Better Late Than Never

58

Ayman had curated a playlist of soft nasheeds without instrumentals and Ayra loved it. She loved everything that came once she was comfortably seated too.

He served her wine he'd personally picked out (Thomson & Scott's Noughty Rosé) before anything else. Ayra, once she'd taken a sip, told him they had to get the wine in at least three bottles when they got home. It was her new favourite.

Laughing, Ayman nodded and promised they'd do so once they returned to Aomi. It was one of his favourite wines and he was glad it was a fast favourite for her too. For starters, he'd prepared Greek salad and plated it beautifully well.

Ayra smiled appreciatively at him as he returned to his seat after serving the both of them. "This looks too good to eat."

"You better dig in."

"Did you make a small quantity because I'm not that much of a salad person like you?"

He nodded without any hesitation. "I did. The last thing I wanted was for us to worry about what to do with leftover food tomorrow so..."

She picked up her fork, ready to melt in her seat. "You do take care of the little things."

"Only for you, Asķim. Only for you."

They spoke about the places she'd visited at the plaza and when they finished eating, he didn't let her do anything to help. He cleared the table himself and then served the main course; chicken tacos with toppings of pico de gallo, diced avocado, cilantro, and lime juice.

Ayra had to laugh. "Wallah I thought you were going to bring in some aesthetically served rice or pasta, not tacos."

He'd not once stopped smiling. He returned to his seat, unbuttoning his cuffs so he could roll his sleeves up. "You don't want tacos?"

"Are you crazy? Why won't I want tacos? It's so out of what I was expecting but I love it. It's perfect."

"I'm glad. Come on, dig in."

Her first bite had her moaning in delight and Ayman had to pull on the brakes in his mind so it didn't end up in the dirtiest corner of the gutter. When she said 'Ayman, this is so good', Ayman pulled harder on the mental brakes and had to loosen his tie a little bit. He prayed for patience, for self-restraint, and for sanity because he needed all three to get through the night.

Ayra spoke up when she finished her first taco. "We need to have date nights like this once a month."

"Why not every week? I won't mind."

She shook her head. "No, not every week. I mean, I won't mind dates with you every week but why not try something different each weekend? Like, movie dates this week, drives round Aomi next week, maybe a sip and paint date the following week, and then something like this at the end of the month. You get what I'm saying?"

He nodded, loving the plans she had. "I do. That's perfect."

Ayra smiled, reaching for another taco. "And then we'll alternate between who gets to plan what. If you plan this week's, I can plan next week's and so on."

His smile dropped. "No."

She looked at him, surprised. "Don't tell me you want to plan everything."

He shrugged. "I don't see why I can't."

Ayra had to sputter before she found her voixe. "Ayman!"

He gave her an innocent look. "But it's true. I don't see why I can't plan every date. You're worth it."

Her heart swooned and she was tempted to slap the organ. She shook her head. "I need to plan dates for us too. I mean, I don't mind sitting down and getting the baby girl treatment but from time to time, I need to plan something too."