MaLuke

Epilogue

I straightened the tie around my collar and pulled on the vest. Fixing the vest down, I put on the top coat. My mom came in to my bedroom, dressed in a grey business suit, her hair pulled back in a high ponytail. She smiled at me from the mirror. I returned her smile, turning around to find my hair gel.

"You look dashing." Mom commented, eying my suit for anything she could fix. "So, how's Khaimon?"

Over the four years that Khaimon and I had been together -and secretly engaged- my mom had really warmed up to her. My dad was still stern and annoyed at me, and not really appreciative towards Khaimon. But I caught him more than once smiling when Khaimon gave me hugs. His eyes would wrinkle at the sides, then he'd quickly hide it, realizing what he just did.

Sighing quietly, I ran the gel through my hair. "Khaimon's fine. Mom, can I ask you a question?" I stopped tending to my hair and faced her, all humour gone from my voice. "Between you and me."

Mom took a seat on my swiveling chair. "Sure, go ahead."

"Do you love dad?"

"What kind of a question is that? Of course I love him!" She laughed, a dreamy look in her eyes. "If I didn't love him, I wouldn't have married him."

"Okay. Another one. Do you like Wendy?" Her face went a little tighter, and my stomach did a flip, anticipating the answer. "Honestly."

"Honestly, I hate the Shericka's." Mom's voice dropped down, even though there was nobody outside. I mean, who can be outside of the sixth floor? And dad was busy taking care of some business, as always.

"Then why'd you support dad when he wanted me to marry the girl?" I was feeling kind of confused.

"I didn't know you were in love with someone else." She said simply. My heart leaped up into my throat. "Besides, I heard Wendy dropped out of college, I can't have my son marrying an uneducated woman."

"How'd you know that?" I asked, feeling a bit breathless. I started weaving my fingers into my hair, trying to calm myself.

"I'm your mother, Zayn!" She said it like it explained everything, and in a way, it did. She stood up and fixed my flustered hair, kissed my forehead and strode out of the room in her four inch pumps.

I turned back to the mirror and stared at my reflection. Smoothing of imaginary wrinkles on the Armani suit, I licked my lips in anticipation, and resisted the urge to run a hand through my hair again.

I walked over to my bed and picked up my phone, wallet, and a black velvet box. I pocketed the box in my jacket pocket, shoving my phone and wallet into my trousers.

A final glance at the mirror to see if I had gotten everything right. Watch? Check. White teeth? Yup. Ring? Double check! Nodding once to my reflection, I left my bedroom.

I took the elevator down to the parking lot, where my stingray was parked. I had saved the car for this day alone. Over the years in college, I had used a sky blue BMW to get around so I wouldn't damage the stingray. It seems my efforts were not in vain. The silver stingray shone with all it's glory.

Clicking the alarm tag, I hopped in the car, blasting the air-con and radio. I was sweating bullets from nervousness. I don't know why I was nervous, I had done this before. Accept today, it'll be in public. In front of all of our family. It was all a set up by me, even Khaimon didn't know what I was planning.

Sending a quick text to Khaimon, I started up the engine of the stingray.

I stopped at the traffic light and drummed my hands on the steering wheel to the music. The station was playing replay tracks from years back. Chris Brown suddenly replaced a song by Coldplay. Don't Judge Me.