14. SIMRA'S RITUAL

"Aqsa".

"Aqsa…."

'Huhh..?" Ifra looked around and saw Kaif standing behind her. Just as she looked at him, she knew Kaif had noticed her tears, and there was a big frown formed in his face at that exact moment. She turned around and wiped her tears with the back of her hand. Then take a few breaths to calm her down because she knew she needed energy to have a talk with Kaif. She faced him and said in an irritated tone,

"What …?"

"Did he do anything to you...you're crying..."Kaif asked her in a concerning voice as he saw her teary eyes and red nose.

Wonderful, truly wonderful... ifra thought now I have to explain that to everyone.

Heyy … You know, my ex just called me a cheater because he thought I was my twin, and that's why I am crying. Is this town full of gossipers...? ifra thought.

"Don't you have any other work to do, like flirt with every other girl in here?" She said so that their topic can be changed because she is way too irritated with the fact that Kaif saw her crying. She didn't even realize that he actually wanted to know if someone was hurt because then he would have to pay that person a personal visit.

As she said this, Kaif knew that Aqsa ( ifra) was trying to change the topic, so he didn't push the matter further.

"Actually, I am only interested in your gossip...Because you actually look beautiful when you're angry...but I don't want you crying." He said it with a frown.

"I was wrong. You have other work to do, like flirting; it's just that...right now I am the other girl," Ifra said, pointing to herself.

Just as she said, this Kaif is confused; he wants to smile or roll his eyes at Ifraa's statement.

"Only if you know...sweetheart, you are the only girl..." he said, looking into Ifra's eyes with an intensity that Ifra could sense.

So she rolled her eyes and said, "Listen, Mr. Kaif, I told you not to flirt with me...

"And I told you it was too late to tell now," he said as he approached her.

"Do you really think of me like any other girl who runs behind you innocently because you think you're some prince charming?" Ifra questioned.

"Oh please sweetheart…I never think of myself as a prince charming," Kaif said as he came to a halt and smiled at Ifra. "How about a cunning king who always gets his way?" he winks.

Ifra shrug "Too bad for you that I am not interested in knowing what you want?"

"Well, then, you should be."

"And care to tell why?" Look her in the eyes once more, Kaif.

"Because it's you," he said as he took a step toward her.

And Ifra looked into his intense blue eyes and found something like the truth, which made her want to just run away from Kaif.

Ifra and Kaif were standing, looking into each other's eyes. When Kaif's intense gaze started to make Ifra's heartbeat faster, she took a step back, turned around, and ran away without saying anything. On the other hand, Kaif is just confused as to why he always behaves like this in front of her, like he can't control what he feels and just says it without a second thought, and Ifra always runs away from him. He knows that he always flirts with girls, but what he does with this girl is much more than just flirting. He remembered the scared expression on Aqsa's face when he said he wanted her. A faint smile fell on his face, and he walked away from her.

Ifra, who stopped in her tracks to calm her heart, looked behind her and saw that Kaif was gone. She takes deep breaths, picks up a glass of water, and drinks it whole. When she stops drinking, she gets the feeling that she is forgetting something, but what is it? When she heard "Hey, what are you doing here?" she turned around to see the owner of the voice, her twin sister, who was just walking toward her. "You were supposed to call Simra."

When this hit her, she knew she needed to see Simra: "Oh yeah, I remember now that I was supposed to call her, sorry I forgot."

Aqsa looked at Ifra, puzzled, and said, "You forgot it...really, Ifra?""This is your own sister's Mayyon."

Ifra felt a little guilty that she couldn't even focus on her sister's wedding because of her own personal drama, but she said, "Yeah, yeah, I know I'm sorry, now let's go." Ifra holds Aqsa's hand, and both of them start walking toward Simra.

After some time, the ritual begins, with Simra sitting on a chair wearing a red heavy duppatta, and Ifra and Aqsa standing on either side of Simra's chair. Simra's in–laws come one by one on stage and start to give her a lot of gifts. Some even adorned her with gold jewellery and roses with jewelry. The whole banquet erupts with the fragrance of roses. Everyone has a very pleasing smile on their faces; some even have tears in their eyes like Sheeba, who is so overwhelmed with all the emotion she is feeling as the mother of a bride. Ifra and Aqsa have the same expression on their faces, making it nearly impossible to identify both of them.

When it's Kaif's turn to come on a stage to give gifts to Simra... This time, it took him a few seconds to realize which one was his girl. And when he saw her, she rolled her eyes in annoyance.

Ifra is trying her best to confuse Kaif, but he still recognizes her, and she knows that he too sometimes gets confused between her and Aqsa.

Now that the ritual is complete and all the in-llaws of Simra are gone, it's time for the actual Haldi ritual for Simra's family.