Over the next few days, a change came over Aliza: she stopped talking to Umar. Aliza would not even respond with her previous "yes, hmm" to Umar's words unless he explicitly called her name to speak.
That day, Aliza was sitting on a floor cushion on the lounge carpet, looking at a magazine. A thought suddenly came to her mind. Aliza carefully tried to gauge Naani's mood, then she sat up straight.
"Naani, can I ask you something?" Aliza said softly.
"Yes, ask," she was absorbed in the newspaper.
"When will this Umar go back?" Aliza asked, choosing her words very carefully.
"Very soon, my dear cousin, very soon!" The answer to the question came from somewhere else. Aliza sat completely still in her place, trying to find some excuse for her question. Umar, who had now come up from behind her, sat right in front, on the sofa next to Naani.
"Rather, whenever you wish, have me thrown out of here," Umar said, addressing Aliza.
"Don't talk nonsense, no one is throwing you out from here. It's because of you that there's liveliness in the house."
Naani affectionately touched Umar's cheek. Without a word, Aliza picked up the magazine and retreated from there. Feeling somewhat embarrassed, she went and sat on the lawn. A few minutes later, Aliza heard footsteps; Umar was coming towards her. She felt a little irritated. Umar came near, pulled up a chair, and sat down.
"I've been wanting to tell you something for many days, or rather maybe many things, but you've been ignoring me."
"Tell me this, why do you dislike me?" Aliza was somewhat taken aback by Umar's direct question.
"It's nothing like that," Aliza stood up.
"You sit down, or I'll make you sit down by force," Umar seemed very serious for the first time. And Umar himself stood up as well.
Somewhat angrily, Aliza sat down in front.
Umar pulled the table placed in the middle to one side, then pulled his own chair and sat directly in front of her. Umar sat so close that Aliza became nervous.
"Yes, now tell me."
"You are mistaken, I don't dislike you."
"Very good. But then why aren't you happy with me being here?"
"That's not it."
"It is. Is it that you want me to leave here?"
"This isn't my house that I can ask someone to leave." Aliza let her anger show, though she hadn't intended to.
"Look, I want to clarify a few things. I don't want any tension in this house because of me. This house was yours, and it will remain yours. I'm not going to stay here forever. In a few months, I will go back to London from here. I have no intention of taking over anything here, yet I can't understand what you are so angry about. What complaint do you have against me? I think I'm quite a harmless person."
"I have no complaint against you, but you try to dominate everything in the house. All the cooking is done according to your preference, fine, you are a guest, but the things I want to do, there, others' wishes..."
Umar cut her off,
"You're talking about that day's incident regarding the dish. Okay, I won't interfere like that in the future. Any other objections...?"
"No, no other objections." Aliza now felt truly embarrassed.
"Then okay, in the future you won't get upset because of me, and if anything I say offends you, then you'll come and tell me."
Umar extended his hand towards her. Aliza also took his hand with a slight smile. Umar didn't let go of Aliza's hand; instead, he stood up as well. Holding Aliza's hand with his other hand, he stepped forward.
"Now that your anger is gone, I'll give you something nice."
Like a small child, Umar took Aliza's hand and led her inside. Naani was still sitting in the lounge.
"Granny, Aliza and I have become very good friends. I've brought something for Aliza." He announced as soon as he entered and, still holding Aliza's hand, led her to his room. After entering the room, Umar let go of Aliza's hand.
"Granny said you like perfume... This is the first common thing between you and me; I also like perfume very much."
With his back to Aliza, Umar was saying this while opening a dressing table drawer and searching for something. Aliza's eyes were fixed on the dressing table, where a pile of perfume bottles lay... she involuntarily stepped forward a little.
"Usually, men don't like to use women's perfume, but whatever perfume I like, I buy it... even if it's for women... whether I use it or not, what's the harm in keeping it close?"
While talking to Aliza, Umar's search continued, then it seemed he found the thing he was looking for. Umar turned straight towards Aliza. Aliza saw a packaged bottle of 'Chanel No. 5' in his hand. Smiling, Umar extended his hand towards Aliza...
"This is for you." Aliza looked at him somewhat surprised...
"For me...?" Aliza asked in a questioning tone.
"Yes, what better gift could there be for making friends, and I always give perfume as gifts to my friends."
Umar extended his hand. Aliza looked at his hand once more, Aliza hesitated a little.
"Just take it," Umar told her again.
"But I..." Aliza tried to speak but Umar cut her off,
"No need for ifs and buts, just take it." Umar said in a firm voice. After a little hesitation, Aliza took the perfume from Umar's hand.
"I don't know what your favorite perfume is, but I really like it when a girl uses this perfume. By the way, which perfume do you like?" Umar asked, smiling.
"I like those perfumes that are for men." At Aliza's words, Umar burst out laughing.
"Good, this is the second common thing between you and me. Then maybe I should have given you 212 Men instead of Chanel No. 5." Umar mentioned the name of another perfume.
"No, I prefer Eternity and Joy more," Aliza said somewhat hesitantly.
"And I like Baby Doll and Ripple." Umar told his preferences. Aliza suddenly felt an interest in Umar. Umar isn't as bad as I thought. He's nice... Aliza immediately came to this conclusion.
"Can I see these perfumes?" Aliza gestured towards the dressing table with her hand.
"Sure, why not?"
Umar said in a friendly manner and moved aside from in front of the dressing table. Aliza walked towards the dressing table with a very curious demeanor. Seeing the pile of perfumes, Aliza couldn't decide which perfume to pick up first. Aliza first picked up the smallest bottle. It was White Linen; she started picking up each bottle one by one to look at them... some perfumes were completely unused.
"I buy some every month, whether I buy anything else or not, I definitely buy perfume; I couldn't live without these." Umar was saying, standing beside her...
"But you don't use perfume much." Aliza asked, holding a perfume in her hand.
"I don't wear it during the day, I wear it at night."
Aliza looked at him somewhat surprised by his answer.
"Before sleeping," Umar seemed to understand the reason for Aliza's surprise.
"Why...?" Aliza became even more confused.
"During the day you are so busy with so many tasks that you can't enjoy perfume; our attention is elsewhere. Yes, at night you can enjoy the scent of any perfume very well, because then the senses are very sharp."
Aliza listened to his philosophy very attentively. Now Umar himself was showing Aliza some perfumes. Then he picked up a small bottle. Extending that bottle towards her, Umar said that it was 'Enigma'... the most precious thing on this table is the extracted essence. Dad gifted it to me, otherwise I couldn't have afforded it. I use it very carefully so it doesn't finish quickly.
Aliza's attention was focused on this bottle. Holding it, she tried to sense its fragrance. As soon as she inhaled, she felt a strange freshness within.
"Exotic," Aliza said involuntarily.
At Aliza's comment, the sparkle in Umar's eyes increased. Aliza sniffed once or twice and tried to close the small bottle, but Aliza doesn't know what happened; the bottle suddenly slipped from her hand. Only the cap remained in her hand. Within a second, the bottle fell on the dressing table and then bounced down onto the carpet. Aliza involuntarily tried to catch it, but her attempt was unsuccessful. The room was suddenly filled with an intense fragrance.
Aliza picked up the bottle in despair. Now only a few drops remained in it. In embarrassment, Aliza looked up at Umar.
"I don't know how..." Aliza couldn't understand how to end the sentence... Umar remained silent for a few moments, looking at Aliza's face, and then he calmly extended his hand and took the bottle and cap from Aliza.
"It's alright... it was precious but it's not my favorite." Aliza suddenly became restless at his words.
"I am sorry... because of me..."
Aliza tried to say something, but Umar's action left her stunned. Umar picked up another perfume from the dressing table and threw it against the wall... as soon as the bottle broke, the room was again filled with an intense fragrance...
"Things are meant to be broken and sometimes breaking things is fun... isn't it, Aliza? Come, let's break one more perfume each."
Umar said calmly, picking up two perfumes from the dressing table and extending one towards Aliza. Aliza, as if struck by lightning, stepped back. Her face had turned red.
"You are very strange." Aliza said to Umar, feeling agitated.
"How should I take that, as a compliment or a comment?" Umar's calm demeanor remained. Aliza suddenly became very confused. Umar placed the two perfumes back on the dressing table and then picked up another perfume and extended it towards Aliza.
"Extasy... I wear this when I feel very lonely."
Umar tried to continue the conversation from where it had broken off. Aliza didn't extend her hand. Aliza now wanted to flee from this room. All her interest here had suddenly ended.
"Don't you want to see this perfume?" Umar asked in a very friendly manner.
Aliza shook her head in negation. Umar saw the tears welling up in her eyes and ignored them with remarkable skill. Picking up the Chanel No. 5 bottle, he opened the cap and then, very comfortably, started spraying it on Aliza's hair. Aliza involuntarily took a step back. Aliza felt a wetness on her neck and hair.
"This perfume is for the world's best and most precious girls, and Aliza! I think you are one of those girls."
Umar stopped spraying. Putting the cap back on, Umar placed the perfume back on the table again. Aliza couldn't understand what kind of reaction to show; Umar was a very strange kind of person. Aliza wanted to leave with the Chanel No. 5.
"Now you won't be angry, will you?"
Aliza heard Umar's voice behind her. She turned and looked at Umar. Umar was standing there in front of the dressing table, smiling. Without a word, Aliza just shook her head. The appeal of Umar's smile increased even more.
"So Aliza, we are friends, and true friends are friends forever."
Aliza heard him say. A smile also appeared on Aliza's face.
To be continued, Insha Allah.....