Choosing Him

19

After taking a quick shower she quickly dressed up. She didn't wash her hair as they would take a long time to dry up then. She put a staller around her neck and quickly wore the first flats she saw. There! She was ready within fifteen minutes. She definitely took longer than this even when she was getting ready for work.

She dashed out of the apartment ignoring her brothers calls and ran to her car.

**

When she got there it was ten minutes to one. She looked around the parking lot and found him standing against his car with shades on his eyes.

She waved to him and he caught her sight.

Grinning, he came towards her in long strides.

"Hey!" Aamir said to her.

"Salam Aamir."

"Wasalam. Thanks you came!"

"Uh I don't have much time so please make it quick." Areesha said glancing at her watch.

Liar! You are just trying to be indifferent. Her conscience scolded her. It really had the worst timing.

She was very curious as to what Aaamir had to say now. She tried to hide her nervousness in indifference

"Lets have a coffee first, shall we?"

"Sure."

"Ladies first." He said with a wink and opened the cafe door for her. She rolled her eyes at his chivalrous attempt. Before it would have melted her heart but not now. She had closed her heart and there was no space for love.

They went inside and ordered cappuccino.

"So what do you want?" Areesha asked as she sipped her coffee through pursed lips.

"You." he said simply.

"Excuse me?"

"I want to get back together with you. I know there was nothing between you and that guy."

"Quite the contrary. At that time there was nothing but now we are getting married." She said in an attempt to make him jealous. She knew she wasn't going to marry him till her mother agreed.

"What? You can't marry anyone but me!"

"Oh really? Sadly, that choice lies by me only." She said coldly.

"Why are you being like this? I love you. Took me some time to realise but I really do."

For some reason that didn't make her happy the way it should have.

"Really? And what happened to, what was her name, oh yeah Shazre?"

"She was a gold digging bitch."

"And how do you know I am not? You loved her after all didn't you?"

"I didn't. I thought it was love but I was wrong."

"I thought I loved you but I was wrong too."

Lie, lie, lie. You still have feelings for him. Stop being so cold. Don't let your anger come in the way. Her heart said to her.

But she didn't listen to her heart anymore. Her ego was too much. Aamir had dumped her, insulted her and now was back when it didn't work out with the other girl. She was merely a second choice for him.

"Well, that doesn't matter sadly. You can't marry anyone but me or my dad is going to kill him."

"Really? I am soo scared now!" She said in a mocking tone.

"Your parents sold you to my father because they needed money." He revealed to her harshly.

"Don't you dare bring my parents into this!" she said in a warning tone.

"I am telling the truth. Haven't you ever wondered why your mother always encouraged you to go out with me? Its because she has no choice."

"Stop concocting stories. You lost your chance." She said without any emotion.

"Wait," he took out his phone and showed her a picture. "Your dad's signatures. Recognise them?"

It was indeed her fathers signatures on a legal paper. She looked at it more closely and saw her name and Aamirs on it too.

She couldn't believe her eyes.

"This is some sick trick isn't this?" She said to Aamir accusingly.

"Its not. Go home and ask your mother yourself."

"I still don't believe you because you are a liar. You lied to me for two freaking years! How could I believe you now?"

"Areesha I didn't want to lie to you. I liked you a lot. I really wanted to fall for you and get married to you. But then that b***h came along and I thought I fell for her." He said sincerely.

"I-I need time to think about this. I will talk to you later."

With that she left the cafe, with lots of conflicting thoughts in her mind. Aamir really hoped that she would forgive him and they could get married. He had gotten sidetracked but he never forgot her. He was always comparing Shazre to Areesha. Whenever he was with Shazre, he was never really with her as Areesha never left his mind. He knew he was doing wrong in using the contract to get back with her. He knew that she loved him. He knew that he loved her too. He just hated the gact that he didnt know earlier. Areesha was a gem and he couldn't loose her at any cost. He would get her trust back. At any cost.

Aamir's words were repeating in Areesha's mind as she drove home. He sounded so sincere. She just hope what he had said about the contract was a lie. She didnt want to think like this about her parents. She respected them and they were her role models. Surely they couldn't have don't this to her. They couldn't sell their daughter in exchange for some money. They weren't greedy. She knew her parents very well. But still fear crept in and she thought that it might be true. Aamir wouldn't lie to her would he? He had sounded so sincere. She just hoped this was a lie.

***

"Fawad its not as simple as you think. Aamirs father is a very dangerous man. Dad signed a proper legal contact wirh him. He won't back off like this." Zayan said. He had called Fawad over to tell him everything his mother had told him the previous night. This was the best time to discuss this as Areesha wasn't home. At first he was enraged to even consider that. His Areesha with some other man? No way. His blood boiled to even think of it like that. But Zayan had managed to calm him down.

"But you are a lawyer aren't you? Can't you do something about this?" Fawad said.

"I am not very sure as I don't handle cases like this. And Amirs father has contacts with the top most judges as far as I know."

"What if we convince Aamir to talk to him. He didn't want to marry Areesha. His dad would listen to him, won't he?" Fawad suggested.

"This is a big mess. Lets just hope that selfish bastard agrees. Just make sure Areesha doesn't find out." He said. His sister would snap if she found out about this.

"There's no need for that now." A voice said.

Their heads snapped towards the voice and they found Areesha standing there glaring at them.

She had entered the apartment with her spare keys.

Once she had gone inside and she heard voices. When she heard her own name she had stopped behind the door and listened.

"When did you come back?" Zayan asked her.

"Quite a while ago." She said giving him her hardest glare.

"And where were you? You didn't even have breakfast." Zayan said hoping she hadn't heard anything.

"I was with Aamir."

When she said that Fawad's head snapped towards her but she was completely ignoring him.

"And he told me everything. He even said he loves me and he is ready to get back together."

"A-are you going to?" Zayan asked her with a nervous glance at Fawad who just sat there rigidly.

"I will think about it." She said with a shrug.

"You will?" This time it was Fawad who asked her this.

"Its my choice whom I want to live with. Contract or not." She said looking at him.

"Yes he told me everything." She added looking at their shocked expressions. "Even if you didn't Zayan."

"Areesha I swear I didn't know. Mama told me last night after you left. But won't worry the choice is yours. We will do something about that contract."

She nodded at that.

"Wait. Aamir has brown eyes too, doesn't he?" She said after a while suddenly gasping.

"Yeah." Zayan said slowly.

"So that means I can choose anyone."

Fawad didn't know what all this was about. He just hated it when she said as much as Aamir's name from her mouth.