Chapter 1
“No, you can’t have that one!” Maliyah squealed.
“Oh, okay…” Riyaaz responded nonchalantly as he moved his hand to the next cup on the tray Maliyah was holding.
“Noooo; not that one either!”
He looked at Maliyah wondering whether she was pulling his leg as he moved his hand to the next cup, expecting her to spoil his attempt. “Actually; forget it, I don’t want a cup of tea.” He announced with a dramatic air, opening his newspaper, looking intently at the print.
Maliyah was instantly guilt-stricken – It was impossible for Riyaaz not to take a cup of tea when it was on offer! She didn’t think he would react in this way, and the last thing she wanted to do was annoy him!
“No, go on, take one.” She offered earnestly.
“No thanks.” He responded simply, with an exaggerated essence of reading and a dose of snug arrogance.
“Here; take this one.” She handed the cup to him with a meaningful smile, hoping it would appease him.
Watching Maliyah carefully for a moment, he took the cup from her as their eyes locked. Their hands brushed, as his hand momentarily lingered, cherishing the touch. Her contagious smile widened before she left him.
It had been a week since Riyaaz came from Oxford, England, although, already his visits were a daily occurrence at Maliyah’s house. Their friendship had blossomed quickly as they both realised that they had much in common; mostly their sense of humour; both bouncing off the other and the endless teasing.
Given Riyaaz and his family had now settled in England, his house in the village was in dire need of repairs; it had become dilapidated due to it being left empty and neglected. He looked around his family home, reminiscing the memories but feeling remorse at how now it had become just an empty shell. It saddened him that he would no longer spend enjoyable, endless days and nights at this place he knew as home. This had not become the temporary accommodation; such was how life panned out.
During the phase of the building works he needed a place to stay. Due to the idyllic (and practical) location, and how close they were in bond of relation; Maliyah’s house was preferred. He already felt at home, just from the daily visits.
He moved in.
Soon after he had settled in, he keenly observed Maliyah when she was tending to the household chores; he needed to know more about this girl. Nevertheless, although she initially felt annoyed when she discovered that he seemed to be keeping a watch on her, she wasn’t worried, as she was certain he wouldn’t discover anything untoward; nothing existed of that sort to discover anyway. Her life was plain and simple and that was just the way she liked it.
He quietly analysed her and felt sorry for her and the predicament that her life was; She was the eldest of five and her mother was suffering from a debilitating mental health condition which meant Maliyah was the acting mother in place. Her dad was dedicated to his businesses in England, and felt it better for Maliyah’s Mum and the kids to stay in their ancestral home in Silmanpur, Bangladesh; with the extended family and servants at hand to help. Her life and responsibilities had forced her to mature earlier than her peers. She loved living in the village with so many people around her, much more than the isolated, claustrophobic life within the four walls in England. Life in the village was a lot more enjoyable, open and freer.
Whenever she caught him watching, he would smile and approach for some small-talk or just playfully dramatize that he had been caught and skip away, maintaining his intense eye-contact and smiling as he did. It tugged at her heartstrings, as she wondered what it was that fascinated him.
Riyaaz watched captivated; he was in pure awe. Here she was, at such a young age, shouldering so much responsibility; He had expected Maliyah would be frustrated or would’ve struggled with the way of life which is very different from what she was accustomed to, but seeing her here, he noted she had a natural knack to adjusting.
People of their calibre were accustomed to servants waiting on them, and even Maliyah had a number of maids, a chef and further additional assistants hovering around but he never noticed her asking them to do much and even went out of her way to assist them in the household chores. Her aunt didn’t assist in this manner, and nor was she required to.
“Dadhi – please give me those biscuits to have with my tea.” Maliyah pleaded to her paternal grandma whom she called Dadhi.
“How many pieces do you want?” Dadhi took off her key that she had on her silver chain around her neck, got to opening the trunk where the biscuits were locked away to avoid them being eaten all at once.
“Just give me the packet please!”
“Why do you want the whole packet? You will spoil your appetite.”
“Stop being stingy Dadhi.” Maliyah laughed as she took off with the full packet of biscuits and distributed them to everybody, particularly to the domestic staff.
Her kindness gave him goose-bumps. He joined in with their tea-breaks just to experience the joyful atmosphere. He discovered this was common practice for Maliyah. She made it a point to boost their morale, ensured she expressed gratitude, and spoke and treated them in such a manner that they were willing to do absolutely anything for her.
He noticed how the atmosphere was always upbeat when Maliyah was around the staff. She sat with them whilst they did their chores, usually assisting them or just having hearty conversations or joking around – she had a superb sense of humour and witty mind that was undeniably entertaining.
The standard viewpoint was such that servants, maids and domestic staff were to be undervalued to keep them in their place. They didn’t account for anything, easily replaceable and not to be revered otherwise they would try overtaking and ruling. But Maliyah proved that it really shouldn’t and needn’t be that way. He noted the other family members, other than Maliyah’s grandma, treated the staff a lot more harshly, expecting a lot more from them and ensuring that it was known too; ruling with an iron fist. It made him wonder where Maliyah had picked up such exemplary decorum from, if none other than from her grandma. She had a heart of gold, always caring for people and putting people first.
Despite his age and life experience, he felt he learnt a great deal from observing Maliyah. She was one of those inspirational, infectious personalities, having a huge impact on the people around her. Spending time with Maliyah meant it was impossible to be down or negative.
“Forget it; you won’t be able to defeat me, there’s just no way.”
It was the chef loudly exclaiming this in the back yard where the water-pump was located. Riyaaz held back to see what all the fuss was about.
“Yeah yeah, you’re just saying that because you know I will beat you.” Maliyah challenged.
“Okay, let’s do this. Everybody ready to witness madam utterly fail and for me to become champion!?” Chef announced to the small crowd that had gathered.
Everyone cheered as the competition began. They each had a jug of water and glass in hand, and were drinking one glass after another. Everyone rooted for Maliyah.
“That’s it; I can’t fit anymore in! Chef exclaimed laughing. “I can’t out-drink you! You’ve won.” He added as he wiped his mouth of the excess water that ended up spurting out of his mouth.
Maliyah was pleased as she smiled widely.
“Don’t under-estimate me next time!” She giggled. “Yes! You owe me; don’t forget my prize.”
This is what the enthusiasm was all about. Something so trivial could be made into entertainment by Maliyah only. The prize for the chef if he had won was a packet of cigarettes, the premium stuff, and for Maliyah, a big bag of her favourite Bombay-mix.
Every morning she readied herself and went straight to the kitchen and greeted all the staff, asking how they and their family were. She never tired of the routine or bore of speaking to people, regardless of who they were. The curiosity drove him to watch her keenly captivated, he continued spying.
“How are you feeling today? You don’t look any better to be honest.” She queried.
“I don’t feel too good, but I’ll be alright.” Nazimuddin shivered as he replied.
“I’ll go and get some medicines and fruit – you need to rest to recover. Take the meds and fruit, and go to bed, okay?” She advised.
“I’ll be okay – I have work to get on with.” Nazimuddin informed.
“Work can wait till tomorrow; anything urgent I’ll ask someone else to pick up, you need to get better first.” She insisted.
It touched his heart; how considerate and kind she was.
For Maliyah, nothing was too much, she had no limitation to her generosity. Members of her own family were miserly in such things, but she cared least about wealth and material things.
Riyaaz often spoke to the staff at the house, to get a sense of the family. They all spoke in high regards to Maliyah. He heard from them how selfless, kind and generous she was. Many said they would work here for nothing just for Maliyah. The staff themselves pointed out that it was her very caring and considerate nature that they all loved and as long as Maliyah was staying there, they wouldn’t leave.
Riyaaz was left mesmerised, how such a young girl had captivated and impacted hearts in such a huge way.
Over the weeks, slowly, she sensed a shift in his demeanour, making extra time to sit and have deep conversations with her; going out of his way to do this. It felt good that he was interested in her. He seemed to want to ask so much more, the curious look on his face conveying this but given the sensitivities of the boundaries between a girl and a boy, it wasn’t possible to just be open and free, it just wasn’t becoming. Despite this, he found pretexts under which he could talk to her. For example, when the lights went out, as the generator was switched off or when it wasn’t working, he would make it a point to sit on the veranda with Maliyah and Dadhi, just chatting, sometimes taking advantage of the fact that her Dadhi was hard of hearing by getting to know her more quietly, without being detected.
One of those days Maliyah joined Dadhi and Riyaaz on the veranda. He was smoking a cigarette so she sat the other side of Dadhi– Dadhi in the middle with Riyaaz and Maliyah either side of her. He sat leaning against the wall, looking behind Dadhi, straight at Maliyah. She sensed he was looking at her keenly, smiling.
He whispered, “I was waiting for you… was starting to think you wouldn’t come!”
Maliyah was shocked that he would be so forward, especially with Dadhi sat right there.
Dadhi sensed he had said something, “Did you say something?” She asked looking at Riyaaz.
He laughed heartily, “No, I didn’t say anything… Just that there are mosquitoes everywhere! Damn things.”
Or, when he started to tutor her brothers and sister, she would be there too, again he would be observing her. She didn’t really know what to make of all the attention as he was very nonchalant about it all. She timidly basked in the attention she was receiving, although at the same time it did unnerve her.
He covertly gazed at her, wondering “what if”? Reprimanding himself as he knew it was impossible. He felt himself falling for her, and tried to stop himself, but there was an overwhelming pull towards her that he just could not resist. She was like an onion with many layers, and all he wanted to do was discover each unique layer of amazingness. He told himself time and time again that there was no chance and no point in pursuing something he could never attain. He was at war with these newfound feelings he was experiencing. The more he had discovered about her, inadvertently, he had trapped himself by falling for her, it was impossible to resist; He could think of little else; he had never foreseen this circumstance. Riyaaz came to one crucial realisation that this was the first time anybody had captured his interest and subsequently his heart.
