Her Boyfriend, My Husband

***INTRODUCTION***

*Prologue*

Wa ja'ala bainakum mawaddatan wa rahma (And He has placed Love and Mercy between you)

"Wallahi, I fell in love with you the moment the Liman pronounced you my wife, when I saw you the first time after the wedding I decided to fight the whole world for you and when I heard you laugh at some joke your cousin made, you stole my heart. I love you, you are my inspiration, my joy, my peace, I exist for you. You are my wife and my life and nothing will ever change that."

I stood stunned, I was feeling numb. No, this can't be happening, I must've heard him wrong... Ya Allah, please no.

With a shaky voice, I managed to utter something but my words were not audible. I wasn't even making sense, my mouth was just not ready to coordinate with my brain, finally after what seems like an eternity, I finally managed to say in a very low voice. "No, you can't fall in love with me and I can't fall in love with you. Yes, we might be married but all this is only an act. Ours is a marriage of convince, a contract. You're not allowed to fall in love with me."

I can see him getting anxious now, I can tell how distressed he was with my reply but how can he expect anything different? Does he not know me? Does he really think that lowly of me?

"Why can't I fall in love with you!?" His voice was rising, he was beginning to loose his composure. "Is there something so terrible about a man falling in love with his own wife?"

I was getting angry now. Why was was he acting dumb? He already knew everything! "No but I'm not even your wife!" I couldn't help my voice showing my annoyance. "I'm not even your girlfriend, there's no relationship between us, babu komi tsakannin mu!" I spat.

My words hung thick in the air, he was taken aback, he was stunned but why!? Why the sudden change? Was he really serious? I could see how hurt he was and felt like taking back what I said but I had to go on, remind him of why we are nothing to each other.

"Have you forgotten who I am?" I spoke in the most gentle voice I could, as if I was talking to a little girl. "I am your girlfriend's bestfriend, you're my bestfriend's boyfriend. We got married because I was being pressured by my uncle to bring home a suitor or he gets me married to his friend. You were being pressured by your father to settle down and Zainab wasn't ready to settle down since her mother said she had to finish her masters degree before getting married. She was the one that came up with the idea that you and I should get married and then divorce after she's finished with her program. That way, it's a win win for all three of us since after the divorce, I will be independent and my uncle wouldn't have any control over me, your father will finally let you be and you two can end up together."

I looked at him intently  noticing that he was lost. "All this happened with your consent, ko ka manta ne?" My voice was high again.

He rubbed his forehead, something he does whenever he's overwhelmed with emotions and now, I hope he did that to wake himself to the reality and get it into his head.

"No, ban manta ba, amma all I know is that you're my wife kuma I love you, I love you." His voice was husky and calm as he walked towards me, closing the space between us. He took me in his arms and I could feel the tears running down freely on my cheeks.

"I can't loose you, you're my everything." He said while pulling me closer into him, he took my face in his hand a repeated those three words I wished he would stop. "I love you." He placed a chaste kiss on my forehead and gently released me, turning around and walking out of the room.