Overlooking the Obvious (4)

I know I haven't posted for ages, and I'm sorry for keeping you waiting. So, to make it up to you, I made this post extra long, and I might also be sharing one of my poem's with you guys tomorrow night.

Ok, you guys, just to make everyone clear about what's happening in this post, well, it's mainly said by Mariam. In the story, I made Mariam Lebanese, but she's been living in the 5aleej her entire life, and 3ali's dad is 5aleiji but his mum is Saudi. Ok? Enjoy ;**

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Continued from the previous post

Now she had to tell him, there was no turning back now. She tried to block that moment out, to forget it and bury it deep down so no-one would get hurt. But she knew that that wasn't possible, she had to tell him.

There was now a barrier between them, an obstacle they must overcome it they were to keep on loving each other. Mariam began instructing him:

"You deserve to know the truth. But before I tell you, you gotta know that whenever I look in my heart right now and for all the days to come, I find you, and only you. I want to tell you everything. I want you to listen and not interrupt me until I finish what I want to say. Ok?"

They both looked at each other, and 3ali nodded. The sun was beginning to set, glittering red through the empty spaces between the clouds.

"Well, just to make you on the same page, my parents keep feeding into my mind the principle that 'what the mind doesn't know, the heart doesn't grieve over'. I began to regret that day they were planning this setup when I finally realised that I really did fall in love with you, and from that moment on I decided to tell you the truth, but I didn't know when the right time was. And this seems like the most appropriate time to come out with it. The day I came to knowing about my parents' ideas and plans was a typical day, until about evening that day, my dad came in the house looking very tired and angry and depressed, it was the second time I had seen him like that, the first was when my grandmother died, allah yir7amha. He looked like he was about to fall anytime soon, like his mind was going to explode. I was sitting on the couch in the living room watching tv. Then mama asked him, 'eish feek 7abibi? you don't look so good.' He kept walking up the stairs leading to his room, disregarding mama, like she wasn't even there. Mama followed him, and I followed them. He sat on his bed and put his head in his hands, and murmured, 'I lost my job'. We couldn't even hear him the first time, but then suddenly he screamed, 'I LOST MY JOB TODAY'. The colour in my mum's face drained out then and there and she lost her balance and fell to the ground with a thump. Baba sprung up from the bed and made his way to mama and placed her on the bed. He told me to get his cologne and so I did. My mum woke up feeling dizzy and anxious. So we sat there for a couple of minutes, waiting for her to regain her composure, and waiting for her breathing to slow down to normal speed. Suddenly, she shot up of the bed and said: '3endi fikra. You might like it, and you might not. But it's worth giving it a try. Ok. So to make everyone clear, we are short on money, and we are in desperate need now more than ever. So, I was thinking, Mariam' and she turned to face me '3arfa ana taht your guys friends in college are rich and all of their dad's own a company, so I was just thinking, ya3ni, maybe you can hook up with one of them, and I don't know, convince him to fall in love with you 3ashan yo6lob eedek mina, and you will have a share of his money!' I just sat there, I thought I was imagining it all, but then my dad said: 'ah wallah Mariam, that's a great idea, that way you'll ensure your future, and you can help your family.'

I couldn't believe what I was hearing, my mum told me to think about it and tell her if I agreed. I didn't want to disappoint them, so I said that I'd do it. So, I started keeping track of the time you would be alone, and that day I met you was the day my parents had made sure I would say all the right things. Me meeting you wasn't a coincidence, it was a setup. Because you're rich. And I'm so sorry, I truly am very sorry. I was only convinced to do it because my parents told me that life is all about wealth, that happiness equals wealth, that if I had money then I will lead a happy life. But now I know their wrong. What makes an individual happy, is falling in love and sharing their time with the person they love, and that's you 7abebi. I tried resisting love's temptation, I tried real hard, but I knew that the moment I decided to give in to the fact that I had actually fallen in love with you, I knew that this was meant to happen, all of it, that all this was meant to be, it was our fate, you are my prince in shining armor."

3ali just sat there the entire time, with his eyes wide open locked on her and his mouth hung down. He was in complete shock and disbelief. When he realised that she finished her story, he stood up and opened the door to her seat and said with no emotion detectable in his voice:

"yalla goomay, I'm taking you home."

And with that, she obeyed. She got up, took her purse and headed to the open door.