Headache

Ziad was not in a particularly good mood the next morning.

He kept thinking about what his father had said, and the thought of having to get to meet and know ten girls who might end up as his wife made his head spin.

Being the only child, and a son at that, put a lot of burden on his little shoulders.

Sure, he had lots of cousins as his father was not the only child - but he was the only son. Naturally, the fate of the family company would lay on him, not his cousins. His cousins had the fate of their father's company on their shoulders.

It was a patriarchal system, but it didn't mean that the women in the family were shortchanged.

Depending on your point of view, of course.

Women were to be taken care of, to be protected because they were the mothers of the family. The one who bore the responsibility of giving birth, nurturing the children, and protecting the family.

In truth, the responsibilities of the mother were far greater which meant that the father had to bear the great responsibility of ensuring her well-being and health, and to provide for her in everything so that she could perform her duties well.

It didn't mean one was better than the other, but the tasks were different, and together, they formed a complete whole to create harmony in the home.

So, naturally, it was important as to who would bear the responsibilities of the 'Mother'.

Ideally, a good character and one who was from the same type of background.

Ziad sighed as he felt like he was going to get a huge headache.

Girls were troublesome indeed.

Except for Fleur and Aurora, of course.

Well, even they could be rather troublesome but they were family.

He couldn't even begin to think that the girls he would meet one day would be the 'one', so to speak.

All of that seemed to be for the distant future, not now. Why now?

Thus, it was a very grumpy Ziad that turned up at the breakfast table that morning. Even seeing his favourite ka'aek bel semsem (sesame topped bread) together with the pita bread did not lift his spirits.

He mechanically took the sesame bread that was filled with cheese and egg, said the prayer of thanks before eating and started munching on it. He didn't even take any pita bread to dip into the hummus and fool (a dip that is basically mashed cooked fava beans served with a drizzle of olive oil and lemon juice) - something that he took without fail.

Naturally, his action did not escape the eyes of his parents, and Sofiya asked Ziad worriedly, "What is wrong, my son?"

Ziad snapped out of it and swallowed before answering, "Nothing, Ummi."

"But you haven't even touched your pita bread," Sofiya said, gesturing towards the food in front of him, "And you never miss it."

"Oh," Ziad said, "Don't feel like it today."

Ali frowned and sipped his tea as he looked at his son.

"Are you worried about what I said yesterday?" Ali asked him.

Ziad nearly dropped his sandwich and stared at his father with wide eyes, "How did you know, Baba?"

Ali laughed a bit at that and sighed a bit as he took his own breakfast, "I was like you as well when my Baba told me about the ten bride candidates."

"Then why.." Ziad began, then stopped, thinking that his question may be rather disrespectful.

"Why what?" Ali prodded, allowing and encouraging him to continue.

Ziad took a deep breath and put down his sandwich, to look at his father seriously, "If you know how it feels, why would I also need to have bride candidates now?"

Ali smiled and explained, "I know that getting married is not in your mind at all and we're not pushing you to get married now."

"Don't look at the girls as your bride candidates. Just view them as friends. Get to know them, play with them and so forth," Ali said, "If feelings grow as you grow older, then it is ordained. If not, so be it."

Ziad still didn't understand.

Yet, he chose not to ask anymore.

His father wasn't saying anything different from what he said the night before, after all.

With a sigh, Ziad continued to eat after saying, "Yes, Baba."

Since he couldn't truly understand, he might as well just accept it as it is and try to get another point of view. No matter how unsettled his heart was at that moment, he could find no solution and chose to let it be.

For now.

Ali was quiet, watching his son eat and nodded at his wife who looked at him with worry in her eyes. He patted the back of her hand, as if to reassure her.

Sofiya sighed and continued the meal.

They had a long talk the night before and she did understand his point of view. Still, it was something she could not accept 100% as she felt all this 'arranged marriage' stuff was a bit outdated.

Despite the fact that it was completely different from how it first was: couples who never met each other and only got to know each other after marriage.

This was simply a matchmaking service and it was still upon both parties to agree. It was no different from all the online dating apps that were quite popular nowadays, really. It did make sense but there was still some sort of resistance in her heart towards it.

Maybe it was because it seemed like they were putting her son on the market. Up for display and for the taking.

Sofiya sighed again and decided to let things be. She would be monitoring all the bride candidates, too, to make sure that they were good enough for her son.

And so, in the future, the two boys from the Fantastic Four bonded tightly over their headaches with girls. Protecting each other and looking after each other's backs when girls attack seemed to be their Fate together.

For now, the boys could still be blissfully ignorant and safe.

Well, relatively, that is (as compared to the future).

✿ Author posts on WN and neovel ✿

When Isaura woke up that morning, she was ecstatic just thinking about going to school and meeting Alex again.

Plus, she had had a good dream - she didn't remember what it was, but she felt refreshed and happy upon waking up. So it must have been a good dream.

She hummed as she got ready, ran down for breakfast and ate happily. If only she could have contacted Zue, then the morning would have been perfect.

But her parents were strict in controlling her time online.

Still, since she was going to school, she wasn't as sad as she would normally be whenever she couldn't talk to Zue.

It wasn't that she was happy not being able to, but she could handle it better just by thinking about her day.

Isaura's mother looked at her, and nodded in satisfaction.

It seems that it truly was good for her to go to this school and meet new people.

Even though her husband told her that Zue was an essential part of Isaura, she still couldn't accept it fully.

Seeing that Isaura had finished her breakfast, Rose quickly ushered her out, saying, "Your father can't send you to school nowadays, so you shall take the bus from today."

Isaura didn't question it and nodded, following her mother to go outside.

"Remember the bus, and the bus driver," Rose told her, "Make sure you get on the right bus when you come home."

Isaura nodded again, accepting the fact that she would be coming back by bus now.

As the bus rolled into view, Isaura noted the licence plate and memorised it.

She was good with numbers, so it was easy for her to remember it quickly.

When the door swung open, a friendly-looking woman smiled as Rose gently pushed Isaura forward.

"Ah, this must be our new girl today, Isaura, right?" the friendly lady said.

"Yes, Ma'am," Isaura replied politely and carefully got on the bus.

"I'm Candy," the bus driver said and waved her hand inside, "Go and find an empty seat and sit down."

Isaura smiled and nodded, looking into the seemingly long corridor of the bus to find an empty seat.

Her eyes lit up when she unexpectedly recognised someone.

With a happy skip to her feet, she quickly went over and sat down on the chair, chattering happily, "Shane! What luck that you're also taking the bus to school. We are now bus buddies!"

Shane shrank back a bit into his seat, almost plastering himself on side of the bus as well. He had been lost in his own world and had not realised that the new girl was someone he had just met yesterday.

All sorts of thoughts went into his mind as he was not ready for this sudden social interaction. He panicked a bit, thinking of what to say without being too awkward or forward but in the end, he didn't manage to say a word.

Isaura didn't seem to mind, though.

She just smiled and swayed with the movement of the bus as it made a move. She noted that Shane wasn't rejecting her but was just quiet, so she kept quiet as well.

Seeing this, Shane relaxed a bit and started his breathing exercises to calm himself down.

As the journey went on, Shane began to relax even more. Isaura didn't chatter away non-stop nor did she insist on him talking.

Which was perfect.

Perhaps having her as a seat partner wasn't so bad after all.