Lesser Evil

Epilogue

The airport was a mess.

A. Mess.

But I couldn't deny that I was looking for someone in the crowd, even if it pained me to think of it or admit it.

"Excuse me." I pushed in between two men, heading straight for the luggage collection section, still watching over my shoulder and all around me.

Not one sign of a man dressed in a black hoodie...

What was I thinking? He'd probably grown out of those black hoodies of his in the past two years, if... if he was even alive.

That thought left a bitter taste in my mouth, and since I wasn't a masochist by any means, I decided to stop thinking about the man who hadn't thought twice before breaking all contact off from me. I understood. I really did understand his reasons but... But it was hard to accept it, even after two years. In reality, I'd joked with him about moving on from him and finding someone else. But I'd really just been afraid he would move on, find someone else.

Pathetic, isn't it?

So stupid of me to step back in Pakistan and instantly think of him, hope he'd be here to get me. He knew I would be returning today, I'd told it to him when I left two years ago. But he wasn't here. I was slowly starting to think he'd just... forgotten.

Because if he'd brought trouble for me, I'd brought just as much trouble for him. What a cute couple we were, right?

Deciding to stop thinking about him once again and actually do it this time, I dragged my suitcase along with me and caught a cab to... I didn't know where.

Of course, my house was still standing in my name. But I wasn't so eager to go there. It really was just an empty house, mine or not.

Maybe I could visit my old university? Visit where Shaz's house had been?

Thought about him again, dammit!

So instead of going to his house like I was very tempted to, I decided I'd go to the coffee shop I'd always visited almost everyday when I'd still been here. I wasn't going to find him, he would find me, like he said he would. I could only hope he still wanted to find me.

If he didn't... I'd happily accept it with no bitter feelings.

Right. I wasn't fooling anyone.

The coffee shop was as packed as I remembered it to be every morning I came here before I'd go to university. Even if I'd already had breakfast, coming here was a must.

I joined the queue, not in the mood for anything but coffee to fight off the cold of January. Once I'd gotten my cup, I picked out a table in the corner that overlooked the large window, half of it frosted. I couldn't help but draw a tiny heart on it and add my A inside of it, along with an... S.

A girl could dream, couldn't she?

"Mind if I join you?" A voice came from behind me. Like every other time, it was on the tip of my tongue to politely refuse.

But, I'd recognize that voice anywhere.

I turned so fast that for a second I thought my neck would break. Even as I met the eyes of the man standing behind me, smiling softly at me with a coffee cup in his hand, I couldn't muster the words out.

He'd ditched the black hoodie, huh? That was my first thought as I took him in standing there with one hand in the pockets of his slacks— never thought I'd see the day— in which was tucked in his white dress shirt with it's sleeves rolled up to his elbows, a scarf hanging down his neck.

"Hi," He finally spoke again, the voice sounding a little foreign to me. I guess not hearing it in two years could do that.

My throat was too dry to even speak as I blinked at him, partially in shock, partially in disbelief.

He was really here. He was really here. And he was alive. God knew how many times I'd cried thinking something could have happened to him.

"So... Is it alright if I take that seat?" He gestured at the chair across from me on the table. Too dumbfounded, I only nodded and watched as he pulled the chair out and sat in it, setting his cup down.

I might have imagined it but his smile widened a little, only a little.

He sipped from his cup once as he looked out the window too. I ducked my head a little when his gaze traveled to my side of the window, taking in the heart with our initials.

Embarrassing much?

He thrust his hand forward. "I'm Shahzad."

What? Why was he introducing himself to me? Had he... Had he hit his head somewhere.

That hand of his hung between us as he watched me patiently while I processed what the hell was going on. And later I realized he'd introduced himself as Shahzad, and not Shaz.

Reluctantly, I slipped my hand in his, feeling those fingers wrapped around mine. "I'm Ayat."

This time I definitely didn't imagine when his smile stretched into a grin.

"What are you doing?" I finally asked when I felt like bursting from the countless questions I had.

He slid me a look over his cup, the corners of his eyes crinkling slightly. "Giving us the meeting that you deserved."

And my confusion must've been written on my face because he lowered the cup and folded his hands on the table, taking in a deep breath. "This was the way I wanted to meet you, Ayat. Not— how we did meet. And while I can't go back in the past and erase that, I'd like a do-over to do the right thing."

I swallowed, hard. "How did you manage to catch me on the right time?"

At that, his smile turned a little sheepish as he rubbed the back of his neck, his hair styled neatly. "Would you believe me if I said I've been waiting here since it opened today?"

My eyes widened, nearly popped out, and my heart... Oh, my poor heart. It nearly stopped beating. "Why didn't you come at the airport instead?"

"Meeting at the coffee shop is more natural than meeting at the airport." He answered swiftly. I looked at his coffee cup and suddenly had another question.

"How many cups have you had since morning?"

He shrugged. "Around four but who's counting?" I watched and gulped again as he reached under the table and into his pocket to pull out a box.

A small blue velvet box to be exact.

I literally felt my heart slowing until it almost stopped.

He slid the box toward me. "Now I know it isn't exactly in the book of rules to go and propose to someone in the first meeting but—"

"Yes, I'll marry you, I don't even care about the rules, Shaz. When have we done anything by the book?" I could cry, and I knew I would cry.

At least I knew my mother would be proud, even if my father would have been more interested in putting him behind the bars.

He visibly sagged, blowing out a breath that I could only guess was relief. "I know that I'll never be a man deserving of you, Ayat—"

"Princess."

"What?"

"I like it better when you call me princess instead of Ayat." I did, I really liked the nickname even if it had been derogatory first.

Shaz's face softened as he toyed with his collar. I had another question but I chose to keep it to myself, in case he felt... insulted. "I knew my way around computers quite well so I landed a job in that field." He explained and gestured to the box. "That's where I got the money for the ring from."

"You could twist twines together and make a ring, and I would still marry you. If I cared for anything else, Shaz, I wouldn't have fallen in love with you in the first place."

"I'm glad to know that, princess." He leaned forward and opened the box, plucked the ring out of it then slid it on my finger.

"But I plan to lay the world at your feet."