Page 51 of First Comes Marriage
‘How’s my favourite party animal? Ready for round two today?’ He kissed her on the cheek and she scrunched her nose.
‘Hmm. I needed tea five minutes ago. Once I’ve had a couple of cups, I’ll see what I fancy committing to,’ shegrizzled and Zafar held back from laughing at her. He set about making breakfast, giving Daadi her tea before doing anything else.
Reshma came down twenty minutes later and they all sat down to eat, the pair of them exchanging shy, covert glances like young lovebirds.
Zafar had just put his knife and fork down when his phone rang, bursting to life with Murad’s name flashing on the screen.
‘Aziz! How’s it going, sugar?’
There was silence on the other end.
‘Hello? Murad? Can you hear me?’ Zafar moved the phone from his ear, checked the screen, which showed the call was still connected and then pressed it against his ear again. ‘Hello?’
‘Who are you and what have you done with Zafar Saeed II? I must warn you, I’m not as rich as him and can’t offer you much for his safe return, but let me see what his brothers say. Just don’t break his face, he’s ugly enough already.’
Zafar rolled his eyes. ‘Have you tried auditioning since we last spoke? At least others might get entertained by your stupidity.’
‘Oh, thank God. It’s you. I got worried for a minute. You sounded so happy and energetic, I thought an imposter had taken your place.’
‘Bog off, Murad.’
Reshma’s eyes widened and he winked at her.
‘Ah, you have company, don’t you? Otherwise, you’d have used language a lot more colourful than that, I’m sure.’
‘Is there a reason you called, other than needing to word vomit?’
‘Tut. Yes, I did.’ The cadence of his voice shifted subtly. ‘Have you got five minutes to spare from your tropicalretreat for me? I need to run something by you about the hotel deal.’
Zafar straightened at the mention of the deal. His dream project which he’d let slide to the back of his mind. In fact, he’d not thought about it at all in the last few days, he realised with an immediate tinge of guilt. ‘Yeah, sure. Give me five and I’ll call you back. OK?’
‘Sure, no worries. It’s not like I’ve got a beach to go and sun myself on. Take your time. Oh, and, Zaf?’
‘What?’
‘Don’t panic. I just need some numbers from you. It’s nothing to worry about.’
Zafar had known Murad Aziz for thirty years and knew him better than the other man realised he did. Even though he’d not said it, Zafar had picked up on his unspoken word. There was nothing to worry about.
Yet.
Zafar groaned as he undid his tie for the third time. Why couldn’t he get the knot right? He’d been wearing ties since he’d been ten years old, so he’d been doing them for long enough to be able to tie one with his eyes closed. But today he was all thumbs.
He threw the tie onto the chaise and decided to find his cufflinks. He looked in his suitcase and on the dressing table but couldn’t find them and his frustration began mounting.
If only Murad had allayed his concerns earlier when he’d called him back.
Zafar couldn’t shake off the feeling that there was so much more Murad wasn’t telling him, but he had no way to confirm that short of calling Ibrahim or his father and demanding an explanation. Or flying back and getting answers face to face. Why had Murad needed to go overthe financials with him when Murad was as good with numbers as Zafar was?
He moved towards the bedside table to see if his cufflinks were there. There was no reason for them to be there because he’d not worn them yet, but his mind was racing and he was about ready to—
His thoughts stuttered to an abrupt halt as the door to the bedroom opened and Reshma walked in. She’d been gone since after breakfast, getting her hair and make-up done, and he was supposed to meet her at the main villa with Daadi.
Now here she was and she looked … God. She looked incredible. She was wearing a dark red outfit which he thought might look familiar, but he couldn’t put his finger on why. Maybe she’d worn it before to some event they’d been to together. Her hair was half up, half down and she had heavy gold jewellery on. Her eyes looked big and smoky and her lips were an inviting shade of red.
‘You look … wow. Mashallah.’
She smiled as she blushed, closing the distance between them. She came to a stop an arm’s length away and twirled once, her skirt flaring out slightly below her knees and her bangles and anklets chiming.
