Chapter 9

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9| Ahad

I woke up due to the sun shining through the room's extremely thin curtains. I had slept on the right side and apparently rolled over to the left as much as I could with Nawal sleeping on that side. She was still asleep, taking soft and patterned breaths as I watched over her. We were lying so close that her head might as well just be buried in my neck. I had a habit of kicking off my blanket during my sleep and I had done it again but the blanket had gotten off from her body too so I lightly pulled it up till her chest and covered her. Her long, dark locks had created a scattered mess on her pillow and the shorter strands in the front were sticking to the side of the face so I slowly brushed them away. I rolled over towards the nightstand to check the time on my phone. It wasn't even seven in the morning now so I decided to fit it some more sleep. I threw my arm over her waist and leaned in as close as possible and closed my eyes, breathing in her scent.

***

The second time I woke up was because of my arm lying flat on the bed instead of being wrapped around my wife. I lifted my head from the pillow and opened one eye where I saw Nawal brushing her hair.

"Good morning." I croaked out in my raspy morning voice while I rubbed my eye.

"Good morning. Since you're up now, I've already ironed your clothes for today. Thought I'd put you back in your element, you don't really wear shalwar kameez, so I ironed a blue dress shirt with jeans." She didn't look back at me even once and I felt the need to pout but begrudgingly got out of bed and went into the washroom to take a shower.

After I was done, I realized I forgot to bring my clothes along so I poked my head out of the door to check if Nawal was still in the room, thankfully she was.

"Umm, Nawal, can you hand me my clothes?" I scratched the back of my neck.

She looked flustered. "Uhh... yeah sure." She quickly scurried off to her closet and pulled out a hanger with my clothes on it and I mumbled a 'thanks' before locking the door again.

When I went downstairs, my father-in-law and brother-in-law were sitting on the dining table, chatting as my wife and mother-in-law brought out the breakfast.

"How's the hotel business running, Ahad?" My father-in-law asked and I quickly swallowed my food before replying.

"It's going great, uncle, though I think I might have to travel to Islamabad in a few days because of an issue going on at the branch there." It was true. A client of the hotel branch in Islamabad had some issue with his stay at the hotel and threatened to file a lawsuit against the hotel. I'm not sure if he would go through with the threat or if he was just bluffing but if a lawsuit was filed, I'd have to visit Islamabad to resolve the issue.

Beside me, Nawal violently coughed, drawing all attention to her as I patted her back before bringing her glass of water to her mouth where she placed her hand on top of mine before drinking from the glass.

"Eat carefully, Nawal." Sobia aunty scolded at her daughter's silliness and I gave her a smug smile and she glared in return.

"Sorry mama." Everyone resumed eating their food.

"So as I was saying, I hope you can resolve the issue soon. Such cases can have a negative effect on the reputation of the hotels." Arshad uncle said.

"Thank you, uncle."

***

Nawal and I left her parents' house almost immediately after having breakfast. Today she was going to go to our home for the first time. My sisters had visited my place two days before my wedding and said that I lived too much like a bachelor so they were going to change a few things here and there to add to my lifestyle and left the rest up to Nawal so she could modify the place as she liked. I parked the car in my driveway and got out and my wife followed.

"No one's going to give you a grand welcome here." I gave her a lop-sided smile and she grinned.

"It's okay, it's our home so we have to be by ourselves." She wrapped one of her hands around my bicep as I unlocked the front door. Nawal looked around the house with wide eyes. My house wasn't all that great or big but it was my style and perfect for the two of us. I had asked the maid to not come today so it would be only us on our first day here.

I started the house tour with the kitchen. It was pretty basic with its black marble countertop and black cabinet doors. The silver refrigerator stood in one corner and was all stocked with groceries if she ever felt like cooking by herself but there was a maid to do that. There was a bathroom and a bedroom on the bottom floor too but I didn't think she needed to see that so I just informed her about them. I took her upstairs to our room which had solid navy blue bed sheets and pillows on it, much like the shirt I was wearing right now. There was a bathroom attached and a closet next to it. The girls had emptied half my closet so Nawal could use it as well. A simple white desk was placed in one corner of the room against the wall with a black office chair tucked in for when I was too lazy to get up and walk to the next door, which was my study. This room was the biggest one in the house and had a balcony too. Balconies and terraces had to be my favorite part of a house. You could be outside yet be inside your house when standing in a balcony. We passed by my study and, again, I didn't show her the inside and moved to the stairs to the roof. We went up to the roof and it was a little windy outside so our hair and Nawal's bright red dupatta was flying wildly in the cold breeze. Where it was a disturbance for me, Nawal seemed to be enjoying the cold breeze. I just knew that the garden, terrace, and balcony were going to be her favorite places in the house too.

"So, what do you think?" I asked sheepishly.

"I love it! It's such a cozy space, definitely feels like home." She beamed at me with a child-like smile.

"I asked mama to send the driver here with your things from my parents' place. He should be here any minute now." We both went inside and I instantly slumped down on the sofa in the living room. For someone who worked as much as me, you'd expect me to be productive but I was probably the laziest person I knew. Well, maybe after Rumi.


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