Your Imperfections

Chapter 5

“See you,” I announce to my family before walking through the doors and closing them behind me.

I spot him leaning against his car, his arms folded across his chest, one ankle crossed over the other, and a hat that covers his head and shields his eyes from the faint glow of the sun. From his black Doc Martens, black skinny jeans, and a black T-shirt, I can tell he is in a lovely mood today.

I chanel every ounce of patience I have to the very top of myself, because I get this feeling I’d be needing it a lot today. Speaking of a lot, where are we even going?

“Are you just going to stand there like a statue?”

Maybe more patience needed than I have.

Looking down for the step, I realize I am also wearing the same shoes as he is, except mine are a bit higher. Great. So, now we are twinning. If there was anything that couldn’t bother me, was that if he’d not play any music in the car, because I just can’t bare it.

In my white tights, and an oversized, blue, pull sleeves dress that reaches below my knees, and a blue scarf, I almost feel comfortable. But when I reach him, he just makes it his mission to kill me by his uncomfortable gaze. For someone having an Australian accent, he should be very less Pakistani.

I love my Country, don’t get me wrong. Maybe if he just didn’t act like the men in our society, I’d perhaps consider him decent.

“Um, Selam.” I look everywhere and anywhere, except in his eyes.

Why is he so tall? It makes me feel small, and weak, even though I am quite tall for girls my age.

“Lets skip the formalities, shall we?” I can hear the annoyance that is probably displayed on his face. “Before you create a scene about not wanting to sit in the front seat, let me give you some advice.” He straightens up, taking a step forward. “If you wouldn’t whine about anything, you’ll see how bareable I can be. However, if you can’t help but be a brat, which my senses tell me you for sure are, I’ll be your worst nightmare ever. I bet watching Frozen wouldn’t help either, since I’ve heard all girls after watching a scary movie watch it to have a good nights sleep.”

Uh.

Um.

Okay.

I wave a hand. “Get aside.”

He does.

I slide inside the passenger seat, pulling the door force with as much force as possible, in hope the door would fall off. . .but it doesn’t.

Super.

Once he is behind the wheel, he grips the steering wheel, and something crimson catches my eyes. His knuckles. They are stained red, kind of purple ish, telling he diefinitely punched someone, or something.

My eyes travel up to his tanned arm—wait. . .he has a tattoo?!

“Adian—“

He threw his head back on a bark of laughter. It wasn’t a nice one, but more like a laugh that mocked me.

“What?” I muttered, annoyed. My eyes were on his side profile, so I immediately looked away.

“It’s not ‘Adean’,” he mocks, imitating me. “You pronounce it like this; Adiaan, like, draw the aaaa sound. Gee, what a fool.”

Don’t. Murder. Him.

“Turn the music off.”

He speeds the car, and God knows where we are going.

“What the hell is your problem? It is my car. So my rules.”

I laugh. I actually laugh. He glances at me briefly. “For someone to have a tattoo of black swirls of ink—“

I stop. Wait a second. Black swirls? Oh my—

“You’ve read A Court Of Thorns And Roses!” I shriek, turning in my seat to face him. Confusion seeps up on his face.

Not taking his eyes off the road, he replies, “I have no idea what in the world that is.”

Nope, I am not disappointed. Actually, I kinda am. But he obviously doesn’t have a passion for anything other than cruel behavior, let alone some love for reading.

“You are not allowed to have any tattoos on your arm—“

“Can you stop with this stuff? I am old enough to distinguish between right and wrong. I just feel so bad for my brother, because he’d have to bare a brat like you for the rest for his life.” I swallow the anger that rises in my throat. “And for the record, this is just a marker. Hopefully you can breathe the same air as me now. Not that I care if you breathe or not.”

Best day of my life.

A few moments (surprisingly) go by in silence. In peace. A thought popped up in my head; where is he taking me? He could be a murderer for all I know.

Or, a Mafia!

Oh, how interesting my life would’ve been.

“Where are we going?” I asked, observing outside the window. I couldn’t see anything as everything was a blur, thanks to his super fast driving skills.

“You’re about to know the truth about my very beloved brother.”

There was no humor in his voice.

After around fifteen minutes, he parked his car in front of an abandoned property, that looked straight out of a horror movie, and the night just made it worse.

“You know, I am not very good with trusting people.” I looked down at my conjoined hands on my lap. I refused to look at him, scared that he’d see the fear in them, or probably the moisture in my eyes.

He kills the engine. “I never asked you to trust me,” he murmurs in a low whisper.

I do it. Despite every atom of my being stopping me, I do it anyways. My eyes find his own pair, beautiful, deadly, icy cold, deep brown eyes that met mine for a brief second before they dropped lower, and that was my cue. I cleared my throat and reached to open the door. The cool night licked at my face, and hands, the only skin that was exposed.

“I know you’d rather be puking than share a moment of your life with me, but this is necessary for you to see,” he came by my side, and I felt his gaze on me. “See, before you marry Aaryan.”

He wasn’t making any sense at all. But, I recalled his words in my head once again. Then, I said, with my gaze on the cemented road, “Puking in not really fun. I’d rather be here with you, than want to experience something like that.” That sounded deep, but he could never guess anything about me.

I was a master at hiding my true self from the world.

“Follow me.”

And I did.

He led me down an empty hallway, the walls to either side of me coated with dust worth a few months. I cringed when I saw spiders of different species resting in their webs at different corners.

“Not a fan of spiders?”

Of course. “I love spiders. Went on a date with a tarantula once. He was amazing.”

He sneaked a glance at me, and I think I saw his lips twitch—just at the corners. Don’t know why that’s such a rare view.

“Do—“

“Sshh,” he whispered, skidding to a halt, as we rounded a corner. I had almost collided with the arm that he held out to stop me, but thank God we never made contact, or I would’ve cried myself to sleep.

I could hear someone—no, not just one, but two muffled voices. One of them—feminine, giggling and laughing. The other—

“Aaleyah, meet my lovely brother.”

Aadian moved out of my way, just when the voices hushed up. Baffled, I took a cautious step in the room, and my eyes landed on a lady. She looked horrified to see me, as if I had grown a second head. With her golden hair draped on one shoulder, and the maroon lipstick hugging her lips, she almost looked evil. From where she sat on the sofa, she quickly jumped on her legs and began to say something when a voice cut her.

“Aadian? The heck are you doing here?”

The guy who sat next to the lady took her spot, hiding her behind himself as if we’d kill her or something.

Aaryan was the carbon copy of Aadian. Both shared the same brown hair, but Aaryan’s were slightly longer, almost touching his shoulders, and he was an inch or two shorter as well. Where Aadian was lean, Aaryan seemed no less than a street fighter.

“Will someone like to explain what’s going on?” I asked.

The tension in the air made me throat tighten, and my armpits to sweat. And then I remembered, I had forgotten to put on a deodorant.

Ugh.

Aadian laughed. “Why doesn’t my beautiful sister-in-law tell Aaleyah what’s going on? Oh, no wait. Nobody can know about this secret marriage, right brother?”

What

Secret marriage?

“Shut up,” Aaryan grits his teeth, hands forming tight fists.

As if sensing a danger, Aadian stepped a bit closer to me—to the front. Was he really protecting me? Had I asked for protection? What is with both these men, one is protecting his wife (which I never knew even existed), and that even makes sense, as Aaryan had kept this a secret from everyone, but why is Aadian protecting me?

That makes me mad. I almost slap his head. But don’t.

“No, now’s not the time for me to shut up. I just wanted pretty Aaleyah to know that who she was to be getting married if she said yes. A man who has already married another woman—oops, my bad. Lemme rephrase that. ‘A brother who stole his brothers best friend and married her.’ What an amazing, tragic story.” Aaryan looked back at me. “Right, little Aaleyah?” he smirked, but it was a blank one.

“From which angle am I little?” I whisper hissed.

That widened his smirk, and I wanted to slap myself. Why would I constantly let him make fun of me?

“You have other more concerns than to prove yourself not tiny,” he said back, reminding me of the mess this whole situation was.

“Why would you bring her here?” Aryan, who I hadn’t realized stood inches away from Aadian, muttered angrily. “You promised me you wouldn’t tell anyone!”

“Aaleyah, go.” Without taking his eyes off his fuming brother, he handed over the key to me. I took it from him, but didn’t move.

Does he really thing I was gonna go without him?

“Didn’t you hear me?” he muttered, glaring at me now.

“I don’t know how to drive.” My confession made his eyes roll back in his head. “What!” I exclaimed. “Is it my fault I can’t drive?”

“Yes! What adult doesn’t know how to drive in a world today? God, just go wait outside.”

Order. He ordered me. Something I hate, something I can’t bare. But it is useless to argue with him, because he, like me, doesn’t back up very easily. Swallowing my anger, irritation, and frustration, I stomp away from him out in the dark night.

Being eighteen rocks.

How the heck did I end up in a situation where the guy who I thought of marrying, who I thought was not like his brother at all, actually already has a wife? And his rude, mean, grumpy brother, who I thought was determined to ruin me, in reality saved my life?

When did the tables turn so quickly?