Page 63 of First Comes Marriage
Daadi came towards her. ‘I was looking for you, darling. Ready?’
She nodded as she swallowed the lump in her throat.
‘Jawad told me about Zafar. Honestly, that boy.’ Daadi shook her head blithely, no sign of frustration or annoyance with her grandson and Reshma stared at her open-mouthed.
Daadi knew? So did Uncle Jawad?
And they seemed to be fine with it. There was no outrage on anyone’s face and they all seemed to take it in their stride, as though it were perfectly acceptable for him to have just left her.
‘Auntie Mumtaz, you come in the car with us, and Reshma, you go with Niya, Sho and Khalil.’ Auntie Bilqis was directing everyone towards the cars, ready to make their way to the hotel where the reception was due to take place.
Reshma followed, her mind completely blank. She was too tired to think. All she really wanted to do was … nothing. But she knew that wasn’t an option.
She got into the car and, blocking out everything around her, she stared out of the window as Khalil drove them to the reception, his loud music drowning out any conversation that was going on around her. Haniya kept shooting worried looks her way, but she didn’t say anything.
Half an hour later, they got to the venue, where Nomaan’s family were waiting at the entrance to greet them. There was a great deal of noise and laughter as they met and hugged each other, as though they hadn’t all been partying together two days ago after the nikah ceremony.
The thought brought a lump to Reshma’s throat as she thought about sitting with Zafar during the nikah. The closeness she’d felt with him.
She felt a prickling in the corners of her eyes and the dull ache in the region of her heart intensified. She wouldn’t cry, she couldn’t, and certainly not right now.
Steeling herself, she greeted Saleema’s mother-in-law as she moved past her and into the foyer. Saleema and Nomaan were standing at the next set of doors which led into the hall the reception was to be held in and Reshma managed to hold herself together as she hugged her cousin and then her husband.
Saleema looked absolutely stunning, her face glowing with happiness as she stood beside Nomaan, their hands linked as they greeted guests. There was this aura about Saleema and Nomaan, which seemed to hold them apart from everything. Even when she was speaking to someone and he was speaking to someone else, you couldn’t miss the connection between them, it had a presence of its own. She couldn’t stop herself from reflecting on the fact that she’d thought she had that connection with Zafar these last few days but how wrong she’d been. It had all been an illusion.
Reshma moved with Haniya towards the tables reserved for their family and found the seat with her place card. She was putting her clutch down when she saw Zafar’s name card on the seat beside hers. The seat that would be empty for the reception.
She felt her throat close up and knew that she wouldn’t be able to hold back the tears that were now threatening to flood her eyes. She told Haniya she was going to the ladies’ but didn’t wait for her to acknowledge her before she weaved her way through the tables and went through a smaller set of doors in the corner of the hall and came back out in the foyer. Reshma moved through the melee of people still making their way into the hall and walkedout of the hotel, following the path away from the main entrance.
She stopped several metres away, where she could see the main entrance but was at enough of a distance that people wouldn’t see her, and then she let the tears fall.
27
Zafar
Zafar watched as Reshma came through the doors, her head bowed and her shoulders hunched and, as she made her way to the other side of the building, he saw Haniya follow after her. Neither of them had spotted him and as he stood there staring after them, he saw Haniya put her arm around Reshma’s shoulders as his wife seemed to break down into tears.
What on earth had happened?
Zafar hurried in their direction, walking past the entrance to the hotel and the line of guests making their way inside for the reception. The turnout looked just as big as it had been for the wedding.
He was almost directly behind Reshma when he heard her sobbing into her hands as Haniya rubbed her hand over her back, soothing her.
‘He left me, Niya.’ She sucked in an audible breath and he heard the depth of emotion in it. ‘After all that, he just left me. He said nothing. He didn’t bother telling me he was going. He didn’t suggest I go back with him. He didn’t even bother to say bye or see me before he left.’ Her voice broke as she covered her face with her hands.
‘Aww, Reshma, honey, please stop crying. I don’t know what’s happened or why you think Zaf would leave—’
‘Because that’s what happens to me. People don’t stay. They leave. They don’t want to be with me. I always say or do something that makes them want to leave and for Zafar nothing comes above his dedication to his work. Certainly not me. He didn’t want to be here, remember?’
This was about him?
Zafar didn’t know what to make of what he was seeing and hearing. What on earth had happened since this morning to make Reshma think he’d left her without a word?
‘Reshma?’
She jerked her head towards him at the sound of his voice, her tear-filled eyes wide and her lips parted in an O. Haniya turned to look at him too, surprise clearly etched on her face.
The three of them stood there staring at each other for a long moment until Haniya recovered her ability to speak. ‘You’re here?’
