The Addiction of Love

VI

Razia was reading a book when the doorbell went off. It was a little past noon. Inaya was in the office so she was alone.

She opened the door and found a tall, handsome man on her doorstep, whom she'd never seen before.

"May I help you?" Razia questioned.

"Hello, ma'am. My name is Zain Mir Siddiqui." The man introduced himself.

Razia tried to recall if she knew any person called Zain, but nothing came to her mind. "I didn't recognize you."

"No, we haven't met before. I want to talk to you about something important. If you don't mind, can I come in?"

She was hesitant, but he looked like a decent man to her. So she agreed.

Zain took a seat on the sofa and looked nervously at Razia.

"So what do you want to talk about?"

"Umm, it is about your daughter, Inaya." He started, making her confused.

"Ideally, I should have sent my parents to talk about this, but unfortunately I lost them a few years ago. I don't have many relatives so it is just me alone." He spoke while scratching his neck.

Razia couldn't understand what he was trying to say, but stayed quiet to let him continue.

"I am here to ask for your daughter's hand in marriage."

____________

Inaya was in a meeting when her phone rang. It was Razia, so she declined the call. Her phone rang again and she cut it again. But when her phone rang the third time, she excused herself and came out of the conference room.

"Ammi, what is it? I am in a meeting." She said as soon as she received the call.

"I don't care about your meeting. Why didn't you tell me about Zain?" Razia asked, making Inaya frown.

"Zain? How do you know him?"

"He came home to talk to me." Razia informed.

Did he tell her mom about Murtaza? Inaya wondered and her body tensed up.

"About what?" She fearfully asked.

"He has proposed a marriage between you both!"

"What?" Inaya's high-pitched tone got the attention of a few employees around.

"Why didn't you tell me about him?" Razia complained.

"I'll talk to you later, ammi." Inaya hung up and marched towards the lift.

Zain had just reached his office from Inaya's home and had started working, when a very angry Inaya banged his door open.

She came and stood directly in front of him. She was breathing heavily in rage.

"I am sorry, sir. I tried stopping her.." Aditya came behind her.

Zain put his hand up to indicate that it was fine and asked him to leave.

"How dare you, Mir? How dare you go to my house to meet my mom and ask for her permission to marry me?" She was seething.

"I don't think I did anything wrong." Zain stood up too. His 6'3 frame towered over her 5'6 height.

"How could you even think that I'll marry you? Just because I am in trouble with Murtaza doesn't mean I'll do anything to save myself. And is this what you meant when you said that you'll protect me? You know what, I was wrong about thinking that maybe you're not a bad guy. You thought that in pretence of protecting me, you'll get married to me. You make me sick. You're worse than Murtaza." By the end of her speech, she was screaming at his face, while tears were flowing from her eyes. This is what she hated about herself. She couldn't control her tears when she was super angry about something.

"Are you done?" Zain asked. His hands were itching to wipe her tears away, but he knew that at that moment, she'd not appreciate that action. So he pushed his hands into his pants pocket to control his desire to touch her.

"First of all, I don't want to marry you to protect you from Murtaza. I want to marry you because I like you." He said in a no nonsense tone.

Inaya froze.

"And not even for a second think that I am forcing you in any way. I went to your mother to ask for your hand because that was the right thing to do. I talked to your mother before you because I don't want to court you without her permission. Now, it is completely your choice if you say yes to my proposal or not. You can take as much time as you want."

Inaya was flabbergasted. She absolutely did not see an honest confession coming.

"And no matter what your answer is to my proposal, it won't affect the promise that I've made to keep you safe."

___________

A week later, the news of Murtaza's arrest reached Inaya. Apparently over the last few years he had been sexually harassing female employees in his office. Those victims had given the statement against him and he was put in jail soon after.

It was all strange. How did it all happen so quickly? Clearly the legal system of our country was not that efficient, and she reached to only one answer; Zain Siddiqui. It had to be him. How he did it, she didn't know and honestly, she didn't care. Men like Murtaza deserved punishment.

Since Zain had confessed his feelings for her, something had changed about their relationship. Now when they crossed paths in the office, they didn't pass rude comments anymore. Instead they shared sly eye contacts and smiles. He had started to make her feel giddy whenever he was around. She had started to put some extra effort dressing up every morning, and adjusting her hair whenever she found him looking at her.

She had also started to notice how good looking he was, how he ran his hand in his silky black hair, how his brown eyes had sparkle in them,  and how he got a dimple on his left cheek when he smiled. His charms made her wonder why she never noticed how handsome he was before.

____________

"Your mamu called today. He was really ashamed of Murtaza's actions." Razia started a conversation. It was Sunday and the mother-daughter were cleaning the living room.

It had been a few days since Murtaza had been presented before a judge, who had declared him guilty and sentenced him to two years of imprisonment.

"Hmm," Inaya said while dusting all the flower vases.

"What hmm?"

"Ammi, I don't want to talk about Murtaza. He is a closed chapter for me."

"Okay, then let's talk about Zain. Did you know that he studied at Harvard?" Razia asked excitedly.

Inaya rolled her eyes. After Zain had met Razia, she had used all her detective skills and checked every detail about his life. She had found nothing wrong with the guy and had given her approval.

"No," Inaya answered. It was a lie, by the way. She hadn't stalked him any less than her mom.

"I am not forcing you for anything, but I really feel that he's the one for you." Razia truthfully said.

I think so too, ammi. I think so too.

🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸

I love guys who have a clear vision of what and whom they want in their life and doesn't go around beating bushes. Zain is a character completely based on that.

Let me know your thoughts!