❛ Why are you acting this way? ❜
❛ I feel infuriated.❜
❛ And why is that so? ❜
❛ Because I can't figure out if I should scream at you or have you screaming for me.❜
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It was all too easy until it wasn't.
A tale where you throw in a dash of secr...
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"Can you pinch me?"
Noor looks perplexed at my announcement, her body slumps down on the chair. She blinks her eyes and tucks her hair back. Palm against her forehead as she looks so tired.
It's comical to see her so taken aback, not that I expected any less of a reaction but her state makes me want to forget the severity of the situation and burst out in strings of laughter.
However, like I good negotiator, I drink back my chuckle and explain to her my view, which isn't very well formed, if I say so myself.
"I am not asking you to marry me forever. It's a temporary arrangement to help both of our situations." My explanation doesn't satisfy the tornado of questions within me.
I am putting on a brave front but this sham is scaring me to my bones. It's a long commitment, too many lies would have to be told, just too fucking many.
"Do you even hear yourself? We can't do this, sir." Her voice is shaking, trembling in waves of anxiety.
"Noor, do you have any other alternative?"
"But I can't marry you." The distaste in her words has me feeling a little bad. I wasn't expecting her to be rejoicing but do much hatred?
"It's not a real marriage. It would be contractual. In front of our families, we would be a married couple, but in reality, we would just be two individuals who have nothing to do with each other. One year, we have to make them believe our lie and then we can amicably part ways." I recite everything I had spent my night thinking.
I had realised the previous evening that our lies had left us with no other option. For me to get the shares and for Noor to not disappoint her family, this is our only way.
If we would suddenly break up, my grandfather would toss the remaining shares from my plate and drain them down. Noor would again become a laughing stock, a reason for her parents to feel ashamed.
I don't believe that moving out of your home to live life on your terms is wrong but the way Noor describes her family, I am assuming she has been reprimanded for her choices. Even if her parents supported her, her paternal family was against her.
She is lost in this maze of family feuds and me in my quest to fulfil my parent's dying wish. It's a win-win for us. One solution to both our problems.
