Temptation

Love

Amira was starting to get back onto her feet ever since the movie night. She even started coming back to work. My mother was still not comfortable with the idea of letting her go back home even though Amira said she was alright. So, she has been staying in the room next to mine. I walked into the study, laptop in my hand and saw everyone already there. I looked around the room. Suhana was studying one of Baba's old scripts, Mama was going through some designs, AbRam had exams coming up so he was studying and Baba was discussing something with his manager.

My eyes fell onto Amira who sat in the corner. I watched her eyebrows furrow and her fingers type with such focus. Her hair was in a bun just like the time we first- "Ary are you just going to stand there?" My father's voice interrupted my thoughts and I tried to humour my way out of this. "I was trying to figure out where to sit, we need a bigger study" Everyone laughed except for Baba who eyed me.

I took this chance to talk to Amira, it was safe to say she was avoiding me but I couldn't help but talk to her so I used work as an excuse. "Hey let's go through some stuff" I sat next to her before reviewing some work with her but if I'm being true to myself I kept zoning out because I couldn't take my eyes off her. "Aryan?" I snapped out of daze again but this time I realised it wasn't Amira who pulled me back to reality, it was Baba.

I turned to him to ask, "Yes?" He told me he wanted to talk so I followed him out of the study. "What's wrong?" He took me out to the lawn and we sat down on some chairs. "You tell me" He said plainly as he took out a cigarette and lit it up. "What do you mean?" I was very confused about what my father wanted, all I wanted to do was go back to Amira.

He offered me a cigarette as always and I took it. "I've noticed your attention towards Amira" I took a puff and tried to play it cool. I was grateful I was having a smoke, it helped me calm my nerves. "I don't know what you mean" My father looked at me sternly, "Aryan I saw the office footage" I froze. "What?" My father shook his head, "First of all, how could you sleep with an employee, second, a sweetheart like Amira out of all people and third, how could you be so careless and leave the camera on?" My mind wandered back to all the times we had sex in my office but I always turned the camera off.

My father must have noticed and he told me, "Are you seriously thinking about when you left it on? That's not the point anymore I deleted the footage and made sure no one else had seen it" I looked down at my cigarette, I didn't want to make eye contact with him. Sex or cigarettes or any other 'societal taboos' weren't a problem with my dad, I was always honest with him but being caught in an intimate moment on camera by your father is a different level of embarrassment.

"We're not doing it anymore" I mumbled still looking down. "You're in love" My jaw dropped and I looked up at him in disbelief, "Nuh uh you're in love" Bad comeback. "I am in love and I'm married to her" I rolled my eyes at my father's answer. "Look Aryan it's obvious that you like her just ask her out instead of ogling her every five seconds" I scoffed but I knew he was right. "I'm just scared because-" "I remember" He interrupted me. "But you cannot keep punishing yourself like that. I didn't raise you to be a coward" "Ouch" I said sarcastically. We finished our cigarettes before walking back inside.

"Aryan?" I heard Amira's voice from outside of my room. Tonight was the night I was going to tell her how I feel. My parents were out on a date, AbRam was at a sleepover and I told Suhana my plan so she made plans to stay at her best friend, Ananya's house with their other best friend, Shanaya. Even my aunt wasn't at home because she was in London for the month. I knew the whole house was going to be empty and it will just be Amira and I. I opened the door, "Hey come on in" I heard her gasp as she entered my room. I closed the door before I turned around to see her enjoying the room's decor. I placed rose petals all around the room and lit up scented candles. I dimmed the lights to make the room more romantic.

Amira turned to me and asked, "What's all this? Oh were you waiting for someone...I'll leave" "What no this is for you" There was silence in the room except for the soft music that was playing in the corner. "Oh...why?" I took a deep breath. Here goes. "Amira...I know what I said to you about relationships but it was over something that happened almost ten years ago...I know it sounds dumb but that incident really affected me" I took her hands in mine, "I never let anyone come close to me after that but...you...you made me feel...something I couldn't ignore" She let me continue, "I'm sorry I hurt your feelings before I hope you can forgive me for it" I paused for a moment before I asked the question, I thought I would never ask again, "Will you be my girlfriend?" Amira smiled softly and said, "I thought you'd never ask" before she pulled me in for a kiss.

I felt Amira's head shift slightly on my chest and I moved my hand down to ruffle her hair slightly. Her cute 'hmm' response made me smile. The sun shone into the room and I noticed how much we wrecked it. The candles were strewn onto the floor, it was a miracle nothing was burnt. Our clothes were carelessly ripped up and thrown onto so many parts of the room. I looked down to our naked bodies entangled with each other. Rose petals were stuck all over us in places I couldn't imagine rose petals could get in. It was one hell of a night. I leaned down and kissed the top of Amira's head. My girlfriend.