The sentiment sent shivers down Amie’s arms and all at once her tears stopped; she’d learned to sense when Malik was acting, and this didn’t feel like it.
Zafina squinted her eyes as though she were feeling her brother out. Finally, she let his hand go. “Then you might not be as stupid as I thought.”
Malik laughed with relief. “Honestly, thank you Zafina. You have no idea how much this means to me. To both of us,” he corrected.
“Yeah, yeah,” Zafina rolled her eyes as she started making her way over to the staircase. “You’re still an idiot.”
***
Amie and Malik stood frozen on the rooftop for some time, both unwilling to be the first one to speak. After a long, tense silence, the two of them made their way down to the living room where Malik’s parents were happily chatting away, oohing and ahhing over the impromptu wedding to come.
Amie felt rotten. She could still hear them chattering in the house as she made her way into the back gardens alone. Her head was reeling. She couldn’t think of anything besides the people she would be disappointing. And what would Malik say, down the road? That she’d left him? What would happen when he did meet a girl he wanted to marry? Would he just not bring her home, on account of his fake wife from years gone by? These were all the questions she kept asking, and all the answers Malik didn’t have.
She sat by the garden waterfall. The water that flowed from it was crystal clear and highlighted by the sunset in an array of reds and purples as it gushed over the rock fountain into the pool below. She could hear footsteps drawing nearer to her and turned to see Malik standing before her.
He took a seat next to her and looked her up and down. She still wore her dress from dinner; elegant, short sleeved with frills, contrasting greatly with the bare feet that squeezed into the moist soil below them.
“Beautiful, isn’t it?” he chirped quietly. He waited for a response, and when one failed to present itself, began walking around the pool.
Amie stayed silent, merely watching him as he looked down at the water with his hands in his pockets. The dawning night began to hide the colors around them, but she knew his brown eyes were still there, wondering and watching. He looked over at her once more, a melancholy look that she couldn’t help but feel something for.
“Yes, it’s beautiful,” came her delayed response.
Hearing her voice, Malik came and sat down beside her. Both of them watched in silence, listening to the sounds of falling water. And then, it started to rain.
Rain was not usual in Rabayat, especially not outside the rainy season. Malik watched as a droplet made its way down Amie’s warm skin, hitting the tip of her nose and past her pink lips. Finally, she smiled at him, and it was obvious now that she was crying.
She sniffed and her cheeks flushed. She’d tried so hard to be angry with him, and now she didn’t know what she felt. He looked so hurt… but then why continue the farce?
He inched closer to her and grabbed her hand; small and cold, her fingers stiff.
“What’s wrong?” he asked.
“Oh, you know, just everything,” she said, hanging her head and giving a helpless shrug as salty tears washed over her.
“Don’t worry about Zafina; she won’t say anything,” he said. His voice was so reassuring, she almost believed him.
She shook her head and squeezed his hand. “I’m begging you,” she said through her tears. “Please don’t do this. We can call off the wedding and just be together. Don’t you want that?” She laughed, despite herself. “That’s all I wanted, just to be with you. Why can’t we just do that and avoid all of these lies?”
“Yes,” he finally laughed. “I want that! I want to be with you. I want to whisk you back to America right now and take you to all the places I love, to meet your family, to see your apartment and watch you perform on stage. I want all of it.”
“Did you really mean what you said to Zafina, about your feelings for me?”
There was a moment of silence before Malik sighed; a smile coming over him. “I do love you, yes.”