"You're coming with me to meet my family".
"..." What?! Did I hear that right? He wants ME to go meet his family? We've been married for less than 24hrs, that's if you can classify our relationship to be a real marriage, and he already wants me to meet his family? Why was I dragged into this man's twisted life?
"Laila?" He asks, after some time of silence, dragging my attention back to reality. I quickly diverted my attention to the almost lukewarm cup of tea before quickly looking up to meet his gaze. His deep emerald eyes staring back at me, waiting for a reply.
I snap back into reality. "Oh, but why so soon?" I asked, trying to divert his attention from my face, whilst at the same, trying to calm my racing heart. It still feels so surreal that this man seated just a few feet away from me, is my husband!
I took a sip of my tea, before he spoke again. "I need them to know that I'm married. Why else do think I'd get married so soon?"
.....
I fiddled with the ends of my scarf whilst thinking of what I could say to his family.
I don't know how he managed to convince me- okay maybe I do, but I'm actually in his car and just a few minutes, I'd be face-to-face with his family!
I've got to admit, I'm nervous, like, sweaty palms and racing thoughts nervous. What if I say something stupid, or embarrass myself, or what if his dad doesn't like me and says he won't accept me as his son's wife, and then Mr Kareem ends our contract and refuses to pay Grandma's hospital fees?
The sudden halt from the car made me snap out of my thoughts. Mr Kareem got out of the car and opened the door for me. I looked up to meet his gaze, those deep green eyes starred down at me. I awkwardly shifted my gaze before stepping out of the vehicle. My heart and my mind would never get used to those green eyes.
The two of us made our way to the front yard and my mouth almost dropped to the floor. I could've thought Mr Kareem's house looked gorgeous but compared to this place....wow!
The building was three stories tall, not to mention the fact that there was a huge pool just staring at us just mere feet away from us. There was a row of daybeds next to the pool. And the building itself? It was a tall three story building that had large windows, making me see a few rooms inside. And from what I saw, the inside looked luxurious.
I felt a slight tap of the shoulder and realized that I'd probably been staring too long . I regained my posture before looking up to see Mr Kareem looking straight ahead at the building.
"I already told my dad about our visit and relationship. He doesn't know about the contract, so I expect you to pretend like as though we're a happily married couple, and most importantly, that you married me at will". He said in a stern and emotionless tone before glancing at me for a second and walking towards the entrance.
Now that just made me more nervous and left wondering about this man's complex family matters.
I shook the thought off before making my way towards the entrance as well. I walked past the swimming pool, trying hard not to admire the beauty of it before awkwardly standing next to him.
He looked at me at the same time that looked up to see him and meet those green orbs staring back at me. Those same exact green eyes that make my heart race every time, of what? I don't know! It could be nervousness, fear or even excitement, but what I know is that at that exact moment, my heart was pounding hard in my chest, probably because I'm going to meet that father of this man.
I awkwardly looked away, sweat beads sliding down my neck and back as I tried to look as presentable as possible.
You can do this Laila, you can do this. I thought to myself just before Mr Kareem took my hand in his and the two of us made our way inside the luxurious building. I flinched a little at the sudden contect but soon composed myself .
The two of us stopped just a few feet away from the entrance and I used that opportunity to feast my eyes on the house.
Right Infront of the entrance is the living room, which wasn't too far from the door. It consisted of three couches and one black glass table at the center. Unlike Mr Kareem's house, this place had more brown to it. The dining room was to the left of the living room and it had the same warm feel to it, except more luxurious of course.
I was still analysing the property -- and maybe at the same time wondering whether anybody lived in the place-- when someone voice broke me out of my trance.
"Kareem?" I turned to the direction the voice came from to see a girl, about my age. She wore this long plain beige gown and let her curly locks flow down her back, she must be Khadijah, but for some reason she looked confused to see him , like as if she wasn't expecting to see her brother, or maybe, she wasn't expecting to see me.
"Where is dad?" Mr Kareem asked without looking at his sister's direction. I turned my attention back to the luxurious living room, just to make this encounter less awkward.
"He's in his study. Why?" She asked with a hint of irritation in her voice.
"You'll see". He said in a cold tone before ushering me up the stairs. We walked past a few doors before he finally stopped at one at the end of the hallway. He didn't even wait for a second before dragging me into the room.
A man, who I suppose to be his father looked up from the newspaper he was reading . He raised a brow once he saw me and folded the newspaper. I noticed he had shared the same skin tone, nose and lips with his son but one thing that differentiated the two were those green eyes that his father didn't posses.
"And who could this be?" He asked motioning to me while looking at his son straight in the eyes.
"She's my wife". Mr Kareem said, still squeezing my hand tightly. I felt the tension in the room take over as I stared blankly at my heels.
"Then why don't we get to know her better". I heard the man say before looking up to see him, he had a smile on his face, one that I've never seen on Mr Kareem.
I watched as he got up from his seat and approached us.
" Khadijah, you can take the girl to your room, get to know her better, while I discuss some business with Kareem". I looked behind me to see Khadijah standing just a few feet behind me. She smiled before walking up to me.
"Come on, let's go". She said before taking my hand and leading me out of the room. On our way out, I felt a sudden sense of relief wash over me, like as if I'd been suffocated while being in there.
She led me to the third floor of the building, and finally, to her room. I observed her room for a while. It looked almost like my room in Mr Kareem's house, except, it had more colour to it, and, there was this big window facing the bed, letting the sunlight into the room.
"Have a seat, make yourself at home". She said before sitting on her big bed. And yet there was still so much I needed to know about this family.
I sat down next to her on the bed, still feeling a bit anxious about introducing myself.
"So you must be Laila, the girl my brother married". She said in a soft voice as she observed me.
"Yeah. He's a really nice guy". I said, still avoiding my gaze.
"Look", she took hold of my shoulders before making me face her. "I know this whole marriage thing is fake, I know my brother took well to fall for that. I know he only married you to secure his place in the family once more". I looked deep into my eyes with a small smile plastered on her face. She inherited her father's deep brown eyes.
I was starting to feel a bit less anxious around her. "But why does he have to do that? Marry some random girl just to secure his place". I asked. If I had to live with this man for a year, then maybe I should at least get to know what's going on in this family.
I watched as her smile slowly faded. "Before our mother died, her last wish was to see her eldest child get married. But when that didn't happen, it kind of caused a drift between my dad and Kareem. My dad thought that my mother died unhappy because of him, so what did he do? He gave Kareem two options, either he gets married and lives happily with us, or he disobeys my father and ends up loosing his title as the heir of the business and as his son. He gave Kareem on month find a wife, and so he did. He got married to you to secure his position". She explained. I listened carefully. I wasn't too surprised upon hearing about it, in fact, I kind of expected it.
"But why did he choose me though?" I asked, out of thousands of other girls, he chose me, someone who can't even afford to pay her grandmother's hospital bills.
"I honestly don't know, maybe it was because you saved him, or probably because he saw something unique in you. One thing I know about my brother is that he won't have chosen you, unless he saw something special about you," she said before abruptly standing up. "Anyways, we better get going, lunch is almost ready, that's if you two are staying for it?" I looked up at her, still trying to figure out the missing puzzle piece in this family.
"Sure". I said before standing up as well.