No Conditions, Whatsoever

Decision

Reminder: Pray.

Author's PoV:

Hamdan took a long breath as he heard the young man speak. He looked at his wife who stood motionless with a frown on her face. Scratching his beard, he turned to Feiha, “I need to talk to my family.”

Then, as an afterthought he addressed Ayan, “I hope you're aware of what you're intending to do.”

Ayan lowered his eyes but his voice never faltered, “I am, sir.”

Hamdan nodded, “You can wait here if you want. I will first talk to my daughter and then let you know what her decision is.” Turning to his wife he extended his hand, “Come, Khadija.”

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Feiha stood near the window of her father's room as Khadija helped her husband in getting into a comfortable seating position on the bed. The day had been hectic for the couple. They had to wait in the doctor's clinic and when they finally left the place, they couldn't find a taxi that could take them home.

After standing for twenty minutes or so, they finally found a rikshaw. When they arrived at the gate of their residence, Hamdan struggled to get out of the Rikshaw as the entire day's fatigue had taken over his body, doubled by the already existing issue of arthritis in his knees.

Khadija spotted Sarim in the neighbourhood and asked for his help, not knowing the chaos he would create for them in the upcoming couple of minutes.

Now, inside his room, Hamdan let his legs take rest but not his mind. He was having too many thoughts and all of them had the same question: What will happen to Feiha's future?

“Flower,” he spoke almost like a whisper and Feiha immediately took a seat beside him. “Do you wish to accept his proposal?”

“He is a good man,” Khadija placed her hand on Feiha's head. “And unlike Sarim, this boy genuinely likes you. I have noticed how he looks at you, Feiha.”

Feiha knew that. She had seen the yearning, the honesty, and the tenderness in his eyes and it was this tenderness that she didn't want to take advantage of.

She shook her head as a sad smile appeared on her face. “I can't do this to him, Baba. He deserves better. He deserves someone…someone whole.”

“And why do you think that you're not whole, my love?” Khadija cupped her daughter’s face in her hands and wiped a drop of tear that had come to rest on her cheekbone. “You're beautiful, lovable and complete in your own way.”

“I'm your child, your own blood,” Feiha argued weakly, “of course you'd find me lovable.”

Hamdan listened to Feiha's words and it broke his heart to see how hopeless she had become. She was his flower and she had once been a strong and confident woman who knew her worth. He almost couldn't believe that she was the same girl.

But Hamdan knew that his daughter deserved to be happy and that was the most important thing for him. “Flower, I have only one question and I want you to answer that with complete honesty. Will you do that?”

Feiha gulped at the seriousness with which her father spoke and she blabbered the first thing that came to her mind, “I haven't commited any questionable act, Baba.” She sounded desperate.

“I know,” Hamdan clutched her hand, “I believe you. My question, however, is whether you want to marry Ayan or not?”

Feiha's throat felt dry. Hamdan had asked a similar question a few years ago but that had been about Sarim and she had instantly answered in negative. She had been sure about her dislike for that man and she was sure about her liking for this man.

But she still hesitated.

“I don't want to disappoint him,” she answered and Hamdan shook his head.

“He already knows the truth,” Khadija pointed out.

Hamdan squeezed Feiha's hands as he repeated, “Tell me, Flower, do you wish to marry him? Do you like him?”

For an entire minute the room was filled with silence, and then with Feiha's loud sobs. She hugged her Baba tightly and let her tears wet his shirt. She felt vulnerable and weak.

She was sure that Ayan was a good man and would make an excellent husband. What she wasn't sure about was herself. Was she going to be successful in making him happy? Her infertility certainly was going to affect them in the future and she was afraid that by the time Ayan would come to realise the seriousness of her inability, it would be too late.

She didn't want him to love her and then fall out of love with her.

But the question still lingered in the air and she didn't have the capacity to lie to her father. She did want to marry Ayan, afterall. Even though she had a thousand ifs and buts inside her head, the truth was that she wanted him.

Feiha tried to calm herself down as her parents patted her back. She could even hear Khadija crying softly. Rubbing her nose on her father's shoulder, Feiha finally let go of him. She fixed her hair with her hand and lifted her eyes to his.

“I do.”

“Are you sure about his?”

Feiha nodded and then answered firmly, “Yes, I want to marry him.”

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I should have been more respectful, Ayan repeated in his head as he kept biting his nails in anticipation. He was seated on a couch and was waiting for someone, anyone, to come out of the room at least.

“Twenty-five minutes have gone by,” he murmured and heard the shutting of the door. He stood immediately as Feiha entered the living room, her face swollen and stained with tears. “Are you okay?” He felt his veins tightening at the thought of her crying.

Feiha nodded but avoided eye contact, “Baba wants to see you.”

“Is he angry?” Ayan blurted like a child.

Feiha took a pause and then, as if forcing herself not to smile, answered, “No.”

“And your mother? Is she angry?”

Feiha bit her lip to control the amused expression that threatened to appear on her face. There was something about this man that always left her giddy. Breathless too, sometimes. “No, none of them are angry.”

Feiha began to walk away but stopped when she heard him ask again, “And you?”

Ayan took slow steps and stood in front of her. He wanted to hold her face and make her look into his eyes. To ask her why she had cried and what made her sad. But he held his tongue and asked instead, “Are you mad at me?”

There it was, him leaving her breathless, again! Feiha's heart began to beat erratically and she had to stable herself by keeping a hand on her chest. “Baba is waiting for you,” she managed to tell him before practically running upstairs and closing the door of her room.

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SHE SAID YES!

Initially I had wanted to add more melodrama in this chapter but then I decided against it because simplicity has its own beauty, doesn't it? (Say yes 🔪) Just kidding😆

Anyway, please leave your comments here and tell me if you liked this chap or not. Also, don't forget to vote and recommend this book to your friends.

Bbye till the next chapter 👋