1999

The new year came and went, though the fanfare compared little to the private joy shared solely between Samar and Aram. Any private moment they could get between the festivities, and the sorting through the last few things at the store before it could close for a week off, was made the most of –not that there were many of them. A simple, knowing kiss on the cheek in passing when nobody was looking, or a more passionate one in the back room with hands and clothes flying everywhere –no matter what sort of moment they managed to find, it was a thrill.

Any moment other than that however, was far less of a thrill.

At home, Samar was growing more and more conscious of the money she had made in the months since starting to work in Aram's store. While it felt like time had flown, with her focus having shifted to Aram from the desire to leave, there was no denying the fact that in that time, as well as her feelings for Aram having grown immensely, she had made more than enough to leave as originally planned.

And that was precisely the dilemma.

Now Samar was expected to leave as she had once sworn she would so vehemently, but at the same time, now she knew... She really didn't want to leave Aram behind. She had been kidding herself, trying to shake the dilemma from her mind and telling herself that until she had the money, she didn't have to worry about any of it. At the time, the possibility of leaving had felt so far away... Until all of a sudden, it became reality all too quickly. And in that time, she had grown far closer to Aram than she ever could have expected. After years of talking at the fence, of sharing books, and notes, and baked treats... Samar had fallen as completely in love with Aram as he was with her from the first moment he ever saw her. But of course, staying there with him was not at all so simple. Changing her mind about leaving would raise eyebrows. Questions would start to be asked... Questions, that Samar couldn't answer truthfully to explain her sudden desire to stay, because it would mean admitting what she and Aram had been doing all along.

Samar sat at the little desk on opposite side of her room from her bed, head in her hands as she tried to think of every possible option. She didn't know what to do; staying meant putting Aram in danger, but leaving him behind meant breaking both their hearts. No possibility she could think of, seemed to work, and she hated the idea of having to make a decision between the rest. It felt like the dilemma was going to tear her into a million and one tiny pieces but no matter how much it hurt, she was certain... The safest option for Aram was if she left as planned –whether she wanted to or not.

With a miserable sigh, she rose from her desk and ambled towards the kitchen. She forced a casual smile, hoping that neither her parents nor her brother would figure out the dilemma playing out in her mind. A sudden, unexpected sound caught Samar's attention from the refrigerator, and pulled her towards the window. It was a familiar sound in that she knew what it was –the sound of a car pulling up at another house on the street- but it was unfamiliar in that it was happening right then and there. The view of Aram's house wasn't great from the kitchen window, but it was enough; there was a car, pulled up right outside his front fence. A man, older and well-dressed, marched towards the front door from the car, with a younger woman trailing nervously behind. She was far younger than the man who led her across the front garden of Aram's parent's home... But she was easily about the same age as Samar.

Samar instantly recoiled from the window, knowing exactly what that kind of surprise visit meant.

Fighting back the tears that now sprung to her eyes, stinging them painfully, Samar darted straight back through her house towards her bedroom and slamming the door behind her.

It was too late.

/*/*/*/*

On the other side of the fence, Aram felt a pit instantly dig itself into the depths of his stomach. He watched the older man and the younger woman follow his father quietly into his office after being greeted at the front door. He was all too familiar with those kinds of surprise visit scenarios... Though normally they dug such an anxious pit in his stomach because they happened on the opposite side of the fence.

/*/*/*/*

1996

'Tell me it's not true,' Aram's shaky, fearful voice greeted Samar at the fence. There was no 'hello', no 'how are you', just that single, terrified question. He hadn't seen her at the fence much at all in the last few weeks; men had come and gone from her house –Aram had seen them crossing her front garden- to meet with her father, and offer their sons for her hand. They all knew it would happen at some point, but that future point always seemed like it would never happen, when it was never given a specific date or time. But now it was actually happening, Aram was panicking. 'Tell me you're not being sent away.'
'Aram-' Samar raised a gentle hand to the fence, her voice soft and quiet in an effort to reassure him even when she too, was rattled by the new development.
'-Three times this week I saw them, Samar,' he spoke over her, not even trying to hide his own fear. Previous weeks had seen only one, perhaps two at the most, surprise visitors turn up in any given week. That was worrisome enough, without adding the fact that Samar stayed inside the house whenever it happened, rather than sit outside in the garden, so that she could listen in on the heated conversations had in her father's office. Three times in one week meant that not only were Aram's fears rising, but he had barely seen Samar at all to have the opportunity to check that she wasn't about to be torn away from him.
'I'm not going anywhere,' she murmured softly through the hole in the fence, 'my father turned down every single one of them.' Aram studied that cautious, determined expression on her face. His breathing slowed to calm as she held his gaze.
'Are you sure?'
'Yes.'

/*/*/*/*

1999

Aram paced back and forth across his living room for what felt like an eternity until he saw his father re-emerge from his office, leading the older man and younger woman back to the front door. He waited, quietly and anxiously, until the front door closed behind them... And then he pounced.

'Father, tell me you didn't-' Aram began, the moment his father turned back from the front door to face him again.
'-Aram-' Naveed tried to interject, but Aram cut him off.
'-No,' he insisted. Aram's eyes were wild, his fingers curled into tight, anxious fists by his sides without even realising it. There were few things that would push him to such a point, but this was one; anything that even vaguely meant pulling him and Samar apart. 'I'm not going to marry some girl I don't know, and you can't force me.'
'She seems a very sweet, young woman-' his father spoke softly.
'-Father-' Aram sighed, only this time his father didn't allow him to interject.
'-But I declined her father's offer,' Naveed finished. Aram blinked for a second, processing what that meant.
'Oh,' he mumbled. Silence fell between them for a moment; Aram's fists relaxed, his fingers uncurling and the tension easing from his shoulders. Instead, he bit his lip, his eyes falling to stare miserably at the floor.

'Is there something you want to tell me?' Naveed asked gently, finally breaking the silence. There was a soft smile on his face; he knew exactly why Aram was so vehemently against the idea of an arranged marriage to a woman he didn't know, when he was otherwise usually so softly spoken, and that was precisely why Naveed turned down every offer, time and time again. But, the feigned ignorance had gone on long enough. If Aram was to ever have what he really wanted, a point had to come where he admitted the truth. Naveed waited quietly, watching his son shift anxiously back and forth on his feet, contemplating that very idea. Aram let out a sigh; he knew the dilemma that was undoubtedly running through Samar's head next door. After all, he was the one who paid her wages. He knew exactly how much she had earned by now... And what a critical time it was for both of them. They had launched into work and then their relationship without once pausing to seriously consider the consequences... But now those consequences were reality. Aram shifted his gaze back up from the floor, reluctantly meeting his father's eye. It was time. He took a deep breath before responding;
'Well, actually...'

/*/*/*/*

Aram couldn't help but absent-mindedly wring his hands as he followed his father from their home, around the fence, and up the two front steps to Samar's front door. The anxiety swirled rapidly around in his brain, to the point where he almost didn't even notice his father's quick knock. The door opened barely seconds later, with Samar's father appearing behind it.

'Naveed?' He curiously greeted them.
'Arash.' Aram's father nodded back. The tiniest of amused grins tugged at the corner of his lips, despite all attempts for his son's benefit, to feign seriousness. Arash glanced back and forth between the smile on his old friend's face, and Aram's eyes flickering nervously between the door and his feet. It wasn't hard to guess why they had turned up so suddenly.
'Something you want to discuss, my friend?' Arash mused softly, a small smile now fighting against his own attempts to remain serious for Aram's benefit.
'I think your office might be a good place for it.' Naveed nodded again. Arash stepped back, holding the door open for the two of them to follow him inside.
'Then by all means, come on in.'

The only thing Aram noticed beyond his nervousness as they walked inside Samar's home, was that she was nowhere to be seen. Her mother, Nasrin, sat in the living room, embroidering colourful flowers onto what appeared to be a new dress. Shahin sat not far from her, doodling on his drawing pad. He looked up as Aram entered the room, and then quickly jumped up from his seat –his face now bearing an expression of absolute thunder.

'What did you do to her?' Shahin bellowed, tossing his pages down on the seat and charging straight for Aram.
'What?' Aram's eyes went wide, utterly stunned by Shahin's anger. His hands raised instinctively in the gesture of surrender, not that it stopped Shahin in the slightest.
'Shahin-' Arash spoke up, trying to stop him.
'-My sister is in her room, crying,' Shahin yelled, 'all because of you.' Aram froze, like a deer caught in headlights.
'Wait, what?' He asked again. If he hadn't been confused already, he definitely was now. Shahin simply rolled his eyes.
'You think you can just string her along like that for months, and then drop her for some other girl?' He spat. Aram winced as he understood exactly what had happened; Samar had seen the arrival of his surprise visitors, assumed the worst, and after the moments they had shared of late, she had naturally felt betrayed. Shahin's fingers curled into fists before Aram could even respond, grabbing him by the front of the shirt.
'H-hey-' Aram tried to protest.
'-Shahin, that's enough,' Arash's voice boomed over him. He glowered at his son, staring him down until Shahin finally let go –albeit unapologetically. Shahin sank back into his seat, though not without shooting Aram yet another filthy glare.

/*/*/*/*

Aram, Arash, and Naveed disappeared into the office for their discussion. Aram's heart pounded in his chest. This was it; his and Samar's respective fathers debating and negotiating the possibility of uniting their families beyond anything else before... Of Aram not only taking Samar's hand, but him also doing what wasn't necessarily tradition where they lived, and asking her if that was what she wanted, rather than simply having their parents make all the decisions for them.

It felt like an eternity but finally, Arash rose from his seat. He offered a short nod to Aram and Naveed, before wordlessly disappearing from the room.

Arash moved through his house towards his daughter's room, not ambling casually as he normally would, but with a purpose. He paused before knocking on the closed door; Samar had shut herself in there a while ago now, and hadn't re-emerged once. He could hear movement inside, and not necessarily the calm kind.
'Samar, sweetheart,' Arash murmured, knocking softly on the door, and pausing for a few seconds before gently pushing it open. 'Aram is here to speak to you about something.'
'I don't want to talk to him,' Samar muttered back. Arash gazed around the room; bags, clothes, books and all kinds of other personal possessions were scattered everywhere, flung across the space in the combination of a packing frenzy, and her frustration. Not only had she decided for sure that she was going to leave, but in the wake of the betrayal she was feeling, it had to be immediate. Samar shook her head in annoyance at the pile of belongings in front of her, trying to figure out what to pack. She was furious, hurt beyond anything she could have thought possible; she had allowed herself to grow close to Aram, given herself to him, and even though they had both thought she was going to leave at some point, he hadn't even had the courtesy to wait for her to go before confirming his engagement to another woman. Arash furrowed his brow in sympathy at the sight of his daughter barely holding herself together at the assumption she had made in error. He reached out, gently resting his hand on her flailing arm and stopping the flinging of yet another item of clothing halfway across the room.

'It's important,' he said softly.
'I'm packing,' Samar mumbled back, still not meeting his eye, though she did allow her arms to fall still. She glanced up at her father, her eyes red and puffy from the tears, pleading with her eyes for him not to make her leave the room and speak to Aram... But this was one moment where Arash knew better, and had to make the decision for her.
'I can see that.' Arash offered her a gentle, reassuring smile. 'But you can finish that later. Come on.' He stepped just to the side, gesturing towards the door for her to follow him back to his office. With a disgruntled frown and yet another frustrated sigh, Samar relented.

/*/*/*/*

Aram leapt from his seat in Arash's office, the moment Samar appeared in the doorway, her father just one step behind him. Aram winced at her furious expression –clearly, Arash had figured that correcting her incorrect assumption was better left to him. Arash gave a silent nod, the signal to Naveed to leave the small office with him, and leave Samar and Aram to their own conversation. Naveed did so, moving in equal silence until Samar and Aram were left completely alone.

'Are you here to try and do me the courtesy of telling me face to face that you're getting married? That because I have to leave, you're just accepting the next offer that turns up at your doorstep?' Samar seethed.
'No-' Aram began cautiously.
'-Good,' Samar quickly cut him off. 'Because I don't want to hear about it.' Aram let out a disheartened sigh at the fierce scowl on her face; none of this was going the way he had hoped. He paused, taking a deep breath before responding quietly;
'Samar, I'm not getting married.' Just like that, Samar faltered, her eyes widening slightly in confusion and surprise.
'What?' She began to splutter, 'but I saw-'
'-My father said no,' Aram finished the train of thought for her.

Samar blinked as those words hit home; she had assumed that Aram had betrayed her, but he hadn't. Instead he was standing there in her father's office, trying not to look hurt by the idea that she could possibly think he would ever do such a thing.

'Then...' She slowly began to speak again. Something about that still didn't make sense. 'Why are you here?'
'Because...' Aram let out a bitter sigh. 'I can do the math too. I know the dilemma that's in your head, it's been bugging me for days too.' The anger had vanished entirely from Samar's face by now, instead replaced by the same misery that had plagued her before the misunderstanding –the misery of the choice between staying and risking their safety, or being forced to leave him behind.
'I'm leaving, Aram,' she murmured, shaking her head, miserably. 'I have to. There's no way for me to stay.'

Finally, Aram broke into a soft smile. There was one more thing that she hadn't thought of.

He took a deep breath, almost in complete disbelief that this was happening... That after all the childhood conversations by the fence, he was about to ask her the question that had always felt destined to remain a fantasy. Now, he just had to find the right words.

'Samar...' Aram began softly, shifting anxiously back and forth on his feet. It felt as if his stomach was doing backflips, or some other kind of horrifying gymnastics that stomachs really were not supposed to do. He took another breath, steadying himself as he met her curious gaze; 'I have been madly in love with you ever since the first moment I saw you. You were busy dancing in the grass with Shahin and didn't even notice me climbing up the rosebushes to watch you, but-' Aram quickly shook his head, trying to stop his rambling '-that's beside the point.'
'...Which is what, exactly?' A wistful smile began to cross her face, matching her gentle voice as she asked the question.
'The last almost year has been...' Aram trailed off for a moment. His eyes wandered briefly to the floor, grinning almost guiltily as he thought back to all the moments shared in that time. 'Having you around all the time is the happiest I've ever been. I love you-' Aram's eyes crinkled in delight as he voiced the three words neither of them had ever dares to say outright before '-and I'm pretty sure you feel the same.' Aram paused again, taking those few steps across the room towards her, and taking each of her hands in his. 'So what I'm saying is...' Aram took yet another deep, nervous breath. 'Will you make me stay the happiest man on earth... And marry me?'

Samar's gaze dropped instantly back down. That was the question that only made her dilemma all the more painful. She stared miserably at Aram's fingers intertwined through hers, and his thumb running gentle circles against the back of her hand.

'But, Aram...' Tears stung in her eyes again –albeit this time for a completely different reason. 'I can't stay here.'
'No, you misunderstand,' he quickly interjected, his eyes pleading with her to listen. 'I'm not asking you to stay. I'm saying... What if I go with you?'

She paused, taking a short but sharp breath in as his words hit home.

A wave of emotions rushed over her; surprise, caution, fear and delight alike... But most of all, there was adoration.

'Are you sure?' She asked, her voice barely audible.

Aram instantly broke into a wide grin.
'Absolutely,' he said, nodding adamantly. Samar stared back at him, almost stunned for a moment before she could reply;
'Then yes,' she breathed. Samar took that one tiny half step further forward, closing all remaining gap between them. Her eyes crinkled in that delighted way Aram loved so much, and she leaned in... Pressing a deep kiss to his lips.

'Ahem.' The sound of Arash loudly clearing his throat caused them both to instantly spring apart. Aram's cheeked flushed pink in embarrassment, while Samar grinned guiltily at the floor. Both Arash and Naveed had re-entered the room or at the very least, they now stood back in the doorway once again. 'You're not married yet,' Arash observed, though there was clear amusement on both his and Naveed's faces that they were struggling to hide. After watching Samar and Aram trying for years to be discreet, and feigning ignorance to let them maintain their plausible deniability, there was a sense of almost relief at the proposal having finally happened.
'But I guess...' Arash added, swapping amused glances with Naveed who in turn nodded his silent agreement. 'We can allow some things while we make the arrangements.' Aram's arm slipped quickly back around Samar's waist, and she leaned her head contently against his shoulder, both of them still grinning in guilty delight.

Arash turned on the spot again, ready to lead the group out of the office, until he paused, glancing curiously back over his shoulder at his daughter.
'Oh, and uh...' He shot Samar a wry smile. 'You might want to talk to Shahin.'
'Why?' Samar asked, grin vanishing as her brow furrowed in confusion. Aram bit his lip, glancing awkwardly again at her still standing by his side.
'Well...' He began, 'you weren't kidding when you said he might try to kill me.' Samar shook her head, rolling her eyes in mock exasperation. She tilted her head towards him again, dotting an affectionate kiss to Aram's cheek as she waggled her eyebrows and whispered mischievously;
'Don't worry, I'll sort him out.'

And with that, hand in hand, they walked out of the office and back out into the living room, where Shahin and all their respective parents were waiting for them...

...It was time to start the next adventure.