Unintended Consequences (Act One) Completed

Chapter 22: An Arrangement

Slowly, the room began to empty. The maid served refreshments for the ladies who lingered and brought me my customary mint tea. As all gatherings of women, the conversation quickly turned to the subject of marriage and children. Two subjects I was woefully underqualified to discuss.

"Oh Zara, what was the wedding like? Did you have it in America?"

Zara looked down at her hands and blushed a little. 

"We didn't invite family. We met and we just knew we wanted to be together. We figured there would be plenty of time for big family weddings, later on. It was all just so sudden," I answer with a smile. That was the story we agreed to back in California. It was true enough to say convincingly and vague enough to let whoever heard it fill in the details with their imaginations. 

While Darletha Gregory may have handled the news of my impromptu nuptials easily, Zara Seelan, I realized, couldn't. It wasn't just about being invited to the wedding or not. It was about the opinions of the people who were important to her. Like it or not, these were her friends and she didn't want to let on that her family was highly dysfunctional.

"Oh, so there was no wedding?"

"No, we just signed the paperwork and did the standard vows." I knew that much from the receipt from the wedding chapel. "We didn't even buy wedding clothes. There was nothing to invite anybody to see."

The ladies gathered around looking increasingly excited. For a moment they all wore the same look a wildcat wears the moment before it pounces.

"So you will have to have a proper wedding while you are in Malaysia," said the Ustaza. "Your legal wedding is good for man's laws, but it doesn't cover the requirements of God. How can He bless your union if you don't follow his rules?"

"Oh, I don't know. I feel pretty blessed already."

The room burst with tittering from the older ladies. Even Zara's cheek grew a shade darker.

"A wedding would be so much fun," said one of the younger ladies in the group. Her slightly extended belly was the only indication that she was herself a married woman and soon to be a mother.

"Oh yes, we could all help. We could do it before you go back!"

Heads began to nod all around the room. I looked over to Zara whose timid glances betrayed her real feelings. She was hoping I would say yes, but too afraid that adding her voice to the cacophony would make me say no. It was a trap and I had backed right into it. I was guarding against y in-laws when I should've been watching the guests.

"We can't just decide this on our own. I have to talk to my husband," I deflected. It was highly unlikely that Rayyan would agree, but I couldn't make a unilateral decision and then expect him to abide by it. And, if I was honest with myself, it would be nice to REMEMBER being a bride. 

Zara's shoulders fell. She had no reason to believe that Rayyan would go along with such a thing, especially if it was her idea.

"Well then call him over," Shalene insisted, pulling her face veil back into place.

"Yeah," the other ladies agreed, arranging their clothes so that they would be ready to appear in front of the men. It was clear that they were committed to getting their demands met. Despite their demure smiles and penchant for pastel colors, these women were armed for battle. They wanted to see a wedding, and they weren't going to back down until the deed the was done.

"What about my family? My grandmother doesn't even have a passport, and she isn't about to fly all the way to Malaysia on short notice even if she did."