Chapter 3

Abrar

"Engagement? Isn't it so soon?", my jaw dropped.

    "No! I'm 26", she uttered. I looked at her in disbelief. She was 26? But she didn't seem to be 26. Her face had still the teenage vibe and girls of her age don't do this kind of stupidity for a guy. 

    "Anas is 23", she added. I understood the whole situation right then why he wasn't ready to get married. I didn't say much to her.

    "Ok. Go inside and explain everything to your parents. They'll definitely understand", I smiled at her but she didn't move and kept looking at me. "What happened? Go", I told her again.

    "Come with me please", she requested me, making a tiny face. 

    "Me?", I exclaimed.

    "Yes. Please", she pleaded. "I'm scared. Please save me from my parents. They are gonna kill me", she spat. Most of the children use this phrase to explain how strict their parents are. But they don't mean it.

    "But how can I....", I couldn't complete as she dragged me to the door and rang the doorbell.

    "I hope the guests are gone. Otherwise, they will start their nonsense", she shrugged. I was still confused about her behaviour. Till then, I could know a few things about her - 1) she is immature 2) she is childish 3) she is from a very rich family 4) she is scared of her parents a lot. It was enough for a meeting of 2 hours.

I heard the sound of the door and we both looked up. A servant opened the huge metal door revealing the lavishing house. I had never seen such a big house in my life as I had lived in a tiny apartment of two rooms. One of them was the kitchen. When I was busy looking at her house I sensed some flashes on my face. I looked in front of me. A bunch of paparazzi were clicking pictures of us. I got stunned and looked at Zoya who was nervous too. I didn't know what had just happened. Soon they scrambled with each other to reach us. 

    "Miss Zoya Ali, is it true that you've gotten married against your parent's choice?", a reporter spat. 

    "Why have you rejected one of the most successful businessmen Danish?", another one snapped.

    "In your earlier interviews, you said you were single. Was it a lie?", another reporter asked, looking at me.

I wasn't ready for this situation. Everything seemed to be messed up. I looked at her, she looked normal as she had experienced this kind of situation before. But I didn't. She was about to answer but a gang of guards rushed to us and controlled the paparazzi. Guards dragged them aside as we could see Zoya's parents and a few guests who were not in a good mood. I looked at her father carefully. His face seemed familiar to me. I got a huge shock when he turned and I saw his face clearly. He also got surprised.

    "Sir", I mumbled, looking at him. I wasn't ready for this. I was at my boss Mr Ali's house where no other employee had ever entered. Last but not the least, I was with his daughter who ran away from her engagement and returned with me.

    "You?", Mr Ali shrugged.   

    "Do you guys know each other?", Zoya asked confusingly.

    "I'll deal with you later", he said to me. I was afraid of losing my job then. My heartbeats rose. "What's all this, Zoya?", he screamed. Zoya lowered her eyes. "Hadn't I told you that you'll be marrying Danish?", He spat.

    "Dad...I", Zoya tried to say something but Mr Ali didn't let her speak. 

    "Shut up", he yelled. "See what you've done to my reputation. This news has become a talk of the town now. "How will I face Danish's parents? You just left, leaving a crap note that you're getting married?"

    "Calm down. Let her speak", Mrs Ali said holding her husband's shoulder. 

    "You keep quiet", Mr Ali kept yelling. "And you....", he screamed at me. My heartbeat almost stopped. Is he gonna fire me? How will I find another job? How am I gonna pay the rent? Where will I go if I'm thrown out of my apartment? My head started pounding.

    "Didn't you get anyone else? Why my daughter?", he said, being frustrated. I couldn't speak. What the heck he had just said! He thought his daughter had run away with me! Nothing can be more terrible than this. 

    "Sir.. I", I tried to explain but he was in no mood to hear anything..

    "How can you do this to me while working in my company?", he shrugged. Zoya kept quiet as she knew her father is not gonna hear anything now.

    "Sir, she didn't elope with me", I mumble.

    "I know. You can't do it. She must have forced you", he spat at Zoya. "You are a decent guy Abrar. I know you can never influence anyone", he smiled at me. I didn't know what was happening to me.

    "Zoya please say something", I whispered as she threw me a helpless look.

    "Daughter of the renowned businessman Mr Rehmat Ali and the to be the owner of his empire Zoya Ali has gotten married to their employee Abrar Zafar", I heard a reporter saying in front of her camera. What the fuck she is saying! The situation was out of control. Especially Zoya's silence was making me more furious. I tried to help her but it seemed like I was the one who got affected by it the most.

   "At least you have some sense left to choose a good person. You should've told me who the guy is. I had never refused if I knew it was Abrar", Mr Ali said to Zoya. I guessed it was going out of my hands. 

   "Now forget everything. I accept this marriage", he smiled.

Which marriage? Whose marriage? I wanted to scream but none was gonna listen to me. Soon, other guests came one by one and greeted us. I angrily looked at Zoya. I was about to say something but paparazzi surrounded us again with questions.

   "How did your love story start?"

   "Did you know that you were dating your boss's daughter?"

   "Where did you meet first?"

   "Being the daughter of a billionaire how did you gather guts to marry a common man?"

Blah! Blah! Blah!

I was pissed. Zoya looked at me and signalled to be calm. How could I keep calm? The guards pulled away from the paparazzi again as I grabbed her arm and took her to the corner.

   "What the heck is going on Zoya?", I spat as she didn't look at me. "Will you answer me? I want my answers"

   "I'm sorry", she said, lowering her eyes. 

   "It's ok. But now go and clean this mess", I tell her.

   "You've helped me a lot. But I have one last request", she mumbled.

   "What?", I asked.

   "Pretend to be my husband", she replied, making me surprised. What had she said? I asked myself again. Did I hear right? Did she tell me to pretend to be her husband?

    "What?", I exclaimed.

    "I know I'm asking for something stupid. But it's a huge mess now. These reporters have already taken our pictures and telecasted it. They won't believe if we disagree with the news. Moreover, it's about Dad's image. It's already damaged after my engagement called off with Danish. Now again this.... He won't tolerate", she explained. Where was the concern when she fled for a guy? She got some brains after getting ditched. 

    "I've hurt him because of Anas. I don't want that again. If he is happy to see me with you...", she couldn't complete as I interrupted her.

    "Won't it hurt him when he will get to know the truth? It's a stupid idea", I shrugged.

    "Please don't say that. How will I manage the situation? There are a bunch of paparazzi, our guests, relatives and business partners", she said nervously.

    "You should've thought about it before running away", I said rudely. 

    "I didn't know that Anas is going to ditch me", she lowered her eyes. "I thought if we get married and come to Dad, he'll accept us and I wouldn't have any problem then. But now there is everyone"

    "Then you shouldn't bring me here, Miss Zoya Ali. Didn't you know today was your engagement? Didn't you know there will be reporters and relatives in your residence? Didn't you know it would be a risk if you came here with me? After knowing everything you brought me here. Does it make any sense?", I told her angrily.

   "Will you help me or not?", she asked me rudely. 

   "It's a stupid idea and I'm not gonna help you in this crap. That's about your image and your reputation. You should handle it. It's not my business", I drove my eyes away.

   "That's definitely your business Abrar Zafar", she said in a completely different tone. I surprisingly looked at her. She gazes at me while smirking.

   "What do you mean?", I exclaimed.

   "Soon I'll be the owner of my dad's massive empire and you'll be thrown out of my company if you don't do what I say", she shrugged while looking at me with her blood boiled eyes. 

Was she the same girl I met 2 hours ago? No. That was not her. The girl I met on the streets was completely the different one. She was a little childish, a little immature, her eyes had a calmness, her cheeks looked pinkish when she pouted. And right now she didn't seem to be the one. This Zoya was threatening to fire me.

   "What?", I muttered.

   "You have 10 seconds to decide. You want your job or not?", she looked at me.