SIX

 And as I stepped into the elegantly decorated hall a hush travelled around; it wasn’t something I wasn’t used to, so I ignored the staring eyes and scanned the place in search of my parents. I sighted them standing by the drinks stand with her parents, their cold gazes found mine and I cast them all a defiant look, I wasn’t sorry, I wanted them to know that.

 Our glare-off came to an end when my cousins suddenly crowded me, each one saying something different at once, and before I could say a word I felt a sharp pain on my arm caused by a pinch Sunaina had delivered, knowing how aggressive my cousins could be, I backed away from them. Low-key aggressive, yes, but aggressive nonetheless.

 “What took you so long, jerk?”. Sunaina hissed under her breath.

 I merely smiled at her as I regarded her wearily, her smooth face foundation tempting me. I reached for her nose subtly but she backed away waving her hands.

 “You’ll ruin my make-up”. She shrieked.

 That was the plan of course, but she didn’t need to know that.

 “And I’ll ruin that smug smirk of yours if that happens”. Came a lazy voice from God-knows-where; Dayyan.

 The others laughed as he walked to her, wrapped his hand around her waist and kissed her head.

 “Get a room will you?”. Kam said shaking her head.

 “No one’s asking you to look, Kamila”. Dayyan said, his hands still securely wrapped around his wife’s waist, his darkening eyes telling us all what he intended to do to her later on.

`

 “Yeah? You’re doing it right in front of us”. Samila, Kam’s twin stepped up for her sister.

 Sunaina rolled her eyes but said nothing, the wash of the red on her cheeks probably being the reason why.

 Waleed draped his hands over my shoulder lazily while the other held a flute of champagne. I don’t see them all in months, and when I do see them I remember just how problematic they can get. Nonetheless I smiled at him, unlike most of my cousins he and I bore great resemblance to each other, at times one was mistaken for the other.

 “Dayyan, seems like we could excuse you both at the moment”. He said smirking. “I hear the walls of the house are quite thick, and….sound proof”.

 Dayyan laughed, his arms only pulled Sunaina closer to his chest.

 Sam whistled quietly.

 “Interesting, if he can’t have her now then he may at least have her closer”. She said earning a high-five from her twin.

 Sunaina was all red now; all she did was roll her eyes at us all. As if it ever stopped anyone from teasing.

 “Oh well, you both soothe yourselves”. Kam said. “I can’t wait to see Hayfa, I wonder what she’s wearing, I bet she’ll look exquisite”.

I cleared my throat quietly but said nothing. I was suddenly feeling very….uncomfortable, and seeing Zarah and Hussein walking towards me didn’t make me feel better.

 “She looks good in everything”. Sunaina said smiling brightly.

 “I bet she will look rather ravishing”. Waleed said and laughed. He withdrew his hand from my shoulders only to nudge me playfully.

 “Ravishing huh”. Zarah said as they joined the small crowd, a sickening smirk plastered on her face.

 “Quite a wrong choice of word, brother, especially when her husband-to-be is standing so close”. Hussein spoke lazily, his expression being one of complete boredom. “There’s no respect anymore, what wretched times we live in”.

 Zarah tutted while Waleed rolled his eyes.

 Knowing Zarah and Hussein were quite sensitive about their resemblance since they got married, he said;

 “You guys twins or something?”.

 The others laughed and exchanged fist bumps. Hussein chuckled humorlessly before he stuck his middle finger out at Waleed who merely smirked at him lazily.

 “I can’t believe Yashall and Shaiyar missed this”. Sunaina said referring to more family members who were vacationing in….

 “Where are they again?”. I asked her.

 She seemed to think it through for a while before shrugging.

“Not here, I suppose”. She replied and I nodded.

“They’re never around those two, honestly I….”. Zarah begun saying but stopped when Aunt Yasmin’s authoritative voice cut in as she walked up to us.

“Enough of your chit chat, or at least you can carry on without Haidar”. She said.

  Her dark make up made her look like the typical villain in a child’s nightmare. She may have been my mother’s younger sister as well Kam and Sam’s mother but I didn’t have the slightest affection for her, she was always cold and distant, even to her children. And like always, she brought her frostiness with her, I watched the smiles on my cousin’s faces fade away slowly as did the warmth in their eyes.

 She swirled the rich red liquid in the glass she had in her hand before taking a small sip.

“Or perhaps you can mingle, I’m sure there’re guests to be conversed with”. She said.

Saying nothing more, the others begun to disperse and I wished I could go with them. And when I alone was left with her, she offered me a tightlipped smile before saying:

“Come with me”.

 I nodded and followed her as she lead me to were the elders had settled down looking anything but pleased.

“Good evening”. I said to them.

My parents, her parents, Hussein’s parents, and Zarah’s parents were there while the others were out there handling one group of guests or another. My mum gestured at a chair.

I didn’t want to sit with them but I did nonetheless after muttering a “Thank you”.

 “You were late”. Uncle Abdulrahman said.

I knew better than to try to argue with them, they were lethal business people who used their very calculative brains to get to where they were today.

“I was”. I agreed.

“You didn’t want to come, is that it?”. Aunt Atina said.

I chose to say nothing, they all knew I didn’t want to be here, why make me say it again?

“Is that it?”. She asked again.

I had to stop myself from rolling my eyes.

“Yes, I didn’t want to come. I do not want to be here, and I’d very much appreciate it if all your arrangements were canceled”. I replied.

“They will not be canceled”. She said simply.

“I am not ready for this”. I told them.

“You’re not ready for what? You’re not ready to meet Hayfa?”. Uncle Abdulrahman said.

Once again I chose to say nothing.

“Listen Haidar, this arrangement that you despise so much, it had been made since you were born. I’d advise you against ruining it”. He said. “And as for Hayfa, she doesn’t have a in this either”.

 “She has lived her whole life training to be your wife”. Aunt Atina said, she was supposed to be Hayfa’s mother yet she seemed so unaffected by the fact that her daughter had been subjected to such a miserable life.

I felt my blood in my veins.

“And you think that’s right?”. I asked her.

They all seemed shocked for a second, but they recovered quickly. Aunt Atina dragged in a deep before saying;

“Hayfa will be making her entrance in a short time, and you will be standing at the bottom of the stairs waiting to take her hand when she gets here”. 

 The words go to hell were at the tip of my tongue but I forced them back. I took a deep breath to calm myself, I let my eyes move around the hall uninterestedly, I found that there weren’t many unfamiliar faces, everyone present was either family or business associates. There was no such thing as friendship for the Kassems.

“Where are her mates from school?”. I asked.

 They seemed uninterested in my question thus I didn’t get a reply.

“They weren’t invited?”. I asked Aunt Atina directly.

She raised her glass to her lips and took a small sip of wine.

“No. They’re not fit to mingle with us”. She replied.

 That was it, I had had my fill of their……I had had enough of them for the evening.

“Excuse me”. I said as I pushed my seat back and stood up. And just as I was about to walk away, the lights dimmed and the lime light settled at the top of the stairs, and she stepped into it.