Silence stretches between us, the dim light illuminating our faces as we stare at each other blankly.
Seconds pass, with us just standing there, not a sound interrupting us, not even the damn wind.
And then Khizer’s face registers what I just said.
He looks shocked at first, taken by surprise.
Then he snorts.
A very loud, very male, deep-from-the-nose snort.
It did not suit his sophisticated persona, if I say so myself.
Not to mention it was very offensive.
Seeing my unamused expression, he bites his lip.
“Oh, you were being serious.”
“Clearly.”
He nods. “Ok.. Ummm, so what do we name our children?”
I glare at him, and he bursts out laughing.
I growl in response, which sends him in hysterics.
“You sure you’re not in denial?” I bite out, tapping a foot on the ground as I wait for him to shut up.
He let’s out a final chuckle. “You sure the sleep isn’t getting to your head?”
It probably was. Otherwise why would I still be standing here, proposing to a guy I met just two days ago?
“Positive.”
Khizer contemplates this for a while.
I still had time.
I should run off before he can say anything.
Ghost him, avoid him, tell Ahmed I can’t continue with this case and never meet him again.
But my dumbass just stands there staring at him expectantly.
“What?” Khizer frowns.
“Well?”
“What, do you expect me to exclaim a big fat yes and gather you in my arms and kiss you?” I huff at his sarcasm. “Explain yourself women!”
“What’s with the attitude?” I say, crossing my arms stubbornly.
I know what I did wasn’t even half decent, but he didn’t have to be so snarky about it.
“What’s with the proposal?” He retorts.
“It’s not a proposal, it’s an offer.” I say immediately.
“Uhuh. Keep telling yourself that.” He leans on the wall behind him, his long legs splayed out and crossed at the ankles.
I ignore his comment, and instead say, “You wanna hear me out or not?”
He grins teasingly. “Do I have a choice?”
I ignore him again, getting straight to business.
While Khizer was ranting about gold digging woman, my brain ran on overdrive and stopped at the most ludicrous of points.
“Our situations match.”
Khizer tilts his had to the side. “Do they?”
I nod. “You don’t want to get married, because you believe whatever woman you marry will be in it for the money right?”
He nods.
“And I don’t wanna get married because all man are dominating assholes who’d rather I stay home and serve them then go out and earn more money then they do.” I say bitterly. “Or they’re just pussies who’re too scared to get involved with a criminal lawyer.”
He chortles in response.
“So… We both don’t want to get married. But clearly, we have to.”
He raises an eyebrow. “I have to?”
I shoot him a look. “You have to. Otherwise why’d you even bother to be here.”
He shrugs. “Fair enough.” He gives me a look. “Why do you have to?”
I sigh. “My parents. They’re demanding I pause my career until I get married.”
“And you don’t want to stop.”
“Exactly.” I grimace. “So you see, we get married, we’re saved the unnecessary trouble of a classic relationship, while also getting our parents to stop pestering us.”
He stands up straighter, considering my words.
“You’re saved from living with a woman who’s in it for your money,” I continue, “and I’m saved the trouble of having to bear with a husband in general.”
“Right.” Khizer says slowly. “So you’re suggesting we marry for show.”
“Yeah!” Now that I was thinking out loud, the idea wasn’t so bad. “Our families see us as married and leaves us alone, and we leave each other alone! That’s societal as well as individual freedom right there.”
He grunts. “It is, but don’t you see?”
I frown. “See what?”
“Mansha we barely know each other. Hell, this is our third meeting! I could-”
“Well, third times the charm!” I interrupt him.
He shakes his head in disbelief.”I could be a sociopath by night and you would be non the wiser.” He finishes pointedly.
I look him up and down, then grunt. “Nah.”
“What?” He says defensively.
I look into his grey eyes. “You can’t be a sociopath.”
“Oh and why not?” He sounds offended.
I shrug. “You just… aren’t the type.” I sniff sharply. “Too soft.. Tsk.”
He rises to the bait and fumes. “Say that when I’m slowly chopping you up while you sleep.”
I smirk. “Sure.”
He shoots me a glare. “And anyway, even if YOU think I’m a perfectly normal human being,” now he looks me up and down. “I can’t say I think the same of you.”
My smirk widens. “Oh I’m perfectly normal too.”
He shoots me a look. “You expect me to believe that?”
I open my mouth to reply, but suddenly the buildings front gate creaks open, and Khizer stands up straight, his arm brushing mine.
The security guard comes outside, looking around, before his eyes fall on the two of us, standing in the farthest corner, covered in near darkness, our faces illuminated by the dim lighting of the building.
He stares and stares, until I’m uncomfortably aware of how close me and Khizer are standing, and how inappropriate this must look to him.
Beside me, Khizer shifts, and then I hear his voice close to my ear.
“I think you’re as normal as he looks right now.”
I bark out a laugh before I can stop myself, the sound ringing too loudly in the awkward silence.
Behind me, Khizer snorts, and the guard gives us one final suspicious look before going back in.
“That’s wasn’t weird at all.” Khizer says.
I turn back to him, crossing my arms. “I should go back in.”
The guard was a major gossip queen, and I didnt want him spreading more rubbish about me then he was already going to.
“Yeah, I should too.”
And that’s when I remember. “Wait.”
“What?”
“Weren’t you here for my cousin?”
He pauses. “My Grandma was, yeah.” He frowns. “Doesn’t that make you the villain in all this?”
I raise an eyebrow questioningly.
“You’re standing here, in the darkness of night, convincing the man your cousin wants to marry, to marry you, the cousin she trusts so much, instead.” He says dramatically.
I huff.
The audacity of this guy. “Don’t exaggerate. It’s not like anythings been decided yet.”
Plus, Sara doesn’t have a hand in this. She never does.
Whenever Aunty Sugra invites a guy and his family for dinner, it’s always someone SHE likes for her daughter.
And her preference almost always includes people with money and class.
I observe Khizer carefully.
Even in his casual black T-shirt and white ripped jeans, he looked alluring and sophisticated.
Aunty Sugra really hit the jackpot this time, and she probably knew it.
And to think that I was going to steal this hard earned treasure from right under her nose brought the she-devil within me great pleasure.
“I don’t like the look on your face.” Khizer says warily.
“What look?”
“The look that made you look like a conspiring fox lady and forced me to rethink my decision of saying yes to you.”
I scowl. “Do you want me to beg you to tell me your decision?”
He waves a hand, dismissing my sarcasm. “This is probably going to be the worst decision I ever make in life. But whatever.” He pauses, gazing into my eyes, his marble ones glinting in the darkness. “Yes, Mansha Haseeb, I will marry you.”