Everything I Am

Chapter 8

It was a messy crowd to say the least.
The adults insisted we all stay together since we are still not familiar with the place and it's very crowded, there's so many stalls, everything is filled with vibrant colours, there's traditional indian clothes everywhere and as Maryam said, bangles were everywhere at a price that made me want to buy every colour that exists.

Aunty Fayzah and Aunty Fatima were all about wedding preparations, dragging us girls with them and Imran and Zayaan follow behind, the latter not having uttered a single word to me since the car event, I'm still annoyed at him, I shouldn't be, it's stupid.

We had stopped at a wide stall filled with different things, jewellery and small gifts and a few atchaars.
I move to the small gifts section whilst Aisha stayed with her mom, Maryam was at the jewellery part, Imran had taken a seat on a table nearby, I felt Zayaan step up beside me making sure not to be too close.

"Here." He holds out a packet, caramel fudge. I ignore him and reach for a small keyring in the shape of an ancient mansion with so many details but not what I look for. "You can't be mad at me forever Rose."

"Why would I be mad at you?" I ask innocently keeping my attention on the table, my heart threatens to come up my throat.

"For whatever reason you saw in me sharing these sweets with someone else." He replies.

"You can share with whoever you want to." I retort.

"I know but I choose to share with you so please accept my apology and stop being mad at me." He rambles, I sigh and turn to him, his green eyes twinkle with victory and I roll my eyes feeling the smile form on my lips, I grab the packet of fudge and turn back to what I was doing.

"Could you help me reach for that rose one." I say trying to get it but it's too far, Zayaan reaches for it and our hands brush against each other for a split second that has me pulling my hand back abruptly as I feel this jolt all the way up my arm and straight to my heart. "Sorry." I mumble flustered.

He hands me the keychain. "It's really pretty, you should take it." I smile and nod, it is very beautifully for sure, a small red rose with thorns and a few wilted petals on the design with tiny details of copper.

I pay for the keyring and than try to clip it to my bag, it slips from my hand and I feel my heart shattering with the thought of it breaking and Zayaan catches it swiftly, I sigh relieved.

"May I?" He asks with a chuckle, I smile and nod.
He goes down on his knee and starts clasping it to my zipper.

"Heyy, turn around." Imran calls to us and we turn to him finding him with a camera.

"I expect you to send me those pictures." I comment.

Zayaan laughs as Imran shrugs and turns to something else to take a picture off. "There you go, all done." He stands up grabbed a fudge from my packet. "You look beautiful like this." He adds with a charming smile.

My cheeks go ablaze. "Are you saying I don't look nice every other time?"

He rolls his eyes grinning and walks away, than glances back. "Nice is not a good enough word to describe you Rose." My heart skips a beat and he turns back around as everything inside me melts. "I don't think a word exists in this universe that would describe your beauty."

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"We promise to be careful." Aisha pleads her parents. "We have Zayaan and Imran as bodyguards."

"It's not that Aisha, it's a foreign place." Uncle Muhammad says shaking his head.

"I know the place." Maryam chimes.