๐Ÿ‘‘ Chapter Thirty Three ๐Ÿ‘‘

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ISAAC'S POV

I was in the gym working out or more like trying to release some stress but no matter how hard I punched I just couldn't seem to get the anger I felt out of my system. I had no idea how long I had been at the gym but it was long enough that I could feel my muscles ache in protest. I wasn't at work since it was a public holiday. I had woken up for my usual morning work out routine but once I had started punching away I hadn't been able to stop.

It had been a few days since Marini had opened up to me and I was having a hard time wrapping my head around it all. I just couldn't believe a couple of old men from Marini's ethnic tribe could decide her fate and basically set it on stone. I remember when growing up with my grandma she had tried to instill as many traditional values as she could but once I left for the States I forgot about them. I remember bits and pieces about the dos and don'ts but they all change depending on the tribe. My grandma was Kamba and Marini is Meru and even though they are both Bantus they have totally different traditions.

I didn't know that in this time and age the elders that used to rule during the pre-colonial times still held power over the people in some communities. I thought everyone had evolved after colonization but I was clearly mistaken. It was fifty five years after independence and Kenya was still living in the ice age.

Marini had given me the results of all the research she had done concerning the issue and it was pretty serious. I had done a little research of my own and what I had seen was disturbing. A few YouTube videos of people affected by the elders so called curses were not for those with weak stomachs. As much as I tried to disapprove what sentence had been served to Marini by those stuck up old men I had realized that there was no escape. Marini had to get married and pay what she owed to them.

My phone rang a few meters from me cutting of my train of thought throwing me off my punching rhythm. I stared at it hoping it would stop ringing and thankfully it did but then it started ringing again and I knew I had to pick it up. I grabbed it off the bench it was on and picked the call after seeing Jeremy's contact on it.

"Hey bro."He greeted excitedly.

"Wassup."I grunted a little out of breath.

"Are you having sex?"He teased faking shock.

"Ha ha ha very funny. What do you want you immature child?" I asked honestly not in the mood to talk to him at all.

"A hello would have been nice."He retorted.

"I'm hanging up now."I replied.

"Okay fine geez. I'm sorry your highness for disturbing you this early morning."He apologized sarcastically and I was so tempted to hang up but I didn't.

"Jeremy."I breathed out getting angry.

"So Amani and I are going out for lunch and since its a public holiday we were wondering if you and Marini would like to join us?" He asked sounding excited.

I thought about it for a while. Marini was still sleeping so I couldn't ask her but I was pretty sure she didn't want to go out and neither was I but maybe it would be good for the both of us to get out of the house for a while.

"I'll ask Marini when she wakes up and get back to you."I replied.

"Perfect that's basically a yes. Are you okay bro?" Jeremy asked sounding concerned.

I guess I was sounding pretty off so he must have picked up on that. I was not going to tell him about Marini's situation because not only was it not my secret to share but he would definitely tell Amani because of how close they were and Marini didn't want her sisters to know.

"Yeah I'm great. We'll see you guys later."I replied trying to make my voice as light as possible so he wouldn't catch onto how down I was feeling.

"Okay bye."He definitely didn't believe me so before he could ask anymore questions I hang up and got up from the bench.

Marini and I hadn't hang out with our siblings in over a month so they were bound to get worried. I always made excuses to Jeremy and I'm sure Marini did the same with Amani but we had probably escaped them for too long. We would go out and try to have fun and get our heads out of the current situation. A distraction would be good.

I looked at all the equipment and feeling fed up with the punching bag I removed my fingerless gloves and picked up a couple of dumbbells not caring about how heavy they were and started doing lunges across the room. I was overworking myself and I was going to feel it later but at the moment I didn't care. I needed something else to focus on other than what I was going through. The pain was a good distraction at the moment but it wasn't enough. I felt powerless knowing I couldn't help Marini.

One question kept floating in my mind, who was she going to marry? Marini was the furthest from social so I didn't see her having any close friends she could ask. The thought of Marini getting married to anyone else made me jealous to the brink of insanity. If she didn't marry then it meant her sisters suffered and Marini would never allow that. She had to get married and I didn't want to see her tie the knot with anyone else. I would put a bullet in his head and watch him die feeling very proud of myself. So what option did she have? One person floated to mind. Me.

"I'm so screwed."I thought out loud.

The moment that idea crossed my mind I dropped the barbells I was holding to the ground and they hit the floor with a thud. I joined them pretty later and sat down on a mat grabbing my water bottle and practically chugging the water. I loved Marini, with my whole heart, it's the reason I had been unable to move on with Sheila but was I ready to marry her. One answer. Yes.

I had of course thought about my future with Marini if she had been open to us getting together. In a few scenarios we were married and in some we even had kids. I didn't want her to marry anyone else but me. I should have been scared at how ready I was to tie my life to her after only knowing her for six months but I was more excited at the possibility than afraid of it. I was twenty nine years old, almost thirty, I should have been married with kids but that was not in the plans for me.

I had only been in two relationships my whole life yet none of them compared to how I felt about Marini. I loved hearing her laugh, the way she sometimes threw her head back when the joke was too funny or how she held her hand over her mouth to stop herself from laughing too hard. I liked seeing her wake up looking all sleepy in the morning her voice all groggy and eyes bright when she'd had enough sleep. I enjoyed spending time with her doing literally anything, we could be watching movies, talking our hearts out about anything or just sitting in silence and I'd still enjoy her company. Without failing to mention how beautiful she was with her voluptuous body that she knew how to dress with perfection and how gracefully she carried herself. Most of all I loved her kind and giving heart and the beautiful soul that she was.

I was totally and irrevocably in love with Marini and I was prepared to spend the rest of my life with her.

"Bite that lip any harder and it will fall off."Her voice wafted into my ears making me look up.

I wish I hadn't because the moment my eyes met her body, I almost swallowed my tongue. Marini was standing in front of me in all her glory dressed in nothing other than a grey beanie, a black gym bra, blue sneakers and the cause of my slight heart attack the shortest grey shorts in existence. If there was ever a doubt that Marini was sculpted by God from the finest of clay, the way she looked standing in front of me was more than enough proof. I had seen her in a bikini but that was months ago and even though that image would always be etched in my mind the shorts she was wearing defined her curves too perfectly to ignore. Her thick thighs and perfectly sculptured ass were outlined so perfectly I felt my nether regions stir awake.

"W-hat? What are you doing here?"I stammered clearing my throat.

She chuckled and walked towards the treadmill.

"What does it look like I'm doing? I'm here to work out. Now how does this thing work?" She asked looking at it confused making me chuckle.

I walked towards her and helped her set it up.

"I don't want to run. Slow it down to a sort of fast walking pace."She instructed and I did just that.

"Since when do you work out?" I asked trying to look anywhere else than her butt that was moving too seductively.

Oh heavens, why did she have to wear those shorts? Couldn't she have chosen something else like a sack or rags. Though I'm pretty sure she would look amazing in those too.

"I don't, I was just bored watching Kim chasing squirrels and decided to join you. You've been here for almost four hours." She replied.

"What?!"I exclaimed shocked.

I looked at the clock and it was past ten o'clock. I hadn't even noticed the time fly by so quick.

"Working out was that good huh?"She asked laughing softly as she continued talking.

"I just needed a distraction. I was thinking too hard."I explained.

"Tell me about it. You've only known for a few days and I've known for a month. So have you got any bright ideas? I could use some of those."She asked looking at me.

I found myself thinking back to what I had been thinking about before she came in. The words were at the tip of my tongue but I was afraid of rejection. I knew Marini didn't have an idea of who she was going to marry so me proposing marriage to her would be giving her an option. She had already rejected me once before, I'm not sure if I wanted to be rejected again. But if I didn't ask her I would never know and would have to endure her choosing someone else and I knew that was not something I would be able to handle.

"None for the moment that are actually concrete. So have you found any possible suitors?"I asked in a light tone even though that question was so heavy on my heart.

Marini laughed at my question"I wish it were that easy. Why do you have anyone in mind?"She asked looking at me curiously.

"Actually yes."I replied deciding to go for it.

It's not like I had anything to loose. Actually I did, like my heart and my pride if she laughed in my face but I had to at least try. It was better to try and fail than fail having never tried at all.

"Yeah who?"

Before I could change my mind I just blurted it out"Me."

Marini was not prepared for my answer because she suddenly stopped moving forgetting that she was on a treadmill. It didn't stop with her and she tripped and started falling back but being so quick on my legs I moved fast enough to catch her and brace her fall with my body. She fell on top of me with our chests pressed against each other and even though it was the wrong time to be thinking about it, our position was very intimate. Marini's curves were pressed against my body and her chest was crushed on mine making her breasts practically fall out of her gym bra. I tried not to look but I was only human and a full blooded male at that.

Marini had shut her eyes during the fall and when realized that she had fallen on a cushion aka me and not on the hard floor she opened her eyes. Her beautiful brown eyes met my blue ones and for a few moments there we locked gazes. People could speak a lot of emotions through their eyes and at the moment there were so many floating about in her eyes that it was hard to decipher any main one.

Marini broke our eye contact and looked down at my lips before her eyes widened.

"You're bleeding."She commented and I lifted my hand to my mouth and my fingers touched blood.

I must have but my lip when we fell.

"I'm sorry."Marini apologized when she realized our position and scrambled to get off me.

We both sat up on the floor facing each other. I watched as Marini adjusted her gym bra so her breasts weren't pouring out anymore though there was still a hint of cleavage that I tried my best not to look at but failed miserably.

"It's okay. Are you hurt?"I asked her grabbing a towel closest to me and holding it to my bleeding lip.

"No I'm fine. Thanks for catching me."

"Anytime."I replied dabbing the towel a few times before tossing it aside when I stopped bleeding.

It was quite for sometime before we both spoke up at the same time.

"Did.." Marini started just as I did.

"Are.."

"You go first."I requested wanting to know what she thought about my not so great proposal.

"Isaac marriage is not just something you can joke with."She started with a very serious tone.

"I know."I replied meaning it.

"I can't just ask you to marry me Isaac. You're too good for that and deserve better than to be tied down to a marriage of convenience."She argued.

"You're not the one asking, technically I did."I replied jokingly but she didn't appreciate my trying to lighten the situation.

"It's not funny Isaac nor is it fair to you."She answered.

"Then who are you going to marry? I don't see you having any ideas and I don't think you are going to get married to a stranger." I reasoned.

"I'll figure something out. Ill just hire a fake priest and a male actor and forge the marriage certificate or something."She replied frustrated.

"So you Marini one of the most honest and morally upright people to exist is going to stand in a church infront of God with a fake priest to get married to a total stranger with fake papers."I spelled out hoping hearing what she was proposing would make her see how ridiculous it was.

"Don't say it like that. I know marriage is sacred and as a devout Christian I know that there should be no divorce but I don't have any other option. It's crazy and hypocritical, I know that much but what other choice do I have."She asked defeated.

"You do have a choice. Marry me."I proposed and this time she did not reply and just looked at me intensely trying to figure me out.

I knew she didn't want to do it but I wasn't going just sit around and watch her go against her values and beliefs when what I was offering her was much more genuine.

"Why do you want to marry me?" asked after a few minutes.

"Because I lo....."I stopped myself before I confessed my love for her knowing that it was not the time of place for a confession.

"Because I care about you. I don't want you going against your believes when I can actually do something about it. We're not strangers. We get along and are actually very good friends. We already have a relationship so let's just throw marriage into the pile and seal the deal."I joked and time she managed a laugh.

"It's not that easy and you know it. I can't just ask you to do that for me."She insisted.

"Like I said before, you're not the one asking. I'm the one who is proposing, twice already as a matter of fact."

"Isaac."Marini groaned making me laugh.

"Sorry I couldn't help myself. Look just take your time and consider it. Don't think for too long though because you're down to three months and weddings are stressful to plan. Or so I hear."I said and she hit my leg with her shoe.

"Stop it."

"Okay fine I've stopped. So is that a yes. You'll think about it?" I asked with a hopeful smile.

"If it stops all the terrible jokes then yes I'll think about it."She replied and I bit my cheek to hold in my smile.

She hadn't said yes but the idea was already in her mind so I was halfway there. I just had to remind myself not to get too excited. No need to skip before the rope, I'd trip and fall.

"This is getting too much."Marini groaned lying back on the cold floor, her hands over her eyes.

"If you want to leave the house for a while, Jeremy and Amani invited us out for lunch."I suggested remembering the call from my dearest cousin.

"That's great but let me just lie here a bit longer. The cold floor feels great on my back."Marini replied and I chuckled before joining her.

We lay there in complete silence both lost in thought and I hoped she was thinking about my proposal because I was thinking about how great Marini would look in white. Like a floating angel.

Before those thoughts could linger too much I stopped myself before I jinxed it.

Dear Lord, let her say yes. I begged the heavens needing all the help. An arranged marriage was not my dream but as long as it was to Marini, I honestly didn't care how we tied the knot as long as we ended up together. Like she had said she didn't believe in divorce, even better for me because I wanted her forever.

"You had better not be counting our imaginary babies Isaac."She scolded still on the floor making me laugh.

"Nope just how much we'll spoil our grandkids."I replied making her groan and I just laughed harder.

I was definitely in love with her. My queen. My boss lady.

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He proposed!! Ghhaaaa!!! Not the most romantic way but he still did it.

I know I can't marry him but still, he's just so perfect.

What do you think Marini will decide?

Well if she doesn't marry him I will ๐Ÿฅฐ๐Ÿฅฐ.

Vote. Comment. Share.

I love you all.

Be blessed.ย 

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