Living Royalty

1. How can this be happening?

Samaah's P.O.V

"No, no, no, no, no!" I cried. "No, Dad! I can't. We can't. It's just not fair!"

"Samaah! Look, I'm not forcing you, but atleast meet the guy. Come on. It's ultimately your decision!" Dad said.

"But Dad, you know, by saying that this is something very important for you, we can't refuse you. Yet you are saying this is our decision? It's not!" My sister, Samiha said. She seemed to be more angry, while I was in denial.

"I'm sorry girls. I've to put you through this. But after everything your mother and I have done for you, can't you atleast do this for us? Your parents?" Dad asked.

"Oh come on, Dad. Don't pull the "we're your parents" card now!" Samiha retorted.

"Samiha! Mind your tongue. You're talking to your father, young girl!" Mum snapped.

"No Dad. I'm not agreeing to this. Never," I said, still in denial.

Mum turned to look at me.

"Samaah. For once, can the both of you shut up and listen to us? We haven't even finished!" Mum yelled. She seemed to be getting upset.

"Listen to what, Mum? What do you want us to listen to now? How you want us, your girls, to get married to them? Come on, you guys are being unreasonable. Those boys are princes. Literally! And us? Just simple girls. How do you expect us to adjust with those big-headed pricks?" Samiha yelled. Her anger was something I was terrified of. She was my older sister and she scared the living daylights out of me when she was angry. Luckily for me, today her anger was directed towards mum and dad, and I agreed with her.

"Exactly, Samiha. They're princes, right? Understand this, we are tight. Like extremely tight, alright? Your dad and I can hardly afford anything. Since we haven't told you why exactly we want you to get married to those boys, let me tell you now. The company your dad works for is suffering losses, so your dad was one of the employees made redundant. Over the past month, he has applied for six jobs, and he got rejected for all of them. Zakir Hamid, the husband of an old friend of mine, came to know of our situation, and he offered to give your dad a job in his huge company under the condition that you two marry his sons," mum said.

I was shocked. I didn't really know this was the whole story. Yes, I had noticed how stressed my parents were over the past month, and everyday mum and dad were telling us not to spend too much. We had no idea what was going on. They never told us anything but then again, we never asked. I guessed Saamih was probably aware, but not Samiha and I. Then today, dad came home, looking much happier than usual. So we were also happy. Then when he told us that he wants us to marry those Hamid boys who used to attend the same private school as we did for A levels, the happiness was the calm before the storm. And now, mum just dropped the bombshell.

"Now will the two of you still be so selfish? All we're asking of you is to just meet those boys and talk to them, that's it. If you don't want to marry them, then we won't force you. We'll try to find another way out, In sha Allah. Don't be so stubborn. If this particular way can work out for your father, then isn't this the least you can do for your parents? Your dad spent every single day working to earn for you. His children. Don't you appreciate?" mum said. She was fuming. Dad reached out to hold her shoulder. I knew dad was upset at us also, but he was more collected.

"Okay, dad. We'll go to see them," I said. I looked at Samiha and glared at her meaningfully. She just shrugged. That girl was high maintenance. Her anger was still there, but I knew she wouldn't argue any further.

That night, our parents explained to us everything about the Hamid family. They were the richest family in our town, considered royalty. They had anything and everything that money could buy. The two boys who had attended the same school as us, around five years back, were leading the life of princes. I didn't know how to feel. I mean, I would look forward to marrying a nice guy, whether rich or not, but I wasn't quite so sure about marrying a spoilt brat who was very rich.

"Dad, why did Mr. Hamid offer you the job under the condition that we marry his sons?" I asked.

I saw dad nervously look down at his hands, and kept quiet. Samiha impatiently cleared her throat, indicating that she wanted him to answer. Samiha was my best friend, she was such a nice person and had a heart of gold, but when she got angry, she could behave like the wicked witch of the west. She knew this herself, so when she calmed down, she always apologised. I loved her. She was religious, sweet and loving.

"His sons, as you know, are spoilt. They hardly listen to anything they are told. They spend the whole night out, they don't do any work, they blow money, and he feels that if they got married, maybe they would improve," dad said. He looked up at us nervously.

I felt irritated. Before Samiha could speak up, and I knew she would shout if she spoke up now, I decided to talk myself.

"Dad, how could you? Is this what you want? You want your daughters to get married to such people? They will ruin our lives. What makes you think we can change them if their own parents don't have any control over them?" I said, tears threatening to spill from my eyes.

"Baby, please try and understand. We only want you to meet them. That's it. Please do this for us," dad pleaded.

"Samaah, let's just go to bed. I don't want to discuss this. Dad, we don't want to be ungrateful to you so just do what you feel is right," Samiha said, grabbing my arm. I nodded and followed her.

Basically, we had to meet them. We were going to meet them, even though we were not happy. But then, we would never disappoint our parents no matter how much we initially argued with them. It was the least we could do for our parents, even though it didn't even begin to repay all that they had done for us.

Before I went to bed, there was only one thought on my mind, how can this be happening?

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First story!! First chapter!! How is it?
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Thank you to all those who read it. I hope you enjoy! ❤❤