Summary: Lina, an ambitious young woman, is forced into an arranged marriage after she made a promise to her mother.

Genre: Romantic comedy

It was the night of her wedding.

Lina couldn’t believe that she had let herself be sucked into this… thing. She, who had always felt that no males could ever understand her, had been roped into marriage. It was hard to accept that she ended up being like those people whom she'd never understood, because she wasn't like them, all normal and wanting to be chained like this. She’d always felt like she was different than everybody else; the women, the men, everyone. And the thing is she’d never wanted to change.

But now, she was already married and just waiting for the moment where he’d… No! She didn’t want to think about that. She’d rather contemplate the reason for this thing to have become necessary.

It was school. The only thing she hated more than she hated vegetables. It was the place where she was taught that creativity is wrong and she should think like everybody else or be an outcast.

The more she thought about it, the more she wished she’d done things differently.

                                ****************

“Wake up, Lina! It’s already seven!” she heard somewhere from downstairs. Her mom’s voice probably. No one else really cared if she wakes up or not. Well, in the mornings anyway. Her life was not that depressing.

She groaned loudly, like she had a stomach-ache. “Urghh…” Then she just rolled over and slept again.

When she woke up again, it was already afternoon. Prying her eyes open, she saw the time. It was 1 p.m. Deciding to grace the world with her presence, Lina went downstairs.

All was quiet as she walked down the stairs and along the hallway. Faint voices could be heard coming from the kitchen.

She came upon the sight of her mother sitting at the dining table. With her classroom teacher. Eff.

She started fidgeting with her skimpy clothes she went to bed in. It felt too revealing, even though the shirt reached past her backside and the pajama bottom was really long. The teacher was female anyway, so she just stood there, waiting to hear what she’d done wrong now.

“Lina…” her mother said her name in a hopeless sigh.

Lina looked at her mother questioningly. She knew it must be because of her absence from school. She’d miss more than half of the whole thing.

“Lina, I was just telling your mother about the test you missed this morning.” Ms. Hajar said.

A bit condescendingly, in Lina’s opinion. So she gave a ‘so what’ shrug.

“Lina!” her mother semi-scolded. “I’m sorry, she’s been very difficult about school ever since she first started kindergarten. I guess it’s my fault for letting…” and so it went, like usual, when her mom goes on one of her long rants about Lina.

Standing there awkwardly, but also defiantly, Lina mutinously stared off into the distance with a mulish expression. Nobody was about to make her feel guilty for ditching school. The stupid school that just wanted to mold the way she thinks, the way she behaves, and even the way she dresses.

“Ma’am, may I say something?” the teacher somehow managed to get in before her mother could continue. “I believe we should ask Lina herself why she has this problem. I may have a solution for the test she missed, but she has to compromise too.” At the last sentence, Ms. Hajar looked at Lina in a measuring way.

“Lina, you heard your teacher, answer her!” apparently her mother has an ally now.

Lina looked at her mom, then at Ms. Hajar. “I don’t like this country’s public education system.”

Both Ms. Hajar and her mom looked perplex, but perhaps for different reasons. Her mom was just probably astounded that she even thought about the education system. Ms. Hajar was probably thinking she was just being difficult. Heck, she was being difficult.

“Well… Hmm... Well.” Ms. Hajar said, then seemed to gather her wits, continued, “Lina, do you know how all those ministers get to their positions?” Without waiting for a reply, she went on, “They went to school. They study. They get great grades. They try.”

Lina just stood there, staring, waiting to see where this was going.

“Okay, so you said you don’t like the education system. Do you know who’s responsible for those decisions? Well, they’re the people who went to school. If you really feel like the education system’s faulty, then it’s your own responsibility to change that. Go to school. Learn. Succeed. Then, make a change. I hope you will, Lina. I can see it in you. So, think about it. I'll leave it at that for now. Come to school next week and see me in the office. I'll let you have a make-up test." With that, Ms. Hajar stood up and shook hands with Lina’s mom. "Thank you, madam. I will be going now.”

She went home before Lina could even form a sentence. What Ms. Hajar said blew her mind. She had always been complaining without actually doing anything about it. Maybe Ms. Hajar had a point.

But before she could say that she wanted to go to school from now on, her mother made her promise something.

The thing was, her mother had always wanted a grandchild ever since she realized that she couldn’t have another baby after Lina. So what started as a harmless thought in her mind, became a firm seed that she couldn’t let go after she saw what was happening with her no-good daughter. Her total disregard for school, her shyness when it comes to new people, and her stubborn streak. Isn’t it a good idea to fix her up with someone who can satisfy both her daughter’s needs and her own selfish desires?

So the scheming mother made Lina promise to clean up her act and get straight A’s and if she fails, she will have to get married with a man of her mother’s choosing. It was such a dramatic scene that Lina thought she was kidding, so she just said yes.

                                ****************

Thinking back on those stupid moments of false confidence, Lina disgustedly wrenched her scarf off. She should have thought harder. She should have made it perfectly clear that she wanted her life to go a certain way, and it wasn’t to be stuck with a man eight years older than her just after her eighteenth birthday. She had never, never imagined herself with any man. She didn’t even have male friends for god's sake! And now, this.

                                ****************

He knew that this marriage was something that had to happen. He just didn’t expect it to feel so little like a burden. But after meeting his intended for the first time, he just felt so eager.

Weird.

He’d never thought of himself as particularly romantic. But surely she must be the only person alive who can make a man feel like this. Damn. He must be a romantic after all. That was cheesy.

He kept thinking about their first meeting. He could practically hear her voice in his head, word for word, taking him a little deeper into something like a crush.

                                ****************

He felt apprehensive. He was, after all, meeting his future wife. He couldn’t believe he’d agreed to that mad scheme his aunt had cooked up with her best friend. He’d needed a wife, and apparently she knew someone with a daughter to offer. That sounds morbid, but that’s just how it is these days apparently.

It was weird but his job had an archaic rule that their top-level employees have to be married. He didn't want to make waves by refusing. So he thought, no problem. Just find a girl, settle down. Other people have done it. So it mustn't be that hard.

They were meeting for the first time. In public. Just the two of them. It wasn’t his request. It was hers. He wondered why, because the custom was usually for the male to go ask for the woman's hand in marriage at her house.

The restaurant was deserted. So he immediately saw her sitting there talking with the owner like old friends.

He stopped and just stared. She was wearing a headscarf with a simple style, like it was just another regular boring day. Like she wasn't just about to meet her future husband. He’d thought that on an occasion like this she’d wear something a bit formal. But no, she was attired in casual outfit (long-sleeved t-shirt, jeans, and sneakers).

He started to feel silly for waking up two hours early to iron his best shirt and slacks. He even styled his hair and he never does that! He should feel insulted. But he wasn’t. He somehow sensed that she would never be the type to dress up. And he forgot why it should matter. Why? She looked so refreshing with her easy smile as she joked with the old man.

As if feeling his stare on her, she looked up. The smile that she had slowly tapered off, becoming more of a grimace. She mouthed, “Hi.”

He walked to her table. “Hey.”

“You’re Ewan? Hey, I’m Lina. And this is Pak Cik Wan.” She indicated towards the old man.

“Salam first, Lina,” chided Pak Cik Wan.

“Oops, sorry. Assalamualaikum Ewan.” She grinned sheepishly at him.

“Waalaikummussalam.”

“Hey, take a seat. Pak Wan, you come sit with us too,” she said pleadingly.

Pak Cik Wan just chuckled and went back to his kitchen. “Oh, fine then! Leave me with a guy why don't you. And don't forget to bring him some coffee!” She shouted. But then she looked at him and mouthed sorry.

She was so energetic. He felt like he’d run a mile with her without stopping. But it was somehow charming. He must be out of his mind.

“So…” she started.

“So…” he continued.

“How old are you again?” she suddenly asked, like she’d been dying to ask for a while now.

“Uh, I’m 26.”

She looked dismayed and bemused, like she was kind of hoping he was lying. "You look younger though."

“So I've been told. You’re 18, right?” he asked.

She nodded. “I wanted to go to a university, but my mom made me agree to this. Well, that’s not exactly fair. I promised her this.”

His eyes widened. She was jumping right into it then.

“Wait, I thought you wanted this. If you don’t want to, I can cancel our wedd-”

“No!” looking like she’d swallowed something rotten, she went on, sounding like she was trying to convince herself. “I want this. I do. I made a deal with my mom. And a politician should always stick to her words.”

"Politician?" He looked at her questioningly. Deal? He was curious what she meant by that too.

“Yes. I want to be a politician. That is, if you agree.” She added, like a bitter afterthought.

He couldn’t help himself. He laughed.

She sputtered and stood up fast, wanting to leave before her temper explodes.

“Wait!” he held up his hands.

She growled a little, but waited.

“I wasn’t laughing at you!” he said laughingly.

“Well then why?” she slowly sat back down, appeased for the moment.

“You’re just not what I expected.” He said with a smile.

She looked suspicious, like she was just waiting for the other shoe to drop. “Is that a good thing or a bad thing?”

“Definitely good." He smiled. "I was expecting something along those typical dramas, you know? The martyr who was forced to marry against her wishes. And here you are.”

She studied his face, as if looking for dishonesty. “You’re telling the truth?”

He nodded.

“I know what you mean about the dramas actually. It had always frustrated me when females are portrayed as weak in dramas or movies. As if they instantly lose the ability to be normal like other thinking humans when they are in the presence of a man. Or some such things. I mean, you still can be perfectly nice without being stepped on by evil bitc─ witches.” She made an oops face at her almost bleep.

“You’re an idealist, huh?”

“Well, I wouldn’t call myself that, but I do believe everyone should be one and go a step further and making a change. Especially in dramas. Too many of them portray women as victims and never as strong individuals with opinions. It's not right. No woman should be allowed to think that she cannot think.”

Ewan felt himself get sucked into her earnest face as she told him her beliefs and principles. He had never been someone who thought about these issues much, so he didn’t talk much himself. But as she talked, he felt like he could live for more than just to survive the daily grind. He felt like he believed again. Like the idealistic guy that he used to be.

"Hey, I'm curious though. What was the deal you had with your mom?" So she told him about the promise she made to her mom. "So you didn't get all As?"

She frowned and looked away. "No. I flunked most of the subjects because I missed half the school year." Jerking her gaze back to his, she said, "But that's not gonna stop me from doing my best from now on."

And that was when he knew that getting married to her (even if it was because of the stupid rule at his company) was the right thing to do.

                                ****************

It was the night of their wedding.

Walking through the bedroom door, he saw her standing in front of the mirror, taking off her simple headscarf. She was still wearing her simple wedding dress. All simple attires, even on her wedding day. It was so Lina.

He felt something akin to panic as he watched her shaking hands. He was walking towards her, hands reaching out to hers. He engulfed her trembling fingers with both of his palms.

She looked up at him. Her face was red. She was blushing.

“Hi.” She mouthed. Just like their first meeting.

“Hey.” He answered.

Her hands were cold. “I know we have to do this. I know... But can I just ask that you-” here she took a deep breath, bracing herself, “- can you... would you please just… wait?”

He knew what she was asking. He felt an almighty urge to just get out of the room and take her with him, without all of the other people’s expectations. And his own.

“I know you probably want to tear my clothes apart and just do um, stuff. But I-” her whole body was shaking, “I just met you last week! I don’t even know where you live, or where I’m gonna live after this. I want to finish studying. I want everything else, but this. I’m not ready.” A tear was leaking out of her eyes at the end of her dramatics.

He couldn’t help himself. He laughed.

“Why are you laughing?” she huffed.

She almost got him. But the tear, the tear was just overkill.

“You almost got me!” he whisper-shouted, aware of the thin walls of the bedroom.

“Huh?” her confused face was a bit unconvincing with the smirk playing in the corner of her mouth.

“You don’t need to worry, Lina. We’re not gonna do anything under your mother’s roof.” They were moving closer to the bed without realizing. “We’ll just sleep.”

And then they were both on the bed, him on the far left side, she on the far right side, looking at each other warily.

“I snore.” He confessed.

“People get bruises when they sleep with me.” She admitted.

“You win.” He moved closer, whispered, “You know what would help your problem?”

“Um, yeah?” she was at the edge of the bed now.

Suddenly she was tight against him. In his arms. “I’ll hold you all night till morning comes. Then I wouldn’t get bruises.” That was such a lame line it made her laugh so hard that she choked.

"You do know that you're really lame, right?" She poked him in the ribs as she said this, but he didn't let go. Thinking about it, it wasn't so bad being married. And thinking deeper about it, it wasn't so bad being married because it was to him. She was kind of lame too.