Nathan Lawrence
"....will you marry me, Ishita? " I asked her, clearly expecting for a yes.
She stayed silent and I keep on looking at her, hoping for a good reply.
She turned crimson red and I smiled for her uneasiness with what I proposed.
"Pardon? " she asked again like she's just hearing things.
"Will you marry me, Ishita Hassan? " I confessed again with a smile and she gasped.
"Wh-What did you know about me and are you that dumb? Don't you hear it when I said that I clearly don't want to get into this marriage thingy? " I can feel her rage rising.
"Listen, Ishita. I know what I heard and I'm still asking you to do so because I need your favor. " I said while begging for her to calm down.
"What favor? " she said while narrowing her eyes.
"Okay, the thing is...I'm just a temporary CEO. To become the permanent one, my father made a deal and it was me, to marry a woman so that I can be in control from being a...player. " I whispered the last part wishing that she wouldn't hear it and she narrowed her eyes again.
"I expect commitments from many women, of course. But none of them are family oriented and instead of saving up the money, they would spend it on parties or shoppings. My parents thought that I would end up falling for any of those gold diggers so they came up with some conditions. Which is by restricting me from going to pubs or clubs...and this marriage was one of them. " I continued and she sighed while looking anything but me.
"How will it work out if I marry you? " she asked after some moment of silence.
"About that..." I could just say that I'm falling for her and I would be the man to support her no matter what. But all of us knows that she's hardheaded and I need to capture the role of being her husband in order to win her heart.
I had no other choices but to make up a lie so that she could let me in her life so without hesitating, I confessed my plan.
"Well, if you agree to marry me...I would came up with an agreement that notes down our purpose of this marriage which will be exceed for a year only. Just a year and within this time period, I will do my best to make the company permanently mine and you will be free as always. After a year, we will be divorced or if I make the company fully mine quickly, we would be divorced earlier. Even though, it wasn't the whole a year. " I conveyed the make up I did, which with each time I said the word divorce, my heart nearly ripping out of my chest.
Though, I had no choice but to say all this to marry this woman.
"Why don't you get some other girls for this agreement? " she asked, her face frowned.
"Remember when I said that I'm half Indian too, well...my mother is an Indian so everything she expects from her daughter in law will be you and my father, he never says no upon my mother's wish. She does hate all my previous dates and I roughly knew her types of choices. " I said truthfully knowing that my parents will love her as much...as I do.
"How are you hundred percent sure that they would like me? " she asked in her lower tone as she plays with her finger nails, which is cute in a way.
"I'm two hundred percent sure about it, because I told you, my mother is an Indian and so do you. Trust me, she still has that sweetspot for indian girls rather than any other women. She will adore you a lot, I swear. And mainly, they do know that your something out of every girls out there. " I informed the truth and she gasped.
Of course, my parents had known her. She's working on my firm right now and they are spying my every moves like a hawk so they spot the differences I felt in myself after her arrival.
"They know me? How? I mean, I never get to- " her words hung midway as her handphone started ringing.
I guess, it's her mother because her feature was anything but calm right now.
She attended the call and I heard her mother speaking on a foreign language, which isn't english at all.
But with Ishita's reaction, I could somewhat knew that their back to convince each about the marriage. Her mother's pretty impatient, I think.
"Maa...Please just cancel the meeting with that suitor. " I heard her saying and my eyes abruptly met hers.
I couldn't interpret of what her mother exactly saying but clearly I can assume that she's asking for the reason. Ishita gazed at me like she wants me to reconfirm the proposal I made and to answer her, I blinked my eyes once with a nod.
"Maa...I will bring someone tomorrow. I'm sure that all of you going to like him...as I do. " she said while bitting her lower lips.
Did she just said that she like me? Oh mother nature, swallow me already because I truly felt so amazing.
She looked away immediately and her lower lips were still in between her teeths. I got a sudden urge to free that addictive lips so that I could kiss it softly. I controled my libido and I, too, gazed away to avoid myself from doing anything that would make me happy but will make her mad.
"So, your saying yes to marry me then? " I teased with a goofy smile when she ended up the call and unexpectedly, the electric came on.
For some reason, I cursed the electric to come upon this quickly as it breaks this short good memories with her.
"Yes. " she confessed while blushing and I wanted to do so much with her.
She got up from the ball chair and put on her wedges. After putting on her jacket, she grabbed her bag and faced me while saying, "Come to meet my parents tomorrow at evening, alright. I will message you the location. "
"I will be sharply. " I replied with a wide smile plastered on my face and she giggled.
I love her giggles, damn, I live everything about her.
She left the room with a final look at me and my heart leaped joyfully. She's going to be my wife sooner and the thought itself erupts millions of butterflies in my stomach.
God, when did I became this cheesy?
***
I'm, now standing in front her house with a flower bouquet and a beautiful painting that I specially ordered from a famous leading art gallery.
It was a painting with a woman dancing gracefully as a peacock with multiple colours around. This symbolize happiness and love as this will be the finest gift for my soon to be law family on my first time visit.
The gate of her house were open and I rang the bell. The door came open and I started to get nervous because this is my freaking first time. Actually, I feel like a new me as I dressed formally in my office suit but without a coat, obviously, and my sleeves were rolled up. A nearly 50 year old woman appeared in my view with a sweet smile.
This must be her mother because they both got similar smiles.
"Namaste, aunty. " I greeted her as I bent over to touch on her feet.
"It's Vanakam for us, sweetie. But that's okay, you did well with the entrance. " she cheered with a full wide smile.
"Oh, aunty. I'm sorry, that's how my mother greet our relatives so I thought maybe- " I rambled but she briefly cut me off.
"That's okay, my boy. Vanakam is how tamil people will greet asbut do we need any other discussion about it? Come in, now. " she welcomed me in sweetly and asked me whether I need anything to have right now.
"No, aunty. I'm good and...this a small gift for your family. A painting actually, so I hope you guys would like it. " I said, while lending her the gift.
"Oh my goodness, thank you so much. But if you think that I will simply trade in my daughter for this gift, then your wrong and who's that bouquet for? " she sounds pretty serious when she said all that.
My nervousness build up and I messed up something, "Urmm...it's for you also aunty. Here. " I quickly extended it to her and she took it while smirking at me knowingly.
Now what should I give to my soon to be bride? I specially crafted those roses for Ishita but my stupid nervousness got the worst in me and now, her mother's admiring them.
I took a brief glance around while cursing myself and to my surprise, the goddess walking down from the stairs.
She doesn't take off her black bindhi even when she's in a dress but still she looks extremely gorgeous and I couldn't stop staring her as this was the first time I'm watching her in a dress. I was back from my fantasizing when her mother snapped her finger on my face.
I turned to look at her mother and I only heard giggles.
"No admiring here, sweetie. If her father was here, you wouldn't be coming back to this house again. " Her mother joked and excused herself to go to the kitchen.
"So, you bought a bouquet and a painting for my mother but nothing for me? " she said in that playful tone but honestly I felt bad so I reached to the bouquet and took a single red rose from them.
"A red rose for a beautiful woman. " I extended the flower to her and she accepted it with a sweet smile.
"You got to practice a lot to impress me, Mr Nathan. " she said and smelled the aroma of the red rose. I smiled while admiring the view opposite me.
Soon her mother came and gestured me to sit.
"So why do you want to marry my daughter, Nathan? " she asked with a gentle smile as Ishita sat beside me while patting on my lap slowly, knowing my uneasiness.
My mood was reverted to calm rapidly and with a sharp intake, I answered with confident.
"Because she completes me. And whenever she came into my sight, I lost track and I was totally hypnotized...by her eyes. I simply love everything about her and I know that my future will be as bright as her beautiful smile. Your daughter is one in million, aunty, and I want that one and only to be mine. Forever. " I said trully while meanting every words I uttered and Ishita's eyes doubled in size as she quickly looked my way. I winked at her and she blushed off cutely.
"My daughter do have beautiful eyes. She's an angel and I'm a little convinced with your confession. I just want her to be happy and so if she thinks that she will be good with you, then I'm not going to come against it. There's just a final step, is to reconfirm with my husband but I promise, that he will be fine with this. " her mother said while looking us both adoringly.
The rest of the conversation goes well and I do impress her mother a lot, I guess. Then, a man appeared in our view and Ishita walked to him to give a hug. His just alike her so this must be her brother.
He smiled at me and walked to me while extending his hand. I shook my hand with his and we introduced a little. Moments later, I walk to their backyard that decorated as a mini garden and Ishita followed me after.
"The flowers are beautiful, isn't it? I'm their personal caretaker, you know. " she excitedly says as a kid.
"With a gorgeous woman taking care of them, of course, they would turn out to be this beautiful. " I conveyed as I took a step closer to her while putting away the strand of her baby hairs behind her ears.
She locked her eyes with mine and for several minutes we were drowning in each other's gaze untill her brother yelled for her.
She stepped back as we heard him coming and I swear, if he doesn't came in like that, I would get a chance to kiss those lips again.
Thanks to him, I grunted silently.
"Kaa, you said you want to go out right. Just book a Grab because I have work to do. " he said.
"What work? No. No. No. You send me first then you go to whatever work you doing. " she replied like a child and her arms came across her chest.
"But I can't. " he begged and checked on his handphone.
"I have to go like now so bye. I'm sorry. " he quickly added in and ran out of our sights.
"Your a bad brother. " she shouted and we knew that he wouldn't get to hear that by now.
"I'm going to book a ride now so lets leave together, okay? " she said and walked into the house.
"I will drop you so you don't have to book anything. " I said and walked together following her lead into the house.
"No, its okay. I can get there by myself so thats no need. " she refused with a smile.
"Your mother will think something else if I didn't even do this for my soon to be wife. " I said while wrapping my arm around her shoulder as I raised her chin up to meet my eye level.
She gasped and after sometime of staring me, she nodded lightly.
"Good so lets go. " we walked in together and paid our farewell to her mother.
We got into my car and I started driving.
Silence took over us and I break it briefly" So what's your father doing? " I asked and she looked me. I glanced her as we made it to the red signal of the traffic light.
"He is a well known architect and travels overseas a lot as most of his clients are foreigners. " she said and I turned back my sight to the road.
"Oh, so it's like father like daughter. " I said while chuckling.
"You can stop acting, you know. " she said, rather seriously while staring out through the window.
"What do you mean? " I asked and turned my head from the road to her rapidly.
"Like now, talking sweet things to impress me. We are already out of my house so why the act when no one's going to see us. I would like to remind you that we are tied in an agreement, which means that both us are purely faking in this relationship. " she noted in finality and fixed her gaze on the car's window.
I felt the lightest twinge in my heart and the silence now became more uncomfortable.
Below, Ishita's look on the day❤️