LIMITLESS

Chapter IX

“Of course.” he said. He was surprised that she would even ask him such a question. “Do you think that I’m doing all of this just to play games? I’m not a kid, I really want to settle down.”

“What if I’m not ready to settle down?”

“Is that the problem?” he asked. “Your brother told me that you were. If you’re feeling nervous about this, I get it. We can slow it down a bit. My end goal is marriage though, Rayan.”

Rayan sighed. She genuinely felt guilty for not shutting this down from the beginning.

“You don’t even care that I lied to you that day in the mall? Or that I wasn’t wearing a scarf?” she asked, in an attempt to change his mind. “I ran away from home. Are you sure that you want me as a wife?”

“I mean, I didn’t meet you in the ideal situation.” he shrugged. “But you’re young and you’re going to do crazy stuff. I did worse when I was eighteen. And as for the scarf thing, I don’t mind that much. We can work on it if you want.” he explained.

“And your past?” she asked. “Am I supposed to just let that go and marry you?”

“What past are you referring to?” he asked, suddenly more interested.

“I’ve heard all about you.”

“And you’re just going to assume that whatever you heard is true?” he looked at her in confusion. “Even if it is true, they’re probably things that I did four or five years ago. I really haven’t done anything worth talking about in years.”

“How do I know that? Guys like you don’t change.” Rayan was deliberately trying to push his buttons.

“You shouldn’t care about things that I did in the past. I could prove myself and show you the kind of guy that I am if you actually gave me a chance.” he said, clearly frustrated. “I’ve done nothing but be kind to you since the day that I met you. If you don’t want to do this just tell me instead of leading me on How does this benefit you?” he asked. Hakeem was clearly fed up. Rayan had been paying him dust since the day that he showed up to the house.

“It doesn’t.” she said nonchalantly. “If you don’t think I’m doing enough then just leave.”

Hakeem shook his head in confusion. Omar made it seem like Rayan would be interested but he had never dealt with a girl quite as difficult and stubborn as her. He very well could have finally been getting what he deserved. He stood up and went back into the kitchen.

“Hey, I just wanted to thank you for letting me come over.” he said to Omar and his father. “I’m leaving now.”

“Why?” Omar asked. “Did something happen?” him and his father looked at each other.

“I’m not sure about this anymore.” he said. “I don’t think Rayan ever was.”

                               …

“Rayan, tell me what’s going on.” her father said as he sat down next to her on the couch.

“Abo, you knew that I never wanted to get married. I was just doing all of this for you.” she explained.

“Did you think that chasing Hakeem away was going to make me change my mind?” he asked. “If it’s not him it’s going to be somebody else!”

“Good job, Rayan.” Omar said to her as he came back inside the house. He just returned from walking Hakeem out. “You lost the best guy that you were going to get.”

“I bet that I could find somebody a lot better than him.”

“Your idea of ‘somebody better’ is a white guy that takes you to frat parties. We don’t trust your judgement.” he said. “Hakeem was respectful to you but I guess that’s not your type.”