First chapter is up. Dedicated to Chennelle because she is a terrible enabler. Motivated me to write this story and all.
In retrospect, everything started all because of that stupid sandwich.
Ever since he got to the office Amir had been craving an egg and chicken sandwich for some strange reason. He had a pretty hearty breakfast of yogurt and muesli (totally not boring in his defense) but somehow his stomach had been craving for this particular sandwich and it seemed as though all hell would break loose if he didn't get it during lunch.
It was a slow day at the office for him. He was currently writing an article on the effects of the new trade policy implemented by Parliament weeks ago - or something similar to that since he'd blanked out halfway through writing it. His mother had sent him another email about a woman in her yoga class who had a "sweet" and "charming" son who was single and also very successful and he was trying his very best not to cringe at her ninth attempt to match make him.
It was an obvious mistake to give her his work email because now he had no real reason to pretend he didn't see her emails until two days (or one week) later. He'd given her a strict "Mum this is my work email you can't just bombard it with cute pictures of your friend's grandchildren" talk but obviously to no avail.
Amir's mother was a very determined woman who always got what she wanted eventually.
Unfortunately, she'd decided that she wanted grandchildren and nothing was stopping her from reaching this particular goal.
His finger had been lingering on delete for the past five minutes. Jenna from the next cubicle gave him a little peek "Pssst, Amir."
"No need to hiss Jenna. This isn't bloody Year 5." He replied without taking his eyes away from the screen.
She huffed "Alright fine. Did you get the memo on Wilkin's opening for a new editor-in-chief?" He had. The current editor-in-chief was being lured away to another highly lucrative magazine called Sparkle (think Vogue but with less Kardashians gracing the cover) and had entered in a month's notice. There had been chatter all around the office about who TJ Wilkin, the owner, would appoint at the new editor-in-chief.
He paused "What of it?"
"I think you're perfect for the job." Jenna said with a proud grin.
"Nope."
"Why not?" She asked frowning.
Amir sighed "Because I just don't want to. It's not in my plans yet."
"Oh shove that, you'll make a great editor-in-chief." Jenna scoffed shifting her chair closer to him "In fact I might just put in an ad for you with TJ."
"Don't even dare." He threatened.
She shrugged "Maybe. But you've got to tell me why you don't want it. Lots of people in this office would kill for that position yet you're the most qualified of us and you don't even want it."
Amir sighed dreading this conversation. It was always hard for him to explain why he did or didn't do certain things. In secondary school his form master and the principal had been quite baffled when he refused to accept the role of school prefect because he didn't want any responsibility that would make him lose focus on his coursework.
In the end it paid off when he got accepted into UCL and his mother screamed and wailed with joy and managed to call all the family members to "casually" discuss his achievement. Dalia's son was good enough to enter University College London (take that Aunt Laleh, your kids aren't sliced bread just because they got into Cambridge).
He'd graduated with a first class degree in Writing & Journalism. As though it wasn't enough that he'd deviated from the normal family path of being an Engineer, he stunned everyone when he refused to take a cushy job with The Daily Mail and opted instead for raw journalism with Aljazeera. No one in his family understood why he wanted to run off to danger zones just to report news when he could be writing soft and mushy articles in an enviable office.
(His mother fainted when he told her he was going to Somalia to cover the war)
One could say Amir had a habit of doing the unexpected and although it was already a well-known fact to those who were close to him, it still knocked the knickers of them each time.
"Why don't you take the job Jenny? Your work has been pretty good for the past year." He suggested casually.
Jenny scoffed playing with the tips of her newly highlighted hair "As if. Muriel is just a year old. It's enough working and taking care of her. Becoming editor would mean more work and I really don't want to miss any important aspects of my daughter's life. Dan isn't quite thrilled at the thought of having a babysitter either."
Amir understood quite well.
Ever since Jenny had given birth she'd become a little more responsible and open-minded. She started bringing granola bars and dried fruit to work instead of the usual batches of chocolate muffins and crumpets claiming that she learnt that eating more grains and fruit helped make breast milk healthier for babies.
True or false, he did miss her delicious muffins though.
Amir closed the window for his email after sending his mother a rather hasty reply and faced Jenny completely "I understand. In a few more years maybe I'll take it of another opening for editor comes up. But right now I just don't feel right. Like it isn't my time to do so."
Of course that wasn't the real reason Amir didn't want to apply but no one needed to know that just yet.
"Still don't believe that piece of bollocks but sure." She said with a wink before wheeling her chair back into her cubicle.
He chuckled to himself before finishing up his article for the magazine. Halfway into proofreading, he got a text message.
Hey Amir! Meet me at the deli on Fisher & Broadway. Lunch is on me J I'll even buy you that weird egg chicken sandwich you like so much.
It was from Sebastian, his friend who worked in the bank across the street. Amir found himself frowning a little at the strange message. Although it seemed innocent enough and quite enticing since his favorite sandwich was being offered, there was surely some sort of ulterior motive behind the message. Sebastian Kingsley didn't just freely offer to buy lunch. Not for the Queen. It seemed only logical that he'd want something in return.
In the number of years they'd been friends there were plenty of instances to prove that fact. Actually millions of instances.
So he typed a reply back.
Who are you and what have you done with Bas?
The reply was almost instant.
Lol, real funny dude srsly just wanna take my hardworking bf out to lunch.
Firstly, please type in full letters please.
You snobby writers and your stupid spelling.
Mate in the nine years we've known each other you've never bought me lunch just because I'm hardworking. Now spit out what you want or forever hold your peace.
He knew he'd obviously floored Bas there. It was a pity he couldn't see the frown his friend was obviously sporting from that phrase. He got only a few more minutes of proofreading before there was another reply.
Ok you're right I do need a favor from you.
At that moment Amir should have probably lied and said he was having lunch with Jenny or someone else because whenever Sebastian asked for a favor, it was always a big one. But deciding to be a good friend he decided to wait it out and see where it would lead. Plus he really didn't want to pay for his own sandwich today. Sue him for being a cheapskate. His mother was already wailing about that little fact anyway.
See it's about my family.....
And?
I might have told a little white lie.
He paused for a moment. What the hell was Sebastian getting at now? He contemplated a little before replying.
What was this white lie?
I told them I was engaged to someone.
Amir bit his lip in order to hold in the urge to guffaw out loud. That wasn't a little white lie. This was a huge blown out white splash of paint. Sebastian would get married the day ducks laid golden eggs. He wasn't even currently dating anyone.
Why did you lie to them?
Well it was my grandpa and it's a little complicated tbh.
Spelling Bas.
Shove off.
So now what? You want me to hire an escort for you or something?
Well...
I'm not hiring you an escort Bas.
Shut up I wasn't asking you that. The thing is that I gave them a name.
What name?
.....you know that you're my best friend in the whole world.
Amir's body went cold. He hoped that this wasn't going where he thought it was going. He quickly typed out another reply.
Sebastian I hope you didn't do what I think you did.
If you think I told my grandpa that you and I are engaged, then it is exactly what you're thinking.
SEBASTIAN KINGSLEY ARE YOU MAD?!
A little too shouty there dude and I'm sorry. It was a spur of the moment. I freaked out and said our name.
I'm going to skim you alive.
Will you marry me then? ;)
He was going to slap the little turd once he saw him again. Who the hell blurted that they were engaged to their best friend out of instinct? Sebastian, that's who. Off all the stunts that the stupid American pulled, this was the worst.
It even beat that time that he accidentally knocked over the Kate Moss figure at Madam Tussauds. Amir was too busy glaring at his phone that he didn't realize when Jenny stood up and walked over to him in concern "Are you ok?"
"I think I just got proposed to."
And that was how his craving for a sandwich started the entire mess.
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