Read The Contract for Free Online Page B

occasion?”
    “Aunty’s cousin’s daughter is getting married and she wanted to have another dholak for her. You
    missed the first one, remember?”
    Nudrat smiled and nodded, “I heard your husband’s back? But he wasn’t downstairs when I
    looked.”
    Shahira was putting on a tika; Aunty Salma had insisted on buying her huge pieces of jewelry
    when she’d married, and she wouldn’t be dissuaded. Shahira had never once worn them or
    considered them her property but she had to wear them for the wedding, Aunty Salma was insistent.
    She would return them to the locker after the ceremonies. She hadn’t earned them. She didn’t want to
    accept anything that she hadn’t worked for.
    Eyeing her jewelry, Nudrat said, “That looks expensive.”
    She sounded disapproving. Shahira laughed. “I think it costs almost as much as your Prada bag.”
    “ Touché .”
    Shahira looked at herself critically. She’d grown her hair long, and it fell in waves almost to her
    waist now, layered so that some curled around her face, giving structure to the cut. The shirt, slim
    fitting and straight, was a beautiful nude-gold, complimenting her navratan jewelry.
    In keeping with the latest fashion, she hadn’t bothered with a dupatta although every time she left
    the house without one, Aunty Salma displayed her silent disapproval. Shahira would playfully
    reassure her that she wasn’t as well-endowed as most, so she could pull it off. That always made
    Aunty Salma laugh and talk about ‘girls these days’. It was a favorite topic with her since it showed
    off her generation in a better light, or so Shahira let her believe.
    Again, she found Nudrat’s gaze on her through the mirror but Nudrat didn’t see her and Shahira felt
    unease at something in Nudrat’s expression.
    “Let’s go downstairs, people might have started arriving.”
    As she descended the staircase she could see quite a few people had come already. Thankfully
    she’d given instructions to the help to serve drinks and appetizers so everyone was comfortable.
    She looked for Natasha. She’d insisted that all their clothes be coordinated. For that evening,
    Shahira had done hers in a brighter gold, with lots of colored embellishments. She had bought a small
    tika for her as well and colorful bangles. She looked very pretty now that she’d lost so much weight.
    Shahira spotted her with Shahaan, who was dressed, to his utter disgust, in an achkan . He glanced
    at her, gave her an angry look, and marched off. She was not very popular today with her son on
    account of the achkan .
    Her eyes followed him and she was perturbed to see that he went straight to Hussain, who’d been
    monitoring her descent, apparently. In that brief moment when their eyes met, Hussain’s were full of
    appreciation.
    That just got her back up even more. She had no intentions of letting him come anywhere near her
    or her son. The man didn’t even have time for his own child, what was he doing playing with her
    son’s affections? She bristled, imagining the havoc he could play with Shahaan’s emotions. As for the
    other thing, they had a contract and he was going to honor it.
    Resolutely she walked towards them, a polite smile fixed on her face.
    “ Assalam aleikum , Javed Uncle,” she said in a sunny voice, while putting her hands on Shahaan’s
    shoulders surreptitiously. He squirmed away, and went on the far side, right next to Hussain, trying to
    hold his hand.
    “…such a lovely party!”
    Shahira smiled and looked suitably bashful. She had no idea what Javed Uncle had said.
    She said a little sternly, “Shahaan, come with me.”
    “Why?” he asked in a petulant tone.
    “Because.”
    “Why can’t I stay here with… Abba ?”
    Shahira felt her heart break with pain for her son. Hussain looked shell-shocked. He stared at her
    as if he couldn’t believe what had just happened and needed directions on what to do. Her eyes filled
    up with tears of anguish. Blinking them away