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*

Tara

"Go away, Zain! Let me sleep!" I moaned, sleepily.

But my annoying, yet hot, husband wouldn't leave me alone. He kept blowing in my ear, while rubbing his fingers over my bare waist simultaneously.

I opened one eye and saw that it was still dark. "Why are you waking me up in the middle of the night?"

He was spooning me, his foot rubbing against mine affectionately. "Happy Birthday to my favourite kind of Trouble."

My eyes flew open, the sleep from them evaporating. It was my birthday today! I turned on my back and realised that there was a dim candlelight coming from behind him, which I had been too sleepy to notice before. He was propped up on an elbow, shirtless, with the duvet over the lower half of his body, making me wonder if he was wearing anything down there.

I really am his 'Shaiytani ki Malka'.

*Reminder: Queen of Mischief.

"Thank you." I whispered, placing my hand over his cheek. He kissed my palm and then sat up, revealing that he was indeed, wearing trousers. What the duck, Tara? Why are you disappointed? But I had no more time to argue with myself because I saw a delicious looking chocolate cupcake with a candle, sitting on the bedside table. 

* For the foodies out there. ;)

I gasped. "If I didn't love you before, I would definitely fall in love with you for bringing this cupcake into my life." 

"Do I get to have a bite?" He teased.

"Nope!" I shook my head. "Okay, maybe a tiny bit of the icing. That's all." 

"Oh yeah? Okay." He grabbed the cupcake and turned on the lamp before blowing out the candle.

"Hey! That's my candle!" I glared at him.

"You want some icing?" He raised an eyebrow at me, holding a finger over the cupcake.

"No!" I widened my eyes. "Zain, don't you dare!" 

He ran a finger over the icing and quickly reached out and rubbed it over my nose. 

"Zain!" I shrieked.

And then he did the unthinkable, the unforgivable. He took a large bite out of the cupcake, just about half of it!

"I'm not talking to you now!" I pointed at him, before getting off the bed and walking away towards the living area.

"Tara, wait..." 

I turned, but only because he sounded like he was sorry. 

But in front of my eyes, he ate the rest of the cupcake.

"You can mess with me, but not with my rightful food!" I whirled around and rushed towards the door.

"Whoa! Wait." He raced after me, and caught up to me just as I got to the door. I opened the door, but he closed it by leaning both hand against it, while trapping me between his arms at the same time.

"Go away. I don't like you."

"You think I only bought one cupcake for my foodie girl?" He whispered, again reaching under my shirt to trace his fingers over the bare skin of my waist. "I bought you a boxful, and they're in the kitchen downstairs." 

I turned to face him. "That was mean." 

"You have a little icing on your nose." He looked amused again.

"It's fashion these days." I muttered, sarcastically.

He leaned down and kissed the tip of nose, clearly getting the icing off. But this one small act was so s*xy that it did things to me. Unspeakable things.

"Zain..." I muttered as he pressed me firmly against the door. 

"How will you like to start off your birthday, Mrs Zain?" He asked almost huskily as he began to trail kisses from my nose, across my cheek and down to my neck. "Do you crave a cupcake, or...?" He clasped our hands together.

How could I crave anything but him when he was around? I actually loved this man more than I loved my food. I'd legit never thought that I'd see this day.

My phone started ringing then. I had a feeling that it would be my family. It was my first birthday away from them, and before today, on each birthday, we cut a small cake at midnight and exchanged gifts.

He moved back. "Go. There's someone else who has more right over you on this day, than me."

Smiling, I ran back to the bed and grabbed my phone from the table. "Assalam Alaikum!" 

My parents and Misha, as well as Zoha, were in a conference video call. 

"Walaikum Assalam! Happy Birthday!" They all wished me together.

We talked for a while, where my parents gave me loads of duas, and I gently reminded them that I was expecting grand presents, as it was my first birthday after marriage.

"You have always expected grand presents, you nutter." Zoha told me. "It's Tara Day after all."

Zain looked amused as he came back to the bedroom. 

"I mean, I've been saying it for years that it should be a national holiday, but who listens to me?" I rolled my eyes, dramatically.

"Zain Bhai should be saluted for being married to you." Misha giggled.

That made Zain grin widely.

"Oh, hush! I'm the brave one here." I shook my head. "Anyway, I have to go. Love you all. Allah Hafiz."

After a chorus of 'Allah Hafiz' and 'Love You too', we ended the call.

"Happy Tara Day!" Zain laughed, coming around to encircle me in his arms. Again, he started kissing my neck.

"I want that cupcake, Zain." I blinked up at him, innocently.

"Fine... I'll just go and get it." Looking reluctant to leave, he walked out.

Meanwhile, I sat down on the bed and searched for the right thing to post on my Instagram, until I found the most relevant thing for my personality.

I laughed at myself. I was so silly! 

#BirthdayGirl #TarasDay #Queen #FirstMarriedBirthday #FirstAsAWife #HBDtoMe #TaraZain #Trouble.

Zain returned with the cupcake, complete with a candle.

"Don't eat it now." I warned him.

He set the small tray down on the bed, along with the knife. "Here you go, birthday girl. May your life be filled with cupcakes." 

"Ameen." I grabbed the knife and was just about to blow out the candle, when he stopped me.

"Wait!" He held up his hand and grabbed his phone. Crouching down on the floor a few feet away, he got the camera ready, aimed at me. "Go on."

As I blew the candle, he took a photo, and endless photos after that.

"Happy Birthday, Mrs Zain." He said with a smile. "May Allah bless you with good health and a long life. Ameen." He got up, came closer and kissed my forehead.

"You want some cupcake?" I looked up at him. 

He chuckled, ruffling my hair the way that had become a habit for him. "No. In case you're forgetting, I'm the first one who got to celebrate Tara Day by eating that delicious cupcake."

I bit into the cupcake and groaned. It was delicious...but now that I thought about it...very familiar. "Did you get these from Mama's bakery?" 

"Of course I did. And she baked them specially for your birthday." 

"Aww, I'm so loved. Ma Sha Allah." I felt overwhelmed as I continued eating the cupcake.

"Of course you are." He sat down on the bed facing me. "Now, later today, you're not going to work. I owe Amir one now."

"Zain!" I protested. "You can't do things like that! I'm just Tara there!" 

"It's your birthday, Trouble. I want it to be special." He shrugged. "We're going to start the day with a puri, channay and halwa breakfast with my parents." 

*Puri, channay and halwa is a traditional breakfast in Pakistan. Puri is deep-fried flat bread, channay is a chick pea curry (often spicy), and halwa is pudding, generally sooji halwa (semolina pudding).

My mouth already started to water, even as I ate my cupcake.

"And then I'm taking out you somewhere for the day, and we'll join your parents in the evening to have a small party for you there." 

"That's well planned." I was impressed. "But where are you taking me?" 

"It's a surprise." 

"Zain... I'm too impatient for surprises!"

He smiled. "What if I give you something else for now?" 

"What?" 

He gave me a quick peck on the lips and stood up, before heading to the wardrobe. He had a safe in there, something which was needed as he was a businessman. I'd never bothered with it, as my truly expensive jewellery was safely in a locker in a bank.

Entering the code, he took out a gift, wrapped in a navy blue wrapping paper with silver stars on it. Returning to the bed, he sat down and handed the gift to me.

"What is it?" 

"Why not just open it instead of asking, Trouble?" He winked at me.

"Can I just ask you something?" I asked thoughtfully. "Why do you call me 'Trouble'?"

"You want me to stop?"

"No!" I said, way too quickly. "I like it...a little too much, actually."

"I call you Trouble, because you seem to have to a love for it." 

"Clearly you're the one in love with trouble." I grinned as I began to unwrap the gift.

"That, I am." 

My cheeks warmed up as I focused on carefully opening up the wrapper without ripping it. It was such a beautiful gift wrapper. Allah! I'm such a desi!

And like a desi male, he reached forward and ripped it open, impatient with waiting.

"Zain!"

"What? You were treating it like an injured kitten!" He laughed.

Inside was a beautiful book, an album, with the words 'Dosti Se Pyar Ka Safar' engraved over it. 

*Meaning, 'Journey from Friendship to Love'.

It started off with our wedding photos, followed by some selfies we took at the rooftop restaurant in Lahore. After these, he had stuck the boarding passes for our flight to our 'Friendventure', followed by plenty of our photos there. It then contained all the photos, including our honeymoon near the lake, and finally the selfie we took the night where he told me that he loved me. All of these items were in laminated pages, and this book was beautifully designed.

"Zain, this is beautiful." I was in complete awe. "I love it!" 

"But, there's also something else." He said, almost sheepishly. "I didn't want you to think that your husband was kanjoos."

*Kanjoos: stingy.

"I already think that you are." I giggled.

"You'll pay for that later." He took my hand and made me get up. "Come on."

I was confused as he led me out of the room and down the stairs. He opened the front door and we headed out. 

I gasped as I saw my other birthday present. "Zain, no..."

A beautiful black convertible stood in our driveway, exactly the car that I pictured myself having in my fantasies. 

"I know you like your public transport, but in the winters it gets dark earlier, and some of your start times will soon be earlier as well, so it's just safer for you to go by car." 

"Zain, I love you, but this is too much."

"Look, if you accept this, I promise I won't give you anything this grand, unless you want me to." He put his hands on my shoulders. "Just accept this, for my sake." 

"Zain." I sighed, but the innocent, childishly pleading look on his face melted me. "Fine." 

A huge smile broke onto his gorgeous face and he pulled me in for a hug. 

I frowned. "When did this car arrive without my notice?" 

"I got Amir to get someone to drop it off." He replied, holding me tightly.

We stayed in each other's arms for a while.

"Zain?"

"Hmm?"

"You're not wearing a shirt, and I wouldn't appreciate if any females passing by would check you out." I muttered. "Let's go inside." 

He laughed, clearly finding it very amusing. 

****

"Arey, aap to waqai main Shaiytani ki Malka hain, Trouble." Zain held up his phone to show me my Instagram post.

*"Oh, you're really the Queen of Mischief, Trouble." 

It was still a little early when we woke up the next morning, so after showering and our morning routines, we cuddled back in bed together. 

"Cute, right?" I grinned up at him.

He was laying on his back, with one arm folded under his head, and I was snuggled up against him. He set the phone down on the bedside table, and the next thing I knew, his lips had found mine and we were kissing softly and slowly. The curtains were pulled back, so the morning sunlight created a soothing and beautiful atmosphere.

He grabbed my hand and kissed the back of it, before trailing kisses up my arm, with each kiss feeling like it was giving me mini, and pleasurable, shocks. He kissed all the way up to the crook of my neck. At the same time my breathing had increased rapidly and my heart was pounding hard. Our lips briefly met again, before he started kissing me on the other side of my face, on my neck. 

"Zain..." I practically gasped out his name as desire suddenly flowed through me like a dam had burst and released it all. 

And then Aunty knocked on the door of our suite. "Zain? Your father has brought breakfast!"

Zain groaned quietly, burying his face in my neck and I giggled quietly. 

"Coming, Aunty!" I called out as Zain didn't seem to be in the mood to reply.

"Mum has bad timings." Zain whispered after we heard her walk away. 

We exchanged a few more kisses before we got up and got changed.

****

After a lovely breakfast, and a thousand pounds birthday money (that's a lot!) from my parents-in-law, Zain and I headed out.  

Since he was surprising me, we went in his car. 

"Seriously, where are we going?" I asked.

He just smiled from behind his sunglasses.

I was wearing a long tea pink maxi dress with blue floral patterns, along with tea pink heels. My hair was up in a high ponytail, and I wore large rose gold hoop earrings.

Zain wore jeans, a soft black sweater (that really complimented his abs), a black blazer and stone-coloured shoes. 

How can someone look so effortlessly good? Ma Sha Allah!

We arrived at a place I wasn't familiar with. The sign outside read 'Greenfields Leisure Club'. 

"Oh! Is this where Aunty and Uncle hang out with their friends?" It dawned on me suddenly. "But why are we here?" 

"We're here to play golf." He looked at me seriously.

"Eww." I blurted out without thinking, before realising my mistake. "Oh Allah! Zain, tell me that's not the actual plan, because if it is, ignore me. I'm happy." 

"No, babe, I just need to do something quickly." He pushed open his door.

"Do you need to use the bathroom? Didn't you go before we left?" I had no idea why else would be stopping here for something quick.

"You really are something." Giving me his signature dimpled smile, he turned to face me. "Come on."

"Me too?" 

He came around to my side and opened the door, before holding out his hand. I took it and he helped me out. "Yes, Queen Tara. You as well." 

"Ugh, Zain. Don't bore me. Whatever you need to do in there, make it quick." I said as we walked inside. 

He showed is membership card at the reception and we were led inside, down a marble-floor corridor, with white pillars lining the way. After a short walk, he stopped outside gorgeous white double doors and two staff members opened them. As we stepped inside, pink rose petals were showered on us, startling the hell out of me. 

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY, TARA!" A hell of a lot of people yelled together.

What the duck?

I was finally able to see clearly and saw the whole hall had been decorated in gorgeous pink and silver colours. I would have thought that those colours were for a child's birthday party, but to be honesty, I was surprised to see how classy and elegant everything looked. The whole hall seemed to be decorated with pink and white flowers and I just stood there with my jaw open as I looked around at everyone. My parents, sisters, Abdul Rehman Bhai, Ashi, Rumi, some other friends of mine and various relatives of mine, and not to mention my parents-in-law and Marina Khalla.  "Allah!"

How did Uncle and Aunty reach here before us?!

Misha rushed up to me and placed a white and pink floral crown on my head. "Come on, our gorgeous birthday girl." 

My hand slipped out of Zain's hand as my sister dragged me away to greet everyone. 

"Happy Birthday to our lovely Tara, our beautiful star." Ashi hugged me tightly, and I returned her hug with as much force. I hadn't seen her for a while, and I'd really missed her.

"I feel so emotional right now!" I looked around at all my loved ones. 

Zain had been joined by Abdul Rehman Bhai and Amir Bhai, and the three were chatting together by the door.

I was struggling not to cry, and I had to remind myself that I was Tara Zain, and that I didn't cry on emotional moments like these.

"Come on." A short while later, Mama led me to the cake table. She had built a beautiful two-layered cake, with my name written in pink icing on top. 

"Zain, beta. Come!" Papa called out to him.

Zain joined me, putting a hand on the small of my back as I cut the cake. 

I was as pink as the decorations around me as everyone clapped and sang for me. My mother-in-law recited a dua to ward of an evil eye and blew it over me. 

I had never felt so happy in my entire twenty-two years on this planet.

****

"Trouble." 

"Ji?" I automatically turned, thinking it was Zain. 

But it wasn't. It was my cousin, my Phupho's son, Sufiyan, someone I loathed. He was a mean jerk, and he picked on everyone for no reason.

"Don't call me that." I glared at him.

"That was your hashtag on Instagram though." He shrugged. "And it makes sense. You are trouble." 

I had been standing at the table where the drinks had been set up, getting some water, when he had walked over to me, smirking.

"You don't get to call me that." I warned him.

"Then who gets to call you that?" He looked amused. "I've heard Zain Bhai call you that earlier."

"Well, there's a difference between you and Zain, isn't there?" I rolled my eyes.

"Cute name. Trouble. Suits you." He was doing this intentionally. 

"You know what will suit you? A black eye." I shot back.

"See? You are trouble, Trouble." He laughed as if he was the most hilarious person on this planet.

"Sufiyan, shut up." 

"I thought you wanted to marry me." He grinned at me.

"If you're talking about what I said when I was six, you need help." I said. "I didn't even know what marriage meant back then." My eyes automatically found Zain, who was laughing at chatting with those two guys again.

"It's a surprise." Suddenly, his normal mean look appeared on his face. "How a girl with such a b****y personality landed a guy like Zain Bhai." 

"Right, because the girl who has the guts to teach you a lesson is considered someone with a witchy personality?" I scoffed. "God, your fragile male ego must be hurting a lot. Shall I get a doctor?" 

I don't believe that all men have fragile egos. Take Zain for example, he's awesome. But there are guys out there like Sufiyan. It's a great disrespect to them if a girl even disagrees with them, let alone argue with them like I did.

"You b***h!" He snarled.

"Hey!" Misha was passing by. "How dare you call my sister a b***h?!" 

"Meesh, leave it. He's not worth it." I grabbed my sister's arm and began to lead her away.

"I'm not done talking with you." Sufiyan roughly grabbed my arm, whirling me around. 

****

Zain

I glanced over at Tara, just as a random guy from her relatives grabbed her arm roughly, and whirled her around. 

"The hell...?" I strode over immediately. "Get you f***ing hand off her." I shoved the guy back so hard that he fell back into the table. 

Amir, being Amir, followed me immediately and grabbed my arm. I sometimes feel like he's my Anger Control Manager. 

"How dare you touch her?!" I yelled at whoever the hell that kid was.

"Zain..." Dad immediately walked over. "Stop." 

"Zain, it's fine." Tara reassured me. "I can handle him." 

"Of course you can, Tara." I continued glaring at him. "But that doesn't mean that I will sit back and watch him manhandle you like that!" 

"What's going on?" One of Tara's aunts, probably this s**t's mother, came towards us. "My baby!" She rushed to the kid's side immediately. And by kid, I mean a guy in his early twenties.

"He roughly grabbed Tara!" Misha protested.

"Oh, please!" The aunt said. "Everyone knows how hot-tempered Tara can get. I'm sure she must have provoked him somehow." 

"For argument's sake, let's say that you're right." I spoke up, even as my mother begged me to shut up. "Does that give him the right to roughly grab her arm? This is exactly why some guys end up so screwed up, because their behaviour is always justified somehow." 

"You..." The aunty glared at me.

"Zain's right." Hamid Uncle defended me, surprising everyone including me. "This isn't the first time Sufiyan has misbehaved with Tara."

I glared at the boy who was staring at me with nostrils flared. "Well, this better be the last time he misbehaved with her...or any girl as a matter of fact." 

The aunty and her son left after that, and the rest of us continued on as normal.

"What happened?" I asked Tara quietly, as we stood aside from the others.

"He's just a jerk, no big deal." 

"It is a big deal actually, especially when he lays a finger on my wife." 

"You know how s*xy you are right now? Mr Overprotective..." She whispered, smiling seductively at me.

"Behave, Trouble." I warned her silently. "Otherwise I will carry you out of here like some sort of a filmy hero." 

The smile remained on her face, but it wasn't seductive anymore. "Only you get to call me that. Literally only you in this entire world." 

"Wow, I'm honoured." I wrapped my arm around her.

"Zain..."

"What? I'm not making out with you, calm down. This is just a sweet and affectionate gesture." But I still dropped my arm from around her shoulder, holding her hand instead.

We walked over to our families and enjoyed the rest of Tara's party.

****

"Zain, kya kar rahe hain?" Tara sounded bewildered, as I took her out into our suite, with a blindfold on. 

*"Zain, what are you doing?" 

This was my wife's final surprise of her birthday. I'd actually hired a decorator to decorate this place while I had taken Tara out for dinner, after watching a long drive. Mum had been home to supervise the decoration to ensure that everything went smoothly.

Tara stumbled a little, but I wrapped an arm around her waist to hold her steady. 

"Okay... Here we go." I untied the blindfold from around her head.

****

Tara

I looked at our suite, gasping. 

Rose petals were littered over the floor, forming a floral red carpet that led to our room. Candles lit up our bedroom, and fresh bouquet of roses were placed around the room.

"Zain..." I was breathless as I stared at the romantic atmosphere.

He took my hand and we walked over the petal carpet to our bedroom. "How about you go change into this?" He gestured towards a dress lying on the bed.

It was a short blood red silk dress with a low neckline. 

"If you want to be mine tonight, change into this." He said. "If not, you can wear your usual cotton pyjamas. I'll wait in the living room for your decision." He kissed my forehead.

"What if I come out in my cotton pyjamas?" I asked. "Will you be upset?" 

"No, Tara. I intend to make this night beautiful, whether we get intimate or not." He took of his blazer. 

Butterflies losing their minds in my stomach, I chose the outfit that I wanted to wear and headed into the bathroom.

****

I stepped out into the bedroom and Zain turned to look. 

He looked obviously disappointed as he saw me in my cotton pyjamas, but he didn't complain. Instead, he just came over and embraced me warmly.

"I know you wanted me to wear that red dress." I whispered. "But you asked me to wear if only if I wanted to be yours tonight. But I don't. I want to be yours for the rest of my life, which is why I chose this outfit." 

He looked at me, and even in the candlelight I saw the tremendous amount of love in his eyes for me.

"I love you, Zain." I whispered. "Thank you for making this such an amazing birthday for me." 

"I love you too." He put his hands on my cheeks and kissed my forehead.

I reached up and pulled him closer, pressing my lips against his. 

We ended my best birthday ever in a beautiful manner, making love in the dim candlelight, with the scent of roses filling the air. It was romance at its peak. 

****

In the middle of the night, I got up to blow off the candles, wearing Zain's shirt.

As I got close to the window, I looked out and my eyes widened. In the back garden, between the house and the annexe, I saw silhouettes of human beings, both seemingly male.

My heart pounded hard in my chest as I saw them look towards the house.

"ZAIN IFTIKHAR!" A voice yelled out. "YOU'LL PAY FOR SANA WITH YOUR BLOOD!"

I gasped, tears escaping my eyes, as I put a hand over my mouth.

Allah!

****

What a beautiful chapter...and then this happened.

Cliffhanger. Again. I wish I was sorry, guys, but I'm truly not. :D

What the duck is going on?! Any theories?

Who is threatening Zain?

How did you like Tara's birthday celebration, in general?

Thoughts and comments?

Thank you for reading and don't forget to vote!