Hey guys! :D to say i'm scared would be a bit of an understatement, i actually really don't want to post this, but i've promised a fic for so long, i think it's only fair really :) i don't know if i got the facts right in the story, but i did try! okay, i'm really scared now...

if some of you read this and recognize the plot, it's because it's based on the romantic comedy 'The Proposal' (Sandra Bullock and Ryan Reynolds), and at the moment it sounds as if i'm just writing up the film and changing the characters, but honestly, it will change to fit Syed and Christian, i'm not suffering from that much lack of imagination D: i really hope you like it! EEEK! *hides under table*CAML xxx

No copyright infringement intended, all of the characters (unfortunately) belong to BBC and EastEnders.

btw, sorry about how long it is, but i needed to explain in as much detail as possible, otherwise it just would have got confusing.

Syed sighed as he listened half-heartedly to his mum rambling on as she usually did about Syed's love-life. This was the fourth time she'd called him that week to ask if he had got himself a nice boyfriend, but no matter how many times Syed told her he was still single, and very happily so, she just wouldn't have it.

''Pappu, please, your brother is already married and he's 20 for goodness sake! Yet, you're 27 and you're still single! What is going on! ''

''Ma, I'm fine how I am. Do I need a boyfriend to be happy? No. Look, just leave me alone, and I will ring you when I find somebody.'' Syed was determined to just end the call without being too rude or disrespectful, which was proving difficult when his mother was so inquisitive and, well, annoying.

''But, i'll never get a phone call again, if that's the case! Face it Syed, you need my help. In fact, I may have to get in contact with Bushra, she'll have somebody for you, just hang on a second, and don't go anywhere Syed, cause' I have news…TAM! Get your Aunty Bushra's number for me, and bring it over here! ''

''Mum, for god's sake…'' Syed began. He could hear Tamwar muffle something in the backround, but the muffle was interrupted by yet another shriek from his mother. She certainly hadn't changed since Syed last saw her. Thing is, his mum, dad, two brothers and sister-in-law travelled over to Marmaris, Turkey a few months back after they heard the news that Shabnam was getting married there. Since then, Shabnam and her partner received the news that they were expecting a child, so the family decided to stay until the baby was born and settled. Shabnam had lived in Pakistan for such long time, but after going on holiday with a few friends, she met a Turkish guy, who became her boyfriend. She got sorted and moved to Turkey to live with him, and he's a rich man apparently, so they've got a massive villa on a beach, well, so rumour has it, anyway. Syed didn't like to ask too much about whether the house rumours were true, because he shouldn't care, as long as his sister was safe and happy, but in reality, he really was itching to ask. Anyway, when the news about the wedding came, Zainab had begged and begged for Syed to come along, but as much as he'd have liked to, he just couldn't get the time off work.

Urgh, work. Syed rolled his eyes at the thought of it. It's not that he didn't enjoy it, no, working at a massive book-publishing company located in New York was amazing! Living in New-York was always a dream of his, so when he got the opportunity to move from London and work there, he was thrilled! It was just the job he had to do at the company which bothered him. Syed's an assistant for Christian. Christian Clarke. And he, putting it mildly, is an absolute dick head! A very attractive dick head, he must say, but still a dick head. With short cut brown hair, long legs, a muscular body and an extremely charming smile, Syed only wished his boss' looks were accompanied by a personality to match. But, of course, life wasn't a fairy tale, and they weren't.

Christian, or Mr. Clarke, as everybody was ordered to call him, was a cold-hearted, pushy, self-full man, and also the executive editor at the company, meaning Syed had to basically be at his beck and call. Syed often remarked that his job should be referred to as 'slavery', but Christian preferred to use the word 'assistant', and what Christian says, goes. And for this, Syed simply couldn't stand Christian. Because, his part of the job was without doubt the better deal, and he was allowed to tell Syed what to do, when to do it, and why he should do it, the reason usually being 'because if you don't do it, Syed, I'll fire you, understand? Good.' And that would be that. Thinking about it now, Syed did wonder why the hell he turned down the opportunity to go and live in Turkey for a while just to stay and work for Christian. It brought in the money, he supposed. Not to mention he only had to put up with the odd, actually, very often phone-call from his mother, instead of having to put up with her constant moaning every day. Speaking of which…

Syed had completely forgotten he was on the phone; he was so busy thinking about work. Shaking his head, he snapped out of 'slave for Christian' mode, and returned his focus to his mother, who was still waffling on to him.

''So will you come?'' Zainab questioned.

''Sorry? Come where, mum? What are you talking about?''

His mother groaned. ''Weren't you listening to a word I said!'' And there was that sharp tone of hers again, oh, the joys of being a Masood. ''I said, will you come over to Marmaris? The flight is sorted and everything, please Syed, your sister wants you here to see her child when he or she arrives!''

BEEP BEEP.

Syed looked over to his bedside table in his flat, and noticed his work phone was vibrating and beeping; he obviously had a message.

''Oh, two seconds mum.'' Syed told his mother, before walking over to the phone and glancing at the message. Of course it was Christian. Who else would it be?

I need you at work in half an hour, it's important.

Half an hour? Syed was still in a towel after just having a shower, he could barely get ready in half an hour, especially with his mum talking away; he'd never be able to shut her up! Plus, it took about 15 minutes just to drive down there! Anyway, he wasn't supposed to start work till 10 today, since it was a Saturday, and it was only 8:45am, so why was he needed so early? Another surge of pure hate for Christian washed over Syed, he was so annoying at the best of times. But, hey, work was work.

''So will you come then? Oh come on, you love babies, you always got on so well with Kamil!'' His mother started talking down the phone again. Syed really didn't have this time to waste.

''Fine, whatever, I'll come, but I've really got to go now. Ring me about it later, yeah.'' Syed replied.

''YEY! I shall ring you tonight! We'll all see you Monday!''

Syed was just about to hang up, when he heard the word 'Monday'. Monday? When his mother asked if he could come, he presumed she meant in the foreseeable future, not Monday! He couldn't just tell Christian out of the blue that he was flying off to Marmaris on Monday. That was only two days away! Oh, god…

''Wha…Monday? Mum, I…'' Syed made a desperate attempt to try and explain to Zainab the situation, but she didn't want to know.

''No time to argue Syed, I've given Shabnam a thumbs up, so she thinks you're coming. She's excited, we're all excited, don't let us down.'' And with that, she hung up.

Shit. Syed couldn't believe what he'd done. He was sure Christian would fire him…actually, no, scrap that, he was sure Christian would kill him if he randomly informed him that he was just not going to be at work for a while because he decided he deserved a break to Turkey. How would he tell him? When would he tell him? Would he even tell him, or would he just go? No, he couldn't do that, could he? What about his promotion? Would Christian even consider it once he knew that Syed decided to take random breaks? Glancing at his watch, Syed noticed the time - 8:55am.

''I'll just go to work, act normal, get him in a good mood, well, as good as a good mood can get with Christian, and then break the news to him, it'll be fine.'' Syed pathetically tried to convinced himself. Well, only time would tell what would happen, but first, he had to actually get to work … and on time.

Syed burst through the doors of the building, ran past everyone hurriedly, not stopping to chat to anybody, and promptly stopped in front of Christian's office door. He brushed himself down to make himself look at least a bit presentable, and to try and mask the fact that he had been in a serious rush. Walking through the door, he braced himself.

''You're late, you know I don't like you being late.'' Christian opened the conversation. Not even a 'hey Syed, buddy, how you doing? Thanks for turning up 45 minutes before you should've actually been here!' But hey, Christian never was one to be polite.

''Sorry. I was…busy. What's so important that I need to be here early?'' Syed asked.

Christian swivelled round in his chair and his green eyes focused on Syed's. ''I want food.''

Syed looked at Christian blankly and tried to figure out if he was joking or not. He opted for 'not'.

''You want food, hmmm? I rushed here, getting ready in less than 10 minutes, risking getting fined for speeding, all because you wanted…food.'' To say Syed was annoyed was an understatement.

''Yep. I've had no breakfast, I'm hungry, but I have no time to stroll out to a shop and buy food, cause' I have work to do. So, I've asked my assistant to do it, who last time i checked, was you, now go get me food.'' Christian made sure he put emphasis on the word assistant to try and put a point across to Syed that he really should just go, because his job was to do what Christian told him to.

''Well, I haven't had breakfast either, seeing as I rushed out here to do something 'Important'!'' The sarcasm pushed its way through to the tone in Syed's voice when he said important, because both him and his boss knew important wasn't exactly the right vocabulary to describe the errand.

''I'll have a Bacon Butty from the shop down the road, a cappuccino from Starbucks, and…some chewing gum,'' Christian ordered, ignoring Syed's complaint.

''Chewing gum?''

''Yes, chewing gum…look, why are you still here? GO!''

Syed decided it was probably best not to argue, so instead he just nodded with a polite smile etched upon his face, before walking out of the room.

Running back through the doors for the second time that day, Syed had Christian's Bacon Butty in one hand, his Cappuccino in another hand, the Cappuccino Syed had bought for himself cupped under his arm and resting against his waist, and the chewing gum in his blazer pocket. As he was carrying everything, Marcus, a colleague of Syed's at the company, shouted after him. Turning around, Syed was reminded by Marcus that Christian needed to be told he had a meeting in 20 minutes. Syed nodded in a 'yeah, I already knew, but thanks' kind of way, and was just about to return to his original position of running facing forwards, when he collided with Jamie, who was coming out of Mr Clarke's office and making his way back to his computer. The consequences of the collision were Syed having Christian's Cappuccino thrown all over himself.

''OH, FOR CHRIST'S SAKE MAN!'' he yelled, failing to remain calm, despite Jamie being one of his friends. Oh great, Syed thought, now he a) would have to give Christian his cappuccino, and b) would have to face Christian in a stained shirt. So much for looking presentable.

Syed blatantly ignored Jamie's apology due to how stressed out he was feeling, and walked into Christian's office, breathing in and out, trying to forget that his chest was slowly scolding from Cappuccino burns.

''There is your Butty, your chewing gum and your cappuccino,'' Syed casually explained, handing over Christian what was supposed to be his cup.

''Why is your shirt all stained?'' Christian questioned, not even bothering to thank his assistant.

''I spilt my cappuccino after a collision with Jamie, so my shirt got all…wet.''

''So, if it was your cappuccino that got spilt, then who is Betty, and why is she asking me to 'call her'? '' Christian quizzed Syed with raised eyebrows, reading off the back of the cup:

07964531533, call me, Carol x

Syed's palms met his face, and he rubbed his eyes, before sighing, sounding already exhausted. Carol had always had a thing for Syed, despite the fact that he was gay, but in her defence, she didn't know. Not wanting to upset her, Syed thought it was best for her to keep making presumptions that he was straight, and for him just to go along with it. Besides, it was never going to happen, so it didn't really matter. Anyway, right now, he needed to think of an excuse as to why Carol wanted Christian to call her.

''Ermm, she obviously has a thing for you, you know what she's like!'' Syed lied.

''Funny that, cause' last time I checked, Carol knew that I was gay, but she didn't know you were, because you didn't want to upset her, since it's you she has the hots for. So, Syed, please do correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe it was my cappuccino that spilt, so you gave me yours, which coincidentally, is exactly the same as mine. This is all just a coincidence, yeah?'' Christian looked so smug when he knew he was right. Ugh.

''Well, I obviously wouldn't just drink the same drink as you just in case yours spilled, I mean please, how pathetic do you think I am? Anyway, what does it matter? You have your drink, let's move on. You have a meeting in around…15 minutes.'' Syed eagerly changed the subject, looking at his watch. Christian replied that he already knew and that Syed had to stop faffing around and go and read some manuscripts. Rolling his eyes, Syed walked out of the office door, and sat down at his computer, just as his phone rang.

''Syed! Syed, it's me, are you packing yet? You have two days, you know, two days before your flight to Turkey, and I don't want you turning up late! Your flight leaves the airport at 12:30pm on Monday! We'll be at the airport to pick you up, and you'll stay with us for a week, okay? Do you have your passport?'' Zainab was back to babbling on again, great.

''Mum! What did I tell you about ringing me during work hours? If Christian comes out and sees me on the phone, he will hang me up by my balls ma, seriously! Yes I've got my passport, and I'll be at Turkey! Now ring me tonight like I asked you too! Bye.'' Feeling guilty about being so dismissive of his mother, Syed contemplated ringing her back, but he felt someone's presence behind him. Christian.

''I'm here to hang you by your balls!'' Christian yelled laughing, drawing attention from the rest of the work colleagues. Syed just put his head down.

''You've got your passport, hmmm? Off to Turkey? This is the first I've heard of it. Do tell.'' Christian emerald green eyes speared into Syed's like daggers, and he could already tell where the conversation was going to end.

''Well, my, erm, my mum has organized for me to go over to Turkey and be with the family for a few days and…'' Syed began, trying to explain as persuasively as possible.

''When?'' Christian interrupted, unfortunately so for Syed, as he was trying to avoid that question till last, since it was only two days away.

''It's kind of on Monday, cause' my sister and her husband are due a baby.''

''Awww, I love babies!'' Christian cooed with his eyes wide and his lips spread into a smile, again confusing Syed whether he was being serious or not.

''So you'll let me go?'' Eager with hope was Syed's voice, but Christian just laughed.

''No.''

Syed stood up out of his chair and followed Christian, who had already, began to walk away. ''Pffft, that's okay, I…I can cancel! I mean, it's just a stupid family holiday and I'd get to see my new niece or nephew maybe, but hey, you know, what does it matter? There are loads of times I can go, it's…yeah, it's cool.''

Christian rolled his eyes as he was walking and shouted to Syed, ''Shut up! Look, it isn't your vacation time yet, and I'm not giving you it early, because I'll have nobody to assist me, meaning I have to get my cappuccinos on a morning myself, and you know what that means. It means I can ask Carol why she asked me to call her, to which she'll probably correct me that it was your cup she wrote her number on, proving I'm right that you gave me your cup, because mine spilled. So, you'll be wrong…again. Capiche? Cool.'' And with that, he turned on his heels, and headed off in the direction of his meeting, clapping his hands and yelling at everybody, ''COME ON PEOPLE, LETS WORK!''

''Yeah, I….'' Syed began to speak, but realised Christian was no longer within earshot, and even if so, he wouldn't have listened to him anyway, so he just slumped back down in his chair.

Syed couldn't understand why he was always so mean. What possessed him to be so pushy, argumentative, smug, nasty, and cold-hearted and basically, every negative description you could have of a person! Does he do it on purpose, or is he just trying to be a good business man? Oh, screw it, he still deserved to be ran over and splatted to the ground by a bus. Syed understood he had a lot on his plate, but at the same time, so did Syed, and yet he still made the effort to be lovely to people, and make time for his family, but with Christian as his boss, that was proving to be difficult. Well, he didn't have time to dwell on things, he had manuscripts to analyse.

…..

Over at the meeting, Christian waltzed into the room and joked in high spirits that this was a meeting about his second raise. However, that was far from the case.

''Mr Clarke, remember when we agreed that whilst the procession of your visa application was taking place, you wouldn't leave the country?'' Edmond began, one of the main bosses at the company.

Christian nodded.

''Yet, you completely ignored that, and went to Germany with your mother. Why?''

''Well, I hadn't seen her since Easter 2009, and considering the time I went to Germany was July 2011, I think my mother deserved a visit after going without me for that long, don't you? Plus, whilst I was there, we went to the Frankfurt book fair, which is only more publicity for the company, so it's good. Everything's fine, it was a win-win situation for me and the company.''

''Ah, you see this is where you've got it wrong.'' Edmond began to explain, looking through a bunch of paperwork that was laid out on his desk. ''Mr Clarke, your visa application was denied. You're being deported. ''

''Sorry, what?'' Christian couldn't quite believe what Edmond had just said. A nervous laugh escaped from his lips, almost as if he wanted to believe it was all a big joke. ''Deported? They, they can't deport me, I'm not even an immigrant, for Christ's sake! I mean, this company will crash and burn without me!'' Christian rubbed his palms together as they started sweating, although he didn't want to come across as though he couldn't handle the situation.

''Well, we know that, which is why we got in touch with your immigration attorney…and we told them a little white lie. You're either going to love us for this, or you're going to hate us. '' Edmond's face dropped a little as he explained the situation. He opted for the fact that Christian would probably hate them.

''Well then, what's the lie? It can't be that bad…''

''We've handed them a fiancé visa application form and told them you simply cannot be deported. They think you're getting married…''

Christian shook his head and laughed that same nervous laugh again. He couldn't take in what they'd just said. Married? Christian had been single for 2 years, there's no way he would suddenly just decide to get married! This was ridiculous. ''Married? Wha…I, you can't just, no. No! I'm not getting married.''

''We know that. But they don't, do they?''

''Yeah, but, you know what they're like, they check up on you, don't they, they quiz you on stuff, they basically stalk you! I can't do it.'' Christian said, completely dismissing the situation.

''Fine. You just get your arse kicked out of the country then, and you can't work here for at least a year.''

Christian's palms met with his face, and he sighed, similar to the way Syed had earlier. He really didn't know what to do for the best. ''Well, who have you told them I'm getting married to?''

Out of nowhere, Syed burst through the door and very apologetically said that he didn't mean to interrupt, but somebody was on the phone, demanding to speak to Christian. Halfway through his sentence, Edmond had held his hand up, indicating Syed to stop talking. Christian shook his head and muttered ''god, please no,'' under his breath, whilst the corners of Edmond's lips spread into a smile as he saw Christian's expression; he found this quite hilarious, obviously.

''Him,'' he gestured his hand towards Syed. ''You'll 'marry' him.''

Christian and Syed exchanged looks, both very different from each other's. Christian's face had a look of pure shock and eyes that said 'you're having a laugh?', and Syed just looked plain confused.

''Sorry, who is marrying who here?'' Syed piped up.

Christian turned to face Syed. ''You're marrying me.''

*Comes out from under table* I hope you liked it! reviews would be nice...if you like :)

Syed's reaction, off to Turkey, and Zainab's reaction to Syed's 'fiance' in the next chapter...