Loving a Princess

20. I hope what I'm going to do is right!

"Go down, they're waiting for you," Asiyah said, as she entered my room, while I was pinning my hijaab.

"Asiyah, I don't want to go!" I whined.

Asiyah rolled her eyes at me as she walked to me and gently pushed me out of my door. "You don't have a choice now. It's too late. They're already here and waiting for you," she said.

"How many are they?" I asked.

"Three. The mother, son and daughter. As in Jamila, Mahmoud and Mahmoud's sister," Asiyah replied.

"Who is Mahmoud's sister?" I questioned.

"She used to be in your class in A levels. Naheeda? Remember her?" Asiyah asked, and I nodded, so she continued. "Apparently, she's the one who suggested you to Mahmoud. That's how he wanted your hand in marriage. She showed him your picture in the class photo of your A-levels graduation and he liked you."

"Wow, Asiyah, you seem to know a lot!" I said, lightly.

Although I didn't show it, when she said that Mahmoud liked me, I was taken over by dread. Here, I wanted to turn him down, but how could I if he liked me? I really wasn't ready for marriage. How did things just get a million times more complicated?

"This whole story was just narrated downstairs before I came up to call you," Asiyah answered in a 'duh' tone, as we descended down the stairs.

"Which lounge?" I asked.

"Lounge 6. We're not many people so it's pointless going to a larger lounge. Dad is at work, by the way," Asiyah replied.

"Oh, right," I said.

When we finally reached the lounge, Asiyah pushed the door open and I kept my eyes glued to the floor.

"Assalamualaykum," I greeted, lifting my eyes up to see Jamila and Naheeda.

"Wa'alaykumsalaam," they both replied.

"This is Aliyah, my elder daughter," mum introduced, although it wasn't really necessary, they already knew who I was. "She just came back from abroad yesterday, after graduating in engineering."

"MashaAllah. You have a beautiful daughter, Marwa. And engineering? She must be very smart!" Jamila exclaimed.

I felt a pang of guilt in my chest. I felt like the worst human being ever! I really didn't want to get married, but was it worth it hurting these people who were honestly so nice?

"Alhamdulillah. Aliyah, please go and bring tea and snacks, dear," mum said.

I nodded and left the lounge to go to the kitchen. This was so complicated! From what Arif told me, Mahmoud is a nice guy.

But so is Farshad, my conscience said.

And then, on top of that, from what Asiyah told me, Naheeda said that Mahmoud had liked me. And now, Jamila was such a nice woman! How could I possibly refuse? How could I possibly turn them down?

Somehow, these thoughts led me to get a little angry, and my anger was directed at mum. Had mum have asked me before arranging to meet with these people, I would have refused from before only, so that these people wouldn't have any hopes. Seeing Jamila's expectant face made me feel terrible. If they wouldn't have been told to meet me, they would have known not to expect anything, but this meeting did get their hopes up, and now I was feeling horrible!

Once I reached one of the kitchens, I asked Mr. Suhail, the head cook, for the tea and snacks and he handed me a large tray filled with baked goodies, a pot of tea and cups.