Chapter Nine – The mysterious proposal

Days passed quickly as Alaya waited impatiently for a new chapter of her life to start. It was either going to be that she liked Layaan enough for her to forget her past love or she was going to want to spit on him if he was still the same guy from her childhood. He used to be a spoilt brat who used to chew on paper just to appear cool to the other kids and he was always going to tell his dad if someone messed with him. Kudos to his dad who was a lawyer back in the day and never saw a fault in his darling son. Any issue of Layaan that would come up will always eventually end with another student’s suspension.

Money does get you wherever you want to, Alaya used to think to herself. She can only imagine the kind of wealth they will have, when she heard her father say that Layaan’s dad owns the equivalent of all the wealth in Egypt. Alaya isn’t sure whether it was an exaggeration or a lie altogether because she never saw Layaan’s father going to an office or anything of that sort from the very beginning. She only heard of him taking up cases and winning them. Perhaps being a lawyer got him the kind of money where he could start a business big, unlike Raphael had told her.

Finally the day had arrived. The day everyone was so eagerly waiting for. Alaya only realized how hopeful their parents were about the whole engagement, the night before.

“Finally…..finally you are going to get married. Oh my darling daughter.” her mother had said during ifthaar with her eyes all teary. Alaya forced a smile on her face while munching on her dates.

“So hard to believe eh Waleeda? It feels like just yesterday when baby Alaya was born and we brought her to our small home in Egypt. Now she is going to go to her in-laws away from us.” her father said and it made Alaya choke. When did her parents become so melodramatic? From which old-fashioned cheesy Egyptian flick did they get those dialogues from? Alaya didn’t even know how to respond to them.

And then there was Asma, who was supposed to be as a ‘supporting role’ to her but she was giving her looks that made Alaya remember the background music that would come when an unexpected villain was making an appearance. She gave her looks even at that ifthaar table, as to ‘blackmail’ her not to show a single sign that she was against the engagement with Layaan. But then again she wasn’t completely against it was she? She’d only know when she gets to see that groom-to-be of hers.

That night, Alaya saw her mom more excited than she ever saw her to be. Alaya was woken up midnight when her mom came to her room with a long-sleeved white dress that would reach up to her ankles.

“Mom what in the world is that?!” Alaya asked with her sleep disappearing as she realized that she was possibly going to wear what she saw in front of her.

“It’s a trending Egyptian dress that I ordered from back home. You could wear this for Layaan tomorrow. He must have seen girls in these kinds of dresses in Egypt so he might like you better if you wear this.” Waleeda said in a dreamy voice that she normally does not use.

“What?!!!”

“Yes he will! Why won’t he when you are such a beautiful girl in whatever you wear anyway?”

“Yes but…what….why should I wear that? I was just thinking of wearing a top and jeans.”

“No! Not in any stretch of the imagination are you wearing such kind of a thing in front of such nobility young lady! You are wearing this with a proper hijab and that is final!” Waleeda said, returning to her normal voice. She said her final verdict and left the room closing the door with a loud sound that gave Alaya a start.

Alaya looked towards the door, with a rage building up inside her. Not once in her life did she wear something against her will to impress a man. Let alone to impress one of her cousins to whom she was going to get engaged supposedly without her approval. No! She was not going to wear a stupid dress for self-acclaimed noble family. How were they noble anyway? Their money?

Alaya screamed those questions at her mom all in her head. But she knew there was little she could do against her parents. Remembering her decision not to go against them until she met Layaan, she let out a sigh to calm herself down. But she ended up whining all over again, thinking how she’d look in that white dress that kind of looked like her uniform from 5th grade. Tomorrow is going to be one long day. She thought as she buried her face on the pillow on her lap.

**

As the clock in Alaya’s room struck 5, she was standing in front of the full length mirror in her room. She wore the white dress that held tight to her waist but was loose from below. She kind of liked the thin black belt at her waist line and how the very end of the skirt of her dress was curled. It isn’t as bad as she thought after all! Alaya said to herself as she fixed the last pin on the top of the black shawl she wore. There! There she was, all ready to be ‘shown off’ to the man her parents were thinking to marry her off to. But they didn’t know that she wasn’t a weak girl hidden in a long dress who’d fall into any trap of theirs. Alaya thought with a sly smile, as she realized that even Layaan would think of her the same. Little does he know!

As Alaya stood in front of the mirror, she heard the sound of a car being parked right outside the house. She ran towards the window to look outside. As she did, she saw a white Mercedes being parked in the parking zone right near her house. Next thing she saw, was an elderly man come out from the driver’s seat in a uniform. The driver opened the back door of the car and another old man came out. The man looked chubby in his black suit. The driver hurried to the other side of the car for the next passenger and opened the door on that side. As Alaya just saw the head of the one coming out of the car, she heard her mom’s voice.

“Alayaaaa! Please come out. Layaan and his dad are here! Where are you?” Waleeda came screaming and asked as she opened the door of her daughter’s room.

“I’m ready mom. Just going to come out.” Alaya said, turning to her mom.

“Oh I see! You were just too eager to look at Layaan that you could not help but look through the window could you? Oh you young souls! I’m sure Layaan is just as impatient as you are! Just come out now and have a proper look at him ok?” Waleeda said, which added to Alaya’s irritation. When her mom left, Alaya clenched her fist. She had another glance out the window and she saw the old driver standing near the car. She realized that the men came in the house and the driver was waiting for them to come out. Who did they think they were? President of the United States or something? What kind of people would treat an old man like that? She’d prefer someone who’d drive a Range Rover all by himself, rather than someone who makes an old man drive a Mercedes for him. Alaya told herself as she began walking out, with her eyebrows crossed. But then she wondered where she got that comparison from. Within seconds, she was reminded of the perfect stranger who had saved her when she needed the most. Then again, her heart began to wonder who that could have been. A familiar name came to her mind when she stepped out of her room. But did not get the time to think about it when her father called out to her.

“Alaya! Come here….meet the one and only, Dr. Layaan Ahmed!” her dad said, as though he was introducing some kind of celebrity. And it did appear to her as such, when the young man in front of her took out his black sunglasses. She was stunned when she saw that face after so many years. Gone were the days when the chauvinistic Layaan Ahmed had chubby cheeks with his front tooth out. He had gone through an entire transformation with his perfect side smile, masculine face shape and a dimple that appeared on one cheek through the thin layer of facial hair he’d grown. No longer could anyone call him Patrick Star from Spongebob Squarepants but rather he had to be compared to Lobster Larry from the cartoon or something. His expanded chest and six-pack abs showed through even the light purple shirt that he tucked loosely into his jeans.

“Ehem……I think you better take a seat, before having a look at Layaan, Alaya my dear.” Mahmood said in a tone that made everyone chuckle, except for Alaya. She was embarrassed and angry at the same time, when she saw a sense of pride on Layaan’s face as he looked her through his laugh. She quickly looked away and walked into the living room with a firm face. She can’t get carried away. Not right now. Not until she knows what’s behind that handsome face. Or else she is walking right into her own destruction. She was not going to make Layaan win anyway. No! She was not one of those girls who would add into the ego of a man who was already so full of himself.

And it showed clearly on Layaan’s face, as he sat on the sofa right in front of her, and looked as though he was going to maneuver her. But in no way was she going to make him succeed, if that was his real intention.

“So…..Layaan my dear. How was your long trip from Egypt to all the way here? Was everything comfortable?” Mahmood asked.

“Well yes uncle. It wasn’t much as dad rented a Mercedes for us to drive around. We stayed at a 5 star hotel just nearby here. It isn’t as good as the hotels that we run I must say.” Layaan said. Alaya could not help but roll her eyes. Was that really necessary to mention, Mr. Rich and untouchable?

“Of course not! There is really no one who could reach up to you in business eh Ahmed? You could have studied business instead of law what do you say? Hehe…” Mahmood laughed as Waleeda and Asma brought some tea and kept them neatly on the table in front of them. They quickly walked away as they had planned so as to give more ‘space’ for the young ‘couple’.

“Law and business go hand in hand if you think of it that way Mahmood. Some people steal money from others to grow their business. The company that I fought against in court the last time did something familiar. It was called Lightspeed Businesses if I remember correctly.” Ahmed said and Alaya looked at him with a start, because of the name she heard in the last sentence. Lightspeed Businesses. Where had she seen that name before? Alaya’s eyes grew wide, as she pictured the name on a paper of a magazine. She caught her breath when she realized she saw the name from an interview. Raphael’s interview!