The Substitute Bride of my Best Friend

After Nearly Ten Years

Not answering, Zahira only looked at Shaka for a while and looked straight ahead again. I don't know why she hesitated to tell her husband the truth. Yet this was a good opportunity for him to reveal a truth that had been kept for almost ten years. However, the woman's lips seemed to be locked tightly and her tongue felt faintly unable to say.

Not getting any answers, Shaka decided to inching closer to Zahira until the position was behind the body of the wife. Tightly touched both shoulders and turned the woman's body. "Darling, why shut up? Tell me what was the reason that made you suddenly go to Japan without telling you first?"

The head that had been bowed, looked up to make the two neutrals look at each other. "You want to know what the reason is until I just leave without saying goodbye?"

Shaka nodded. "Really! Tell me the truth, Ra. What have you been hiding from me all this time?"

The beautiful woman who now belonged to Shaka completely sighed deeply, then exhaled slowly. "That's all I did to avoid you, Ka, I couldn't bear to meet you and the pain of my heart was ripped apart."

A surprised expression from Shaka. "Hurt heart? Have I ever been wrong with you?" the man said a little curious. He felt as long as a friend, never once offended Zahira let alone hurt the heart of a friend who is now decreed as his wife.

Zahira smiled bitterly. "You didn't do anything wrong. It's just that my overly presumptuous heart loves and expects you to be my lover."

Shaka's forehead is wrinkled. "Wait, love? Are you telling me that you actually loved me a long time ago?" The eyes of the man were still faithfully staring fixedly at the shady brown iris in front of him.

"Yes! I've been in love with you, Shaka, long before you and Ziva were." Zahira nodded and crystal circles began to fall soaking her smooth cheeks. He could no longer bear the taste that had been stored for nearly ten years. All this time he was tormented and it was time to let go of that burden.

A straightforward confession finally slid from the lips of a Najma Zahira. Today he finally expressed his hidden heart in front of the figure of a man who is his second love.

Why second love? Hasn't Zahira never made love before, then why is Shaka the second love for the beautiful doctor? The reason is easy because for every girl, their first love is a father and that is what Zahira experienced. For a woman born twenty-four years ago, Rayyan was the first love of her life.

"Tell me, since when do you love me, Ra?" The voice sounded trembling, clad in curiosity.

"Since we both sat in class 3 Junior High. At that time I thought my feelings for you were just a childhood friend because we grew up together. However, as time went on and got older, I realized that my feelings for you were more than a friend. I love you not as a friend but as a man."

Shaka was stunned to hear Zahira's words. It is fitting that the woman never mengubris feelings of the Adam who tried to approach him when they were in school first. Though the woman could have dated one of them, then introduced her to Rayyan and asked for permission to date even though there would be a third person, later, the fourth or even the fifth that accompanies if they are dating.

It is true that there is nothing pure in the friendship between two people of the opposite sex. There must be one among them who has a taste. All this time Shaka was insensitive to Zahira's feelings. He was busy looking for a way to conquer Ziva's heart, while there was someone who had fallen in love with him. Why didn't he realize all that? Is it possible that his eyes and heart are closed because he is too ambitious to get Ziva's love?

"Why didn't you tell me the same? Why do you feel that feeling alone?" Shaka looked at her with eyes that were hard to interpret.

Zahira gave a bitter smile and chuckled at Shaka's question. She turned her back until she turned her back to her husband. "How can I tell you my true feelings, and I have no courage at all to express love for you. When that courage was present, I found a bitter reality that broke my heart into pieces. The hopes and dreams of being with you are dashed when in front of my eyes and my own head I see you saying love in front of everyone. Your face is bright and the happy glow is clearly reflected in the spotlight of your eyes so how could I possibly ruin the historic moment you two?"

Taking a deep breath, holding her back for a while, she said, "Shaka, I was educated and raised to be an honorable woman. There is a burden that I carry on my shoulders from being born to great parents like Father and Mother. My father was the director and owner of a famous hospital so I couldn't possibly have done anything contemptuous, expressing my feelings to people's lovers while you were just with Ziva. What will others think of me?"

Zahira's shoulders are moving up and down. His body was trembling followed by the sound of sobs held back. His smooth face was increasingly flooded with tears that continued to fall. The chest feels tight as if the air around is unable to supply oxygen to the lungs.

Shaka's heart seemed to be crushed by invisible hands. He was very stupid because he was unaware of Zahira's feelings all this time. Feeling like the dumbest person in the world for wasting someone who loves him. He sacrifices Zahira's feelings for ambition.

With a quick movement, Shaka's hand coiled around his wife's waist then pulled the woman until the bodies of the two touched. He hugged Zahira from behind. "I'm so sorry, honey. I really didn't know that you loved me all this time. I don't know if there's a heart that's hurting when happiness is approaching me and Ziva."

"I'm sorry for what I did, you suffered all this time. For God's sake, I don't mean to hurt your heart, Ra."

Shaka knows, apologies alone cannot bring back wasted time. There have been many tears of Zahira that have fallen just because of his foolishness.

"If I had told you my feelings first, would you have accepted me?" The question suddenly just slid. There was an impulse that Zahira could not control, so he dared to ask the question.

With a slow motion, Shaka turned Zahira's body upside down. The fingers of the right hand wiped the tears that did not stop dripping. "Certainly will accept you, Ra, for I have long fallen in love with you. My desire to date Ziva is only because of my ambition. I want to look great in everyone's eyes for getting Ziva."

Surprised Zahira. "lik! You must be kidding, right? How could you accept me?"

Shaka chuckled softly. The fingers tucked strands of hair in the ears that flew in the wind. "Where might I lie about my own feelings. I love you, Ra. Really love you," she replied seriously. "It is only I who am late to confess my feelings to you."

The lawyer again carried Zahira's frail body in his arms. "I know wasted time cannot bring back the pain I inflicted on your heart, but I hope you will still be by my side, with me forever." Shaka stared at his wife's brown bead filled with tears. "You still want to live with me?"

Zahira did not answer Shaka's words. Without warning, she threw herself into the arms of her husband.

"I assume your answer is yes." Shaka held back his almost upturned female body. He chuckles happily at Zahira's response, though the woman doesn't say a word, but the man is convinced that if the beautiful doctor is willing to accompany him forever.

Unknowingly by Shaka and Zahira, there was a pair of eyes watching them from a distance not so far away. The corners of the lips are pulled upwards forming an arc like an arrow.

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