The Marriage Demands (#Wattys2017)

Chapter 25

ZAKRIYA ISLAM

She narrowed her eyes and scoffed. "Why are we even talking about this? Is it because of what happened in Murree? Are you trying to cajole me into crying my heart out to you?" she scorned. "Well, please stop if you are. I think that you should know that it's none of your business. So don't try to breech my demands; don't force your intentions on me or try to inquire about my personal life." She stated coldly.

"I believe that you Americans fall in love everyone now and then. Do you even you  what loving only one person is all about?  I bet you don't so please don't start this drama of falling in love with  me because I'm not buying it." she mocked. I clenched my fists hard and tried to control the bubbling anger inside of me.

I shouldn't be surprised at her bitter misinterpretation of my confession but I was. I was hurt as well. I was hurt at how coldly she dismissed my feelings as if they weighed next to nothing. Is she that dead bent on not believing me that she would be so rude and mean?

She was shooting daggers at me. My anger was somewhat down now so I breathed in deeply to further calm myself.

"Tell me something Bree, why did you marry?" I asked. She frowned do I further elaborated. "Ours is certainly not a love marriage. It makes me wonder why you married me to begin with. I understand that you did it because you're initial goal was to get pregnant. Other than that, you never told me." I insinuated. She sighed and leaned her elbows on the table.

"I don't know-perhaps, I wanted to marry a man who was more open minded. I have always found Pakistani men to be a little bit conservative and narrow-minded. So while I was in the US, I made a crude and quick decision to get married before leaving. I knew that no man would agree to my demands. But I had to try. I never thought that I would succeed." She answered. "and even if I married I most certainly didn't get married for love or anything like that." she replied. It's not only unwomanly of her to admit this but also heart wrenching.

"But why did you agree Zac? I don't know why but I pity you. You're stuck with me. It's almost painful to see you yield to my demands. I have always wondered why though." She mused. I stared at her. So she pities me just because I respect her wishes? Well isn't that audacious of her. But there's no way that I'm about to let her negate my feelings for her.

***********
AMBER ZAID

Why is he sprouting such nonsense so early in the morning. I almost resisted the urge to roll my eyes but I couldn't over look the sincerity in his clear blue eyes.

It made my heart feel something strange and my anger seemed to dissipate a little. He was clearly hurt by my sudden rejection of his feelings but what can I do? I can't risk myself. I refuse to put myself at the mercy of his whims. He was willing to share his feelings and what he had been through with me and I wanted to embrace them but my pride and integrity was against it.

I clenched my hands into tight fists-I had resolved to trust him a little but after my encounter with my parents in Murree, my previous fears and speculations about people resurfaced and I was back in my shell. And now, I wasn't willing to compromise like I had earlier for his sake.

"I don't know but just like you, I made a quick decision of getting married. I was alone and I didn't want to be lonely anymore. I wanted to marry a chaste and pious Muslim woman who was born a Muslim so that my line could continue on in the light of Islam." He told. My brows furrowed and he must've recognized my perplexity.

"Are you aware that I wasn't born a Muslim?" he asked. I shook her head in the negative. He sighed and looked at his hands resting on the table. "You see, I was born into an atheistic family. I converted to Islam almost three years from now. I was the idle child with my brother Jake being the eldest and my sister Sally. My parents were successful entrepreneurs and were able to set up a small adverting firm. But in the process, they mainly neglected us kids. Jake was always busy in school and Sally was young so my grandparents took me in when I was five. So you can understand my attachment to my grandmother more. My Gran raised me to be a good person. I was an average student in school but an excellent student in College. But thats when my life started to take a turn. My Grandparents were strict Protestant Christians while my parents had embraced atheism in their years due to which my grandparents didn't try to keep in much touch with them but still the situation was good"