With the months passing by the temperature started to drop as well. This meant that shopping for weddings was easier as you could spend hours lost in the flood of clothes without breaking a sweat. In the chilly evenings of December, Mahrukh was out in the city with Aliya and Zain to get her walima dress. The breeze was gentle but chilly. It was a bit nippy to the fingertips. And lately Mahrukh's nose had been red like Rudolph's. The exposed parts of the skin were pricked by the icy nails of the winter winds. A rain last night had made everything more chilly and people were forced to take out their woolen sweaters as form of protection.

Everyone in the house was ecstatic with the wedding on head. It was the wedding of the eldest son. The family had gone all out on the bookings of events and decor of their home. Already, the neighbourhood was in shock of the lavishness the usually humble Butt's were showing. Akbar was especially happy considering his best friends were married. He would leave no stone unturned to annoy them.

This particular evening, that Zain and Aliya were accompanying Mahrukh, the sky was a dark shade of blue. So dark that it almost seemed black. The stars were twinkling in the clear sky while the crescent shape moon was just acting as the focal point of the roof of the world. It was an amazing weather. The cold was warded off by the shawls and sweaters they all wore. It clearly explains why Pakistani people love getting married in winters. It allows for them to dress up without having to sweat.

The small streets of the uneven bazaar (market) were dirty and heavily occupied. The vendors of all ages and sizes kept screaming in loud voices to encourage women to buy from them. Under the heavy lightning each of the shops had, the placed glimmered like a million diamonds. Aunties pushed each other in rude manners to get to their destination not having the decency to act mannered. As if being a second late could get the thing they so desired out of hand. Meanwhile, the young boys that sold tea and kehwa (a drink) ran around with trays on their heads, careful not to splash any of the customers. It was fascinating to Mahrukh that eventhough all the vendors spoke fluent urdu to their customers, amongst each other they preferred to talk in pashto (local language of the KPK province). This was just a tiny speck of the diverse cultures that lingered about in the capital city of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan.

Stack upon stack of loose cloth were put outside the shops ( this was a walking path but had been claimed as extra storage space by everyone) and as they passed by stores, Mahrukh like a fascinated child would run her hand over each of them feeling the fabric and patterns. The amount of shopping she had done in the past few days was overwhelming. Finally after what seemed like a million turns around twisted pathways, they were finally at their destination. A grand shop in the centre of the bazaar from where Mahrukh had gotten her Nikkah outfit from.

The among of designs and patterns that they had were immeasurable. The different colours from soft pastels to dark proud colours you name it they probably had it. Mahrukh had requested to wear an outfit that did not have a lot of heavy work on it. Carrying the weight of two heavy dresses she wanted the Walima to be a light hearted function full of memories. To which everyone had agreed. After looking through countless designs Mahrukh finally spotted on that was kept a bit behind the others a bit of eyesight. But it was stunning. No matter how much she turned her head, she would always come back to it.
"Mama what about that white one?"
She asked Aliya. Yes. She had begun to call Aliya mama on her insistence. Aliya ran her eyes to the article Mahrukh was pointing and she was not disappointed. Even Zain found it beautiful. And so it was a mutual decision to buy the cloth and give it to the tailor.

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The next morning, Mahrukh was up early. She had spent last night talking to Zain and making plans of buying her wedding jewelry. Zain wanted to take her to the jewellers shop but instead his parents had already called him over. Lately this had been happening a lot. All day salesmen were in and out of the house. Which annoyed Zain to no end as it meant less time with Mahrukh.

Ever since their Nikkah, Zain had only grown closer to her. He noticed all her habits. How she woke up before everyone else. How she helped her mothers in doing house chores. How she looked after their fathers needs and most importantly how she handled all her tantrums. He remembers throwing one when he found out that after their mayun the two could not see each other. To which he had protested. It was Mahrukh who calmed him down and told him that she would call him all the time so it did not really matter.

Mahrukh rushed downstairs to grab some breakfast and start the day. No one had told her that planning and setting up a marriage could be so tough. From choosing menus to decorations buying outfits and setting up parlour appointments. It seemed to her that all she was doing lately was rushing around and it had been a while since she had caught her breath. Today on her agenda was a jeweller, her final baraat outfit fitting, a visit to a saloon to get her prepped and lastly dinner with Zain. It was particularly the last event she was so excited about.

The jeweller came at around twelve in the evening. With him he brought a dozen men carrying his most beautiful pieces. Each of the sets were passed around. Mahrukh still couldn't wrap her head around all the glimmers and shimmers of it all. One particular gold set caught her eye. Being a sucker for mughal style jewellery pieces she nudged her mother
"Ammi that one looks so pretty,"
Shifa held the box that Mahrukh was talking about and passed it to her before resuming her talks with Aliya. Mahrukh ran her fingers over the delicate design of it and a smile graced her face.

Akbar who was passing by saw the scene. Rushing to Mahrukh's side, he sat in the feet of his mother before grabbing the box out of Mahrukh's hand and giving it to the man.
"Pack this separately.  It is a gift to my sister from me. I will pay you. For the rest ask Zain bhai."
Mahrukh thanked Akbar with a tender kiss to the cheek while his mother twisted his ear
"Why are you always after your brother?"
Akbar winked at his mother replying in  cheeky tone
"Giving him my sister. This is the least that I can do!"
Zain who was passing by saw all the scene and decided to intervene himself
"Your precious sister is getting a gem like me".
His sentence caused Mahrukh to blush and Akbar to hoot. It took a further two hours to deal with the jeweller after which she headed out to the designer who was designing her baraat outfit.

Mahrukh was supposed to try on her dress for final fittings. She was sent into a cubicle and an assistant to help her wear the grand outfit. It fit Mahrukh like a glove. Since the room had no mirrors she had not seen how she looked. But as she entered the area where her family was sat, their gasps told her all about her looks. She turned and caught sight of herself in the looking glass. Running fingers over the delicate threadwork, tears filled her eyes. She looked beautiful in the wedding outift. Her mother was the first one to emotionally breakdown claiming
"Meri beti itni jaldi bari ho gayi,"
and proceeded to litter kisses on her face. Aliya to joined the session saying
"I remember the day we brought her home,"
the three women continued to cry in each other's embrace, the moment being broken by Akbar's call saying he was there to pick them. Mahrukh hurriedly changed her outfit and they paid the final installment. The designer promised to have it delivered ny tomorrow.

As soon as they were out of the store, Akbar was rushed to drop Mahrukh and her mother to the saloon along with Amna. There Mahrukh got a slight trim to get rid of her split ends. Her eyebrows were tweezed and her upper lips threaded. After that followed a ton of facials to "enhance  the bridal glow". Later Mahrukh was waxed which made her feel extremely awkward as she had always shaved at home. And the inappropriate talking of the workers did little to ease her nerves. By the time she walked inside her home, she truly felt like a new woman. With skin as soft as a baby's butt.

Mahrukh rushed inside her bedroom to get ready for the dinner. She took a quick shower and blow dried her hair. Putting on the bare minimum makeup and her underwear she wrapped herself in a bathrobe and went in search of an outfit. Eventually deciding on a plain mustard monochrome khadar outfit with a multi- coloured embroidered shawl. And for shoes she opted for khusas. Her favourite kind of desi shoes. Tying her hair in a low bun with a centre part and small jhumkis she was ready to go.

Downstairs, Zain waited for her next to the stair case. He was wearing formal pants with a turtle neck. Both in the shade black. As Mahrukh reached him, he smiled at her and kissed her forehead, a gesture he always did before praising her beauty.
"MashAllah. Today even the moon is shying from your beauty".
In reply Mahrukh only lowered her head which caused Zain to feel giddy inside.

They decided to eat chinese. Since desi would practically be what they eat for the next week, chinese cusinie sounded amazing. Deciding on a pan-Asian restaurant they started their fifteen minute drive which was silent. On reaching their destination, Zain opened Mahrukh's door extending his hand for her to grab. The security opened the restaurant doors where they were met with a manager who asked them for their reservation. Zain replied in his cool, husky voice
"Mr.Zain. Table for two,"
the manager checked and then led them to their seats. The ambiance of the place was beautiful. Their table was decorated with flowers that gave the most beautiful scents.

Whilst they were placing their orders, Zain stared at Mahrukh with great depth. The emotions swirling in his eyes overwhelmed her. She felt as if he could stare right into her soul. Grabbing her hand ever so gently, Zain kissed it lightly telling her about his day and then getting serious all of a sudden began to speak.
"Mahrukh I love you dearly. I will be the protection that you need. No one will hurt you. I will cehrish and love you. But promise me that you will never hide things from me".
Mahrukh seeing the vulnerability in his eyes was shaken up but promised so withiut any hesitation. The rest of the dinner was pretty uneventful.

As they were heading out, and had not eaten any dessert as Mahrukh had insisted. She dragged him to a wall's icecream cart that was parked near the road. Giving Zain her pleading eyes she spoke
"Lets eat ice cream please?"
Zain tried to reason with her  but ultimately gave in. The ate their icecreams on their way home making small talk and just enjoying each others presence. As soon as they reached home, Mahrukh went to her room, took off her outfit changed into her pyjamas and removed her makeup. Then wrapping herself in the thick duvet, she immediately fell asleep due to the exhaustion of the day.

And the week to come was going to be even more tiring.

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