Salman Rushdie proposes to ex-girlfriend just hours after her split

Salman Rushdie has asked his former girlfriend Michelle Barish to marry him and become his fifth wife just two days after she split from her boyfriend.

The 64-year-old Literary Lothario who broke up with socialite Devorah Rose recently, has proposed Barish who split from her boyfriend Steve Tisch last week.

Sources said that Rushdie has been besotted with Barish, the ex-wife of Marquee co-owner Chris Barish for years, and was reportedly distraught when the pair broke up in March.

According to the New York Post, Barish started dating billionaire Tisch, who produced movie 'Forrest Gump' since August after a friend set them up and ended their relationship last week when she held a lavish birthday bash at New York's Gramercy Park Hotel.

As soon as Rushdie heard about the split and had it confirmed, he wasted no time in telling Barish how he still felt about her and even went as far as asking her to be wife number five.

"Salman is besotted. He asked her within 48 hours of her breakup to marry him. He even has a ring," the Daily Mail quoted a source as saying.

Barish, who is in Florida with daughter Bee, is claimed to be considering the proposal, but she is not yet fully divorced from Chris as they are currently working towards a settlement.
A friend of Barish told the Post that though she was thinking about the author's proposal, she is still in love with Tisch and needs some time to get over that relationship before moving on to the next.