Chapter 28

Atifa's pov :

"I told you to sit straight and don't move. Or else I won't be able to do your hairstyle correctly." Emaan chided while getting annoyed, a frown adorning her face. Sighing and sitting straighter, I turned to look at her.

"When I'm going to wear my hijab, what is the need for this hairstyle?" I asked her while quoting the word 'hairstyle', getting annoyed myself. I had been sitting there for the past hour and she was still not yet done with me. She kept saying it's almost done but I knew she wouldn't let me go so easily.

"Keep quiet and this is the last time I'm saying, don't move. Or else I might accidentally poke you with this pin or something." She replied, frustrated. "And we get married just once in our lifetime, might as well enjoy it to the fullest. So let me do it for your and your future husband's sake." She added in a teasing tone, making me glare at her. "Oh and for my sake too. It will help me practice some nice hairstyles for myself." She added with a grin as she turned me back to my old position.

"Yeah, right!" I muttered but did as she told me to. I couldn't even watch myself until she was done with me. 'That's a rule and believe me, you will look more beautiful after you are ready and you finally look at yourself!' She had exclaimed happily. Honestly, I had never heard of that rule before. But since I knew she wouldn't budge, I had agreed. But now I was kind of regretting it because she had taken it too seriously and wouldn't even let me check how much of her work was left.

I sighed while scrolling through my mobile. Emaan chuckled, "I promise it's almost done this time, I'm just pinning the remaining pearls to your hair, then you are done."

"I don't believe your promises anymore." I mumbled and pouted like a child, making her laugh.

"Okay, don't make me laugh while I'm using pins, I might poke you." Controlling herself, she warned with a grin.

"I wasn't joking that it made you laugh." I muttered back. We got the kids ready before Emaan started her experiment on me. Other than me, only Emaan was left to get ready. I hoped ammi had already gotten ready or else we would have to nag her to do that. I didn't know about him though... But why was I even thinking about him?

Before I could think about him, or anything else, Emaan's voice brought me out of my thoughts. "Tadaaa! And we are done!" Exclaiming, she let her hands fall by her side.

Sighing in relief, I looked at her gratefully. "Alhamdulillah!" Exclaiming, I stood up to see what she did to my poor face.

But before I could turn around to look at myself, she held my shoulders, stopping me. "Just a minute more." Grinning, she made me sit again and started taking out strands of my hair from the front, framing my face. "Okay, now go and change while I get my makeup done." Smiling sweetly, she told me.

"Yeah I'm going to do just that, but first let me see myself." Raising a brow, I replied as I stood up and turned around.

I could only take a glimpse of myself when she came in front of me. "No, first change and then you can see." Instructing me sternly, she pointed towards the washroom with my dress in her hands. Before I could argue, she added, looking at me with her puppy eyes. "Please Atifa, it's getting late already and even I have to get ready. So go and change before your mom comes in and have a mini panic attack."

Groaning in frustration, I complied while taking my dress from her and turned around to go to the washroom. She had a point. Ammi would literally have a mini panic attack realising we were not ready yet. A smile made its way onto my face as I realised even my washroom had a mirror. Maybe Emaan forgot about it. Grinning, I entered the washroom and closed the door quickly before she could realise it and change her mind. I turned to look at the mirror but as soon as my eyes landed on it, a frustrated groan escaped my lips. "Emaaaaannn!"

I could hear her laughter from behind the closed doors. I was not going to leave this girl! Deciding to take my revenge when the time comes, I glared at my - now ruined - mirror. She had gone out of her way by using lipstick and scribbling gibberish on the mirror. At the end she wrote, 'I did not forget about it' with a smiley face. Now I couldn't even see my reflection there.

A sigh escaped my lips as I changed into my dress and prayed that the fitting fits me well. Surprisingly, it did Alhamdulillah. Smiling slightly, I looked down at my dress and ran my hand through its fabric. I had imagined my wedding day when I was a kid. Even as I got older, I had thought about it. Maybe not much but yeah, at times I did. I'm sure almost every girl has thought about it at least once in their lifetime. But since that incident, I stopped thinking about it, let alone getting married this early. I thought that I would, maybe, complete my studies and help ammi financially.

But as it is said, we plan and God plans and He is the best of Planners. I was sure there must be khair in this decision of His. I trust Him more than anyone in my life. And I knew no matter what, He won't abandon me or let me make any wrong decision.

With these thoughts in my mind, I stepped out of the washroom, still looking down, only to be greeted by my heels resting on the mat. Wearing them, I looked up to find Emaan looking at me in awe. Rolling my eyes at her, I went towards the mirror. "Wow!" Emaan breathed out as she stood up from the dressing table, leaving her makeup in the middle. "I knew that you would look beautiful, but I wasn't expecting for it to turn out this..." She trailed off, trying to find a perfect word to describe me. "Stunning!" She murmured absent-mindedly, still gazing at me. "I wish I was a boy so that I could marry such a beautiful young lady." She added with a grin while keeping her hand on her heart in a dramatic manner.

Chuckling at her, I stood in front of the mirror. Looking at myself, I couldn't believe that I was the same girl as before. Not that I couldn't recognise myself or something. I had requested Emaan to do a light nude makeup look on me, and she had truly outdone herself.

The french tail and the hair strands framing my face, made my features stand out. My eyes were sparkling more than usual and the small smile resting on my nude pink lips didn't seem to leave me. The light makeup looked natural and went well with my cream coloured beaded gown.

I was still looking at myself, examining myself, when I heard a click, bringing me out of my trance. Blinking my eyes, I saw Emaan clicking my pictures from behind me. "Emaan!" I shook my head at her antics and turned away from the mirror. "Get ready, it's getting late. Ammi will come here anytime now and if she watches you like this then you know the consequences." Reminding her, I made my way towards the bed and sat down.

She was still clicking my pictures, making me glare at her playfully. "Okay okay, I will get ready but please don't glare. Your pictures won't come out good." Laughing, she pleaded with a pout. I rolled my eyes as a smile made its way on my face once again. "Yeah exactly that cute smile!" She added with a smile as she started telling me poses to take a few more pictures.

._._._.

I couldn't stop playing with my bracelet - the one which Emaan gifted me - absent-mindedly, as I sat in front of the mirror all dolled up, ready to go downstairs whenever I would be called. Emaan was sitting with me, thankfully ready now, and clicking our pictures. She was wearing a light pink coloured gown, her hair left open with light makeup. She looked gorgeous.

The kids had come by a while ago, and after gushing over how beautiful we were looking and taking pictures with us, they ran downstairs to watch the decoration. I didn't even know they were decorating downstairs. But maybe, since my uncle - ammi's brother - arrived with his family, he might have insisted on doing it with his sons. They didn't have any daughter and since I was the first girl born in the family, they loved me like their own daughter. I was glad that they came by even on such a short notice, since I was missing abbu terribly. Maybe with them being here, I might not feel as lonely as I would have felt without them.

Even Emaan's family arrived a while back. Her mom came to meet me with mami. And now they were all downstairs, probably helping ammi. Surprisingly, ammi didn't come to check up on me yet. Given the outburst earlier, I thought she would be the first one to come and see me. But I guessed she was avoiding me. Or most probably wanted to distract herself from being emotional again.

I was brought out of my thoughts by the ringing of the phone. Looking at Emaan, I saw an annoyed look crossing her face. Raising a brow, I silently asked her what's wrong. She just shook her head as she picked up the call. Sighing, I picked up my phone to distract myself. I was clicking my hand pictures when my attention was caught by Emaan. "Okay, can you take some pictures of Saad?" She rolled her eyes as she added, "Please bhai, will you take some pictures of Saad and send us?"

I was looking at her wide eyed and when she looked back at me, she chuckled. Ending the call, she gave me a mischievous look before asking me innocently. "What happened Atifa?"

I narrowed my eyes at her. "You don't know what happened?" I countered back. "Why do you want his pictures now when we will be going down and you can see him yourself." And as an afterthought, I added, "Actually, why do you even want to see him, you should be lowering your gaze, right?" I raised my brow at her.

"Oh, can you smell something?" She asked me with a frown as she sniffed and looked around. Furrowing my brows, I sniffed. Just as I was about to ask her what, she added with a smirk. "Something burning."

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GLOSSARY :

- Mami - Mom's sister-in-law, mamu's wife.

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