Husband For Hire

22. I Love You

22. I Love You
Love hurts, you know.

"Let's talk."

Ashar handed me a cup of green tea.

I sighed and sipped on my tea wordlessly.

He gestured me to take a seat on the plain white bench that usually sat alone in the backyard. Today was its lucky day. Ashar sat down by my side with a cup of something in his own hands. From what my nose told me, it was coffee.

"You can't get mad at me," he said.

"I'm—"

"Because I'm your one and only husband," he finished.

"Fake husband," I corrected.

"You can't get mad at me because I'm your one and only fake husband," he corrected. "Better?"

I rolled my eyes. "Why are you here?"

"Isn't the husband supposed to come and apologize after upsetting his wife?" he asked and sipped his coffee with a slight smile. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that."

I cocked an eyebrow. "I've never been married before and you don't look sorry. Is the wife supposed to forgive?"

He nodded seriously. "And then they live happily ever after."

I met his eyes. "Until the divorce." It was the first time in a while we were touching this topic.

He held my gaze and nodded in agreement.

"If you don't mind me asking, did you tell your sister you'll never fall in love again?" I asked cautiously.

His cup paused halfway to his lips. Steam met his face and he brought his cup down. It was something that had been sitting in the back of my mind.

"What did Aara tell you?" he asked staring at his coffee.

"How you like me but maybe not love me," I said trying to lighten his mood. I wanted to avoid bringing up about his deceased mom or his past. "C'mon Ashar, haven't you watched any movies? You're supposed to fall in love . . . with me."

I was joking but he didn't seem to take it lightly.

His face was unreadable. "Love is not what movies make it out to be."

"How dare you make an accusation against films?" I said not at all serious. "Honestly Ashar, I haven't ever fallen in love and if it's not like what it is in movies, I'm going to die."

He scoffed. "It's better to die than fall for someone."

I sipped my tea. "Oh, so you were the one who got dumped. It's okay. Plenty of fish in the sea. No need to be salty."

Of course, I already knew his girlfriend broke the engagement for some reason. I didn't want to see him moping about it. It bothered me why she would leave him if she was as poor as him? Maybe she was richer. But even then, why would she dump him a month after his mother's death? That was cruel even on my standards.

"When you fall in love," he said, "we'll see who's salty."

I chuckled as he rose from his seat. "I don't think that'll ever happen. Men have a hard time seeing past my fortune and assets. Someone falling for me me is wishful thinking."

"You misunderstood. What if you fell for someone?" he asked with his head lightly tilted.

The light from the sunset touched his eyes and face to make it handsome as if he had timed it personally. The way he was looking at me was how I wanted someone I loved to look at me.