Bitter Sweet | (Published) ✔

{4} Say Yes

Tasneem Uddin

I stood against the counter, scanning the empty room. We had no customers today, none at all. I sighed as I stared down at the business card that was beside the cash register. It was taunting me. It was as if Ibrahim knew I wouldn't have a choice, but to agree to him. It had been the second day after. I still had one more day before Ibrahim could destroy my parent's café.

"Tasneem?" asked my mother.

I snapped out of my thoughts, "Yes?"

She picked up the card before I could stop her. Oh crap, I thought. Her eyes examined the contents of the paper. Her eyes slowly widened. She gently put the card down and stared at me with a hard gaze, her arms crossed over her chest. Her eyebrows were furrowed. I felt sweat beads on my forehead as I imagined how this conversation would go.

"What is this?"

"Um... You see... well," I stammered, confused on how to explain.

"Spit it out. Now," she emphasized.

I gulped. She was scary.

"Tasneem, I'm waiting."

"Okay, this man offered to marry me in order to help our business," I said. I left out the part that I hated Ibrahim and he practically threatened me.

"That's great news!" she exclaimed, excitedly. "When is he going to come meet your father?"

"Who's meeting me?" my father joined the conversation. His beard was starting to gray and wrinkles started to form on his forehead.

"Tasneem got a proposal!"

My father's eyes strayed away from my mother's small frame and landed on me. His brown eyes narrowed. The frown on his lips deepened.

"From who?" he questioned, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose.

"A businessman."

My mother gave him the card and he examined the contents. "Ibrahim Tarkan," he tested his name on his tongue. "Tarkan is not a Bangladeshi name."

I nodded. "He's Turkish."

"Absolutely not!" my father slammed his palm on the counter. "You don't even know him!"

My mother held onto her husband's arm, worried. "Honey, careful. You'll hurt yourself."

My father shook his head, ignoring his wife. "I will not let my only daughter marry a man she doesn't even know!" he bellowed.

"Dad, I need to marry him," I pleaded. "He can help our financial troubles. This is good for us," I tried to reason.

My father was old and sick now. If our café shut down then we couldn't afford to help my father's health issues. I didn't want my parents to suffer even more than they already did for me. My whole life, my parents had tried to shield me away from their financial struggles. I still had tuition bills that needed to be paid and I didn't want to bury my parent's in debt. They deserved better than that.

"I don't care. You can get a job, we'll sell the store. We'll do anything. Just please, don't get married," he pleaded. His eyes filled with tears.

"I already tried to get a job!" I yelled with my hands in the air. "I had tried so many times, Dad. I keep trying and it just won't work. I don't have the time. We don't have the time."

"We can sell the café," he said softly. His voice was cracking as he spoke. "We will get through this trial together. You don't need to get married, Tasneem."