The Marriage Demands (#Wattys2017)

Chapter 3

My eyes landed on her face and I swallowed hard.

Her figure stood in the door frame; her height almost 5'7 feet, reaching upto my 6'1. She was dressed in a large white lab coat and I could easily see the tight fitting clothes black shirt and tights underneath as well as the full length leather boots. I must say that she has good causal taste in clothing but why must she wear such clothes that reveal almost every curve of her body. I mean I wasn't thinking that her body was bad looking no far from it: Her body was curvy and healthy, but I  wouldn't say that she's a size zero though.

Astaghfirullah, what am i thinking? I'm checking her out on our first meeting without any guard to my eyes. And on top of that, I was already being judgmental.  What's she gonna think of me? How shameless of me. But I also needed to see her face because my curiosity was killing me then after that i will lower my gaze.

I fixed my eyes on her face. Her skin was tanned: practically glowing, fresh and healthy--it made me wonder how she would look with makeup. On her head she wore a white hijab. Her face was very plain looking, with a small nose, thin lips and high cheekbones. There were large dark circles under her eyes that made her look like she has been deprived of sleep for a long time.

However, as soon as my gaze got locked with hers, i noticed she possessed the most beautiful large onyx eyes. For a fraction of a second, I looked into them: they were hard and there was something about them that I couldn't pinpoint.

After my scrutiny was over and done with, I lowered my eyes to the bouquet of flowers in my hands.

"Asalam Alaikum," I started and walked towards her.

"Walaikum Asalam," she replied and surprisingly enough, her voice was very resonant and had a soft ring to it. Maybe I was expecting that her voice might be shrill and low. But i must admit that it suited her quiet well.

And to my surprise, she had extended her hand in front of me. I stared at it for a second: she's pretty bold. But the profession stern expression of her face said that i must comply to her request.

I gave her a small smile and shook her hand and to my utter shock, her grip on my hand was firm as she shook hands with me once and let go immediately.

"I apologize for my tardiness, I got held up at the ER at the last moment." She said and boy am i surprised to know that her accent was flawlessly American. I mean, shouldn't her accent resemble that of The Indian British accent especially if she is coming from the south Asian region. I hit me and I immediately extended the bouquet of flowers towards her.

She looked at the flowers and then at me and then at the flowers again.

"it's quite alright. Oh and these are for you." I said cheerfully.

Today's certainly interesting as the surprising moments won't cease and continue to amuse me.

"Thank you," she responded and took the bouquet, her expression blank. But i saw her eyes and there was evident surprise in them. Is this the first time she's receiving flowers from a man? Maybe. And if so, then I'm glad that I get to be the first to do that.

"My name is Zackriya Islam," I began with a swift smile.

"I'm Amber Zaid," Came her brief response and that's when I realized that I had been under her constant scrutiny.

"What is your age Mr. Islam?" She asked, her tone laced with formality.

"Oh twenty five," I replied as I was taken aback by her sudden bluntness.

"I see," she replied and turned towards the Imam. "Excuse me Molvi sahab, may I speak with you?" She said. The imam nodded and they left the room.