Chapter 32 : The Saloon

"It s called heterochromia iridis," the name instantly made Maryam discombobulated and she stared blankly at Dr Summayah who only smiled before she repeated the words to her.
"Can you say it again please? I want to tell him too." She didn t ask who was the him, because she knew asking too much questions wasn't a good idea on the first day. Yet, it was time to make her feel comfortable speaking with her and before they ended the call, Maryam had smiled at her twice and she walked out of the office and found them into a heated conversation. It looked like it was just Nafisa that did the talking but whatever it was, it was certainly taking a toll on her and she meant every word she was saying.
Na im stood up when he saw her and it looked to Maryam as though he had been looking for a way out and hadn t found any until she came out. He bade Nafisa goodbye and thanked her while Maryam only nodded when she said goodbye to her, but she had seen tears in her eyes, which bothered her. Nafisa was a happy woman, Maryam had thought. And unless one was in pain like herself, who would cry? Or he made her cry to?
She waited until they sat in the car before she turned to look at him and saw that he had one of those hard looks of his as he focused on the road. But curiosity took the best of her that she had to ask him. "Did you make her cry too?"
Na im turned at the accusation he heard laced on her tone and he decided today wasn t a good day to fight with her. Not when Nafisa had riled him up with her useless talks about marriage and love, he knew if he started to vent out at Maryam, things might go haywire and this bond he felt they had created might crumble right before his eyes and her mental health...he didn t want to risk that either.
He ignored her instead and kept driving while he did all he could to calm himself down and Na im didn t turn to her until he parked in front of the saloon he had looked up on instagram and he turned to look at her. "She made me angry and cry afterwards."
She was confused but still decided to say what she had been thinking about them all this while, "I thought you like her, don't you? Because then, when you used to yell at me and say you ll kill me, I first saw your smile the day she came. I thought she was your friend."
He smiled as he unbuckled his seatbelt and told her to do the same before he turned to face her fully, "She's not my friend and I was only smiling at her so she will be nice to you. But she wants to be more than my friend."
"What will that make her be, if she becomes more than your friend?" He got out of the car but didn t close the door when he answered.
"She wants to be my wife. Now, get out of the car, lets get in."
Maryam stayed rooted to her spot until she was capable enough to speak, "But I'm your wife, aren t I?" The smile he had flashed her was so soul melting that she had to look away and angrily hopped out of the car. Be his wife? And then he would abandon her if he had that sleek and beautiful woman as his wife!
....
She came out of the car sulking her face that when Na im walked other side, he couldn't help the grin that plastered on his face. "What's with the face, Mairo?" He joked and she glared at him without even knowing she did. If he had noticed well, Maryam had a temper she didn t even know she had and it got loose at the slightest of things.
"You can t call me that." She said and began to look around the huge plaza, "Where are we going? It s the saloon, right?" She could read and write from the years she had spent in School before she felt the bullying she was getting was too much and finally, the school authority relieved her of the stress of it all and dismissed her. She pointed at the shop at him and he slightly nodded his head.
They walked in silence, but the way the small openings of her nose were flaring to show her anger was the cutest thing he had ever seen. He knew if she was to be asked why she was angry, she might not even know why, she was just angry and to say it directly, at him . He followed behind her after he had nodded his head to the question and silence prevailed between them. Whenever he was together with her, there were times he appreciated the silence because it gave him the chance to think of what he was doing and decided whether he was going too far from what he should do or not.
Even though he knew what he had planned on doing today was him going too far, but Na im didn t think there was a way out of it. It had to be done and by solely no one but him. She stopped at the entrance of the saloon and he chuckled internally, knowing so well she couldn t go there head first before him. "Why have you stopped?" He asked before he took a few steps back and rested half his body on the railing.
She looked squarely at him, as if she knew he should know what she meant and take the right step. But seeing him relaxing on the railing was only evident that he didn t wish to do the right and might as well enjoy making things hard on her life. Maryam decided she wasn t convinced to wash her hair anymore, it might just be a hidden life sentence for her and wordlessly, she began to walk away before he held her wrist and she gasped, throwing his hand away as fast as he could.
"Oh, I'm sorry, I should ve called your name first." He apologized and she only fondled the spot his hand had touched lightly before she nodded her head, despite the anger she felt for him within. "Where are you going?"
She took her time to answer, because it felt as though the words were becoming more and more hard for her to utter now that she was angry but she managed to bring them out. "Let s go back home, I'm not washing my hair again."
"Why?" Even though he had foreseen that from the way she had looked at him while he stood that way, but he didn t imagine that she was fast at making such a decision. The last time they had spoken about the saloon, she was equally excited. "I thought you were so excited to get your hair washed, Mairam? It s so dirty, I m telling you."
She rolled her eyes without knowing at him and Na im couldn t be more moved by something than that. She was about to speak when he abruptly stopped her and moved closer to her, "Do that thing again," he asked, filled to the brim with utter curiosity.
Maryam chuckled at how excited he seemed before she shrugged her shoulders innocently, "What is it? I didn t do anything." She was smiling at him, her anger long forgotten at bay because of the way he was eagerly waiting for her. Maybe a smile from him was all she wanted, or the little attention he had shown her was enough for her to forget her anger.
"No," he said as he shook his head stubbornly before he stood right in front of her, "You just rolled your eyes, I don t know how you did it but it seems to be the cutest movement your eyes could ever do-" his last words were made guttural when she involuntarily fluttered her eyes innocently to show him that she didn t make any thing as such, and Na im was stuck between which eye movement was the most perfect and inviting. And no matter how much he debated it, he knew that eye fluttering was the best and he might as well be staring right into a fairy s eyes.
"God! Your eyes are so beautiful, Mairam!" He exclaimed and she chuckled, her eyes involuntarily wandering to the saloon s door that had just been opened.
"Captain Na im?" The help girl had called out and they all turned at once while Maryam hide behind his body and he placed an arm on her to show her that she was as secured as she wanted to be. "Come in please, the reservation is ready."
He turned to Maryam after the girl had disappeared back into the saloon and his voice was softer than a butter, "I had to make a reservation because a man can t enter and I know I have to be there before you can get it done, right?" She nodded her head right away that made Na im suspected whether or not she had understood what he had said, but he continued anyway. "So, let s go in and be at your best character, okay? They won t hurt you while I'm there, will they?"
She shook her head, but there was still this uncertainty that lingered through her eyes which Na im knew he had to do something about it. Because he couldn t have her panicking in there for a single touch made on her hair. "I come along with my gun, we can use it anytime, that s if they try to hurt you. Now, just relax and hold my hand, will you?" She stared at his outstretched hand towards her before she took a few breaths and placed hers in it. He entwined their fingers and her tiny yet perfectly shaped hand fitted right into his as though it had been created for his hand, the thought simply made him smile.
They walked into the saloon together and Maryam was so carried away with the things she had seen when they were ushered into the VIP section, where he had made his reservation. And it turned out, the owner of the place was someone he knew from the series of classmates he had and when she found them there, Na im didn't know what to say to cover up his lie since Maryam was being so difficult to even take her veil off. And what she did amazed him, for she didn t ask a single question about who she was and already imagined it was a niece he was attached to, that calmed him down.
"I'll take it from here, Yana. Go and attend the other clients." She had said and walked towards Maryam with the warmest smile on her lips. "What s her name?" She asked, directing her question towards Na im.