GET MARRIED TO ME

Readying herself and in her new pair of flat comfortable footwear, Laleen drew in a breath of courage. It finally hit seven p.m. Time to go see Mr. Degavon.

A few minutes in, Laleen heard a knock on the door. 

"Come in" she vocalized with a sense of anticipation. As expected, the kind driver from the day before walked in. 

"Good evening Mark" she greeted with a smile as she continued to stare at her reflection in the mirror, deliberately avoiding looking at his direction.

The kind driver was nice enough to tell her his name.

Laleen was so busy fixing her hair in the mirror that she didn't even realize how awestruck the man in front of her was. 

Was this the same woman he saw the other day? She looked pretty enough then but now she looked way too beautiful for words. 

Laleen paused for a moment; smiling into the mirror she questioned, "Are you staring Mark?"

The young man coughed as if caught. Well, he was. He indeed was staring.

Clearing his throat, he admitted, "You just look so lovely, miss"

For someone who had received hundreds of compliments in her lifetime, Laleen was quite pleased with his.

"Thank you" she murmured with a smile.

"Shall we go then?" She questioned, her smile still stuck to her lips.

"O...of course" the young man replied, still a bit flustered. Holding the door open for her, he offered, "After you Miss."

What a gentleman, Laleen thought to herself as his actions caused her heart to flutter.

With a nod of appreciation, Laleen walked out of the room and then let Mark lead the way.

***

Mark led her to a door in one of the hotel rooms. Turned out it was just 3 floors above hers. She stared at the gold pleated numbers at the door as she murmured words of encouragement to herself.

"He's inside" Mark stated the obvious. With a nod, Laleen pushed the door to the room open. 

The room inside was cold. Darkness filled the room and Laleen blinked repeatedly as she took a few cautious steps inside.

She looked left and right, struggling to make out her surroundings when the door behind her closed shut with a click.

Laleen's heart immediately jumped to her throat as she gasped, turning to face the already closed door. 

Almost immediately, she heard the flicker of a switch and suddenly there was light from behind her.

Turning around was Shane clad in all black, blending in as if he were darkness himself, with a tired yet serious look on his face.

Beside him was the lamp which he had turned on and now illuminated the room with a soft yellow glow. Enough for her to make out the lazy look in his eyes. 

Laleen tried to hide the fact that the sudden flicker of the switch had terrified her.

"Welcome," Shane murmured in greeting, his deep voice reverberating through the walls of the room with an ominous effect.

A piercing silence followed as Laleen continued to stare guardedly.

Not giving her time to collect herself, he motioned with his hands, "Have a seat."

His words quickly snapped her out of her daze as she followed his hand. Staring at the seat right in front of him for a second longer, she walked towards it and sat down.

The silence that followed persisted as Laleen tried to gather her thoughts. She was here. Alone and with him.

But fawning over this man who left her with an intense sense of curiosity wasn't why she was here. Breathe, she reminded herself over and over.

Looking over at him, she was met with his impeccably handsome side profile. He wasn't looking at her though. He seemed to be pondering deeply about something. 

Then he spoke, "What if I told you..." A pause. 

Why did he pause, Laleen pondered silently as her brows furrowed.

Her heart rate quickened as she wondered to herself suddenly. What exactly did this man want from her anyway? 

"If I said I'd give you as much money as you want and fly you to whatever country you might wish to stay in for five years, would you agree?" He finally poised his question throwing Laleen off guard. 

She took a moment to process his words her eyes widening in disbelief as the realization hit her. He wanted her to go into hiding?

"You're joking?" She whispered as she stared at him completely stupefied but Shane maintained his stoic expression. Not a single trace of humor on his face.

Slowly leaning back into her seat, his piercing and unyielding gaze forced her to give his idea a deep thought.

That'd mean running away from the claims said about her. What would people say? 

Remembering the hot chase the angry mob from near the marketplace had given her made her shudder.

Wouldn't that mean accepting their false accusations as true? He... wanted her to do that?

"I know" he suddenly said as if he could hear her thoughts and her endless questions.

"I promise I'll clear your name in a few days. But I'll need you to leave for that to happen. And hopefully, stay there for a long time till the situation completely dies down"

With pursed lips and firmly knotted eyebrows, she brewed in his words carefully with the silence as her only companion. 

How considerate of him. But Laleen didn't want to leave. Had she not promised herself that she'd make Amelia eat dirt? 

And did he have the right to shove money in her face and request that she leave? He didn't!

Folding her hands, she leaned further into her seat as she tipped her chin upwards to counter his intimidating aura.

"I'm sorry Mr. Degavon but I'm not interested in leaving"

Irritation flashed in Shane's eyes at her words as he crumpled his eyebrows. He had one of his palms supporting his chin as he regarded the girl before him with a frown.

Why was she proving stubborn? 

With a calm expression, he opted, "Would you perhaps want to marry me instead?"

All of the words Laleen had prepared to say vanished from her brain without a trace.

"Huh?" She replied, quite dazed.

His expression remained as bored as ever. Shane seemed to believe that there was no way she'd opt for the option of getting married to him.

Suddenly he threw a file at the table almost startling her. Leaning back into his seat, now he was the one with folded arms.

"I said 'Get married to me'. Would you want that?"