Love for Rent

x Fall in Love With Me x

'Have you never been on a plane before?' Shahzaib asked me as we waited in the lounge since the flight to Islamabad got delayed. I looked up from my phone to look at him and felt like he had been looking at me for a long time.

I shook my head to tell him no and returned my attention to the phone.

'Would you like to eat something?' He asked me, and I glanced at him again. I put my phone and went to sit next to him as he was sitting on a sofa across from me.

'Are you nervous? It's okay, you can tell me.' I asked him. This must be strange for him too. Marrying a stranger is not something we all dreamt about growing up.

'I am not nervous, I just want to make sure you're ready... you seem a little... never mind' He stopped.

'No, finish it; I seem a little what?' I glared at him, challenging him to speak up.

'You have to make everyone believe we are married; you will have to act like my wife,' He replied.

'So what you want me to stick like this' I brushed my shoulder against his.

'Is this what you think being a wife is?' He now turned his body towards me, so I moved back to add some space between us.

'What do you mean?' I hesitated to ask what he meant.

'You will have to fall in love with me, Seher' He scooted closer and held my hand, slighting pulling me towards him.

'Excuse me?' I looked around and noticed people staring at us.

'Let go of my hand' I drove his hand away, and he started laughing. I was shocked to react to whatever had happened just now, so I just eyed him.

'You have a lot of work to do before I introduce you to my family,' He said finally after quieting down.

'I am not going to do anything like that with you,' I said in a low voice.

'What?' He leaned closer to hear what I had said, but just then, the announcement came in for boarding, and we got inside the plane.

'Comfortable?' Shahzaid's voice came again as soon as I settled into my business class seat. I nodded and texted a final message to Ma, telling her I would contact her after I got to Islamabad before the flight took off. After having a decent meal, watching a musical movie, and reading a few magazines, I glanced at Shahzaib and saw him working on his laptop.

'Is something wrong?' He said, and I shifted my glance elsewhere before he caught me staring.

'No,' I smiled and put on another movie to watch, but there was a question that was bothering me, so I knew I wouldn't be able to keep it inside of me much longer, so I decided to ask him now.

'Actually, I have a question' I mentioned, and he stopped working and shifted his attention to me.

'What did you mean by I have to fall in love with you?' I leaned in his direction and whispered only so he could hear me since he was sitting on the other side of the aisle. He didn't answer; instead, to got up from his seat and came towards me, lowering himself until he was facing me. He rested one of his hands on the armrest and looked into my eyes.

'I have two families, one is just happy I got married, so you don't have to worry about them they will treat you like family, but the other family won't be so gentle, they will try to crack you open, force you to tell them a truth since they already think I am lying about getting married so before we meet the other one we will make sure you're ready to face them' He explained to me and now I was scared.

'Don't be scared. You will have plenty of time to get ready before you meet them' He sounded so sure.

'You really thought of everything, didn't you?' I inquired.