BEYOND ALL ODDS

chapter 3

Ahmad pov:

The sun was already out when I came back from my morning exercise . I dragged my feet to my room as the filling of exhaustion hits me.

I quickly took my bath and got ready to head downstairs for breakfast. I picked my phone and quickly dialed her number.

Why is she not picking the call? Is she upset or she's not yet awake?. I shook the thoughts out of my head and dialed her number again and again but she wasn't picking up.

A sense of dread hits the pit of my stomach the moment I recalled my  conversation with faruk last night. His last words before he ended the call kept on replaying in my head.

I should have listened to him that night.

Flashback

My parents have been pressuring me to get married. As the eldest child of the family, I know I can't continue to put off my marriage issue. The fact that I was already 29 wasn't helping matters. Nafisa is quite an ambitious woman who wasn't ready to sacrifice her dreams for me. I also know that none of my parents likes her.

My mother has suggested for me to get married to Maryam. I know Maryam is a very kindhearted lady but I just don't see her as a woman. I am very much aware of how she looks at me. Wondering how I knew? Well, I caught her a few times stealing glances at me.

I know accepting to marry Maryam will pave way for me to marry Nafisa but I also knew that it wouldn't be fair on Maryam. Nafisa can't seem to accept Maryam as my friend and it makes things awkward sometimes. There are days that I don't even know what else to do to get them to like each other.

I decided to visit  faruk to get his opinion. I walked into his parents house and greeted his mom Hajiya Fatima who was sitting in the living room before heading towards his room. I said my salam before entering the room. We exchanged pleasantries and was quiet for sometime.

I explained my current situation before silence befell us.

"Do you love her?" He asked. "No but I will learn to?" I replied. "And what if you are not able to?" I didn't have the answer to his question. I can't think about that now I thought. We sat in silence as we watched the movie shown on the TV. "Are you sure you don't love her even a bit?". He asked

"Why do you ask?".

"Nothing" was his reply.

I stood up about to leave when I heard his voice again "please don't do this Ahmad. If you know you don't love her even a bit then don't do this to her. You know she will be the one to get hurt at the end". I didn't listen to him and headed towards the door when I heard his voice again "what if she finds out the truth before the wedding and decides to end it?". Those words made me to halt my steps without thinking. "She won't" was my simple reply.

I stepped into my car before driving out of the compound. I couldn't get his words out of my mind. I know that he is right. "What if I can't give her the love she deserves, what if I can't reciprocate her love, what if she agrees and even before the wedding she finds out the truth and decides to end it?". I know her well enough to know the answers to my questions but I was too selfish to have a change of heart I was already running short of time.

I remember how she had laughed when I asked her to marry me. I had visited her after I left my friend's house.

"Marry me" I had said and she looked at me like I was crazy. I was prepared for this. I know she is aware that Nafisa and I were currently on bad terms. I also know that she won't accept this but I am not ready to give up.