The Accidental Fiancée Read Free

that suggested she’d actually had a torch burning for him
since college. He was enjoying himself immensely.
    Khayyam laughed and smiled initially, but
gradually she fell into a dignified silence, embellished with her
plastic smile as the jokes became more aggressive.
    Akbar was intrigued beyond measure. What had
happened to her? Her house had looked pretty shabby and her father
was now retired from the government job he had held; but how was
her marriage going to help?
    Alia, a classmate who had never liked
Khayyam piped up. ‘So Khayyam, you’ve sold out too. What happened
to your dreams of fighting for women’s rights and joining the UN?
You’re ending up marrying, just like, what was it you said you’d
never be, an average bimbo? Well now…’
    They laughed.
    Khayyam tried to shrug, but Akbar could see
Alia’s words had hurt her.
    Mubashir added, ‘And to submit to
Akbar, the man you called an example of everything that was wrong
with the youth of this country. What a man you are, Akbar! An
inspiration for us all.’
    Khayyam swallowed visibly, smiled and said
in a low voice, ‘He’s the man.’
    Mubashir and the others winked and nudged
but suddenly, Akbar had had enough. He hadn’t forgotten the old
slight because it had hurt at the time. She had been young and
passionate about some things that he had been obviously opposed to
and maybe she had said things she probably wouldn’t say now.
    ‘You’ll have to excuse us, guys, Khayyam and
I have to go somewhere. We should do this again.’
    He was already helping her out of her chair.
Why did he feel this sudden urge to protect her? Her face was rigid
with the control she’d been exercising. Now that he had embarrassed
her and got even, why did he feel…defeated?
    Her hand felt small and delicate in his as
she walked by his side quietly, and he looked at her
surreptitiously. She was even more beautiful than before. She
exuded a strange aura of strength, and yet he could sense the
vulnerability that had never been there before.
    He certainly wasn’t the same. People grew
up, changed…so had they.
    She slipped into the passenger seat and
stared ahead rigidly. For the first time since he’d met her again,
he felt tongue-tied. Had it gone too far?
    Had he?
    ‘Khayyam…’
    ‘It’s KK, remember?’ she said icily and then
added with irritation, ‘What does it even mean?’
    He smiled.
    ‘It’s pretty lame. Your not knowing was the
punch line. If I tell you, it loses it’s edge.’ Facing her, he
added, ‘So I’ll tell you, as a peace offering. It’s Kosher
Khayyam.’
    She nodded and gave a mirthless
half-laugh.
    ‘I see. Standing up for hopeless causes and
right and wrong, self-righteous…yeah it is lame.’
    ‘Told you it was. And Khayyam, I’m sorry
about tonight. They went a bit too far. I should have stopped…’
    ‘Don’t bother, Akbar. I can pay my debts and
I paid mine with you tonight. Or at least I think I did. If you
don’t agree, lead on. I can handle whatever you have to throw at
me.’
    ‘Still the tough firebrand somewhere inside,
I see.’
    He smiled but she didn’t.
    And Akbar wanted to know how, or who, had
extinguished the fire in Khayyam. He remembered her passionate
speeches and her dedication to some good cause or other. Now she
seemed to be fighting herself, some invisible constraint that kept
her from incinerating her opponents with her biting barbs. He was
beyond curious.
    After dropping her off, he went straight to
his mother to get to the bottom of things. And she told him exactly
why Khayyam would let him go to any lengths to stay engaged to him.
Not that his mother knew that particular bit of information, but he understood. Akbar felt that strangely unfamiliar emotion
again, to protect.
    The very next day he hired a lawyer to do
what he needed him to do.
     
    ***
     
    Akbar and his mother sat at the dinner table
with Khayyam and her family. She was dazzling—laughing and glowing
with happiness. She was unable