‘No, I’ll go with you,’ Hina said, trying to jump off the bed but immediately getting pulled down by her heavy bridal dress....
COVER STORY
‘My idea to make tonight better,’ Hina said, over the sound of the repairman hammering away at the heater in their hotel room, ‘is to get fast food.’
Sameer stared at her. ‘Fast food?’ he repeated after her.
‘Think about it. Fries and burgers. I could really go for a good burger right now,’ Hina said.
‘Are you hungry?’ Sameer asked.
Hina nodded. ‘I didn’t eat much at the barat,’ she said.
Sameer jumped up. ‘I will go get something for you as soon as possible,’ he said.
‘No, I’ll go with you,’ Hina said, trying to jump off the bed but immediately getting pulled down by her heavy bridal dress.
‘You can’t come like that,’ Sameer said.
‘Neither can you,’ Hina said.
‘We can change,’ both said together. The heater shuddered with a sickening crack under the impact of another tool.
‘I don’t want to do anything with the repairman still in the room,’ Hina said. ‘Just order the food.’
Sameer grinned. ‘That’s a better idea.’ He opened an app on his phone and started tapping away. ‘What do you want to eat?’ he asked.
Hina hesitated. ‘Do you want me to order for you?’ Sameer asked.
‘No,’ Hina said. ‘It’s not that. I know what I want. I want a chicken burger meal with Coke, an apple pie and a chocolate fudge sundae.’ She studied Sameer’s face intently to judge at the receipt of this information. Sameer’s face did not crease.
‘Are we sharing the sundae or is this an ‘order your own dessert’ situation?’ Sameer asked.
Once again, Hina hesitated. ‘I’m ordering my own pie,’ Sameer said in response.
‘That’s all right,’ Hina said.
‘Are you sure that’s all you want?’ Sameer asked.
‘Barbecue sauce,’ Hina said. ‘For the fries,’ she added.
‘Good choice,’ Sameer said. ‘Last call for fast food.’
‘I don’t want anything more,’ Hina said.
‘There,’ Sameer said. ‘It’s ordered.’ A shuddering thwack from the repair process drew their attention. ‘This is going to go on for a bit,’ Sameer said. Sameer and Hina stared at each other.
‘Would it be completely inappropriate if I give you your bridal gift right now?’ Sameer asked.
Hina frowned. ‘Yes, it would be,’ she said. ‘I don’t want my moonh dikhai under these circumstances. You can just hold onto it until there is a better time and place.’
Sameer’s face fell. Then he cheered up. ‘I can think of a better place,’ he said, ‘but it’s a secret.’
‘Oh, a secret? What is this place?’ Hina asked.
Sameer grinned. ‘I should have told you about this place before, but with the whole ban on our talking and all, I just couldn’t get permission. I decided to go ahead and get this place anyway. I think you’ll like it.’
‘This place? What place? What are you talking about?’ Hina asked.
Sameer raised a finger to his lips. ‘Shh,’ he said. ‘I’ll tell you later.’
Soon, but not soon enough, Sameer’s phone rang with the call from the food delivery man. He asked reception to have it sent to their room. When there was a knock on the door, Sameer opened it and received their meal.
Hina rubbed her hands together. ‘Finally,’ she said.
‘Let’s eat on this little side table here,’ Sameer said. ‘Do you want a hand with your dress?’
‘I’ll manage,’ Hina said. They ended up around the side table, with all their food spread out between them.
‘That’s good,’ Hina said after devouring her burger and fries. ‘Do you want your fries?’ she asked.
‘My fries, your fries,’ Sameer said. Hina helped herself. ‘Leave some for me, though,’ he added. ‘I will,’ Hina said.
‘Do you feel better?’ Sameer asked when they were done eating. ‘How long have you been hungry?’
‘I haven’t had anything since breakfast,’ Hina said. Glancing at the clock, she added, ‘Yesterday.’
Sameer’s eyebrows shot up. ‘All because of the dress?’ he asked.
‘The dress, the day, the people, the photographer.’ Hina yawned. ‘I have to do it all over again tomorrow.’
‘No, tomorrow you will eat,’ Sameer said firmly.
‘It’s just going to be a repeat of the barat day,’ Hina said, stretching lazily.
‘No, it is not,’ Sameer said. ‘You are in our house now, if you haven’t noticed, and in our house, you don’t go hungry without a good reason.’
‘I am currently in a hotel,’ Hina said. ‘I don’t know this ‘our house’ business you speak of.’ But she smiled.
********
The day of the walima dawned far too soon for the two sleepyheads. When they got their wake-up call, Hina snuggled deeper into the blankets. ‘I don’t want to get up,’ she said.
‘Hina,’ Sameer said.
‘The heater is on after all the time it took to repair it last night, the blankets are warm, I could just lie here all day,’ Hina said.
‘Hina,’ Sameer said, more insistently.
‘Five more minutes,’ Hina said.
‘Hina, I’m telling you for the first and last time, if I fall back asleep after this, neither of us will get up and we’ll be roused by a search party from both our homes,’ Sameer said.
‘Throw off the blanket then,’ Hina said.
Sameer groaned. ‘I can’t let myself go back to sleep,’ he said.
‘Get up, then!’ Hina said, rolling over. Sameer lay with his eyes closed and the blanket up to his chin.
‘You get up first,’ he said.
‘You get up,’ she said.
The backup alarm on Hina’s phone blared thirty minutes later.
‘We overslept!’ Sameer sprang out of the bed.
‘Huh? I was having such a good dream,’ Hina said. ‘We were getting married and-’
‘Hina, we have to go do the walima in real life now! Get up!’ Sameer headed for the bathroom.
All things considered, it was a miracle that Hina was only fifteen minutes late to her bridal makeup appointment. Gohar and Amani were there before her.
‘Ooo!’ Gohar squealed.
‘Let’s see, let’s see!’ Amani stretched out her hands.
‘What?’ Hina tried to get past them to get into the beauty parlour. ‘What do you want?’
‘Look at her, she’s gone from ‘awesome to see you’ to ‘what do you want’ overnight!’ Amani said. ‘We want to see your moonh dikhai, silly!’
Hina clapped a hand to her forehead. ‘I don’t have it,’ she said.
‘You left it behind at the hotel?’ Gohar asked.
‘You dropped it?’ Amani asked.
‘It broke?’ Gohar added.
‘It’s fake?’ Amani suggested.
‘Oh, be quiet, both of you!’ Hina shook her head at them. ‘I have to get in there. It wasn’t the right environment for the moonh dikhai last night.’
Silence fell. Two pairs of eyes stared holes into her face.
‘You don’t understand,’ Hina said in a rush. ‘We were stuck with the repairman for such a long time that by the time he left, it was too late, and we were dropping from exhaustion anyway.’
‘Repairman?’ Gohar asked. ‘What on earth do you mean, Hina?’
‘Too late?’ Amani asked. ‘What kind of girl comes out of her wedding night without moonh dikhai?’
‘This one,’ Hina said, and she shoved them both to make her way inside.
To be continued…
