Sara decided to fly home to talk to her parents about the proposal. She told her parents that a local guy named Saeed wants to marry her , that he is from a good family, has good manners ,and has a great job. Her parents made no fuss and they immediately agreed however there only condition was that they would like to meet me. She called me soon after and asked me to come and see them as she may not be able to take any more holidays off work for a while.
This put me in a very difficult situation as I had not approached the subject with my father and my mother was still totally against the idea. That very evening I had built the courage to talk to my mother again and if I was lucky enough to convince her then maybe she would help me talk to my father.
When I first got home from work the house was in chaos and I thought it best to wait to talk to my parents as our Ethiopian maid Kadogo wanted to run away. It was our driver who saw her leaving the house with a bag who then alerted my mother. Her boyfriend promised to get her a job with a better salary. She refused to come back into the house as she was convinced that her boyfriend would marry her and she no longer wanted to work for us. If only any one of us could have guessed who her boyfriend was. Her boyfriend turned out to be our 60 year old local neighbour. My mother thought this was very embarrassing and was too ashamed to tell his wife. We grew up with our neighbours and he had always seemed like a decent guy who had a family. His daughters were about the same age as the maid. My mother assumed he was going through his midlife crisis.
The police had to be called in to take her since she completely refused to come inside the house and was to spend a night in the police cell before she was deported home. That was the end of the affair for the old man.
It was Friday morning and I had gotten up early in the hopes of catching my parents at breakfast. I saw them sitting in the garden and having their favourite breakfast of fool with hot chillies and a spicy omelette. I wondered how they could digest such spicy food so early in the morning. I went to say my good mornings to them and kissed my mother on her forehead. They were in a very good mood and I knew that I would ruin their day with what I had to say but I convinced myself that the choice is mine and that it was I who was going to live with her. I had finally gotten the courage to tell them that I would marry Sara and that it was to happen soon.
“Which bar or nightclub did you pick her from?” My father asked me as he dropped his bread onto his plate. He then continued to speak to me in a very scary tone “You know very well what kind of a woman and from what families you are expected to marry.” He then asked me to close the subject and to find a wife that they would approve.
I was furious at him and told him that I would marry no one but Sara as she was the perfect wife for me. My father asked me what I liked about her and I told him it was her Personality, she was gentle and very soft spoken. He told me that this was all an act and that all women like to hide their habit and once you were caught, only then would their claws come out.
My last hope was my grandmother, she was a wise woman and very kind, I explained my situation to her and she asked me to leave it to her as she would talk to my parents. Till this day I do not know what she told them but one morning I was told by my father to go and marry who I want but that I should not expect any wedding parties or any other sort of help as I had made my decision on my own even though I knew how he felt about it.
I was cocky enough to tell him that I did not need any help from him and that we weren’t planning on having a big wedding.
Next day I took a week off from work and flew to meet the parents of my wife to be. I was met at the airport by Sara and her brother. Her parents welcomed me very warmly. They had a small flat outside the city yet it was very neat and their furniture was very simple.
Her father is a retired teacher and her mother is a housewife. I was offered tea and sweets as I sat with her parents. I was very nervous knowing that I would soon be asking her father for his daughters hand in marriage. As if on cue everyone left and I was left alone with her father. When I finally asked him he asked if my family approved of this marriage which I nodded to. Then he wanted to know if I had enough income to support his daughter, I assured him that I earned enough and would be able to keep his daughter very comfortable. He gave me his blessings and called his wife and children. They yabyabbed and kissed their daughter.
Before I knew it they were already planning for an engagement party. I was grateful that I had already gotten a diamond ring from DeBeers in Emirates Mall before I left. Earlier on Sara had showed me a white and pink diamond ring that she liked. I was shocked to find out that the ring cost a hundred and forty thousand dirhams but I got it for her because I knew it was what she wanted.
The engagement party was thrown at her uncle's house as he had a big villa. There were about 50 guests who mostly consisted of family. Sara wore a white traditional dress and looked gorgeous. Her father told me that we should get married soon as he did not like long engagements. I could not tell my parents that I was engaged as they would be shocked at the speed of this affair.
Soon after I flew back to Dubai I realized that I was no longer satisfied just being engaged and wanted to get married very soon as Sara was living alone in Dubai and had no family. I was to become her family and I did not like the idea of her living alone.
I told my parents that I planned to get married after a week, my mothers jaw dropped and she had tears in her eyes but I pretended like I did not see her tears. My father told me to get married in court as he would not invite anyone but my mum refused and said that she would organize a small wedding reception at home.
A few days before the wedding my mother and Sara met. After we left my mother had told me that she did not know what I saw in her as she was no malkat Jamal, that she was very plain and ordinary and that I could have gotten a local girl who would have been so much better as we would know more about where she had come from. I told her not to worry as Sara is better than 100 local girls.
Sara brought the same traditional gown she wore on our engagement to wear on the wedding yet my mother decided to tailor her a gown more suitable for the occasion and bought her some jewellery to match. Sara loved her dress once she saw it and thanked my mother.
I thanked God that things were finally working out between my mum and Sara. Although my mother did not like the idea of me marrying Sara she went out of her way to have a grand reception for us. She wanted to have the Imam come to the house and get us married instead of us going to the court as is the norm. I went to court and submitted all our documents and made an appointment for the imam to come home on the wedding day.
By seven p.m. on the wedding day family members started arriving, come eight and the Imam who was to perform the ceremony did not arrive and this made me worry , I called the Imam and when he finally answered he said that he was in the hospital as he had a car accident and would not be able to come. I called the chief Kadhi and asked for a replacement and the next guy I was asked to call said he was too busy and could not come. Finally I was given a number of another kadhi who agreed to come. I was getting nervous as this was not a good sign.
After we were married and the night was over we went to spend a night at Qasri Sarab and the following evening we flew out to Koh samuii, Thailand.
We had our villa with a private pool, Sara was very excited, it was her first trip to the far east. We went sailing, jet skiing, boating, swimming etc,
Two weeks of fun, love and laughter. Our love blossomed I could not bear one minute away from her, she was my everything. I did not want our
Honeymoon to end but I had to report back to work so we returned to Dubai a happily married couple.
As my marriage was rushed i did not have time to find an apartment and we stayed with my family whilst we went apartment hunting. My mother did her best to make Sara comfortable, but she was shy and spent most of the time in our bedroom. She would only come out when I was there. After two months we found a lovely two bedroom apartment at marina. Within a week we got our furniture, most of it was from Marina and the ONE and moved to our new place.
I was planning to find another job for Sara as I did not like the idea that she was working in the hotel. I was glad when she quit her job after a few weeks as she did not get on well with her boss. I was really happy about that and told her not to worry as I would find something better. I was a happy married man but little did I know that my happiness was short lived.
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