Page 96 - James Caan - The Real Deal

The Real Deal

When Aisha told her parents, their response was that – in our
culture – what really needed to happen was for my parents to visit
them and make a formal proposal for their daughter. There were
rituals that needed to be observed, gifts that needed to be
exchanged: it was all new to me.
My parents were quite excited when I told them and were
enthusiastic about going to Aisha’s parents’ house to give each
other gifts, but I hadn’t anticipated any of this, and suddenly a
relationship that had been between just the pair of us was feeling
a little crowded. It was all a bit . . . official.
However, after a few weeks I got completely caught up in the
celebrations and preparations, and it started to dawn on me just
what a commitment I was making. What surprised me was how
much I liked that feeling, how much I realised I wanted to be
married, and how ready I felt for that commitment.
I decided we needed a place of our own, so I looked around for
a flat to buy and found one in a building in Highgate. It was the
penthouse in a really nice block in North Hill, and the agent who
was showing me around had another flat left in the block to sell.
I was young, I was cocky, so I asked the obvious question:
‘What if I buy both? Would you give me a better deal?’ I think I
negotiated to pay £45k for both flats, but of course I only needed
one, and could only get a mortgage for one. So I persuaded Bernie
to buy the one on the ground floor and I moved into the
penthouse. I asked Aisha to move in with me, but that was out of
the question. We would have to be married first.

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