Legally In Love: Part 2

“Ma’s been asking when we’d go for our honeymoon. It’s been two weeks since our wedding.” Amirul Aiman told his wife, Nur Balqis, over dinner that night. Nur Balqis did not respond immediately. She calmly finished her plate of rice, took the plate to the sink to be washed with the rest of the dirty dishes later and returned to the dining table for a drink.

“I’m busy until the end of this month. I thought I already told your mother the other day.” She said as she put the empty glass down.

“And I thought we already agreed the other day that you’d start calling my mother ‘Ma’ instead of simply addressing her as my mother.”

“Oh. Sorry. I’m still not used to it I guess. It feels like I have two mothers.”  

“You do have two mothers now, and don’t try to change the topic.”

Nur Balqis sighed and took her husband’s empty plate to the sink. She did the dishes while Amirul Aiman helped her clear the dining table.

It has been exactly two weeks since their wedding, but Amirul Aiman and Nur Balqis weren’t like other newly married couples. They were supposedly in their ‘honeymoon phase’, but up until now the only thing they’ve been doing was trying to keep the marriage going on normally. It’s not as if they have been fighting much, but they clearly were not as happy either.

Nur Balqis was a lawyer in her late 20s, and Amirul Aiman was a musician who was exactly 30 that year. He taught at a music academy during the weekends and did gigs and played for concerts some other days of the week. During his free time, usually for extra income, he did freelance writing for newspaper columns and magazines.

At one glance, their marriage did not seem like the best decision in the world.

“We’ll go somewhere by the end of this month, I promise. It’s not like nobody else has ever done it before.” Nur Balqis finally replied to her husband’s sort-of-a question earlier. Amirul Aiman grunted as a reply. After wiping the table clean, he said “Look, I understand if you don’t want to go on a honeymoon. I mean, what’s the big deal? But at least you should tell me up straight so that I can explain something to my parents.”

He rinsed the cloth he used to wipe the table clean at the sink, hung it on a railing by the wall and walked swiftly to his room. Nur Balqis watched him feeling half guilty but she kept quiet. To be honest, Amirul Aiman was right. She didn’t want to go for a honeymoon. She didn’t think it was a dire need to be going for a few days of holiday while they weren’t even sleeping together in one bed. It would be a waste of time and money, she thought.

She walked slowly to her room. On the way, she had to pass the door of Amirul Aiman’s, which made her feel guiltier than ever. She half decided to simply barge in and apologize, but she couldn’t see the rationality in doing so. It wasn’t all her fault. He was supposed to understand.

The next day everything went on as usual. Nur Balqis made them both some breakfast and got ready for work. Amirul Aiman had to go to his music studio to practice for an upcoming concert. During their meal, both of them uttered not a single word. Nothing was mentioned about last night’s little quarrel. The truth was; both of them were trying to avoid another quarrel. Even petty little things could lead to misunderstandings between them.

Nur Balqis usually left the house first as she was tied to office hours. She would kiss her husband’s hand for blessing and as a sign of respect before she left. That morning however, Amirul Aiman held her hands longer than he usually does.

“I hope we can go out for dinner tonight, if you’re not busy.” He said, looking at their entwined hands as if he was talking to them instead of his wife. Nur Balqis frowned.

“Sure. I’ll try to be home before dinner.” She replied and left, glancing back once before she entered her red Mini Cooper.

*

“What’s up man? You look pretty sour for a man who just got married two weeks ago. I mean, your inai’s still red on your fingers!” Uttered Joe, one of Amirul Aiman’s band member and his best friend. Amirul Aiman forced a chuckle as he took out his guitar from its casing.

“Nothing man, just a little fight, that’s all.” He answered.

“Seriously? You’ve only been married for two weeks, dude. You’re not supposed to be fighting at this point.”

“We’re not like other married couples, Joe. I thought you of all people would understand.” There was a hint of frustration in his voice. He had been repeating the same words all over again for the past two weeks; it felt as if he was actually saying it to convince himself more than he was trying to make others understand.

“Hey, I’m not the one who said he was optimistic about an arranged marriage as if he was going bungee jumping!”

Amirul Aiman remembered his conversation with Joe about a couple of months back. It was a few weeks after his father announced he was to be wedded to the one and only daughter of a best friend.

“This is crazy, but I’m doing it.” He had said.

“Are you really serious, dude? Am, you’re getting married. This is not something you can play with. You can’t bail out if you get into trouble, dude!” Joe replied, utterly shocked and disbelieving.

“I know, I know.” He said with a laugh. “But I’m optimistic about this. When I think about it, there’s nothing wrong really about an arranged marriage. It’s kinda like an adventure in a way, and I’m 30 next month. I should already be married years ago!”

“Am, you’re crazy!”

“I am!”

“No, seriously Am, you’re out of your mind! This is nothing like your mountain climbing, jungle trekking or skydiving activities. Marriage is not a game, dude! You’ve never even been in a relationship before!”

Joe was actually flabbergasted by how calm Amirul Aiman had reacted to his betrothal. He wasn’t even sure how Nur Balqis looked like at that time. As a matter of fact, he had no idea at all who his future wife was. The fact that he knew nothing about his bride-to-be made him feel as if it was yet another exciting challenging thing he was doing.

Now Amirul Aiman knew how wrong he was.

To be continued...