Twice Upon Qadr - A Shot At Love **EDITING**

Chapter 55

Houssam paused in his tracks, his broad shoulders still towards her, and she just waited, waited to see what his reaction was going to be.

Finally he turned around, his face a mask of careful neutrality.

“What?”

“Me and Abdullah. It’s not for real. Well I mean it’s for real but at the same time not.”

He put his hands in the air.

“What does that even mean!?”

She shifted uncomfortably.

“It’s complicated.”

“Are you engaged or not?” he demanded, and she fingered her plate nervously.

“In technical terms. But in reality it’s more of a…business deal.”

Houssam’s eyes widened, and he took a step backwards.

“Oh my GOD! What does that even mean!? Is he PAYING you to be his fiancée!? Good Lord Hana I can’t even believe you!”

“No! Houssam no! Wait. It’s not like that please calm down. Okay business deal was a bad choice of words.”

“I’ll say.” He said with a snort. “Just tell me the truth Hana.”

She sunk into one of the dining room chairs.

“Okay. I will tell you. But just be warned this is weird and out of the ordinary and I don’t want you to judge me. I would never usually do something like this.”

“Alright. I’ll try to keep an open mind.” He grumbled.  

“Let’s say, if God Forbid your mother was dying? And literally her last wish was to see you getting settled. What would you do?”

He regarded her suspiciously.

“What kind of question is that?”

“Just answer it Houssam.”

“I would find someone I like, and get married.”

Hana shook her head.

“They gave her a month maximum to live. There isn’t time to search and find someone.”

Understanding dawned in his eyes, but his face still remained impassive.

“I would find someone to pretend for her.”

She nodded.

“Exactly.”

He took a deep breath.

“Abdullah’s mom is dying?”

Hana was silent for a second, before turning her face away from him.

“Yeah. It’s not looking good. They gave her another two weeks but the way she has been…” she trailed off, and Houssam put a hand to his neck.

“Wow. I knew she had been sick for a while, but I had no idea.”

“Yeah.”

The two of them were silent for a few moments before she sighed.

“He came to me two weeks ago and told me that her doctors had given her maximum a month to live, and she told him that it was her only wish to see her son with someone. He is her only child after all.”

“He came to you?”

“Well he came to my dad. But he explained it to me.”

“Does anyone else know?”