- Narrator's POV -
Lateef and Farrah

"Can you believe Noor's due in less than two months? We're going to be an aunt and uncle!" Farrah grins.

"You haven't stopped talking about the baby since you found out she was pregnant. Do you plan on giving me any attention?" Lateef frowns.

She laughs. "You should be grateful that I even show up to spend time with you."

He sighs, looking down at the menu and Farrah thinks that he was being serious.

"Hey... I'm sorry." She nudges his hand that was resting on the table. "Was I being that annoying? I'm just so excited! I guess I'd be annoyed if someone talked about a baby for seven months straight."

"It's fine. It's just that—never mind." He halts his thoughts, which begins to make Farrah feel guilty. "Have you chosen anything you want to eat? Should I order the usual?"

She couldn't help but reach out her hand to hold his. "Come on, you know you can tell me anything. What's on your mind? I promise I'll listen."

"How serious are you about us?" He asks, surprising her.

"I—uh—I'm expecting us to spend the rest of our lives together..." She answers shyly.

"You are?" There's genuine surprise in his tone.

"Why do you sound so shocked? I told you I wouldn't give anyone a chance unless it meant marriage."

There's silence and the silence fills Farrah with dread as she quickly pulls her hand away.

"Is that not what you had in mind? Did you not want to marry me?" The fear in her voice is apparent, there's no hiding it.

Her heart slowly starts cracking when Lateef doesn't say anything. He staring off somewhere else, anywhere but at her.

"Lateef... I told you I love you months back... You should've broke it off, then."  Her eyes are blurry and she's doing everything in her power to not burst into tears in a public setting. "Why did you wait so long before realizing you didn't—"

He grabs her wrist just as she was about to stand up, cutting her sentence short.

"Don't go." He manages to say.

"Don't go? I just sat here through your silence while thinking about how you just threw my heart into the trash!" Her voice is shaking, unable to hold any strength.

"That's not it, Farrah. Please, give me a minute. I... I didn't think you'd want to marry someone like me."

"What? Why not?" She asks defensively.

"You said I didn't seem like someone who'd be a marriage type." He answers quietly.

Farrah's confusion is quite clear on her face. "I don't understand."

"I thought... you didn't want to marry me because I didn't seem like a faithful type of man." He finally admits.

"You idiot, I told you I loved you. Did that not get through to your head?" She sighs. "You know I joke around a lot; sometimes, a bit too much. But the moment when I tell you how I feel, it's real. There's no joking about feelings."

"Do you still want to marry me?" He asks innocently.

"Yes!" She says excitedly. "You need to have more confidence in yourself—in us. Especially after how far we've come."

Suddenly, a waiter comes by and places a bouquet of red roses on the table with a small chocolate cake by it.

"Excuse me," I call after him. "But haven't ordered yer, I don't think this is our—"

He looks back and smiles at her and nods at Lateef.

"Farrah, the time we spent together, it was absolutely amazing. I had so much fun, I loved every second. Of course, there were times I wanted to humble you." He laughs. "Along the way, at some point, I fell in love with you like I've never loved before. There are times when you're laughing or joking, and I think to myself and wonder how lucky I am."

The tears that Farrah had almost let go of earlier are now sliding down her face. However, the emotions connected to it have changed courses. Her tears are a result of how her heart won't stop fluttering because of how loved she feels right now.

"Lateef..." She can barely form words.

"I'm so in love with you that I don't think I'll survive another day without seeing you." He pulls out a small velvet box, her eyes widen. "Farrah, will you do me the ultimate honour of becoming my wife? Of becoming Mrs. Lateef Asad?"

She burst into a sob, nodding frantically as she reaches out her hand for him to put the ring on as a few of the waiters and waitresses clap on.

"Are you sure about this? Do you really want to spend the rest of your life with me?" She whispers as if she couldn't believe someone actually would.

"I've never been so sure about anything in my life than I am right now." He reassures her.

She holds his hand, both of them grinning from ear-to-ear.

"Imagine if you said no. I would've rented this whole restaurant out for nothing but heartbreak. It would've sucked because this is my favourite place." Lateef sighs in relief.

That's when Farrah looks around and realizes that they are the only ones here, aside from staff.

"Next time, can you rent out all of McDonald's for us?" Farrah suggests as a half joke, making Lateef burst into a fit of laughter.

"McDonald's?" He raises a brow. "Are you sure you don't want me to rent out Empire State Building?"

"No, McDonald's will suffice, Mr. Try-Hard." She smiles.

And that's Lateef and Farrah, the two jokesters who found their happiness within each other.

• • •

- Narrator's POV -
Shahid and Ayesha

"You didn't have to come pick me up." Ayesha says.

"Why not?" Shahid's frowns. "I wanted too."

"Well... look around..." She smirks.

Shahid looks around to see there are quite a few pair of eyes on them.

"Why—why are people looking at us?" He asks quite innocently.

"They're looking at you, sir. And it's because you're handsome." Ayesha giggles.

He raises a brow.

"Oh, come on! You're not that clueless, are you?" She asks.

When Shahid doesn't answer, Ayesha sighs. "They're literally staring because you're Shahid Khan. That's it. That's the reason."

"Oh?" He says as if he doesn't know the length of his popularity.

"Your publicized divorce has now made you the nation's most eligible bachelor. Plus, you're young and rich. Women are waiting for an opening to jump in." Ayesha laughs.

"Jump in where?" He asks.

"Who has robbed you of your sense of humour, good sir?" Ayesha frowns.

"A youth that consisted of nothing but studying and training to become the head of the company." He smiles sadly as he opens the passenger side door for her.

He lends out his hand for her to give him her bag. "I'll place it in the back for you so you have more leg room."

Ayesha gives it to him without much thought. "Thank you."

She can see from the corner of her eyes, a few girls trying to watch them. A few of them are obviously fawning over the way he's treating her.

She thinks about how polite Shahid is... how in the world did Nadira not genuinely fall in love with him? He's also really oblivious about all the attention he gets.

"Do you mind if we drop by the pharmacy first?" He asks. "I need to pick up a prescription for my dad."

"No, of course I don't mind! I have nowhere to be." She answers quickly.

He plays the radio while we have idle chatter.

Mid-conversation, Ayesha begins to think about how Shahid must've taken some time out of his extremely busy schedule to pick her up.

But he's always so... neutral about things. She doesn't know what she means to him.

For the last few months, he'd randomly come by to get her from school or ask her to have lunch/dinner with him but... he's always so neutral about it. She doesn't understand what he sees her as—a sister? a friend? a potential spouse?

"Would you like anything to eat?" He asks right before getting out of the car, interrupting her thoughts.

"Uh... anything you want me to try? Surprise me?"

He chuckles. "A very Ayesha answer. I'll be back soon."

He hands her the car keys and shuts the door.

Ayesha places her hands on her cheeks, realizing that her cheeks are heating up. "God, it's so hard to keep my composure around him sometimes. Why does he have to look so handsome all the time? He does he act to sweet all the time?"

A about 10 minutes later, he comes back with a cute, small box. "Sorry for the long wait."

"Always so polite." She points out. "No worries, though. It wasn't any trouble."

He hands her the small box and Ayesha opens it.

Her smile widens, "Oh my God! This is the cutest slice of cake I've ever seen!"

"It tastes just as good." Shahid states as he takes a seat.

Ayesha stares at him, and realizes something quite sad. "Shahid..."

"Hm?"

"Are you... happy? I mean, how have you been holding up?" Her voice is quiet.

"I am happy." He starts. "I'm living comfortably and I'm content with—"

There's that sad smile of his. Anyone on the outside wouldn't have given it a second thought. But Ayesha can see it, its not genuine. He smiles for the sake of it, not because he actually means it.

"Liar!" Ayesha is taken-back by her own sudden outburst.

His expression holds constant loneliness no matter the number of people he's around. When he laughs, its such a soft, melancholic chuckle.

Was he always like this? Even when Nadira was around? Has he always felt alone and isolated?

She steps out of the car and accidentally slams the door.

I hope that didn't break anything... the car is definitely too expensive for me to pay for, Ayesha thinks quickly, before resuming back to her state of anger.

He quickly follows her out, staying a step behind her at first.

"I haven't ever seen you smile like you meant it." She tries to keep her voice from shaking. "You're always pretending or maybe its become a habit but it upsets me!"

Shahid grabs her by her shoulders to turn her around to face him.

"I want to see you smile and I thought if I keep up with my constant jokes and silliness, you'll show me your real smile. But you never do..." Ayesha's in an obvious dilemma, her emotions are overflowing and she wants to burst into tears.

Shahid's eyes widen at the site in front of him. He couldn't comprehend why Ayesha's so upset over his happiness, no one's ever really asked him about how he feels so this is all really new to him.

Ayesha slumps her head down, looking at the floor while her tears slowly drip onto the concrete. "I'm sorry I couldn't do it... I'm sorry I couldn't make you genuinely happy... I'm sorry..."

Shahid takes a few steps closer, his hand rests on the back of her head as he gently pushes her against his chest.

Ayesha's heart begins to race like its on a track, compete for gold. She can feel his calm, soft heartbeat, which instantly makes her heart clench.

Even the sound of his heartbeat creates such a sweet atmosphere.

"You do make me happy." He says softly. "I'm sure I would've lost my way after the whole Nadira event, if you didn't reach out for me."

Ayesha looks up to see him looking down at her with a gentle, heartwarming smile... but this time, its different; the light actually reaches his eyes. The whole atmosphere surrounding them changes completely.

Her starts blushing, "Really?"

"Are you flustered?" He raises a brow.

"No!" She smacks his arm lightly. "You're always so blunt." She mumbles.

"Ayesha?" He suddenly calls out her name.

"Hm?'

"Marry me." He states.

It wasn't even a question.

"Huh?!" She's at a loss for words.

"You don't want to?" His lips turn downwards in a frown.

"I-You-You asked so suddenly!" She's clearly flustered. "You didn't even ask, actually, you just stated."

"Is this a no?" His expression is a pout.

"No—I mean, yes—I mean, yes, I want to marry you." She blushes. "Besides, you already touched me a little too intimately already, marrying me is an obligation now." She giggles, teasing him.

"Don't worry, I've been wanting to marry you ever since you told me I was an idiot for being upset over stale bread." He chuckles softly.

"That was so stupid. You were upset over stale bread, I—" She pauses to consider what he said. "Wait, what? That was a good six or seven months ago..."

Shahid has a a slight innocent smirk on his face.

"Oh my God, you act so innocent but you're actually a sneaky fox." Ayesha grins.

"You haven't seen the real, conniving Shahid yet, Mrs. Shahid Khan." He smiles.

"Stop getting ahead of yourself, Mr. Shahid Khan." She flicks at his arm in a joking manner.

After patiently waiting for his happy ending, Shahid finally married the woman who he would give the world to; he married the woman who deserves every bit of his love and laughter because she gives him the same amount of love, if not more.

There are times he thinks he might be in a dream but realizes that Ayesha is very much real. Times like this, he's grateful for everything he went though in life, whether good or bad, because it led him to this exact moment, with the woman of his dreams.

- - -

- A/N -

• Sorry for ghosting y'all! I was super busy with school and didn't even have time to even glance over at Wattpad!

• I plan on starting on my new story soon but don't expect it to be out as soon though. I'll try my best though. 🥺❤️

Please vote and comment and let me know how y'all feel!!