"The best kiss is the one that has been exchanged a thousand times between the eyes, before it reaches the lips." - Unknown. 

~ Short chapter, in fact the shortest I've written so far, I think. This might be the last one for a while, since I have one exam in less than two weeks, so it's study, study, study. BUT I felt so bad for ending on a cliffty, so here is much awaited chapter! 

Chapter 34 - Anticipation. 

“Wait!” my mum screeched, just as my fingers had touched the cold metal of the door knob. 

With my heart beating furiously in my rib cage, I turned around frantically. “What?!” She ran up to me, well as fast as a woman could run with heels on, and stopped just before me. She grabbed the edge of my scarf and began to unravel it, until my designed hair was on show again. Then she unzipped my abaya and shrugged it off my shoulders.

“There. Now you can go in.” She gave me another reassuring squeeze, which did nothing to calm me down, then walked off, leaving me frozen before the door. 

Well, it’s now or never. 

Once again, I reached out a hand and twisted the door knob, achingly slowly.  I took a few steps into the lit room, my eyes first taking in the beautiful set-up. Yes, even in my most nervous moments, I had to appreciate beauty where I saw it. 

The room was painted an ivory colour with carved in lace decorations on each of the four corners. Candles were spread throughout, adding to the relaxed and romantic ambiance of the room. There was a built in fireplace on the wall, directly opposite to the entrance, where I was still standing. If anything, that was more for show. There was a lush, cream coloured couch to the side, and a small vintage wooden chair next to it. A round glass table sat in front, with a vase in the middle, filled with red roses that crowded the room with their scent. 

As I swept my eyes across that particular section of the room, I realised I still hadn’t seen Zach. I closed the door behind me and called out to him. 

“Zach?” My voice was slightly shaky, but I think no matter how hard I tried to keep it under control, I would fail. 

“Over here!” His voice came from about a meter away. I walked to the opposite end of the room, where I still had not looked. There was a small rectangular corner, deeper into the wall, where my other two dresses were hanging off a hook. Zach was standing there, with his back to me and his hands in his pockets, eyeing the dresses, it seemed. “I was just looking at your dresses, pondering how beautiful you’d look…” 

As he spoke, he turned around to face me and as soon as he did, his words trailed off. With bated breathes, I forced myself to observe his reaction, rather than look at the floor like I so badly wanted to. It took him a few seconds, but once he registered me, standing afore him, dressed like this, his eyes widened, in what could only be noted as approval and desire. I faintly heard him breathe in deeply as his electric green eyes roamed across my body shamelessly. 

My brain decided to give me a nice little reminder, that Zach had never seen me in anything this tight fitting before. Maybe that’s why it took him so long to realise, that yes, it was me. 

After what seemed like an eternity, his gaze met my eager one, and instantly I could see his emotions shift from desire, to outright adoration. Maybe I knew, because it was the exact way I was feeling about him. 

“Well?” I asked, giving a shaky laugh. Zach didn’t say anything and I could almost see the wheels turning in his head. I took this time to note his fitted suit and crisp white dress shirt. I smiled a small smile, loving the fact he took it upon himself to dress up, when he would only be seeing me. 

When a few more seconds had passed and still, Zach said nothing, I could no longer hold my gaze with him, and looked at the floor. 

This was so unlike me - I couldn’t remember a single time where my shyness had driven me to the point where I’d actually avoid eye contact. People said I had a strong personality, one that was impenetrable. People usually shrugged away from my stares. Yet, here I was, fumbling with my fingers and glaring at the hardwood floor, as if it was the cause of my flustered behaviour. 

Damn it Zach, would you speak even a syllable already?

Since I was still looking downwards, I not only heard, but saw as his footsteps approached me and closed the distance between us. My heart rate picked up furiously. 

Instead of telling me to look at him, like he usually did, Zach put his forefinger under my chin and lifted my face, so that we were now only inches apart. He was staring at me so intently, that even if I tried to look away, I wouldn’t be able to. 

“For the first time in my entire life, I am utterly speechless Yasmine.” His thumb slowly began to caress my jawline, and I instinctively shivered. 

In my dreamlike state, I said, “yay.” 

Oh boy, did that wake me up. 

You did NOT just say yay! Yay? YAY Yasmine?! 

Oh God. And that, ladies and gentlemen, is why half my life is spent pitying myself. My cheeks flamed in embarrassment, however, my extremely lame response seemed to have no effect on Zach, as he was still staring at me with the same adoration-filled look. 

“I already knew you were beautiful, but seeing you like this, has surpassed everything my imagination has been throwing at me. You are ten times more beautiful than I would ever have imagined.” If this was a movie I was watching, this would be the precise moment where I’d throw up from the amount of cheese dripping off the words.

But it wasn’t a movie. It was my husband, my best friend and lover. It was Zach saying this to me and the words travelled right down to my very core. “I must say, you don’t look half bad yourself.” I reached up, and wrapped my hands around his neck, cocking my head and smiling at him. 

He shook his head, a serious smile on his face - if that was even possible. “You make me doubt whether I deserve you Yasmine.” 

I frowned and plastered myself a little closer to him. “Don’t speak such nonsense. You know I wouldn’t have it any other way.” 

“I wouldn’t have you any other way.” He suggestively looked down at my dress again and I laughed at his remark. As usual, Zach could easily take an extremely serious conversation and turn it into a laughing matter. “You know red is my favourite colour?” 

I rolled my eyes. “Of course I do. It’s why I chose this dress.” He wrapped one hand around my waist, and kept the other on my face, where he was still caressing my skin. 

I don’t know what it was - maybe it was the passion that was ever obvious in our eyes and demeanour, maybe it was the fact that we were so close together, or maybe it was just the heated moment we had found ourselves in, but me and Zach seemed to be thinking the same thing as we both shifted closer and within seconds, my soft lips met his awaiting ones.

Finally!

Even through the kiss, I found myself smiling at my internal thoughts. If Zach sensed me smiling, he didn’t show it, but rather, brought me even closer to him, so we were flush against each other. My hands found there way into his hair and his were still perched steadily on my waist. After a full minute, I finally pulled away, completely out of breath. The kiss had left me on fire.

So that’s what kissing feels like! 

Shut up brain. 

Zach too, was breathing heavily, and he promptly rested his forehead against mine, moving his hands to cradle my face. 

“I love you Yasmine,” he voiced, the honesty and passion in his words still present.

“I love you too Zach.”

****

A/N

*le gasp*

ermagerd, booohh, how could you include a kissing scene?! I though this was an ISLAMIC novel. 

Yes, Muslim couples do kiss, you know that right? 

*whistles and walks off*