Amal's POV:
BRIIIIIIINNNNNNNGGGGGG! Oh my god, my alarm clock. "Just for a few minutes longer", I groan as I clumsy press the snooze button on my phone.
Accidentally, the phone falls to the ground from my clumsiness. Darn, now I have to pick it up. My lazy butt slowly slides down from my bed to the floor. Thank god I put a soft rug on the ground. I look at the time and see that it is 8 am.
My 9 year old sister, Humira barges into the room and yells "Happy Birthday!".
" Thank you so much" , I say.
"I love you so much", she says hugging me tightly to the point where I am suffocating.
" Me too, but can you let me go?", I say still suffocating.
" Oh sorry!", she says as she kisses me on the cheek and leaves the room.
I get up and get dressed with a yellow top and a pair of jeans.
Yellow is my favorite color. I go downstairs to see my father, sitting with his eyes closed after his all night shift.
He has such big bags underneath his eyes probably from stress at work, why haven't I noticed that before? Suddenly his eyes open, as he watches me with a tender loving expression and says " Happy Birthday Amal, Habibi", and stands up to hug me.
" Thank you so much Baba, please sit down you look very tired", I say.
He sits back down and I ask about his night.
He tells me about the restaurant that he manages usually but today he is silent. "Baba, did something happen?", I ask hoping nothing went wrong. Baba nods and gestures me to sit down on the couch, and I sit on the couch feeling anxious and scared of the news that I was going to hear.
"Habibi, I am sorry. I lost the job because...", He hesitates.
"Because of what?", I ask.
" I have cancer", he says so softly that I almost don't hear it. Baba has cancer. Those days when he was bleeding through the nose and his hair was falling out, I didn't I know. Those bags under his eyes wasn't from stress at work, it was stress from the cancer and the knowledge that he was going to die. No. No. NO. Maybe I didn't hear that right. Maybe he said something else.
" You have cancer?", I say to him. In my mind I am begging him to say no. But I know that answer.
"Yes", Baba says.
I sob, finally noticing that I had been crying all along as Baba pulls me into his arms.
" My dear, there is something else I want to say too."
"What?"
" Before I die, I want to see you get married. My friend Khalid has a boy who is 20 years old and he is eligable to get married. I want you to marry him before I die".
What, my conciousness yells. I don't want to get married right now, I want to stay with Baba and live the last few months that I can with him.
" Baba...."
"Please Amal.... For me"
"..... Ok"
"Kadija, she said yes!", Baba yells.
My mom comes out of the bedroom smiling widely at me but I can see the redness in her eyes from crying. I guess she must have just heard the news about Baba's cancer like me.
All through this time, I sit still in a daze that I am about to get married to a complete stranger. I have always dreamt of getting married to the one and only right one for me. But in order for Baba's wish, I have to.
"Call Khalid! They are coming over to our house for the engagement", My Baba says ecstatically while dialing a number on the home phone.
Slowly, I get up and walk to my room trying to process what just happened.
*Later that evening
I get dressed in the evening, wearing a floral lehenga.
Even though I may be getting married to a stranger, maybe arrange marriage will be good for me. Maybe I will meet the one.
I walk out of the room after wearing a natural look and spot 6 pair of eyes on me.
" Mashallah, she is beautiful", Baba's friend, Uncle Khalid says.
Baba gestures to me to sit next to him. I sit down as Uncle Khalid introduces me to his family.
" As you know, I am your Uncle Khalid but since you are getting married to my older son, you can call me Dad. This is my 2nd wife, Tanaya. *He gestures towards a older woman who has a face caked with makeup and too much perfume on* And this is my younger son, Amir", he says.
I introduce myself to Amir and Auntie Tanaya and stand up to serve everyone tea.
As I bring out the tea, I walk straight into someone accidently, spilling tea all over them.
" OH NO, I am so sorry", I say geniunely apologetic
"WHAT THE F**K? CAN'T YOU SEE WHERE YOU ARE GOING? STUPID MAID. YOU ARE GOING TO GET FIRED THIS INSTANT!",says the man.
I look up seeing the most handsome man I have ever seen. But I see that he is very ignorant and rude as well.
"Excuse me but I am NOT a maid. I am actually the owner of this house. And also I already said that I am sorry and if you want, you can clean your shirt in our bathroom and I can find you another one. But don't curse at me and scream at me. I am not your servant and will not tolerate any sort of rudeness!", I yell.
He smirks and steps closer. " Who do you think you are? Do you know who I am?", he says dangerously close.
I tremble at his closeness but counter " NO, and I don't even want to know", making his smirk falter.
"Children, what is going on over here?", Uncle Khalid says rushing into the room along with everyone else.
" Nothing dad, just this stupid girl spilling tea all over me and being rude about it", he says as I say " This rude guy being disrespectful even though I said sorry and offered to help him after accidently spilling some tea on him and acting arrogant in front of me"
" OH! I have see you have gotten acquientted already!", Baba says.
"Huh?", we both say confused.
"You are going to get married to one another!", says Baba and Uncle Khalid at the same time.
WTF?
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WHAT DO YOU THINK IS GOING TO HAPPEN?
Do you think that they are going to get married peacefully?
Please comment down below what your favorite color is. Mine is Yellow.
Vote!!!!!!
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