Choosing Him

20

After a while Fawad left. 

"Where is mama?" Areesha asked Zayan.

"She is not at home. And don't you dare be rude to her." Zayan warned.

"Do you know that my own parents f*****g exchanged me for some money." She said angrily.

"Its not like you think Areesha. They had no choice. They did it for us." he said to her calmly.

"Oh yeah? They practically sold me. I can't believe baba was in this too." She said shaking her head.

"All this happened when we were very young. Aamir's father took all of baba's business and property. Mama and baba had to stay hungry to feed us. The lawyers didn't want to fight their case as he was a very dangerous man. So baba went to bargain with him. Ahmed uncle said that they could take everything back only if they married you to Aamir when you grew up. Baba weighed the pros and cons and he thought that Aamir was a good guy so he agreed. If he hadn't we wouldn't have a roof to live in, we wouldn't have had the education or jobs we have now. You need to understand that they didn't have a choice." Ok that did make sense.

"But Aamir said that they exchanged me for money. It was Aamir's dad who was in the wrong then?" Now her anger slowly faded away. Aamir had told her the exact opposite.

"Yes. I don't know if Aamir knows the whole story or not but obviously his father won't tell him that he was at fault. "

"So I don't have a choice either?" She asked defeated.

"You do. You can choose anyone you want. I don't mind whether it is Aamir or Fawad. I just want my sister happy. We will do something about that contract." He said with a reassuring smile.

"That's why the face wasn't clear in my dream. But I think it was Fawad."

"If that's what you think!"

"But I am not sure. Today Amir told me that he loves me. But I didn't feel anything." She said with conflicted feelings.

"And yesterday when Fawad said that you were blushing." He said with a smirk.

"No I wasn't." She denied instantly.

"And you are blushing now too." He said with a mischievous glint in his eyes. After that Zayan left saying he had to go somewhere.

"Liar liar pans on fire!" She called after him. But she really thought that Aamir never made her heart beat faster the way Fawad did.

But she really did love Aamir. Or not? She did. They had spent more than a an entire year engaged while she knew Fawad since a few months merely.

She was very confused. But the fact remained that she was a second option to Aamir. The best option was to not marry anyone and let it be but she knew she had to marry someone and according to her dream it was going to be one of these two. Or may be she could find another brown eyed guy...

Areesha don't let your mind get sidetracked, stay focused. She scolded herself.

And also Aamir was trying to take advantage of the contract whereas Fawad didn't say anything about it. 

She didn't respect Aamir the same way as she did before. He had even called her a cheater. Whereas she respected Fawad alot. But she wouldn't let her past decide her future. What Aamir had said was in the past and he had apologized. And she had forgiven him too.

Respect was very important in any relationship wasn't it? Aamir had been with another girl but as far as she knew Fawad he had never looked at girls that way. Everyone in the office respected him too. He respected her a lot too. She never even had any idea that he liked her because he had never flirted with her.

When she had fainted in his office that day he didn't take any kind of advantage of her. He was a respectable man. He never really touched her and respected her boundaries except that one time when they were in the restaurant and when she was at his house too. But he had apologized so many times after that. He had even followed her to make sure she was alright. She wasn't sure if Aamir would go to such an extent. Aamir didn't really care about the no physical contact rule. Fawad was clearly more into Islam than Aamir.

She was very confused. She didn't know if she had the same feelings for Aamir or not. But when they were engaged she and Aamir had a really good understanding. More than a coupke they were really good friends.

 Fawad was good at his other relationships like he was a good son and a very good brother. If he was good at other relations he would surely be a good husband. Her heart started beating very fast at the prospect of Fawad being her husband.

She knew Aamir had lots of fights with his family as he lived in a separate house. She didn't want to make any decision that she might regret later.

Earlier when Aamir had left her, she never really forgave him. Wasn't true love sacrificing? Didn't you sacrifice your own happiness for the other persons when you loved him unconditionally. But she wasn't ready to sacrifice herself  for Aamir. She wasn't a selfish girl though. That means she didn't really love Aamir. Or did she? She asked herself again.

She had never even taken in his appearance properly. She opened his f*******: profile and went through his pictures. He was tagged by Maya in most pictures and there were very few selfies.

He wasn't a model but he should have been. His aquiline nose complemented his prominent cheekbones. He was handsome in an understated way. He had a manly peppered stubble and a concrete jaw. His silky hair were a casual jumble. He had a genial smile on his face. He was the definition of hotness but she wasn't judging based on his appearance. Aamir was handsome too in his own way.

With those confused thoughts roaming around her mind she fell asleep on the couch she was sitting on.

*** 

She woke up after a while and her mind was clear. She knew who she was going to choose. With a quick prayer to Allah to help her in this decision, she went to find her mother and Zayan.

"Mama? Zayan?" She called.

"Why are you yelling Areesha?" Her mother said, worried.

"Because I made my decision!"

"And what might that be?" Her mother asked her raising an eyebrow

"Drum rolls please..... No wait. First promise you too will support me in any decision I make."

"We will beta. Just don't reject both of them." Her mother said to her.

"Pinky promise?"

"Pinky promise! Now can we have the name?" Zayan said excitedly.

"Nope! Not yet. Let the suspense stay!" She said mischievously.

"We are waiting Areesha." Her mother said impatiently tapping her foot on the floor.

"I choose...."