Okay, that was it. Gifting me a weighing scale to indirectly or rather to directly hint about my weight was the last straw!

I was super mad at that imbecile Ibrahim. I wanted to take that weighing scale and hit it on his head. Perhaps then he would learn a lesson, I thought.

At the same time, I was also very much hurt.

Why did I have to go through any of these embarrassing moments? Why did the world hate fat people so much? What wrong did we do to them by carrying some extra pounds? Who gave them the rights to think that fat people could be used as their bait for jokes and verbal abuse as much as they wanted?

This was all so wrong. The world I lived in was cruel. Most people I associated with were heartless.

I held the weighing scale in my hand with a lump in my throat. Tears were about to roll down any minute. I held my breath as much as possible to avoid crying.

I had become so weak within a few days — all because of a man who I did not even love.

As I stood there without uttering a single word, I expected my mom or elder sisters to advice me as usual by taking Ibrahim's side. And I even planned an argument with them in my head already.

But surprisingly, no, that was not what happened. Just like mine, everyone else's faces were blank too.

Mom left the room saying, "Never mind. It's still a gift. And it's something you wanted to buy too. So, let's not feel upset about it."

I couldn't agree with her point. Just because I had the need to purchase a weighing scale, that didn't mean that anyone could buy it for me. It was simply rude. But then, the way she spoke made it evident that she was also not very happy with Ibrahim's gift choice. I mean, it wasn't her normal excited tone. And it sounded nothing like her usual words of support either. It rather felt like a self-consoling comment.

Good. Finally there seemed to something that mom and I could see eye to eye in Ibrahim's case even thought she might not ever admit it.

On the other side, my sisters became weirdly quiet the moment I took out the weighing scale from the box. Zoya looked angry. Aira looked disappointed. And as for Shaheen and Daneen — the duo who generally tried to cover up Ibrahim's behavior with some lame excuse, even they were speechless for a long time.

Perhaps my entire family was hurt by Ibrahim's rude gesture though they would not say it out openly. At least not in front of me. After all, there was still a chance of that imbecile becoming part of my life, right?

How pathetic!

After a big awkward silence, I spoke, "How would he feel if I had sent him some oil for hair growth?"

"Come on, Lish," said Shaheen, pursing her lips. Daneen quickly walked up to me and put a hand on my shoulder as if to comfort me.

They probably didn't want me to comment anything about his hairless head because that would be offensive. Of course, even I knew that. And I never liked making such statements about anyone's physical appearance. But then, was Ibrahim even a human being? I wasn't sure at this point.

"You won't do that," said Zoya angrily.

"None of us would do that," said Aira with a sigh.

And that was the truth. Despite all the nasty comments that we sisters often receive for being overweight, we had never even once responded rudely to anyone. That was our commendable nature. Or rather that was how well our parents raised us.

"This is way too much. Gifting a weighing scale? I mean, who does that? Didn't he even once think how hurt I would feel by this action?," I asked.

"He probably wouldn't have. I guess he doesn't understand these things," replied Daneen.

"Why not?" I asked indignantly.

"Because he has no brains," said Zoya, rolling her eyes. It sounded like the only right answer to my question .

"Because men don't really think through a lot of things like we do," said Shaheen.

"Men are just plain rude," added Aira.

"And that's no excuse for them to act the way they want, right?" I reminded them.

I absolutely hated the way society always pampered men and disregarded their mistakes with stupid statements like men-are-like-that, men-are-like-this, boys-will-be-boys, men-are-wired-differently and so on. I mean, seriously? Why? Why weren't men expected to be a little more empathetic towards others? Why weren't they judged for their flawed behavior easily like in the cases of women? Why weren't they trained to take accountability for their actions like normal human beings?

I truly did not understand the double-standards of the world sometimes. Everything felt so biased.

"You are right, Lish. It shouldn't be an excuse. But still—" started Daneen and I stopped her right there with, "No buts. I don't want to hear any supportive statements for Ibrahim on this one."

"Okay, I won't," she replied. None of us spoke for sometime after that.

Then Zoya's words broke the silence in the room, "At least now tell them openly and be done with it."

"Zoya," spoke Shaheen in a warning tone.

"Don't put unnecessary ideas into her head," added Daneen.

"You don't like this proposal anymore?" Aira asked the obvious in a concerned tone. The other two looked startled.

"Never did and this is just making me hate him more!" I said and walked out of the room. I didn't want to stand there anymore and listen to anyone put forward points or argue about that fat-shamer.

Then I made my way to dad's room to talk to him and feel his pulse of the proposal after the visit. He welcomed me with a warm smile as always. He told me that Ibrahim's family treated everyone well despite their awkward behavior when they came home. I couldn't really believe that part because the idea of that rude family displaying basic human decency on anything seemed impossible. But then dad didn't look like he was lying either.

"Why do you look upset?" asked dad.

"Nothing," I said with a sigh.

"You are happy about this right?" he asked. I wanted to tell him "no". That was the only right thing to do. But then I couldn't. Something stopped me. Maybe that concerned look on his face did.

I knew dad was worried about my future. He wanted to see me getting married during his lifetime. It was one of his biggest dreams. I couldn't blame him for that. As a parent, he was right. And I appreciated the fact that he at least cared to know my opinion regardless of how he and the others felt about it. That showed that he respected my emotions.

So, I avoided commenting anything negative to him. When I went back to the room, my sisters were engaged in a serious discussion. They stopped talking the moment I entered. It was obvious that my marriage was the topic.

Before I could ask them anything about it, I got distracted when I received a WhatsApp notification from an unknown number. I read the message, "hi sent you something" and I instantly guessed who it was.

It was Ibrahim. But how did he have my number? I wasn't sure of that.

"Did you give my number to that moron?" I asked.

"Has he texted you?" asked Daneen. I nodded.

"He asked for it saying that he wanted to share diet tips with you directly. So, we gave it to him," said Shaheen awkwardly.

"Urgh!" I hollered.

"What's he saying?" asked Aira.

I showed them the message and said, "I'm just going to leave him on read."

"Lish," started Shaheen, "we all agree that a weighing scale isn't the best of gifts to receive. But just drop a text of thanks to him."

"Yeah, at least to appreciate the thought," added Daneen. I eye-rolled.

"The thought to fat-shame her?" Zoya raised a valid question.

"Or you can directly tell him that you are hurt by it so that he won't do anything like this again," suggested Aira.

"I will think about it. For now, let it be on read," I replied.

"Okay Lish, here's the thing. It's your life, so you can make your own decision. But remember one thing. There are so many men with bad habits out there. It's almost impossible to find a teetotaler from a good family these days. Everyone who we inquired from assured that Ibrahim and his family are clean in that sense. I want you to consider all these points before you make up your mind," said Shaheen. And she made sense with this one. So, it got me thinking.

I felt like maybe it was wrong for me to take a selfish decision just because I was prejudiced against someone. At the same time, I didn't want to end up with someone I didn't like either. So, I went to bed in a dilemma. I decided to pray to God asking for guidance in this matter.

A few hours later, when I woke up for morning prayers, the first thing my eyes noticed was the weighing scale on the table. Although I didn't want to use it earlier because of the anger I had on Ibrahim, sleep had changed my moods I guess. Because at that moment, I felt like checking my weight using it.

So, I placed the weighing scale on the floor and stepped on it. And guess what? I couldn't believe my eyes! I got off and stepped on it several times because it looked like a lie. Or rather a dream.

Somehow, each time I tried, the result remained constant.

I HAD LOST 4 KILOS!

Yes, 4 kgs within just a week. And that was amazing! It was the first time that I had witnessed a weight loss this quick. So, I was over the moon! It looked like I was finally going to lose all the extra pounds. All thanks to—

Of course, it was hard to accept it but then I knew that I wouldn't have achieved this if not for the push given by Ibrahim and his family.

Perhaps this was the guidance that I had waited for. The clarity to my dilemma.

I felt like maybe I should go ahead with the proposal solely for the sake of weight loss. I mean, it was just a week since Ibrahim came into my life and I had already lost 4 kgs. So, I couldn't even imagine how much more I could lose if I shared my life with him. Maybe it was a silly reason to get married and maybe no one would ever understand it either. But then weight loss was my biggest goal and therefore it seemed like a practical thing to me.

Besides, a lot marriages of did work without love, right? So, I could get used to one too. Maybe I will never like Ibrahim or his rude behavior but I could definitely use it to achieve my weight loss goal. And who knows? Maybe eventually I might find some love in the relationship too.

With these crazy thoughts in mind, I prayed and texted Ibrahim. He must have been awake too because I started receiving quick replies.

Me: thanks 😊
Ibrahim: checked the weight?
Me: yes 👍🏾
Ibrahim: what's ur weight now?
Me: 4 kgs down
Ibrahim: good
Me: 😊
Ibrahim: send me a weight update daily
Ibrahim: then I can suggest u new diet plans based on that

Okay, what? Daily updates? That would be insane! I had never done that even with a doctor.

I sighed because I knew this was going to be tougher than I expected. Pretending to text like a normal human being with him was suffocating. I couldn't even imagine how living next to him was going to be then.

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Hellooo 👀 Writing COAT has started feeling more like an obligation than something that I enjoy 😶 Hence, the late updates 💁🏾‍♀️ So, I truly don't know when I would post next even though I would like to give y'all a chapter per day😭😭 Please hang in there readers and pray that this annoying phase of mine comes to an end soon 🥺
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