Her Accepting Heart by Ayesha Ally ( A.M.I )

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It was the perfect day to sleep in, but Samiha and her sister Salma were sitting at Fego caffe, drinking their coffee and sharing a slice of bar one cake.
   "I just love the smell of the ground when rain hits it." Salma dramatically took a deep breath in.
   Samiha nodded absentmindedly, her mind preoccupied with something which she felt the need to speak about, but was wary how her sister would react to it.
   "Hey, this is not done. Here I am, talking to you but I'm being ignored, Salma huffed.
   "What's really up with you? Ive noticed that you haven't been yourself for the past couple of weeks. Is something worrying you?"
   Samiha avoided looking at her sister when she shook her head.
   "I'm just being paranoid, as usual."
When Salma raised an eyebrow, Samiha sighed.
   "Could we please let the topic go? Im not in the mood to talk about it." Samiha took a slurpy sip of her coffee so that her sister would take the hint and 'shush', but Salma sat forward and pulled the mug from her hand.
   "No more coffee if you don't talk to me about it."
   Samiha rolled her eyes as she placed a R100 note on the table.
   "This one's on me."
She stood up and buttoned her coat to her neck while Salma scrambled out of the chair.
   "You're going to tell me what's bothering you. Today!"
   Samiha laughed at her sisters' insistence, but held her hand up to warn her that there was no way she was talking about it.
   "Please! I promise I will listen to understand, and not listen to answer back..." Salma made a sad face.
   "Oh my Allah! Could you please drop it? Besides it's nothing major..." Samiha assured her younger sister uncertainly.
   Salma let it go for a while, but when the following week her sister still looked troubled, she demanded to know what was up.
   "Sal...The thing is, I've been noticing that 'Basher' is behaving strangely...it's like he's in his own buzz. I don't know if something is bothering him, but he doesn't answer me when I question it. I don't know what to do..." Samiha sighed in defeat.
   Salma thought about it for a moment and grinned...
   "Maybe his mother wants to live with your'll, since his father passed on not so long ago..."
   Samiha whacked her hand and told her not to curse the situation.
   "I'd be happier if it was something else, because this I can't handle." Samiha smiled sadly.
   Her mother-in-law had never liked her from the word go because she was from a reverted family. And even though Samiha had made the effort to learn about Islam and had become a practicing muslimah, there was not an occasion when her mother-in-law would look down on her.
   "Maybe he's having trouble at work, just don't stress him out when he gets home." Salma huffed.
   "And what is that supposed to mean? I don't stress him out. The kids just jump all over him as soon as he enters because they don't get to see him much in the day...now that, I can't stop." Samiha rolled her eyes.
   "Maybe cook a special meal for him and speak to him in the weekend, I will pick Lil Issy and Fuzzy for the afternoon."
   Samiha thanked her sister for her thoughtfulness, but still she didn't have a good feeling within her.
  What could be making her husband drift away from her after ten years of marriage? Could it be that she was the problem? Maybe she should try and rekindle their love again because after the kids had come along, they didn't spend quality time together.
   "Sal, you think you can keep the kids for overnight Saturday evening?" Samiha asked, her thoughts already on the coming weekend.
   "Now that's more like it. I will keep them while you romance with my bil." Salma fluttered her eyelashes.
   And the weekend had arrived faster than Samiha had expected it to, but she was all set... she had the candles, the food and the fresh fruit all ready when her husband walked through the door that afternoon.
   "As-salaamu-alaikum love..." she greeted, her eyes shining, but it dimmed as soon as she saw the look that crossed his face when he saw the table set for two.
   Was that guilt on his face? She wondered, but shook it off at once. No negativity, she promised herself.
   "Why don't you change into something more comfortable while I get the food on the table." She motioned for him to go into the room.
  The 'lunch date' went as well as she had planned, but something was still off...her husband looked tense.
   "Okay love, out with it. What are you hiding from me?" She dabbed her lip with the serviette and didn't fail to notice the colour fade from her husband's handsome bearded face.
   "Wh...What do you think I'm hiding from you?" He stammered.
Samiha lifted her eyebrow and waited.
   "Look, Sam, I don't want to talk about it now. Where are the kids?" He tried to change the subject.
   "Well, we are going to get this stressful situation out of the way right now because the kids are with Sal for the rest of the weekend. Now out with it?" She said sternly.
   Basheer looked really uncomfortable as he squirmed in his seat.
   "Sam..."
   "Is it your mother again?"
They both spoke at the same time.
   "Fine, sorry, go ahead...I won't interrupt." Samiha pursed her lips.
Basheer looked at the plate in front of him as he spoke...
   "Sam, it is about my mother, but it's also not about her." He swallowed nervously.
Samiha looked confused, but didn't speak.
  "Sam, you know Naz...Nazmira Hamaan...?"
Samiha wracked her brain and finally realised who he was talking about.
   "Isn't she your mother's therapist's daughter? What about her?" She asked, her interest piqued because she knew her mother-in-law had once told her what a perfect daughter-in-law she would've been.
   "Sam, my mother had made arrangements of her own before consulting with me... she told her therapist that it would be fine for me to take Nazmira to work everyday from next month..." he trailed off as he waited for his wife's reaction.
   Samiha felt her heart drop to the bottom of her tummy.
   No way was she going to allow it, she couldn't,  she wouldn't...
   "And...What did you decide after you came to know of this so called 'arrangement'?" She asked calmly, even though her tummy was turning in dread.
  "Well, um, I couldn't actually refuse my mother because she begged me...and it's just to and from work." He tried to cover.
  "So now I want to know what you feel about it?" He asked softly when the tensed silence stretched.
   Samiha placed her left hand at her nape as the tension suddenly went up tenfold.
   "Next month is five days away, which makes it , let's see..." she counted on her finger.
   "Thursday? Right?" She avoided his gaze, but saw his nod.
   "Today is Saturday. If I didn't make you tell me what was on your mind, you wouldn't have said a word. When were you planning on telling me? Thursday morning?" Her sarcasm didn't go unnoticed.
   "Look Samiha, I'm in a position, I don't have a choice in the matter. You know how close my mother is to her therapist and her daughter...Please understand how difficult this is for me."
   Samiha stood up in anger.
  "Well, since it seems you already made a decision, I don't think my words would matter. So go ahead and do what you think is right. I guess Lunch is over..." with that said, she turned around and walked with her head held high, but with her insides in a mess...
   Basheer watched her retreating back and groaned.
   This was exactly what his mother wanted to happen, he knew that for a fact. And a point to you Ma. He banged the table in frustration before walking away from it.

Ayesha Ally