Loving a Princess

37. You stole my words.

Once my mother-in-law left, I automatically looked anywhere else but not at Farshad. In her presence, I could stare at him freely, but now that we were alone, I felt so shy. Farshad cleared his throat, forcing me to look up at him.

"Um, Aliyah," he began, sounding extremely awkward himself. "Let's go," he said, as he opened the passenger seat of the car for me.

I simply nodded as I got inside. He walked over to the other side, and got inside the driver's seat. Once we were both seated, I looked down at my lap.

"Aliyah," Farshad said.

I replied with a quiet 'yes' but didn't lift up my head to look at him. 

"Aliyah," Farshad said again. He reached out his hand, and tilted my chin up gently, as a result turning my head to face him.

"Yes?" I answered again, slightly louder this time, looking at him.

"Are you okay?" He asked.

"Yes," I replied.

"So, shall we make a move?" He asked.

"Yes," I said.

"Aliyah, can you say anything else apart from yes?" Farshad asked, chuckling deeply.

"Yes - I mean - yeah, I can," I stuttered, making a fool out of myself. I buried my head in my hands in embarrassment. "I'm so sorry!" I mumbled, my voice coming out muffled.

Farshad held my wrists tenderly and brought my hands down.

"Aliyah, why are you sorry?" Farshad asked.

"You probably think you've married a psychopath!  Even that day when you came for the proposal, you probably thought the same," I said.

"Are you serious? I can never think like that!" Farshad said. "I think you're adorable!"

I blushed furiously, unable to say anything more. Farshad let go of my wrists, gave me one of his breathtaking smiles and turned to face the steering wheel. He started the ignition and we drove off.

After twenty minutes, Farshad's voice brought me out of my thoughts.

"Aliyah? We've reached the hotel, let's go," Farshad said.

I nodded. I was about to open the door to get out of the car, but Farshad stopped me by holding my hand.

He let go as he opened his own door. He got out and walked over to my side, opening the door for me and holding out his hand. All this really felt so foreign. I took his hand gingerly and got out of the car. He walked us to the lobby of the hotel, and then we took the elevator and went to the floor where our rooms were. We had booked three rooms, one for our parents, one for the twins and one for me and Asiyah. Now Asiyah will have the room to herself for tonight.

Once we got to our parents' door, Farshad let go of my hand, and I knocked on the door. After a short wait, the door opened, revealing dad. As soon as I saw him, the reality of him leaving tomorrow and me having to spend my entire life away from home hit me hard. My eyes filled with tears and dad noticed, because he immediately engulfed me in a hug.