No Looking Back

Chapter 15

Layla's POV:

This guy was really melting my thick, protective armor.

Just when it started getting through the heads of all the Pakistani/Muslim males within a 10-mile radius that I'm not interested in marriage, Faiz Aslam came back home.

I had convinced everyone that I was not interested in any boys for as long as I can remember. Ever since I was a teenager, around the time I left for college, I had decided that marriage would be for those who wanted to depend upon a man for money and comfort. 

Not me. I had decided that I would be able to sustain myself on my income from leading a well-known construction company and find comfort in my family and close friends.

Of course, most of my friends, especially the romantics, thought the idea was crazy. But really, what could they say or do to change my mind? To me, my decision on marriage was set in stone.

But now, I'm not as sure anymore. And it's bothering me.

A lot.

It's like my insides light up a bit when Faiz is in the room. That has never happened to me before. This feeling, I never felt whenever other men had approached me, let alone existed in the same room as me. But with Faiz, I somehow turn into someone else. A girl who jokes about leaving their keycard in a locked room, or a girl who played a pillow fight with a boy in her room.

Astaghfirullah. If these things had happened before Faiz came back, back when Faiz was 18 and me and Reyna were 16, I would've said it was a sibling thing. Me, Yusuf, Reyna, and Faiz basically grew up together as siblings, our fathers and mothers being childhood friends.

But if I say that I see Faiz as a brother, and nothing more, as an explanation for my recent actions, I would be lying. I'm a warm-faced, empty-headed, butterfly-infested-stomach, embarrassing mess at every tease that Faiz throws my way, and I hate that.

Why do I have to have a crush on the one guy I thought was never an option?

"Hey," a familiar voice says, breaking me out of my internal battle.

I look to my side at Faiz, walking alongside me towards the ballroom where the grand opening was being held.

"You ok?" he asks, his eyebrows furrowing in concern.

I clear my throat and rub my thumb on the side of my hand purse. How embarrassing. Thinking about having a crush on Faiz while walking alongside him.

"Yup. Never better. How about you, Man of the Hour?" I say, tucking a stray hair behind my ear, smiling softly.

He looks at me for a moment before he starts doing that adorable grin. Someone needs to tell this man to stop grinning so much.

"Pretty anxious, but overall pretty good," he replies. I nod, finally seeing the large ballroom doors after we turn the corner. Thank god. Then I can escape from Faiz and talk to some Argentine businesswoman about politics or something.

Faiz adjusts his tie for the 24th time since we walked out of the elevator. And it's still pretty loose. And slightly crooked.

It's also bothering me.

"You would think that by now you would know the proper way of wearing a tie," I say, pulling back his arm to stop him and grab ahold of his tie, remaking it. I then push it up just enough that it's comfortable, but still gives off a professional look.