Am I Married?

Final Chapter

Mutually, Ashar and I had decided to arrange a small wedding at the Church and invite only few people like his family and my friends. We had to get married properly this time in order to get rid of all the confusions. Ashar had asked the lawyer to renew our marriage papers also. After that, Ashar would publicly disclose our marriage.

The wedding date right now was indecisive. We had thought to discuss on it after he would be back from his business trip. He said the trip was important so he had to go, but he had promised me that he would be back in a week this time.

In his absence, I got a chance to spend some time with his family, even went for a baby shopping with Estella. She was so excited about her first baby that she had planned to buy all the stuf for the newborn by herself, so she invited me to go with her. Katherine and Matt also gave me a warm welcome after that party and told me stories of Zoya and how they took care of her altogether.

I was surprised, but above all I was happy. I couldn't remember the last time when I was happy like how I was nowadays. At times, I felt like to lock myself in a room and scream and laugh, even jump on a bed like a kid. I knew it sounded crazy but that's how I had been feeling nowadays. Ashar's love showed me the different side of this world, that was beautiful, colorful and worth living. The feeling of being loved by someone was so amazing that it left me smiling throughout the day. That stupid smile stayed on my face.

While Ashar was away, I fixed a meeting with Melanie; my friend Melanie who was there for me during my dark days. Since Andrew still worked as a butler at the mansion, I got Melanie's personal number from him. He said she had left the job about a year ago.

I entered into the restaurant where she asked me to come and moved my eyes around to search for the empty table. Putting my shoulder bag down to the table, I sat on the empty chair and waited for her. I was bit ashamed of never contacting her not even once in the past years because of my own mental turmoil. At that time, I just wanted to stay away from everything that had little or big connection with the Hobsons' family.

"Hey, Sanaya." A sweet, feminine voice called for my attention. I looked up.

"Mel..." My eyes glistened as soon as I recognized her. Sad smile lifted up the corners of my mouth as I stood up.

Her bouncy red curls were gracefully tied into a high ponytail. Few of the locks were resting on her shoulder. She was looking different, but elegant and dignified in a silk dark maroon button-up shirt and nude pants. Her nude blazer was hanging on her one arm. Melanie's fashion sense had been polished so much in all those years.

"I couldn't recognize you. Are you really Melanie?" I exclaimed, studying her appearance with surprised gaze from head to toe.

She grinned, came closer, encircling me into a hug, "I've missed you so much. Why didn't you give me at least a single call?"

I patted her back, smiled weakly against her shoulder and then pulled back, "I'm sorry. I couldn't...because...let's not talk about it, can we?"

She flattened her lips and motioned her head in agreement, "Take a seat."

We both settled down and ordered some snacks and drinks. I began feeling wistful as she reminded me of my loneliness and my old-self. As some people say, meeting with old friends evokes how much your life has changed - how much you've changed. I thought that if I wasn't that young at that time maybe I would've dealt the whole marriage situation differently, I was so immature and naïve in my late teenage years.

"So, tell me, what's the reason behind this change?" I hinted at her clothes through my eyes.

She crossed her arms on a table in front and slightly leaned forward, "All thanks to you. You created my interest in cooking. After you left, I gave a serious thought to learn that skill because I understood that in housekeeping profession you work too much, but your pay is not enough. So I thought of trying my hand in cooking, I did few courses and then applied at the local restaurant."