49. Early Morning Marriage Proposal

My eyes fluttered opened. I turned on my side. Zoya's sleeping figure brought back the memories of last night and took my sleep away. I caressed her cheek and smiled to myself, recalling that was she was now healthy and with me.

I rose to sitting position, cast a glance at the wall-clock. It was seven in the morning. Recalling the argument I had with Ashar last night, I wondered where he could be right now. I had a faint memory that he carried me to my room, but I was feeling too knackered and weak to react.

The realization trickled through me that I acted selfish throughout the situation and didn't pay attention to Ashar's pain. Zoya was his daughter too. He loved her too. He also would have been frightened and felt helpless like me, but I was so lost in my own pain that I forgot about his fears. It was all my fault that made all of us suffered and still Ashar didn't complain, didn't allege me for anything instead tried to soothe away my affliction.

From now, I would put aside my own concerns and listen to his. I really wanted to know what was going in his life especially about his father's health. With that thought, I hopped out of the bed and sauntered towards the bathroom to wash away my drowsiness.

Once I was done, I stepped out of my room while gathering my loose hair and rolling them up at the top of my head. I felt slightly astonished when I noticed Ashar was sitting outside the room at the breakfast table. His eyes were glued on his phone's screen as if he was reading something important. A gleam of happiness prickled in me when I found him here.

My gaze caught the steaming omelet and other items like a bowl of cereal, some fresh toasts and a strawberry jam on the table. He prepared the breakfast that means he stayed here all night. I stepped further to get his attention and smelled the familiar scent; the scent of my body wash. It means, he took a shower in my bathroom as well.

He noticed my presence and looked up at me, "Hey, good morning."

I cleared my throat, "Did you sleep here?"

"Yes." He answered thoughtfully, putting his phone down on the table.

"Again on the same place, I mean on the floor?"

"Of course."

"Oh." I responded lowly.

Not that I mind his presence here. I was happy to see him here, but I didn't like it that he again spent the whole night on the rough floor.

He rose on his feet and faced me, "How are you feeling now?"

"Better. Just a little headache." I didn't know why I was being so formal to him.

He gave me a fervor, long stare that made me feel uneasy so I just looked away from his face and tried to lessen the awkwardness between us, "Did you prepare all this?" I pointed towards the food on the table.

"Yes. I woke up early so I thought I should prepare breakfast for my ladies." He said nonchalantly.

I looked back at him with surprised gaze. He left his work, his family, his home and chose to stay with me. That thought reminded me of the mishap that had taken place at his company and how much that had perturbed him still he ignored everything and came back for his daughter and even comforted me, bear my devastated state.

"I had no idea that you know how to cook."

"I'm not an expert like you, just know the basics." He took a step towards me.

His hair were falling in all direction as if he didn't bother untangling them after a shower. I felt the urge to move my fingers in them and feel their softness. The invisible cord was pulling me towards him. I didn't regret using him last night to calm down the turmoil inside me and I was not sure when all those fears that was keeping me away from him would last because I was finding myself going weak already.

"It feels good, right?"

I gave him a quizzical look.

"All three of us in the same house, like a small, happy family. Waking up every day like today and eating breakfast together." He elaborated.

Was this even impossible? Imagine an orphan kid has having her own family. It didn't even sound right.

"We're not family. Me and you can't be called completely married." I reminded him.

He gave me a weak, small smile, "Fine then let's fix this problem. Let's get married rightfully this time and fulfill all the legal and religious obligations."

"Is this a proposal?" I raised my brows at him disbelievingly.

"Sort of." He shrugged.

I gaped at him in sheer amazement. It took me few seconds to understand the meaning of his words. He just proposed me for marriage early in the morning.

He laughed, "Why this look? It's tempting."

I masked my astonishment quickly and pretended to look around.

"Mommy."

I turned around and saw Zoya was standing behind me few steps away.

"I brushed my teeth." She stretched her lips and showed me all her teeth.

I chuckled and sat on my knees, "Oh look, you're a grown up now."

I moved my palm on her forehead to check her temperature. It was normal. From now, I would check on her regularly, not going to repeat the same mistakes.

"Daddy, good morning." Zoya said aloud and ran to Ashar.

"Good morning, sweetheart." Ashar replied and picked her up.

They went to the breakfast table and he put Zoya on one of the chairs.

"Look, I've prepared your favorite omelet."

Zoya nodded, "Okay, I'll eat all of it."

"That's like my girl." Ashar's eyes sparkled as he smiled at her.

I also joined them while ignoring the fluttering of butterflies in my stomach that started due to Ashar's sudden proposal. All of us ate in silence for first few minutes. I avoided looking at Ashar and pretended to focus only on the food. Then, a question popped up in my head so I had to break the silence.

Ashar was about to take a bite of the toast when my question stopped him, "Did the problem sort out at the office?"

"It's in control, but still they managed to steal some of the company's secrets and that's not good." He put down the toast on the plate.

"That's awful. What are you going to do now?"

"I've already filed a lawsuit against them and trying to make them pay reparations." He stood up from his chair and my gaze followed him.

"I should take my leave now." He announced.

Zoya who was engrossed in eating the omelet her father prepared, looked up, "Okay. I'll miss you, Daddy."

I felt disappointed with his decision because I was not done yet. I wanted to know more. He shared my problems and I wanted to do the same for him. I didn't even touch the topic of his father's health.

"Are you okay?" He asked in concern.

He probably noticed through my facial expression that something was wrong with me. I composed myself and stood up as well, "Yes, I am."

He nodded, "I'll see you later." He picked up his phone, pushed it in his pocket and walked out of my house.

💙

Next few days, Ashar and I remained busy with our own office work. Due to my busy schedule, I got no time to contact him or talk to him and I assumed he was busy as well because he didn't make any effort to see me. But today, he called the entire team again to his office to revise the budget of his whole product marketing and he wanted to discuss the plan with us.

All of the team members decided to go together through a subway so I just followed them. I had planned to take out sometime today after meeting and asked from him about his father. When we reached at his office, he was already sitting in the meeting room, waiting for us.

Derek moved forward to greet him. Ashar stood up from his chair and shook hands with him, "How was your meeting went with the Benicio?"

Ashar opened his mouth to reply him, but Laila interrupted him, "Hey." She stupidly smiled at him and extended her hand to him.

I rolled my eyes, feeling furious at her desperate behavior. Ashar shook hands with her and answered to Derek, "It went good. Benicio is an easy man. He's ready for the trial."

"Wow, congratulations." Derek showed his thumbs up.

"Thanks. Take a seat." Ashar laughed and gestured towards the empty chair.

"Sure." Derek nodded and settled down. Ashar's gaze moved in my direction, giving me a slight nod.

"Hi." I said, pressing my lips together. Half of my mind was distracted because I couldn't ignore how Laila was shamelessly ogling at him from head to toe standing beside him. I was going ballistic now.

I stomped my foot on the floor and grabbed a chair for myself. Ashar drew his brows together in confusion at my reaction. He couldn't know the reason of my sudden, black mood because he was not noticing Laila's scrutinizing gaze.

He moved his head to his side and looked at her, "Miss Abbott, please take a seat."

"Yeah, okay." She gave a coy smile to him and grabbed a chair for herself.

I was happy after seeing how Ashar was ignoring her, but I couldn't be sure whether he was purposely ignoring her stares or didn't know at all that she was interested in him.

Anyways, Ashar initiated the meeting with his speech. He also opened up power point presentation on the large screen behind him to give the visual glimpses of his plan. Everyone in the room silently listened, few times interrupted him to ask their query and the session continued for the next half an hour.

Once the meeting was over, we all stood up and intended to leave after saying our goodbyes to Ashar. He passed me a warm, brief smile at the time we were about to leave his meeting room. I stepped out of the room with my teammates and headed towards the elevator.

When all of us were outside his office, I finally got free to give my office colleagues an excuse and proceed to see Ashar all alone.

"You guys go ahead. I've to go somewhere." I lied.

Both Derek and Laila looked at me quizzically. Derek said, "We can come with you if you want."

"Thanks. I'll manage. I'll see you both later on." I forced a smile on my face and persisted.

Laila thoughtfully nodded, "Okay."

They both went to the other way and I once again turned around, sprinted towards Ashar's office. The curiosity and concern about Matt's health was making me restless. I just wanted to be sure that nothing serious had happened to him.

Ashar was still in the meeting room. His head was down, looking at the file in his hand. When he heard the sound of door opening, he raised his head and gazed at me. I walked towards him and stopped when there was just two steps distance between us.

"Hey." He closed the file and placed it on the table.

I suddenly started feeling nervous for no reason. Being with him alone in this room made me tensed.

"I, I've heard that your father is not well. Is everything okay?"

He let out a soft chuckle, hiding his hands in his pants' pockets, "How did you know?"

"Zoya told me. Is it true?"

"Yes." He nodded, "He was diagnosed with terminal disease."

My lips parted in response, "What...how he's now?"

"He's progressing."

"It must have been hard for you." The shock robbed my power of speaking. I was at loss of words.

"Very." He stepped closer to me, leaning down to level with my height, "Very hard."

I swallowed the saliva in my mouth as his indecent proximity palpitated my heartbeat. I dared to look at him in his eyes. They were staring me with fervor passion. Involuntarily I took a step back.

"Dad's disease is the reason that I took years to come for you." He stepped forward, whispering to me.

I was dumbfounded and stared at him in complete bewilderment. Did he mean that if Matt was not sick, he would've come earlier? Was this the only reason that stopped him?

"I wouldn't have made you wait that long." He whispered, "I tried to come to you and let you see Zoya, but the company's pressure and Dad's health trapped me. I wanted to come with Zoya as soon as possible so that you could see her growing and you wouldn't have to miss much."

My back touched with the wall and that made me come out of the trance. I looked around and got confused when I found that I was entrapped between him and the wall. Ashar smirked at my self-lost state.

"Did you raise Z-oya all b-y yourself?" I slurred.

He moved his face closer to mine to the extent that I began feeling his hot breaths on my mouth, "Of course."

Another shock struck my brain that completely froze my body. At first, I thought he was married to Samara and they both were looking after my daughter. He denied marrying her. Instead he raised Zoya single-handedly because I asked him to take responsibility of her. I felt overwhelmed. Tears moistened my eyes.

He put his hand to my side and brushed his lips to my jawline, "I guess that's how fate decided to punish me. But, that punishment made you suffer with me." He murmured against my skin.

I was angry at myself of not knowing about his difficulties and only thought that my problems were far greater and painful. I wanted to ask more, but Ashar had something else in his mind. His nearness was hypnotizing my conscious state and forcing me to forget everything else and just relish his sweet torture.

He hid his face in the curve of my neck. Heat from my stomach went up to my chest, "Ashar..."

He pulled back and looked at me, "What...Don't tell me you want me to stop."

He leaned forward and mumbled against my mouth, "I know, baby, just a kiss will vanish away all your fears. You'll lose yourself. I know you're scared of your own heart, but I can help you decide what you actually want."

I stiffened and tried to deny his words, "It's not true." My lips slightly touched with his as I spoke. I knew he was teasing me and I was not going to stop him because he was so good, so captivating.

He let out a soft laugh, teasing my lips. The heat emitting from his body began to surround me, "Prove me wrong. Just a kiss to see who is right."

His hand rubbed my butt, went up and wrapped around my waist. He tugged me close to him.

"This is not the right place for the make out, Ashar." I said in a throaty voice. Our lips were almost touching.

He again chuckled. The hoarse sounds of his chuckles weakened my heart, "Any place can work if you've a sexy partner and believe me, I have a sexy partner."

My eyes widened at his compliment, but soon the astonishment went away from my face when his lips started wandering from my jaw, down to my neck. A light moan came out of my mouth unknowingly.

"It's your office. Someone might see u-s like thi-s." I reasoned stutteringly, angling my neck to give him more access. My loud and rapid heartbeats were reverberating through me and he was certainly hearing them.

"No one can come inside without my permission." He said in a gruffly voice, licking the sensitive part of my bare neck.

His lips trailed up to my jaw. I moved my hand up and began stroking the back of his head.

"I, I shoul-d go now." My voice cracked when he nibbled my earlobe, "Derek and Laila are wai-ting for me." I lied.

"Let them wait." He pushed me against the wall and rubbed his chest with my front. He kissed the corner of my mouth and going down.

My breaths became heavy and loud, "I, It's..." I really had no idea what was coming out of my mouth. My mind was only registering his kisses and nothing else.

"You're out of excuses." He moved his face back and looked at me. A playful smile lingered on his lips as he whispered in husky voice, "I won, Sanaya."

He finally locked his lips with mine. Fireworks erupted in my belly the moment I felt his lips. He first hesitated and started in a slow pace, tracing my lips. Memories of the past began crossing my mind. The fondness, the forgotten affection, the sensations that flittered in my stomach every time he touched me back then was now activated and encircling me. I didn't know those feelings were still there.

My legs trembled that made me slightly stumbled. Ashar understood his effect on me so to help me he immediately enclosed his arm around me and held me close to him. I placed my hands on his chest and opened up to him, responding to the kiss. I felt him smile against my lips. He deepened the kiss.

I let myself completely drown into his trance and kissed him back, relishing the feeling of his soft lips. I snaked my arms around his neck and pressed myself more to him. My heart was racing so fast that I felt like it was going to explode any minute. When we both were out of oxygen and couldn't breathe anymore, we parted our mouths, but not our bodies.

I breathed heavily and placed my head against his shoulder. My arms remained around his neck and his resting on my waist. My hypnotized brain began coming out of the influence and our conversation replayed in my head. The reality struck my mind and I stepped back. My back came in contact with the wall behind me.

A mocking smile played on his swollen and moistened lips that itched all my feminine body parts. His bluish, deep eyes twinkled. I knew he thought he won the little game he started all by himself and I didn't deny him this time because my feelings were right now all over the place.

He came closer, pressed himself against me, sending my heartbeat into frenzy. He brushed his cheek with mine and whispered against my ear, "My young wife is so hot."

His low, husky voice gave me a chilly-feeling and I started feeling cold. I wanted to say something, react to him, but I found my voice stuck in my throat. The whirlwind of strong emotions robbed my voice.

"I don't want to stop." He breathed, "But, I also want to keep my words to you." He pressed his lips in to a long, lingering kiss just before my ear and pulled back.

He gave me a warm smile one last time before walking out of the room. Ashar surely knew how to use his charms on me, to mess with my heart. I placed my palm on my pounding heart and accepted the truth that was beating inside me; I was falling for my forced husband once again.

💙

The fact that bothered me the most was that Ashar all by himself raised Zoya for three years. This was the biggest surprise for me so far. It showed his persistence towards his goal that he kept on repeating to me that he wanted to unite his family. After knowing all of his reasons, I was still failed to move on or start over because the fears inside controlled me.

Every time, I thought of calling him or thinking to talk about our marriage, the flashbacks of his vicious behavior began crossing in my head and stopped me to take a further step. I cried a lot in last few days due to my mental torments and confusions and due to remaining indecisive about what I really wanted.

I was sitting on my office desk and staring at my computer screen. These days, I couldn't much concentrate on my work. I minimized the document that was opened on my computer and went for a search engine. I thought of searching about Matt Hobsons. If he had a serious illness then it was certain that the news media would've definitely talked about it. I would get more information about him and get an idea how Ashar would've went through that time.

I was right. As soon as I typed the keywords, many articles appeared on the screen. I checked few and found out that the chairman of the Hobsons Electronics was diagnosed with Bronchial Adenoma and immediately admitted to Lenox Hill Hospital. It was a rare type of cancer so, medicines were not readily available, but somehow, his family ordered them from another country. The treatment and the medicines were quite expensive.

I also got to see a picture of him. Matt looked different. He looked weak and old. He had loss weight and also some of the hair on his head. The severity of the disease was visible on his face. I read few more articles and one article caught my attention that said; chairman of Hobsons Electronics steps down from his position.

I clicked on it and read the description. This article published Ashar's picture who was shaking hands with some, strange, middle-aged man.

Matt Hobsons was diagnosed with a rare type of cancer. Due to deteriorating health conditions he has decided to step down from his position as a chairman of Hobsons Electronics. His youngest son, Ashar Hobsons will now work as an acting chairman of the company and supervise all the on-going projects.

I stopped reading further and went back to the search engine again. So, that means he didn't only look after his father, but the company as well. I could imagine how much workload had fallen onto him, still he satiated Zoya with adoration and love. He was alone and a hard time too. God, what should I do about him!

The other news reports said that Ashar went abroad for some project and now his father was doing well. One more thing that I noticed that there was no scandalous articles or gossips about his love life anywhere on the internet. He had some pictures with the beautiful, rich women, but they were just Hobsons's business allies. For some reason that piece of information brought an unconscious smile on my face.

It means, he was not involved in any woman that could've captured media's attention.

"Hey, Sanaya. Listen." Laila appeared out of nowhere and sat on the chair at the opposite end of my desk.

The smile on my face faded as I got startled by her sudden appearance. I quickly closed the browser and looked at her.

"I've got some important information about our handsome client Ashar Hobsons." She lowered her voice and leaned forward, placing her arms on the table.

I rolled my eyes at her. She really wanted me to yell at her. She was provoking me to tell her the truth that Ashar was not available and she should just stop chasing after a married man.

"I went to his office yesterday to find out whether I should take a initiative or not. You know what I mean." She continued, blushing.

I clenched my jaws and about to burst into anger, "So?" I muttered.

She nodded and pulled back in her chair, "He talked normally to me about random stuff, then, I asked, do you have a girlfriend? He laughed, probably understood my intentions, then replied, she's more than a girlfriend and it's more than a relationship."

I lifted my brows at her in sheer stupefaction.

Was it me?

"I was so heart broken and disappointed. Who would be that lucky woman who captured the heart of such a handsome man?" The corners of her lips turned downward.

"Did he tell her name?" I felt intrigued now and wanted to know more.

"No." Laila shook her head in negative, "But, I got to know something. I got curious about what did he mean so I asked further, are you married? And he answered after a moment, not yet, but I've talked to her about marriage and now waiting for her answer. She's the only one I want to marry with."

It was definitely me. He showed interest in marrying, I mean remarrying me that morning.

A chill went down to my spine after understanding the meaning of his words. I wanted to take the risk for myself, for Zoya. If he was putting so much effort then I should try as well. He was trying so hard to make me believe on him. I should just stop testing him anymore.

Besides, if we both won in settling our differences, Zoya would no longer grow up in a broken family. That little girl was innocent in the entire matter. She had done nothing wrong to have a difficult life.

"I don't understand why she is even thinking about it. She would regret if she reject him. He's so cute and romantic." She said, "When I asked, is she hot and pretty enough that you're willing to wait for her answer? Can you believe what did he say?"

No. I was not going to reject him. I would at least try, so that I wouldn't have to regret later.

"What?" I quizzed, knitting my brows together.

"He laughed first at my question and said, my woman is the prettiest."

I got flabbergasted. A wave of warm emotions swept over me and I found myself at the brink of tears.

"Do you have any idea who she is?" She bent forward and inquired, "I can tell Ashar really loves her."

She was a stranger, still she detected Ashar's feelings for that woman who was palpably me.

I rose on my feet abruptly. Laila got staggered at my reaction so she also stood up, "What's the matter?"

"I...I need to go somewhere. It's urgent." I stuttered, feeling restless.

I wanted to see Ashar. I didn't know why, but I wanted to go and see him and maybe, after seeing him, I could muster some courage and tell him that I was willing to work for our weird relation.

"But, you're leaving early. Watson will make a fuss." Laila argued.

"I'll deal with him. See you later. Bye." I waved at her and sprinted towards the elevator.

💙

The cab stopped in front of Ashar's office. I paid the cash to the driver and got out of it.

I checked the time from my phone. It was four in the evening. I expected him to be inside his office at this time. But, I was not sure. If I wouldn't find him here then my plan to surprise him would fail. I really wanted to see his reaction after seeing me. if he would get happy then I would think that he loved me the way I wanted him to and if he won't then I would think that my expectations were quite high about him.

With these thoughts, I scurried inside his office. I greeted to the receptionist and walked towards Ashar's room. The nervousness rushed through my veins and my palms went cold. I didn't know what I was going to talk to him or why I even came here.

The place replayed the images of the kiss in my head that gave me chills. I stopped few steps away from Ashar's office and pulled out my compact powder kit from my shoulder bag. I checked my reflection from my kit's mirror and fixed my makeup and hair. Once I was sure about my appearance, I straightened my business suit, exhaled out a deep breath and walked towards the door.

I was about to knock the door when I heard woman's laugh. Curiosity aroused in me, so I pushed opened the door slightly and peeked through it.

"Hey, you. What a pleasant surprise! You should've told me about your arrival." It was Ashar's voice.

As soon as my eyes landed on the female figure, I became dumbfounded.

Samara.