I wearily crawled out of bed the next morning. Yawning, I looked to my left. I almost screamed when I saw Ali sleeping soundlessly. Oh, Allah. I really needed to get used to it. I shook my head at myself and walked over to the bathroom.

As I brushed my teeth, I looked at my reflection sleepily. The events of yesterday came running to mind and my half-shut eyes widened. The gift Ali had given me, I looked down at my wrist.

The bracelet was still shining and I had to say, it looked nice on me. I still didn't know why I had put it on but I couldn't help myself. Ali didn't know that Holly had told me it was a present from him and there was no problem in showing it off in front of him.

Content, I continued brushing my teeth. I was just finishing up when there was a knock on the door. "Get out already! I need to go." I heard him shout from the other side. I rolled my eyes. It was almost impossible to believe that such a careless and rude person could buy a good gift like the one that was on my wrist.

I got out quickly nonetheless and after sharing a glance, he went inside and I walked to the dressing table.

I took out my clothes from the closet. A floral print kurta (shirt) with a skin-colored pair of trousers. In the process, my eyes fell on something and I couldn't help but blush when I saw it. The black dress was resting on its place lifelessly. The immodest shape of the dress was almost embarrassing to even look at.

Even though I had seen girls wear that sort of thing where I lived, I had never seen it sitting in my closet. I couldn't imagine wearing it. Especially not in front of Ali!

I was too engrossed in the dress that I didn't hear the footsteps behind me. "Do you like it that much?" I could feel a teasing tone in his voice. I quickly snapped my head towards him. "What?" I tried to hide it. He smirked. "I'm talking about that black dress. The sleeveless one with the slit—"

"I know which dress you're talking about!" I interrupted him before he could describe it further. "It's the only one I have like that.". His grin widened and he started nodding slowly. "Oh yes, of course. But you like it right?" he continued teasing me.

Maybe the blush on my cheeks gave him the chance to mock me like that and as much as I wanted to hide my embarrassment, I couldn't. "It's not about liking it or not. It's a present and I don't refuse presents. It's not right." I defended myself. He didn't look convinced. "Oh? If you didn't like it, you could've just told me. I would've gotten you something different." He pressed.

I scowled. "It's a nice dress. Just… short. I can modify it." I said. He nodded again. "I think it's pretty like that. It doesn't need modification." I gave him a dirty look. "It's short. I can't wear it like that." I said bluntly. He shook his head.

"Actually, you can."

He didn't say anything else but I understood what he meant. By the look on his face, he was implying that I could wear it in front of him since he was my husband and it was halal. I glared at him.

"You're a pervert."

I turned around and rushed into the changing room before he could say anything else. I could hear him laughing victoriously from behind the door. I changed into my clothes with a grumpy look on my face. I knew he would make it the worst decision of my life.

When I got out, I saw him wearing his socks. I walked past, ignoring him. He looked at me and his grin returned. "Jokes aside, we have to pick up my cousin from the airport. Get your hijab on or whatever." He told me.

That was when I remembered that Ali's cousin was coming from Pakistan.

After we got ready, both of us headed downstairs to the car. I looked at the garage in awe. "You like collecting cars? " I questioned him. I was a little surprised when Ali responded in a low voice which was gloomy enough to darken the atmosphere. "Yes." I looked at him and noticed the sudden change of expression.

He wasn't the same person who was teasing me a while ago.

Then my eyes fell on a car that was sitting at the far corner. It was white and simple but I loved the exterior. For some reason, I felt attracted to it. I walked over and Ali followed behind.

"Is this your collection? I doubt your father lets you buy cars of your choice." I asked, carefully inspecting the inside of the white vehicle. "It..." Ali trailed off as if he was hesitant to answer. I gave him a look of assurance. "My mother loved cars. This is her collection. My father doesn't let me near them because he's against me driving but all this is my mother's choice." He told me.

My eyes widened as I remembered. Ali's mother passed away from lung cancer. I hadn't met her except once when I was only 7 when my mother passed away. I had a blurry image of her because I was so overcome with my grief that I didn't notice her much. But I remembered what she looked like.

It was then that I realized that Ali reassembled her a lot.

I had heard that she passed away 6 years after my own mother's death. "I am sorry for asking​," I quickly said. Though I wouldn't say sorry to a jerk like him, the sorrowful look on his face made me. He shook his head

"It's okay. By the way, this car is her favorite. She really cherished it." Ali told me. I was shocked.

"Really?"

"Yeah, guess both of you have similar interests and tastes. She was different and unique." He continued. "Now that I think about it, she was a lot like you."

I frowned. "What do you mean?" I asked him. He shook his head. "Never mind, we're getting late. Let's go." He changed the topic. I was dissatisfied with the little information I got, but I didn't want him to get too personal. I wouldn't either if I were him.

"Okay," I said, disappointed. Sitting in the white car, I put on my seat belt. "So, where?" He asked. I gave him the directions through the GPS. "By the way," I started, once I had explained all the directions. He hummed in response as if permitting me to continue. "Are you close to your cousin? What's his name?" I asked.

"Nah! I've met him once or twice. My father and his family aren't on good terms. So, I barely know them." Ali told me. I nodded knowingly. I wanted to ask him why they weren't on good terms but I controlled myself and kept quiet.

The ride was silent.

I kept sneaking glances at him, wondering if he noticed the bracelet. As I peeked at him for the third time, our eyes met. He was looking at me from the corner of his eyes but as soon as we made eye contact, he diverted his gaze and so did I. I started tapping my fingers on my hand just to kill the time.

I could feel his burning gaze fixated on me even though he appeared to be looking on the road. I felt a little uncomfortable—scratch that, I felt very uncomfortable!

"Nice bracelet." He finally spoke.

My eyes automatically fell on my wrist. "Thank you. Someone gave it to me for my birthday." I told him, trying to get a reaction out of him. He just pressed his lips and nodded. "So you do have friends?" he remarked. That earned him a glare from me.

"It isn't your business though,"

"Oh? It doesn't have to be but you know I'll take interest anyway." He grinned. I shook my head in disappointment. "Don't you have anything else to do? I mean, it requires a lot of time to poke your nose into others' business." I threw back. He nodded.

"Oh, I have all the time in the world.". I let out a sarcastic laugh. "Of course. I couldn't have expected any less from you."

And from there our bickering started. I tried my best to control myself but I didn't know how he was able to make every blood cell in my body boil with rage and anger. He deserved a smack or two and I wished I could be the one to give it to him but I figured violence wasn't the solution.

"You really like annoying me, right? So give yourself a nice pat on the back because it's the only thing you're successful at." I snapped at him, shooting him death glares. For a minute he just looked at me and then burst out laughing. I looked at him, confused. "It's reactions like these that make me want to annoy you more." He stated, his hand pressing hard on the steering wheel.

He looked back at the road and I huffed. "Man, you're just too cute."

Silence…

Wait, what?

I snapped my head towards him with widened eyes and he did too. Quickly, we looked away and tried to avoid any sort of contract. I glanced at him secretly and the obviously embarrassed look on his face made me fidget in my place. The words he had just said, rang in my ears like an alarm.

I was cute?

It made me look at myself once through the black screen of my phone. I wasn't anything special. There was no makeup on my face. My eyes weren't colored neither did I have a beautiful sharp, straight nose. It was buttoned and little which made me look like an 11-year-old. My lips weren't full. They were like a baby's lips. Pink and thin but soft.

My eyes trailed back to Ali when I was done making a self-check.

"You think so?"

Shut up, Anisa!

I cursed at myself for saying that. I was regretting the two seconds that had passed. At that point, I was literally praying that Ali hadn't heard me properly or he hadn't paid attention to what I said. But Allah had other plans for me.

"You're asking me?" he asked like it was the most unbelievable thing ever. I gulped. "There isn't anyone else here," I replied. He looked at me for a second then looked back at the road. "I'm surprised no one told you. You're quite eye-catching. Very different from the girls I've come across." He explained in a monotone.

I wanted to close the topic but my tongue had a mind of its own.

"Eye-catching in a good sense or bad?" I questioned. He shook his head. "In a good sense. Believe it or not, even with that hijab on your head, you look pretty good. And you're confident, so that's a plus point."

I nodded knowingly.

"You're really concerned about your looks. Do you want to impress someone? A BOY?" He remarked. I moved back in defense. "A boy? Unlike you, I take this marriage seriously and besides boys are the last on my mind. They don't interest me. I try to avoid them since I have a pretty big example of a jerk in front of me." I threw at him showing him some sass.

He raised his eyebrows at me. "So you think I'm not attractive?" he asked teasingly. I shook my head instantly. "You may have good looks, pretty boy but your personality is where you lose everything," I said. But he didn't seem offended or anything. He just smirked.

"You think I'm handsome? Like what's good looking about my face?" he neared me a little, waiting for me to point out the things I liked about his face. I fiddled with my fingers. "Are you serious?" I asked in disbelief. The closeness between our faces made my cheeks burn and I felt my heart beating fast.

He nodded. "Why not? You asked me about yourself didn't you?" I cleared my throat. "You should focus on the road," I told him. He shook his head. "We can stop for a minute." he did as he suggested and stopped the car near the sidewalk, all the while his eyes were glued to me.

"So?" he pressed.

I tried to look away but failed miserably as his stare was so fixated on me, it didn't let me break contact. "Well...uhh…" I stammered. He ushered me to continue. "Your eyes are really… Umm… beautiful. And your… uhh… hair looks really soft. You have a nice body…" I trailed off.

Then I came back to my senses.

I wasn't going to let that jerk make fun of me like that! He was enjoying every moment of my nervousness and I was letting him away with it. I blinked to break contact and moved away, folding my hands over my chest.

"Okay! Whatever you're trying to do, it isn't going to work on me. Start the car and let's get going!" I ordered, not bothering him even a glance.

Even though every Fibre in my body urged me to look at him and see his reaction, I controlled myself. He was my bully for Allah's sake! The one person who made school hell for me.

And he wasn't even going to the dinner with me so screw him!

I wasn't going to get charmed by him because I was Anisa Malik! Not any other girl who would lose it and fall head over heels in love with him.

He could do whatever he wanted about it but I had made up my mind: it wasn't going to be that easy to woo this lady. He would have to try harder than that!