The Wake.

26

"Call me anytime. There's nothing , not even one thing that can stop me from—"

"Rehaan." Shahwar's voice stopped him from continuing as he held his sister close to him, his hand on her shoulder never leaving, while they stood in the driveway as her luggage was being taken to the car.

"Yes, jaan?" He turned to his wife standing behind, Azfar on the other hand had been standing near the car knowing very well what conversation was going on between his wife and her brother.

She squeezed his free hand softly hinting at his tone.

"Jaan, I'm sorry, did I upset you?" A very frequently asked question by Iraj's brother on a daily basis.

"No, but I think Azfar feels weird because of us." She pursed her lips and Iraj rested her head on her brother's shoulder on the other side.

"Meri jaan, it's not us, it's just me, because of whom he's feeling like an outsider and not family right now. My jaan is not included in any of my rudeness towards him, nor Iraj, I'm doing it purposely." Rehaan kissed her head and she just blinked at him with a small smile.

"Call me alright. Otherwise I'm going to call myself." He made Iraj settle inside the car and walked up to Azfar. "I don't think I need to say anything further now do I?"

"You don't." Azfar had his hands inside his pockets.

"Good." They shook hands instead of the usual hug they'd share whenever they met with each other and Rehaan walked back to his wife who stood at the entrance door watching them.

Azfar got inside and passed Iraj a big basket of her favorite snacks, "Here, I got everything you like, I'll bake brownies for you myself if you like them so much."

"I don't want anything." She shifted the basket to the backseat and closed her eyes.

"Okay what about cold coffee? You love that right? We'll get that then." He saw that her eyes were still closed. "Are you feeling alright?"

"I'm fine." She said lazily not opening her eyes.

"Right, alright." He set his focus back on driving and he badly wanted to hold her hand in his but he knew it would spoil her mood now so he didn't try anything.

When he got the coffee for her from a shop on their way she still didn't bother to look at him and kept her eyes closed. Iraj didn't bother to even take one sip of the coffee even till it was time to board the plane.

During the flight she was quiet as well, yet Azfar did not move his eyes away from her for even a second. Almost two hours later the flight landed and Iraj was kind of shocked to have not known where they were going. She hadn't paid attention to the ticket or anything. She had even stuffed her ears with AirPods not even listening to the announcements during the flight. It was a stupid move for ignoring him. She had just let Azfar keep the things with him as she didn't even want to be interested in any of it but now she was curious, though she didn't want it to be visible either.

Her boarding pass was with him and now she didn't want to ask him herself about it. They stepped out of the plane and she felt like it was a similar airport that she'd been to before. "We're in Istanbul, if you're worried about me taking you to some unsecured places." Azfar's statement provided her the information she'd been seeking before they could walk out of the terminal.

"Right." She mumbled not emphasizing on it.

"Do you want to go for some sightseeing or should we go directly to the place we're going to stay at? It's not in the city that's why I'm asking." He tried to smile but her unaffected face washed it away.

"We should directly go where you've booked our stay." There were so many things she had wanted to say to him, but she kept quiet, she'd never say anything now. She didn't want to anymore.

"Right, right, yes." A wave of melancholy came over him as he smiled at her.

They were escorted to a car at the airport itself and Iraj kept on looking out the window throughout, as the car drove out of the city. The silence and loneliness was something she was accustomed to, it didn't bother her at all.

To her husband, just her being there with him was enough for now. She didn't know anything about his condition when she'd been gone for those past two months. He wasn't going to mention it either. He wasn't important at the moment, she was, just her and he'd make sure she knew it very well.

Two hours later the car stopped at a place Iraj didn't know the name of. There were cottages all around of the same structure and style and she could spot a beach on the very far end of the left side. Stunning flowery and green garden was surrounding the cottages in a boundary. It was truly breathtaking.

Azfar walked into the paved path over the grass of the garden that led to a cottage big enough for five people to reside in. Iraj followed behind him, as much as she had wanted to act nonchalant it seemed that the view had made it impossible for her to do so, she couldn't help but feel mesmerized by it.

He walked into a room and then turned around to her, "This is our room."

"Our room?" She raised a brow.

"Yes, do you like it?" He was somehow unsure what she would say now.

"Well, there's a nice view of the beach, flowers and the breeze is definitely something to remember but, I don't understand the possibility of this room as ours." She had her eyes narrowed at him.

"Why not? Of course it's ours, why would anyone else come here?"

"I believe you didn't understand, you and I, both of us, in the same room? Huh? Ring a bell Mr Zaman?" She had taken smart pauses in between to make him understand the context of her statement.

"We'll now only ever live as husband and wife, my dear Mrs Zaman, you know what happens when you're married right?" Azfar suddenly stepped too close to her taking his time to let her face grow red.

"Wh-wha-what?" She was baffled and gulping at the same time.

"Why do you think I brought you here, my jaan?" Even though he tried to hide his smirk he failed and Iraj tensed at his eyes gleaming with an intense gaze.

Next chapters are going to be really good.🤭