

The realization was ringing in her brain so intensely, that she felt disconcerted.

His gaze travelled from her head to toe, the way it did every time he saw her. 

"Okay, how much do you want?" Atif asked as Shams gave Nisha an innocent smile. She forcefully moved her eyes from Kabir to Shams and gave them a tight smile, "Of course. Not too much, considering we love Shams a lot."
"And how much is your 'not too much'?" Ajay asked. She gave them a cheeky smile, "Twenty thousand taka only." 
"What the hell—" Atif was about to speak but Wahi smacked him, indicating the elders standing behind them.

"And why should we fulfil the demand?" Kabir asked, confidence lacing his voice. She glanced at him, the restrain leaving her soul.
"To enter through the gate, of course." One of their cousins said. He snickered, "That's too much. We'll give exactly two thousand—"
He got pushed aside by Shams who whispered something into his ears. Nisha held in her laughter, watching him get scolded. 
"Shams! You say, do you want your honey or your money?" She asked, raising her brows.

"He wants both!" Ajay replied as the girls on the bride's side all made noise together. 
"Sorry to say but it's either honey or money," She bravely replied, glancing at the plate in her hand. Shams sighed, "I'd give the money and get my honey but these donkeys aren't letting me." 
"Woah!!" The bride's side again synced.