I woke up with a groan to a shooting headache numbing my senses. For a long while, I laid flat on my bed, trying to soothe the hangover, I had gotten from heavy drinking last night after returning from the Nikah ceremony.

I kept drinking through the night and some time after the sun came up, I had dozed off.

Just as my senses started functioning, the first thought that flashed across my mind was of her. Immediately sitting up, I rummaged through the sheets for my phone. As expected, she had not bothered to return any of my calls, but I wasn't going for that. Going through the GPS tracking device, I checked her live location on her phone which showed that she was still home. Feeling reassured, I dropped the phone to my side on the bed only getting up to pop a tylenol into my mouth.

'I'll go apologise to her, tomorrow. Her anger will calm down by then. She must've said all that talk about leaving me in the heat of the moment. I wonder who told her about those killings? Maybe, her Dad? Yeah—must've been him. But I'll clear up the misunderstanding. I'll tell her that I didn't know about it, until afterwards. And if she really was going to leave me then why would she wait until after the nikah to say anything. I know Aasiya. She will forgive me. Just like that time—in the last year of her A-levels.'

"How dare you beat up Huzaifa!! He had only asked to copy my notes—!" She barged into my room, screaming.

"—he deserved it." I returned unfazed without missing a beat. My eyes glued to my phone, the whole while.

"Who the hell gives you the right to interfere in my business—!" She pulled away the phone from my hand and held it away from me. Fuming with suppressed rage, I quirked a brow at her antics and it took me all the self-control to not strangle her.

Saad's younger brother knew people in Huzaifa's friend circle. He had let us know about Huzaifa's bet with some guy; which involved getting Aasiya in his bed before the end of the year—If Saad hadn't managed to restrain me because that shit bag came from a family of means, I would have gladly bashed his head then and there.

"If you think I am going to take your 'sound advice' on dealing with matters like these—then best get rid of that misunderstanding immediately—or I'll have to do it myself—" Seething through clenched teeth, I snatched my phone and got up to walk a few steps away from her. It was becoming harder to deal with Aasiya, these days. Sometimes, I really couldn't make out what went on in that stupid head of hers.

"Hah! I am sure you mean to tell me how bad he is for me—because according to you, Mr. Naveed Suleiman, everyone besides you is an idiot and solely YOU have the toughest job to protect everyone—-but I don't give a damn! Can't you get it through your thickhead that your presence in my life isn't appreciated—?! I can protect myself—without—" She would've kept going on, if I didn't roughly push her down on the bed while coming down on top of her. Propping my one knee between her flailing legs, I singlehandedly restrained her both wrists above her head. Unperturbed by her cries, I tightened my grip on her wrists while she screamed at me to let go.

"Now. Come on—Protect yourself."

My words seemed to paralyse her and immediately she abandoned all attempts to fight back. Her eyes widening in horror as she trembled beneath me; crippling with fear as to how far would I go to prove my point.

"—Navi—p—pl—pleas-e—" She begged through trembling lips, while I looked down at her with contempt. In that moment, I hated her. For making me stoop so low, I could've killed her then and there with my bare hands.

But, I loved her far more than she could ever provoke me to hate her.

So, without wasting another moment, I pulled away and left the room without so much as glancing back. The following weeks, I crashed at Saad's place. I didn't want to see her face. Half of it was from guilt of putting her in a compromised position—from making her feel so powerless and at my mercy. But partially it was out of fear that if Aasiya provoked me again then I might lose all control and hurt her for being so pig-headed.

However, I was saved from explaining anything because she began to avoid me like the plague. It suited me fine for a while too, because I knew how stubborn Aasiya could be.

It was going okay, until after a month of ignoring eachother—she found me in the living room, dressing up the fresh beating that I got from Dad. It was some time before evening when she returned from her Academy classes. Our eyes met for the briefest second, as she watched me from afar, only to look away immediately. I looked away with a sigh but then just as she took the first step to the stairs, I called out.

"Can you atleast help me bandage this?" At my voice, she halted mid-step, but didn't turn.

'Whatever. It was worth a shot.' I thought grumbling to myself and returned my attention to bandaging my left hand with my trembling right one. Unfortunately for me, I was a leftie—and Dad keeps on missing that fact.

I heard her exhale a long sigh before she came up to me and started fixing me up.

"If I say that I am sorry and it won't ever happen again, will you forgive me?" I questioned, eyeing her expectantly but not too much.

"Don't push it." She returned blatantly, without lifting her eyes from the bandage she had wrapped around my hand neatly. Before this fight, she was the one who always patched me up.

"But I remember when we were little, you said that if someone apologises then you should forgive them. Because Allah forgives us everytime—" Before I could finish she had got up to leave.

"I was evidently an idiot then and couldn't have been more wrong—" She returned plainly and left without sparing me another glance.

Despite all that she said, she came around after a while, when I kept apologising. Something had changed between us but I was happy enough with the fact that we were talking again.

I am sure she'll come around this time too.

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"In Allah's name—Please spare this old man something—" I looked away from Saad to find an old man standing beside me holding out his hand. I had come out to oversee a possible business location with Saad and was waiting for the Valet to bring the car over, when he came infront of me.

"Don't you have your hands and feet still in good state to be working? Why should I spare you something?" I didn't usually pay any heed to them but today I had snapped at this beggar.

"I'll give you Dua beta—Maybe this old man's dua for you might get accepted from the One on Arsh—" He went on and immediately an old memory flashed across my mind.

"Princess! Why do you always have to bother with these beggars! That woman you just gave money to, must've sedated her baby to gain sympathy—You're only urging them more. It's because of sympathy of people like you, that they can't stop—" I snapped at her after pressing on the accelerator. Beside me, Aasiya kept silently gazing out. Sometimes, she would even sit down with those street kids and share her food with them. She was honestly impossible.

"I don't do it to help them, Navi. Unfortunately, I don't possess that sort of kind heart—I do it for myself. The Prophet PBUH said, Save yourself from hellfire by giving even half a date-fruit in charity. Also, you shouldn't be mean to them, Navi; if you can't be nice—" I turned away with a scoff but she wasn't done.

"And—and I don't do it for free, you know? I get their duas in return. When they say May Allah bless you or answer your prayers—or give you goodness and happiness; I could explode with happiness! I am such a hypocrite. They don't even realise, I am using them for my own gain—"

"Naveed—Come on, ignore him. What the hell is the guard doing? Let's go, the car is here—" I heard Saad beside me but didn't pay him any heed.

"What Dua?" At my words the old man smiled happily.

"May Allah bless you with a beautiful wife and a beautiful house—with all the wealth of this world—" He was saying but I cut him off irritated.

"I have all of those—even without your duas—" I returned pointedly and turned to leave when he called from behind me.

"Then May Allah give you hidayah—because you seem so lost in the intoxication of your wealth—" His words made me stop in my tracks. Mulling them over in my head, I turned back to him and took out a few thousand rupees notes and handed it over to him, who grabbed them greedily. I eyed him distastefully for a moment.

"Your God is money too. I don't think your duas are any good to me—Maybe try asking for guidance for your own self first—" I remarked without so much as a hint of emotion before leaving.

"You didn't need to get involved with him, you know—" I heard Saad beside me, as he drove to my place.

"It was because of Aasiya—I am trying to change for her—" I returned feeling exhaustion wash over me.

"Man—You're obsessed with her—"

"I guess. I just love her so much and also because I know that no one else in this world can match my love for her—" I remarked nonchalantly while pinching the bridge of my nose.

"That's obsession, my dear friend. Like I told you so many times before—Aasiya needs you to protect her from the sidelines. You—you get too agreesive—That's why she got so mad about that killing incident, yesterday. When are you going to talk to her, anyways?" I ran a hand through my hair at his words.

"Tomorrow, I guess. I am giving her space. Since, we are married now, I am going to change—I really want this to work, man—" I ended with a sigh and caught Saad shooting me a smile.

"She'll come around. Although, you didn't give her much room to protest but knowing Aasiya if she wanted to leave you, she might've done it before the nikah—Don't think too much into girl's words—" Instead of replying, I retuned my gaze to the passing by trees.

—————————

I walked into my house and immediately my gaze caught the attention of the bar, on the far side of the living room.

"Navi—! If one more time you stumble drunk into my room—I swear—I'll shoot you—" I turned back to meet her gaze while drinking something for hangover.

"Well—that sounds like an amazing way to go, actually—Princess, wouldn't that be a death worth dying? In your arms?" I remarked jokingly and caught the horrified look on her face.

"Okay. I'll stop if you tell me to stop drinking—" I walked up to her and peered down at her face. She glared at me through clenched teeth before getting up with a scoff.

"Like hell you would—! By all means, knock yourself out, Navi—!" She screamed before storming out of the kitchen.

"Faiq! Throw all these out. I want everything clear within the next few hours—" I called out to my helper who came running out from the kitchen.

"Everything? Even the ones on back?" He remarked stunned while pointing to the limited edition wine collection.

"Obviously—I said everything. And you have got another job—You'll stop me, if I ever ask you for it—We need to get this right before she comes home—" I felt myself smiling at the thought alone.

"Bhaiya—That last one is a little—" He began cautiously and I cut him off with a smile.

"Don't worry. I am a man of my words. You won't see me asking for it again—And if you help me, then I'll double your salary—"

"Wah! Then I am going to make even more dua that alcohol never touches Bhaiya g's lips, until his last breath—Ameen." I eyed him stupefied, wondering what was up with today that I kept on getting all these dua's. I might just have received enough to last me a lifetime.

But it's good, I guess. Just having Aasiya in my life is making everything better, already—It's going to be fine. Everything is finally how it's supposed to be.

JazakAllah khair for reading :) Please vote & share your thoughts❤️