The Contract (8 page)

Hussain laughed and looking at Shahira directly, with a mild smile that didn’t quite soften the

mockery of his eyes, he said slowly, “All in favor of me tagging along, raise your hands.”

Natasha’s hand shot up and Shahaan’s, then his mother added hers. Giving his wife a slow,

challenging smile he raised his own hand too…and nearly laughed out loud at her stunned expression.

The children were jumping, and shouting, hugging him then each other while Shahira stared at him,

perplexed.

“Oh, Hussain, you’re such a good father!” his mother exclaimed, dabbing at her eyes with a tissue,

and as an after-thought added, “and a wonderful son.” Pause. “Shahira, I hope that one day soon you

can also say that Hussain’s a good husband.”

She recovered quickly and spluttered, “B…but he is, Aunty.”

His mother sniffed dismissively. “So, Hussain when are you taking them?”

“
Them
?” she squeaked. “You’re coming too, right, Aunty?” She looked positively green.

And bless his mother, she was quick to cough up a fit worthy of a tuberculosis patient, as she said

with a breathlessness that was pitiful to watch, “Really Shahira…you can’t expect

me…
cough
…
cough
…to accompany…you,” a wheezy breathy pause, “young…people. I’m too old.

Cough
.”

He kept a very straight face and nodded at his mother. “Of course, Ami. We aren’t so selfish and

irresponsible that we’d drag you around for our own pleasure.”

For further emphasis, he shot Shahira a disapproving look. Her bottom lip trembled and she bit

into it to steady it.
Aw
,
had he made the disciplinary schoolmarm cry?
He grinned. He hadn’t

enjoyed himself this much since his hostile takeover of a multi-national company in ’99. And he

wasn’t done yet.

“So, let’s make it a nice long trip!”

“No!”
she nearly screamed. He couldn’t stop himself this time and laughed. She shot him a

suspicious look.

Clearing his throat, he said very seriously, “What do you think,
Mom
?”

She wasn’t sure what was going on. She probably couldn’t quite believe that he was going

willingly but all evidence pointed towards it. He let her ponder it, his face serious and business-like.

“I…I don’t know. I mean, you’re a very busy man and you have meetings and…things,” she

finished lamely, still regarding him with suspicion, unwilling to believe that it was going to happen.

She’d have to honor the contract, which was to look after Natasha as befit a mother. The contract had

mentioned holidays and it did not specify his whereabouts on said holidays.

“I do have a lot of meetings but luckily they’re all in Europe. We can easily work around them.”

He ventured an innocent look towards her. She smiled, but there was a dangerous glint in her eyes.

“How wonderful for you and Natasha, you two really need to spend some quality time together.

What a wonderful plan.”

He scoffed at her pitiful attempts. He wasn’t worried; he knew the others would do his work for

him.

“
We’re
not going?” Shahaan wailed.

“What nonsense! Shahira, that’s rubbish. You can’t do that to Shahaan. You didn’t even go on a

honeymoon like any normal couple would have. At least go on holiday as a family.”

His mother was on fire today.

Softly, in a trembling voice, Natasha whispered, “You won’t come?”

Shahira didn’t lose her nerve, yet. “Really Natasha, there’s nothing I would like better. I can’t

leave your grandmother alone and I can’t expect your father to look after Shahaan as well, so darling,

it’s impossible.”

“I don’t need anyone to stay, I’m fit as a fiddle.” Realizing her strategic mistake, his mother

backtracked, “
Cough
…but I can’t travel in all those…
cough…
cold places.” She shivered for good

measure before adding, “I have Susan, Nusrat and Allah Yar. I’ll be fine.”

All eyes were back on her. She looked at Shahaan. “Baby, come here.”

The wrong thing to say.

“I AM NOT A BABY!”

Shaking his head at her lack of tact, he settled back, already savoring his assured victory. For a

teacher she sure could put her foot in her mouth. Shocked, stunned silence followed. Shahaan was

still glaring at his mother angrily. She was the antagonist now against the rest of them. Perfect!

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to call you baby, Shahaan…but it’s impossible for us to go…”

“Why?”

Yes, why indeed, let’s see you get out of this one.
But she was a teacher and she was used to

handling cranky kids. She smiled her most winning smile. It lit up her face. There it was again, that

sudden need for her. What was this, some
nikaah-
related emotion? Why did he want her so badly?

“Not everything has to have a reason, Shahaan. Some things just are. Do we ask the reason why the

sun comes up or goes down? Some things we have to accept just because.”

Shahaan looked stumped. His shoulders were beginning to droop. It was time to help the little

trooper.

“Actually, we
do
know why the sun comes up and goes down, don’t we Shahaan? What happens

when the sun comes up?”

The boy gave it a thought and then yelled, “Morning!”

He smiled and asked, “And what happens when it goes down?”

This time Natasha too joined him, “Night!”

“Hence everything does have a reason.”

Having established that she didn’t have one, he looked back at her, trying not to seem too smug.

Apparently, he failed because she smiled tightly and said, “Can I talk to you for a minute in private?”

He gave it a thought, debating whether or not he could use the moment to his advantage, but

decided against it. This was not the time. He shook his head decidedly.

“Later. Let’s finalize this plan first. After all, we agreed to be a democracy. What kind of parents

would set the example for their children that it’s acceptable to go back on one’s word? We said it was

going to be a democratic choice, didn’t we? Shahaan, correct me if I’m wrong but the last count was

four to one, wasn’t it?”

More shouts and this time he didn’t bother to hide the mockery that must have been obvious to her.

Perhaps he’d allowed more than just the mockery he was feeling to show, because her face registered

a slight horror and excusing herself, she fled.

* * *

“You’re
what?”
Nudrat yelled.

Already incensed with the situation, Shahira replied, “We’re going to Europe. The children

wanted…”

“And Hussain is taking them. Even you?”

Shahira didn’t know whether to laugh or bemoan Nudrat’s open hostility. She poured tea for her

unwanted guest and admired her audacious fashion sense. Her shirt fitted her like a second skin and

had two holes cut out from the sides to showcase her slim tapering waist. Well, all the male drivers

and cooks were having a grand time.

Just as the maid handed Nudrat her teacup, surprise, surprise, Hussain walked in.

“Just the man I wanted to see!” Nudrat abandoned her teacup and gushed at Hussain, who looked

slightly bemused.

“Hello Nudrat.”

They kissed on both cheeks, and arm entwined with Hussain’s, Nudrat dragged him with her to the

chaise longue.

“Shahira, pour Hussain a cup too. No sugar and just a drop of milk. Isn’t that right, Hussain?”

Shahira rolled her eyes at this ancient trick.

Hussain watched her reaction with amusement, and then tripped her up by saying casually, “Oh,

Shahira knows exactly what I want from her.”

Giving him a disdainful look, she retorted, “Would that be my famous
hareesa
with
parathas,

cooked in
desi ghee?”

Hussain gave a delighted laugh and said, “How about some hemlock instead?”

“Oh, I’m sure you’re immune.”

Nudrat was horrified. “Shahira, how can you talk to Hussain like that?”

“Oh, Nudrat this is just...foreplay,” Hussain said, giving Shahira a sultry look.

Shahira nearly dropped her cup.

“Talk about too much information, right?” She laughed nervously and shot him a quelling look.

Hussain was watching her with intense hawk-like eyes and Nudrat was watching him watch her

with growing alarm. What was going on between these two? Shahira made the tea according to

Nudrat’s specifications and was about to hand the cup to the maid when Nudrat leapt up, “I’ll get it.”

She swayed forward on her five-inch heels to fetch the cup, providing a titillating view of her

fabulous body to Hussain. Shahira blushed and looked away.

“I’m surprised you’re dragging Shahira along with you to Europe. I mean, the poor darling will

feel so out of place. It’s really too bad of you to treat her like a nanny.”

Hussain’s eyes turned icy. Taking the cup from Nudrat he said in a warm tone that made the clear

warning in his eyes all the more deadly.

“This is just a small bribe for the kids, before I whisk away my gorgeous wife for a long overdue

honeymoon. I was thinking of the Bahamas, but Shahira isn’t very fond of beaches, so maybe we’ll do

the lesser known gems of Europe.”

Nudrat’s cup tinkled and her smile wavered. Shahira glared at Hussain. What was he trying to

pull?

“Aw. Hussain is so forgetful. What we finally decided was that instead of wasting all that money

on two trips, we’ll donate the money to charity. Nudrat’s will do just fine, wouldn’t it?”

Shahira gave Hussain a sweet smile. He smiled back with a mischievous gleam in his eyes

knowing full well what she was up to.

“Hussain,” she said ever so sweetly, “do write a generous check for Nudrat’s charity. Nothing will

give me more pleasure.”

So that’s what she thought of him? She thought he liked money that was why he didn’t stay. He

couldn’t blame her. That would be the natural conclusion for anyone who was familiar with his

lifestyle. She didn’t know him though. And he wanted to change that.

He also wanted to have some fun at her expense while doing so. With a smile he said, “Shahira my

love, just say the word.”

Why was he giving Nudrat the impression that they had more than a contractual relationship? Was

he trying to make Nudrat jealous? But that made no sense because Nudrat was obviously available, so

what kind of game was he playing?

Hussain was already writing a check.
Oh, okay Hatim Tai.

Sweetly, she said, “Please make it a nice big one, worthy of that honeymoon you promised me?”

Without looking up from the check he was writing, Hussain laughed, and added another zero to the

number he’d already filled in. Throwing her another sultry glance he handed Nudrat the check. She

took it and gasped.

“My, my, you were planning a fancy honeymoon weren’t you?” Her voice sounded brittle.

On the one hand Shahira wanted to reassure Nudrat that there was nothing between her and

Hussain, and on the other, there was also a certain sense of satisfaction at seeing Nudrat’s obvious

discomfiture. But Hussain and his adulterous predilections were none of her concern, so she checked

the thought firmly and took out her ire on the perpetrator of the situation.

“Hussain just doesn’t know where to stop, Nudrat.”

Tartly Nudrat replied, “Oh, I think you’re wrong. I think it’s a woman’s job to keep her man in line,

Shahira darling, and you’re obviously not up to the task.”

A little surprised that Nudrat was finally coming out into the open with her attack, she was

speechless for a moment.

Hussain’s smile vanished and he said coldly, “Or maybe, Shahira doesn’t believe that a man needs

to be ‘kept in line’. Shahira’s…special. In fact I can’t say that I’ve ever seen a more fascinating

combination of beauty, brains and strength of character.”

He spoke quietly, but it was hard not to catch the note of sincerity in his voice. She stared at him

open-mouthed, right along with Nudrat.

Shahira smirked and said through clenched teeth, “Isn’t he the sweetest?”

Without another glance at anyone she sped out. What the hell was that? She didn’t want any

Romeo-like tendencies growing in this contractual husband, especially now that they were going to

Europe. Or was he just pretending? He had to be just saying it. Of course he didn’t mean it. She

sighed in relief at the realization, debated going up to her room, but then decided she couldn’t take the

coward’s way out, so taking several deep breaths she grabbed a spoon from the kitchen as an excuse

for her sudden departure, and dragged her feet back to the purgatory that was her sitting room.

“…Please Hussain…don’t do this. She’s nobody! She’ll never fit in your life or your social

circle…” Nudrat sounded shrill and desperate.

She heard a rather rude word that Hussain seemed to be partial to, small wonder that, and then his

response too.

“She’s my wife. That’s who she is, and anyone who can’t remember that isn’t my friend and is