Wrong Suffered At Hands (Chapter Fourteen)

14.

How would you classify the afterlife of a marriage: blissful, romantic, outings, feasts, and children? No, none of these came to pass for Afiyah. She discovered she was no longer at her old home when a thunderous knock against the door the following morning startled her awake. It took her a moment to recognize that she wasn’t in her bed, and that Sameer wasn't sleeping on the mat on the floor. The ceiling was foreign, as was the surroundings.

The instant she discovered Affan laying next to her with a decent distance between them, her throat tightened as if she were being strangled by her own breath.

The ritual began with Soraya instructing her to prepare something sweet, saying, "That's exactly how the daughter-in-laws starts their day in our household, they prepare sweets for the family."

The situation was calm up until Soraya let out a bloodcurdling screech to prevent Afiyah from pouring all the milk into the sauce pan.

"Learn to be frugal."

Afiyah was quite agitated by the brief, straightforward phrase. It will require some time for Afiyah to adapt the unfamiliar setting.

 

 

 

"Are you contented here?" While giving Afiyah a hug, her aunt asked.

Afiyah detested inquiries of this nature. How could she be content after only two days there when she needs a few weeks to get to know everyone?

 She said, "I am glad for now, the rest would vary depending on the circumstances." precisely as she had opined.

“Look, You don't know how marriages operate," she said as she guided Afiyah to a corner while holding her arm. "You'll need to be astute, deliberate, and decisive."

Afiyah stared at her and despised the way she attempted to be her mother even though she had ignored her pleas in the kitchen.

"Keep your husband unexpected. I'm not suggesting that you engage in combat with him, but you'll need to learn how to maintain control over your husband. Get Affan in your palms before it's too late, and his mother is wise, as she seems.”

Afiyah grimaced inside.

"You get it?”

“Yes, I do.” She had the warmest grin. However, she was struggling internally with the words she had just witnessed; a woman provoking another woman to hold her husband in her hands. The ideas caught her off guard and made her feel guilty.

Before the night of her wedding, Afiyah had discarded her phone, repeatedly pounding at it with a sledgehammer until it was broken into multiple pieces. When she tied the pieces together in a knot and threw them in the garbage, she exhaled with relief. She was relieved when she realized there wouldn't be anyone to frighten or terrify her anymore.

However, she was wholly mistaken. When she caught Khizar sneaking looks at her from the corner, her hopes were shattered. The venue wasn't too packed, but it was plenty for Khizar to sit in the alcove and perform eye tricks with Afiyah.

When he gestured for her to follow him with a simple tip of his head towards the door and then headed outside, she knew his recent intentions towards her weren't positive.

Afiyah looked across at Affan, who was laughing at some jokes his cousin had just said. He had a crooked grin that was so pleasant that it even reached his eyes.

She followed Khizar with trembling legs and weak knees after analyzing her environs.

 "I didn't think you'd show, but you're brave."

“What do you want now?” She spat at Khizar, who was standing by the wall. The area was an alleyway inside her house on the opposite corner.

"If you're prepared to offer it to me, I want everything." He nibbled at his lips in the most sensual way, which actually caused Afiyah to feel queasy occasionally.

 "For the love of your God, let me go. I'm now married." She begged, almost feeling resentful of herself for standing in front of him.

"Exactly, and believe me when I say that the actual game has just begun."

He edged closer to her, causing her to back up in defense, "I have your pictures that I may send to your husband. But, if you do as I demand, I'll delete your images." he said as his gaze drifted to her mouth.

"That is not something you would do. I implore you."

"I've got my condition."

"What exactly is it?" She said in between floods of tears that sprang to her eyes.

“Spend a night with me; please me and I’ll let you go?”

It took her a quite a while to comprehend what he was asking for. Her heart leapt as she understood what his intents were. The optimism of her fresh start came crashing down at her as if the foliage of late fall tumbling down one after another.

"I'm confident you're not a maiden anymore." He added, "I'm sure."

"Are you in your right mind?" She wasn't bawling because she knew she couldn't, but the moisture in her eyes caused her voice thick and her eyesight cloudy.

"I stated my request, and the decision is now yours. Your husband can tell from your photos—which maybe aren't offensive or despicable—that you had sexual interaction with me before to being married."

She retreated from him as she shivered in dread.

"Give it some thought, and then get back to me. I'll be patient." He sneered at her and simply walked away.

Afiyah had to grab a hold of the wall for stability because she could see the earth beneath her feet withering away, and she was slipping into misery.

 

 

The screeching sound reverberated into her room as though it were chalk striking the blackboard. Affan was pulling the chair where he froze, and when she glanced up, he had a contrite grin on his face. With a stone face, Afiyah returned her attention to her hands, which she was fidgeting with in her lap.

"It was rather loud." He chuckles faintly, like a bird tweeting in the morning.

"In light of this, friends do worry when they see their pals sobbing in a corner. Could you please explain what happened?"

"It's insignificant."

"If you don't want to tell me effortlessly, I could force you to do such."

She peered at him and noticed the tranquil smile on his face. He was concerned, which is understandable given that he had been witnessing Afiyah cry nonstop for the last week.

Afiyah was urged to see her family since he assumed she may miss them, but she denied. He had made an effort to ignore her hiccups and the sobbing emanating from the bathroom, but that particular day, he simply had to inquire as to what had transpired.

“I... I'm stressed." she began before deciding to lie to Affan and dismiss his concerns, "I'm under mental strain, therefore it'll take me some time to adjust to this setting. I'm learning everything, and I'll soon adapt the settings here.” She turned away from his stare.

"You see, Afiyah. There are just three of us: I, you, and my mother. Our family is pretty small. It will be preferable if you implement these changes as soon as possible since it won't work if you simply sit here and sob all day. You have a home to maintain in addition to me and my mother. I brought you here-”  He broke off, groaning as he realized what he had just said," I mean I married you, after all, so that you could look after my mother. I want you to be the support for her that she needs—a human support."

Her heart bleeding within, she nodded.

"I have high expectations of you now that I have entrusted my mother's responsibilities to you."

When Affan stood up, Afiyah looked up; he unintentionally tinkered with his shirt's buttons, loosening them one by one. He complained about the sweltering temperature as he proceeded to remove his shirt.

He was nearly about to take off his shirt when Afiyah glanced away, she looked anywhere but him. When Afiyah cleared her throat, the awkward situation became worse.

“Oh… I apologize, I apparently forgot. I'll change in the bathroom."

Even when Affan staggered to the restroom with his shirt undone and hanging from his shoulders, they dared not look each other in the eye.

Upon hearing the bathroom door lock, she relaxed. Afiyah found it strange and unsettling to witness Affan almost changing in front of her while he was unaware.

 

She felt at ease that Affan hadn't mentioned establishing physical interactions yet, but it was becoming uncomfortable for them both to share a bed while maintaining a significant distance between them and taking care not to touch as they slept.

After a week, she understood that Affan was a mature and sensible man, as Sameer had previously told her. He was a tall, tanned, and strong man with a well-built body and muscles; he exuded strength from his body. She was relieved to learn that his food preferences were similar to those of Afiyah.

His mother, meanwhile, was an entirely different plotline. Afiyah was concerned about the health of the elderly woman who stayed in bed all day and called her anytime she needed anything. She was becoming more frail by the day.

Afiyah was warned by Soraya not to cry in front of Sameer or her father, "They would assume that you're upset. They could believe I'm not doing enough to keep you content here, which is the last thing I want."

Afiyah found it challenging to comprehend her mother-in-law.