Living Royalty

2. Uh-oh, Samiha!

Samiha's P.O.V

Mum won the argument. Dad won the argument. Samaah and I didn't. They wouldn't have listened to us either way. I was infuriated. For heaven's sakes, we're Muslims so our parents weren't allowed to force us into marriage. Well, they weren't going to force us to get married, I knew that. But they still forced us to meet with the boys. We were on our way to their house. Or should I call it a palace? My older brother Saamih was going to sit there with us as we talked to those two boys. Asif and Arif Hamid. Urgh! Just the thought of those two brats made my blood boil. Then I remembered, anger was from Shaytaan. I breathed in and out, reciting some prayers. That calmed me down.

"Samiha! We're here!" Saamih's voice snapped me out of my thoughts. I looked out of the window, and did a double take. Standing before me was the biggest "palace" I'd ever seen. I mean, how many floors was this? And how many rooms did it have? I looked around at the humungous green lawns and all that surrounded me. There was a huge fountain about 50 feet away from the huge palace doors on the lawn. There were garden swings also. As soon as dad parked the car, a worker there immediately came and opened the car doors for us. We stepped out, and another worker came to welcome us.

"You're here to see Mr. Hamid, right? Are you Mr. Ashraf?" He asked my dad.

"Yes I am," Dad replied.

"Okay, follow me, please," he said, and led the way.

We walked through a path which was paved through the lawn. I noticed the lovely flowers that lined the edges of the path and admired them. This place was beautiful. And there were hundreds of workers. Literally. They bustled about doing their respective chores. I wondered how the interior of the palace would be if all this is so amazing.

I looked at Samaah, just to find that she was as fascinated as I was. Before I even knew it, the worker told us we were there. I stopped looking left and right and looked at the front, just to see a huge wooden door before me, with beautiful designs carved on it. Looking at it closer, I saw the letters 'HAMID RESIDENCE' engraved on a small plaque on the door. I was beyond impressed at the beauty of their residence.

"Assalamualeikum. You must be the Ashraf family. Welcome!" Another worker opened the door, bringing me out of my awe.

"Wa'alaykumsalaam. Yes, I am. We're here to see Mr. Hamid and his sons," my dad replied.

"Please come in and have a seat. You can sit at the third lounge, since the first lounge is occupied by Mrs. Hamid's colleagues and the second lounge is occupied by Master Arif and his friends. Speaking of which, you'll have to wait a little to meet him. His friends are going to leave soon though," the worker paused, then continued. "I would have taken you to the lounge but I have to call Mr. Hamid and Master Asif, so you will have to go there by yourselves. Sorry for that," he said.

"No problem. Just tell us where it is," dad said.

"Yes, you go straight ahead, take the second left, walk straight on then turn left again. It's the fourth door on your right hand side. The door even has "LOUNGE 3" engraved on the plaque on it, so you shouldn't have any trouble finding it," he explained. It felt like he was giving directions to a driver on the road to go to some particular place.

"Ok...straight ahead, then second left, then straight again, and then left again. The fourth door on the right hand side...am I right?" Dad asked, uncertainly and the man nodded.

How big was this place? I could see huge chandeliers dangling from the roof. Huge spiral staircases were there, both towards my left and right, and I could see doors everywhere. Thank goodness, this third lounge was just on the ground floor. And how many lounges were there in this house anyway?

As if voicing my thoughts, my brother whispered to the worker, "how many lounges are there in this house?"

"The whole of ground floor is just lounges. The first door is actually lounge 5. The lounges are numbered based on their sizes. Lounge 23 is the smallest. It is near lounge 3 but it is the first door in that line while lounge 3 is the fourth," the worker replied.

"You mean to tell me, there are 23 rooms in this floor only?!" Saamih asked, incredulously.

"Actually, no. There are 23 lounges in this floor. There are 4 kitchens, 5 dining rooms and of course, the restrooms and bathrooms. So in total, ground floor consist of 32 rooms excluding restrooms and bathrooms. Then we have first floor that has 30 rooms, consisting of 26 bedrooms and 4 prayer rooms, excluding the restrooms and bathrooms, second floor has 10 rooms - 3 theatres, 2 games rooms, and 5 offices, again restrooms and bathrooms excluded. Then lastly, third floor has 9 rooms, excluding restrooms and bathrooms, consisting of 4 conference rooms, 1 library, 2 studies and 2 spare rooms, which are basically makeshift rooms for any purpose," the worker explained.

My mouth dropped open, and I could tell that my parents and siblings had the same reaction. The worker smiled at us and left to go and call his boss.

Uh-oh Samiha! Will you ever be able to stay here? Isn't this a little too much for your simple lifestyle? I thought to myself.

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Second chapter done. How is this story going so far? Hope you guys are enjoying it! 😊😊
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Buh-bye!!