Roses and Thorns

I was sitting in the car silently staring at the buildings passing by when I heard Imran clearing his throat. I turned my direction to him

"We are here, this is where we will live", he said.

I looked over to the building towards which he was pointing, and my mouth was left open in awe. I mean I knew that he was rich but I didn't expect a freaking mansion. It almost looked like a castle, it was a huge four-story building with a garage at the left side and a garden at the right, it had four main entrances and a maroon royal door with off-white walls, it looked glorious. I nodded my head slowly and he got off, smirking in my direction. I opened the car door to get out and saw that he had already gone inside, I looked around to see if there was anyone who could help me. Losing all hope, I picked up my bags to step inside and entered the mansion. I kept the bags at the side and hurried to the sofa to calm down my aching body.

As I was mentally soothing myself, a woman stepped inside. I noticed her wrinkled forehead and deep eye bags under her eyes and immediately felt sorry for her.

"Greetings, Ma'am My name is Amina and I am the chef for this house, I will get someone to move your luggage and show you your room", she told me

"Please call me Hania and Thank You for your help", I addressed her.

"Please Follow Me", she said and I got up following her like a lost kitten.

A minute later, she opened the door of a beautiful room and I got lost in its beauty, examining every corner intently and adjusting to the new surroundings. The voice of the door opening broke my trance and I turned to see who it is.

"Oh, it's him," I thought. What does he want now, he conveniently ditched me outside then?

"Hania lets clear somethings out between us."

I nodded my head curtly in reply. He walked towards me and pulled the chair and sat down and indicated me to sit down on the side of the bed. I followed silently and sat at the side of the bed. I looked up at him and the sight made my stomach churn in nervousness. His disheveled hair, muscular shoulders, sharp jawline, and the perfect smile looked divine and he was wearing a sweatshirt and comfortable pants. How can someone look this good, I thought to myself.

"Done checking me out", I heard a husky voice say and it bought me out of my dream world

I blushed at his question, "You Wish!", I exclaimed scornfully.

He smirked yet again and continued, "Let us talk business now shall we, we don't want you to fall in love with me at first sight, do we?" He lectured and I nodded silently.

"Okay so I have three rules, One Don't Disturb me while I am in my study, Two Never Enter my Room and Three Don't fall in love with me. The only reason for our marriage is my compensation for your loss and my financial support, I don't believe in love and the results will be bad if it happens.".

As soon as I heard those words, I felt my heartbreaking, I broke down. I felt the water reaching my eyes. I bit my lip to control my tears and to keep my cover I mumbled my excuse to go into the washroom.

I stepped into the bathroom and slammed it hard. I slumped down to the floor and dug my head in my shoulders releasing all my tears. Even though I didn't have any feelings towards him, I wanted to give a chance towards our marriage even though I knew it was just a deal between us.

I heard the door close getting the indication that he had left and I left the bathroom, tears falling from my cheeks. I walked to the mirror to see my red puffed face and swollen lips. I felt horrible. With the thought, I kept an alarm for morning prayers and headed to sleep.

I could not sleep and kept twisting and turning to find a comfortable spot. I finally adjusted in the big bed thinking about how my life would be now when I felt my eyes slowly closing and I fell asleep.

Tringg, tring, tringggggggg........ went my alarm

I forwarded my hand to get rid of the irritating tune and went to perform ablutions. After performing ablution, I went to the prayer room and offered my prayers. I noticed that Imran was not here and I should wake him up so I went into his room. His room was beautiful with grey walls and white furniture and it looked intriguing and royal. I saw Imran sleeping most comically. His legs stretched apart and his hands hovered in front of him, it looked like he was trying to climb a tree. I went to get my phone and took a few pictures of him. I decided to teach him a lesson and I grabbed his hand, picked his finger gently, and screwed it into his nose. He looked like a two-year-old. I stifled my laugh and took a few pictures. Then maintaining the most innocent look, I started to call his name, shaking him wildly but alas, he was a sleepy ass.

"Imran wakeup," I said rather gleefully.

"Hmm, just two minutes", he blabbered in deep sleep

I was thinking of what I should do when he pulled me by my hand and I fell over him on the bed. He immediately woke up and glanced at me with confused eyes

"You were not up for morning prayers so I came to wake you up. You were in deep sleep so you pulled me over to the bed", I stated, hiding my smirk and the mischievous glint in my eyes.

"Oh, thank you and sorry", he said

"No problem", I said and I turned around instantly left his room chuckling thinking of his pictures that I had just taken.