Nusayba

Part Five

Part 5

Nusayba woke up the next morning and stared at the fluffy white pillows surrounding her. She was utterly comfortable. Considering the mess that her life was at the moment, she wished she hadn't told Aamir that she wanted to go home the night before.

"I wish I could just go home," she admitted as she scooped a spoonful of the creamy bar one ice cream he bought for her at the hotel. He had admitted that his parents would like to speak to her, but only if she permitted them to see her. "I would, but you know better than I do that it would be nearly impossible for me to change my ticket and afford the cost of it. Besides," she added grudgingly, "it would just add stress to my parents."

"You don't have to cut your trip even shorter than it already it is, Princess." It was a nickname he gave her, because she would like to treat the boys as errand boys for her, instead of driving herself to get things done. It was also a nickname he would use in private for her. "You don't have to leave just because my sister said that you have to. What do you want to do while you are here? What do you want to see? What do you want to buy?"

Nusayba understood the questions that he didn't ask her. What could he do to make her feel better? What could he do to not make her think of it?

"I'm okay."

After that, she sat with his parents for over an hour as they apologised and apologised and offered to bring her back to the villa and ensure that Yaseera stays out of her way. Yet, Nusayba politely declined, offering to stay at the hotel, if it was not too much of an inconvenience. Aamir offered sending her a driver to do whatever she wanted, and she accepted, knowing that it would only be to take her to the villa.

Nusayba was then suddenly alone with Aamir's mother. Her heart thrummed loudly in her chest. "You are a beautiful, young lady, Miss Nusayba," she told her. "I can see that the beauty is inside as well as on the outside."

When Nusayba gave her a questioning look, she elaborated further. "I heard what you told Aamir earlier about Yaseera. It was remarkable of you. You have such a big, generous and forgiving heart. Your parents must be so proud of you, because I know I would be blessed to have been given such a wonderful daughter."

Aamir's mother studied her. "Thank you, for not only forgiving us and accepting our weak apologies, but for staying. For not embarrassing my son even more than his sister did. I know that he considers you and your brothers and your parents as his family."

As Nusayba lied in the bed, she groaned as she remembered promising that she would meet Aamir's family for a late breakfast, accepting a gift as a token of actually forgiving them.

It was a deep purple and gold Punjabi. Narrow, nearly skin tight purple pants and a long, long gold embroided top reaching just over her knees with a cut-out flower pattern and purple lining underneath the cut-out. It sat beautifully on Nusayba, almost as if it was made for her, meant only for her.

Once she had it on, she couldn't help but feel beautiful. She couldn't stop staring at herself in the mirror. Never had she thought that she would look so pretty in a fully gold outfit without making her seem extremely dark in complexion. Nusayba felt like the princess that Aamir always calls her.

With no make-up, no jewellery, nothing, Nusayba felt as if she wore more than enough. No need for anything else to adorn or to make the outfit seem complete. Once she was completely dressed, she slipped on a thin, ankle strap pair of gold sandals and strutted her way out of the hotel to the waiting driver to take her back to Aamir's home. Castle. Mansion. Villa, or whatever.

When she arrived, Nusayba rushed around to greet Aamir's grandparents, his mother and the few aunties that she happened to run into. Not too long later, his little sister Yasmeen pulled her up the stairs and into Yasmeen's overly pink bedroom.