Chapter 6: "Enemies, Friends and Family"

Bring in the comments! I'm hungry! 🍽️

Enjoy!

December 15, 2020

In stepped James.

"Excuse you!" He got in Lena's face. "Would you mind repeating the crap you just spilled?"

He did not shout. He did not raise his voice, but with his eyes narrowed, arms folded, and figure towering over Lena, she was just as intimidated by him as he had meant for it to be. Salma exchanged a quick glance with Dean, wondering if she would need to intervene. Dean too, was on his feet, back straight, hands stuff in the front pockets of his pants and looking annoyed.

"She knocked into me," Lena replied, albeit with a lot less rudeness but still trying to stand her ground. "I could have gotten hurt."

"Did you?" James raised a brow.

"I – I didn't." Lena fixed the strap of her bag over her shoulder, jutting her chin in an attempted show of defiance. "Doesn't mean I wasn't scared or –"

"It happened as an accident," James cut her short. "You don't need to reenact some wailing widow from a Shakespeare's play by screaming like your tail is on fire – unless, of course, it is on fire and I missed it?" James tiled his head as if to check flames on her tail.

A few people sniggered. Lena turned rather red in her face.

"I think I'm the one who should be doing the talking here," Salma intervened, pulling James away. "I'm sorry." She turned to Lena. "I jumped without knowing you were standing there. It was my fault."

Lena opened her mouth about to square off against her, but as if remembering James was still standing next to her, ready to check if her tail was on flames, she shut her mouth, blinked and looked away. A few moments of awkward stand-off was interrupted by George's bored voice.

"The table behind me is free," the tall, broad shouldered hostess with rosy cheeks and curly brown hair pointed over her shoulder, eyeing Lena with a deadpanned looked. "You want to take it or what?"

"Yes, of course," Charlayne quickly replied. "Thank you so much!"

Lena stormed off in the direction George had pointed to.

"I'll get going then." Charlayne smiled, turning to the boys. "I'm Charlayne by the way. It was nice meeting you."

"Pleasure." Dean smiled, shaking her hand politely.

"Memorable." James smirked.

Charlayne chuckled, waving as she walked away. James threw a call sign at her.

Call me, the flirt mouthed. Blushing, Charlayne giggled, joining her friend a few tables away.

"Ow!" James winced as Salma slapped him upside the head.

"Flirt," Salma muttered. She sat back down.

"You're just jealous, I still got it more than you," he teased.

"Bro." Dean grimaced. "Don't make us puke. We're trying to eat here."

"Also, did you hear me when I said she's from the enemy clan?" Salma scowled at him.

James feigned contemplation.

"I think you mentioned that," he said. "Which clan are we talking about?"

"The dark haired Aiblees." Dean distorted the pronunciations of Iblees a little, much to Salma's amusement. "Am I right?"

"Yep," Salma confirmed. "Don't call him Iblees. It's not nice."

"Yes Mother Theresa part two, he's not nice either," James muttered, all the while craning his neck to get a better look at the girls. "Damn, he really got all the good ones."

Salma kicked him under the table.

"Sally!" James winced.

***

April, 2018

Uncle Dawood, who was conducting the nikkah, repeated the terms of the contract. Salma had demanded a monogamous marriage and the right to divorce. Although not of much use in the US, she had done it to uphold the tradition of the women in her family. For a long time now, the women from the house of Sulaiman have put these demands in their marriage contract, one, to set an example and reiterate the fact that in Islam, a woman gets to dictate the terms of her nikkah and ask the man to surrender some of his rights. And two, if the need ever arose, she would  be able to nullify the marriage contract without going through the long and tiring process of filing for a divorce in court or surrendering her Mahr. Zayn accepted both the terms.

His only condition was that if Salma chose to walk away, he would want her to give him a reason as to why. As for her Mahr, she let her father detail it out – quite frankly Salma had no interest in it. She did not need Zayn's money, or shares in his company. She had, and could make, her own. However, when her father insisted on it the previous day, she had backed off, trusting his judgment. So, when uncle Dawood started listing the amount of Mahr, Salma zoned out. She focused on the patterns of the carpet, doing her best to block Uncle Dawood and Zayn's exchange.

This time around, the nikkah was even simpler. Salma did not pick a dress or doll-up and there were no guests. It was just her family, Uncle Dawood and Anne. Niall and a lawyer accompanied Zayn. Like the previous nikkah ceremony, Will was once again missing. Only this time, he did not go fishing just a day or two prior, but went to Massachusetts almost a fortnight ago. He transferred schools after getting accepted in one of the finest mechanical engineering institutions in the states for a couple of semesters. Although happy for him, Salma still made a mental note to fly to Mars on his nikkah – conveniently ignoring the fact that she had deemed it better for him to not be around when she was once again tying the knot with Zayn.

Salma had contemplated on inviting James and Dean but then decided against that too. There would be too many questions, and she had to keep secrets. The previous day, at Cody's, Salma had casually asked them if they knew whether Zayn had continued playing professional football after his move to the US under a pseudonym.

The reaction from the boys was interesting.

James was shocked to realize Salma had not known until recently that Zayn was also known as Arethas Grace, and Dean was certain he had told Salma about it when he had related to her the story of Zayn and James's feud. Salma was adamant that he didn't. One thing was certain. Dean had mentioned Zayn to her as AG10 in a text once when she was in the forest. Staring at the text from so far back, Salma could not believe how close she had come to knowing the truth about Zayn's dual identity. Has she had service in the valley when they were lost, there was a chance she would have asked who AG10 was in response to his text.

Salma felt an elbow digging in her side, bringing her back to her nikkah ceremony.

"Huh?" She blinked. Asim, who had done the honors of elbowing her awake, gave her the flat-eye. Everyone else looked at her concerned. Salma scolded herself for blanking out. She had to appear tougher. She could not afford to have her family believe the nikkah was putting too much strain on her mind.

"I said, do you take Zayn Stephen Harris, also known as Arethas Z. Grace, as your legally and spiritually wedded husband," Uncle Dawood repeated what he must have said earlier, "with your conditions of monogamy and the right to divorce accepted, and the amount of Mahr demanded, which includes . . ."

Salma swallowed her impatience, waiting for Uncle Dawood to finish reciting the contract to her.

"I do," she said out loud and clear. Her insides turned cold.

Uncle Dawood began reciting the whole thing verbatim for a second time. Although her voice was confident, Salma still felt her insides losing all the warmth and comfort to the chilling anxiety that crept in her veins.

"I do." She mechanically accepted a second time as Uncle Dawood stopped talking. Her fingers had turned into ice as she clasped her hands in her lap.

The ritual continued with another confirmation from her and Zayn. The two signed papers. Despite her trembling hands, Salma otherwise did her best to keep her mind numb. The less she took in, the less she would have to worry about later. It was better this way. To stay in a haze, brain closed off and sluggish. She remained cold and distant. Least bothered by the golden-eyed boy sitting right in front of her that she had just accepted as her husband. She kept herself in a shell. Lost. Detached. And emotionless.

The ritual was over. Her family got up to leave and so did Salma. There was no handshakes, no sweets, no greetings. It was just cold. Keeping her gaze firmly fixed on her brother's shoulders in front of her, Salma was edging around the table after Asim when the first blow was landed to crack her indifferent exterior.

"Mr. Rahman?" Zayn addressed her father.

Her father paused. He turned towards Zayn, his forehead creased with grim lines.

"Can I have a word with your daughter, please?" he requested. "Alone."

Crack!

Salma almost felt the lines of the fissure run down the length of her armor, leaving it damaged. She stiffened and so did her brother and father. As if struggling against declining his request outright, her father turned to her after a while, silently asking her if she was okay with it.

Salma curled her toes in her shoes. She did not want to talk to Zayn but she knew shaking her head would be an immature move. Seeing her scared and insecure will only cause her father more worry for having landed her in a relationship she did not want to be a part of. Salma figured she had to woman up and at least try to take her problem head on, rather than always running towards her father for help, with the hopes that he would provide her shelter. Hearing Zayn out seemed like a start.

Reaching that conclusion, Salma took a deep breath and nodded.

"Alright then," her father muttered. "I'll be right outside."

He walked away, closely followed by Uncle Dawood, Zayn's lawyer and an unsure Niall. Asim left last, looking extremely reluctant to leave his sister alone with the man who had assaulted her. Salma forced a smile at him to reassure him. He threw a very serious look at Zayn before closing the door behind him.

A heavy, tensed silence descended upon the room as the two of them were left alone. Salma had her back turned at him. Zayn waited, but she did not seem to want to turn around.

"Bee?"

Salma felt her heart stab. A piece of her protective covering fell off, leaving a hole in its stead.

Back when he had nicknamed her after an insect, it was all so innocent and lighthearted, but then he had to ruin it all. She had never told him not to call her Bee, except, when he had wronged her so maliciously that she felt like he no longer had the privilege to have a nickname for her.

"Please, turn around," Zayn requested.

Author's Note:

Did we just have another Dun, Dun, Dunnnnnnnn! 🤣

Guess Salma's first words to Zayn😁?

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Lots of Love.

J.