The Offer
1218 Words
Aurora didn't know how long she had been standing there.
Long enough for the tears to dry on her cheeks.
Long enough for her legs to ache.
Long enough for the street to begin feeling unfamiliar and unsafe.
She hugged her bag against her chest and stared at the road.
She couldn't go home.
She couldn't go back to Daniel.
And she couldn't keep standing there.
A car slowed beside the curb.
Aurora barely looked up.
Then she froze.
The back window lowered.
Zaid.
For a moment, she simply stared at him.
He was sitting in the back seat, dressed in the same dark suit she had seen him wear countless times before. His expression was unreadable, his posture relaxed, as though finding her alone on a dark roadside at nearly midnight was nothing particularly unusual.
His assistant sat behind the wheel.
Zaid looked at her.
Then at the bag in her hand.
Then back at her face.
He said nothing.
Aurora's stomach twisted.
Of all people.
Of course it had to be him.
She quickly wiped her cheeks.
She didn't want anyone to see her like this.
Especially not him.
She could already imagine what he was thinking.
So this is what your freedom looks like.
Her humiliation burned hotter than her tears.
“What?” she asked.
Zaid's expression didn't change.
“Get in.”
Aurora almost laughed.
Of course.
He didn't ask if she was okay or what had happened.
Just two words.
She just reminded herself this was one of the many reasons she ran away from this man.
“I'm fine.” she said still wiping her nose and eyes hastily, as if to remove the shame and embarrassment.
His eyes moved briefly toward the dark stretch of road behind her.
Then back to her.
“This area isn't safe.”
“I'll manage.”
He said nothing.
Aurora tightened her grip on her bag.
“I said I'm fine.”
“I heard you.”
She frowned.
There was something about his calmness that irritated her.
He wasn't angry.
He wasn't smug.
He wasn't even curious.
He simply sat there.
As if he had found her and decided he wasn't leaving until she was somewhere safe.
The assistant glanced at Zaid through the mirror.
Zaid gave the slightest nod.
The assistant unlocked the door.
Aurora hesitated.
She looked down the road.
A group of men stood near a closed shop several meters away.
One of them was watching her.
Her fingers tightened around her bag.
She hated that Zaid was right.
Aurora opened the door and got in.
She sat as far from him as possible.
Zaid didn't comment.
The door closed.
The car pulled away.
For several minutes, there was only silence.
Aurora stared out the window.
Then the tears came again.
Quietly this time.
She pressed her fingers against her lips, trying to stop the trembling.
She couldn't believe this was happening.
She had imagined this night so differently.
She had imagined Daniel holding her hand.
She had imagined freedom.
She had imagined waking up tomorrow and knowing she had finally chosen herself.
Instead, she was sitting in the back seat of a car with the man she had spent months trying to escape.
Zaid glanced at her.
Once.
Then looked away.
He didn't know what to say.
He had never been good at saying things.
He could negotiate million-naira deals without blinking.
He could stand in front of hundreds of people and speak for an hour without preparing a single note.
But a crying woman?
Especially Aurora?
He had no idea what to do with that.
So he did nothing.
He simply let her cry.
After a while, the car stopped outside a quiet restaurant.
Aurora looked up. It was a Chinese restaurant, one of her favorites.
“Why are we here?” She asked, her voice still hoarse from crying.
Zaid opened the door.
“Eat.”
She blinked.
“What?, I don't want to.”
He looked at her.
She looked away.
Her stomach betrayed her with a loud growl.
The assistant suddenly became very interested in the road ahead.
Aurora wanted the ground to swallow her.
Zaid's mouth twitched.
Barely.
He turned away before she could be sure.
“Come.”
She followed him inside.
They were seated in a quiet corner.
Aurora kept her eyes down.
She didn't know why he had brought her here.
She didn't know why he hadn't asked questions.
She didn't know why he wasn't angry.
She only knew she was starving.
When the food arrived, she stared at it for several seconds before finally picking up her chopsticks.
She took one bite.
Then another.
And another.
Tears were still slipping down her cheeks.
She kept eating anyway.
Zaid sat opposite her, watching in silence.
Aurora sniffed.
“This is embarrassing.”
He said nothing.
She took another bite.
“I look horrible.”
Nothing.
“I just ruined my life.”
Still nothing.
She looked up.
“Are you going to say anything?”
Zaid leaned back.
“No.”
Aurora stared at him.
She almost laughed.
Almost.
Instead, another tear fell into her food.
She quickly wiped it away.
Zaid looked at her for a moment longer.
There was something strangely endearing about the way she was crying and eating at the same time.
He would never tell her that.
He wasn't suicidal.
Aurora lowered her eyes again.
“I can't go home.”
That finally got a response.
“Why?”
She gave a bitter laugh.
“Because I'm ashamed.”
Zaid watched her.
“I left them.”
Silence.
“I told them I didn't want the life they chose for me.”
She swallowed.
“And now I proved them right.”
He said nothing.
Aurora's voice cracked.
“I can't walk back into that house.”
She put the fork down.
“I can't look at my mother.”
Her eyes filled again.
“I can't look at my father.”
She shook her head.
“I can't face anyone.”
Zaid remained still.
Aurora wiped her cheeks.
“I have nowhere to go.”
That was when he spoke.
“Marry me.”
Aurora froze.
The restaurant seemed to go completely silent.
Slowly, she lifted her head.
“What?”
Zaid's expression remained perfectly calm.
“You said you can't go home.”
Aurora stared at him.
“And your solution is marriage?”
“Yes.”
She blinked.
“You're serious?”
“Yes.”
A disbelieving laugh escaped her.
“You have got to be joking.”
“I don't joke about marriage.”
She stared at him.
This was the man she had spent months refusing.
The man she had called too serious.
Too controlled.
Too old-fashioned.
Too everything.
And now he was sitting across from her, asking her to marry him as casually as if he had asked whether she wanted dessert.
Aurora's voice dropped.
“Why?”
Zaid was silent.
For a moment, she thought he wouldn't answer.
Then he looked directly at her.
“Because you need somewhere to go.”
That was all.
No declaration.
No confession.
Nothing
Just a proposal.
Aurora stared at him.
She didn't know what to say.
And for once, neither did he.
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