Meerasim: An Unlikely Alliance

An Unlikely Alliance - 9

Meerab was right. The night was indeed long, not because of the earlier things she anticipated, but because of the stupid late-night chai session that was going on in the family, and all thanks to the latest addition to the madhouse, Rumi of course.

After dinner, her migraine had worsened due to the constant chatter of everyone, but putting on a facade, she took a seat beside her husband in the living room, on a sofa.

Everybody was present, with Maryam and Rumi sitting in front of them across the table, and Maa Beghum, on a wing chair placed in the centre of the living space, giving her a clear view of everyone.

They were talking about their childhood, giggling and reminiscing about the good old days, but meerab felt lost for words. The life that she had lived, with her parents was a lie. A clear white lie.

She wanted to erase everything, each remembrance, every single forte. She had no root, nobody. She did not know anything about her real parents, and the ones with whom she had spent her precious twenty-two years of life, had thrown her out of their lives like a use-and-throw tissue paper. And now, she was in the golden cage, being a trophy wife to her husband, whom she used to despise wholeheartedly. Ironic.

She was lost in her thoughts when she felt a feather-like touch on her wrists. And of course, it was her husband. He was still talking to Maryam and Rumi, but his left thumb was grazing the inside of her wrist, drawing small circles. And suddenly, she felt herself coming out of overthinking.

He was not looking at her, but his touch felt like an abode, a perfect distraction. It seemed like he had sensed her thoughts, and was assuring her, but she did not need any empathy, especially not from him. She was incapable of trusting anybody, not after what had happened to her.

Or maybe she was thinking too highly of him, he had said that he was not a saint, and he was also physically attracted to her. So this was just a simple signal from him, that's it. They were just physically attracted, that's it.

His touch was still on her wrist, his fingers moving across her knuckles, and slightly upwards, his touch light yet fiery.

She was getting heated with every passing second, but he seemed unfazed. He was looking normal, actually more than normal because that bastard was smiling at Rumi.

She tried to move, but his touch kept her rooted in her position. She gave him a side eye, but he ignored her, such a thickhead!

As if her mother-in-law had sensed something brewing between them, she cleared her throat and ordered her,
"Meerab, agar neend aa rahi hai toh araam kar lo, Waise bhi Gaon se safar kar ke aayi Ho "
She did not know what her mother-in-law's true intentions were, but she wanted to flee from there as soon as possible, so she simply passed a fake smile to everyone and exited from there.

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As soon as she stepped into their section, a firm grip on her waist jolted her. There he was. Suddenly, there was a deafening silence. Not a single sound was heard, not even the faintest of footsteps. Was he a Superman?

"Hi," he smirked at her.

She did not say anything in return and kept walking but her steps were halted as he spun around and grabbed her by her hips, clinging her to him, hooking her legs around his waist, and her arms instinctively clamping around his neck.

It took her a moment to understand the sudden change of dynamics, and then like a hungry man stranded without food, he leaned in, taking her upper lip and then lower lip in a kiss.

Meerab's resolves were limited to her mind because as soon as she found herself in the arms of murtasim, his woody and citrusy scent seemed to form a thick haze in her mind, and meerab, like a kid attracted to sweets, was equally or even more attracted to him.