It’s been fifteen days since the wedding.

Sindoor on the forehead, mangalsutra around the neck and in that house I am now known as “Reema Malik”.

People say that a new bride has a different glow on her face — but when I look at myself in the mirror, I also see a shadow somewhere in that glow… The shadows of that night.
At night, when everyone is asleep, the lights in the in-laws’ room go out, the sound of the fan in the room is the only thing left in the room, then the silence inside me starts to speak loudly.

That night… Which I have lived, but I have not forgotten. On the day when everything seemed perfect,
the color of the mehndi was still as deep as my expectations.

Everyone in the house had a smile on their faces — satisfaction in my mother’s eyes, pride on my father’s face, and me… Lost in preparing for a new journey in her life. On that day, the turmeric ritual ended a few days before the wedding.

There was such an atmosphere of fragrance in the house as if even the air was happy for me.

But then in the evening, I got a call — from my friends. “Reema, it’s your bachelorette party today!”
I laughed and said, “Are you crazy? How do I leave my parents?”
But the friends were like that, they said,
“Where will we meet after marriage? This is your last night of fun.” “The decision I made between their insistence and the little curiosity that arose in me was the beginning of that night.
I always prided myself on my simplicity.
But that day, when friends held hands in the hotel room and said,
“Come on, let’s change your clothes today, it’s not a bride, it’s your queen’s night.” “
So I also saw myself turning into a mirror without thinking too much. My suit was replaced by a dress, my hair was open, my eyes were dark… The shadow of the
mirror was smiling, but I found that smile strange — like someone else’s. The room was full of music and laughter, all the girls were laughing; But in the midst of that noise, I could clearly hear my heartbeat.
The atmosphere that changed everything, in a little while, some boys also came there.
They were all “friends” to say, but the rapport showed that the boundaries had been crossed.
Someone handed me a glass of drink, someone said, “Reema, today is your day… Open up.” “
I momentarily saw my old college friend among them — the one I had once liked, but the conversation never progressed.
He came up to me and said,
“Let’s make tonight memorable… Tomorrow you will be someone else’s.” “
His words were like a strong wind breaking the door inside me.
It is still difficult to put into words what I was feeling after that moment.
I got up and walked down the corridor. The music in the
room faded away and in a silent corridor there was only the sound of my thoughts. I thought of my mother —
the one who had been preparing for my wedding since morning without resting.
The mother who always said, “Reema, there comes a time in a girl’s life when she has to make a wise decision.” “
I missed Papa —
who gave up his hobby for my studies.
For whom I was proud. And then I thought—
am I the same Reema in whom they have so much trust?
Can I break that trust, just for “one night of fun”?
Sitting near the washroom, I was fighting with myself.
A voice was saying, “Reema, everyone does it, you do it too, it’s just a moment.” Another
voice would say, “No, if this is freedom, why does it reek?”

Then the phone rang—
mother’s name flashed on the screen.
“Son, is everything okay? Have you eaten? When will you come home?” His voice seemed to stop both the fire and the storm inside.
I tried to be normal, and said,
“Yes, Mom, everything is fine. You go to sleep.” “
And as soon as I hung up, tears flowed from my eyes.
I remembered that sentence —
“Those who don’t even know what happens at the bachelor party must be sleeping with complete trust in me.” “
At that moment I decided — I wouldn’t break anyone’s trust. When I returned to the
room, the same noise, the same laughter, the same smoke, and the same red light.
But everything inside me was still — like a deep river. The friend who told me, “Come on, everyone does this,”
I looked him in the eye and said,
“It doesn’t have to be right what everyone does.”
What I can’t see in my parents’ eyes and feel can’t be right. “
I picked up my bag, put on my suit and left the hotelThe plow came out.
Many friends called out
, “Hey Rima, just a little longer…”
But my ears were no longer able to hear any sound. I came out of the hotel and took a deep breath—
the cool breeze seemed to say, “You left at the right time. “
It was about twelve o’clock at night.
When I opened the door of the house, my mother was not sleeping.
She was sitting on the verandah, not sleepy in her eyes, just worried. She looked at me and said,
“My baby is here… Come on, I’ll heat up the food. “I couldn’t think of anything.
She just went and hugged her mother.
Tears began to flow themselves, the words stuck in the throat. I just said,
“Mom, if I ever lose my way, stop me, scold me…”
Mother put her hand on my head and said,
“You have come back yourself, so you are right.” The one who stops before the mistake is made, God also blesses him. “
That night I cried so much for the first time because I felt like I had pulled myself out of a deep abyss.
It’s been fifteen days since the wedding.
The husband is very nice, his behavior is respectful.
My family has accepted me the way I always wanted to. But when I’m alone at night, that night comes back.
The lights of the hotel, the loud music, the dark corridors…
And that one decision — the one that
saved me from being misled. Now it makes sense,
sometimes a small “no” becomes a “yes” to a whole life.
Sometimes taking a step back is the biggest step forward. And I still say the same thing today—
if I hadn’t composed myself that night,
I might not be able to look at myself in the mirror today. That night was truly memorable.
Not for fun… But because that night I got to know myself,
learned to love myself,
and understood that
walking the path of honor is not always easy,
but that is what makes life beautiful