TREASURES AND THORNS

Chapter twenty eight

“Days will pass, and you’ll abandon things you were addicted to, and leave someone, and cancel a dream, and finally, accept a reality. ”
- Nizar Qabbani

Hello there, its been a while! This is a two in one update...so enjoy!

RUKKAYYA
<Acceptance>

UNEDITED

I was about to head out of my room when Mama Atika came in with a younger lady bearing trays of different sizes. She was holding a retracted object. In my slight confusion, the woman greeted me first.

"Good morning, Mama Atika."

Probably seeing the confusion on my face she said. "Haji karami ordered breakfast to be brought up to you, he has gone out for an appointment." Mama Atika set up the Retractable object - which happened to be a table - close to the single sitter in my room.

I couldn't help the sudden gush of disappointment that I felt.

"So early?" I blurted before I could think.
The older woman smiled, as she carefully dropped the last tray on the retractable table. She was wearing a brown hijab that reached her knees. She must have started cooking immediately after Fajr prayer. I was in awe of her agility. Ever since I was brought to the mansion, I had never found her slacking.

"I'm sure he'll be back before you know it. Is it okay if I keep you company?"

The younger lady had disappeared, for a moment I thought I had imagined her presence. They operate with such high level of discreteness that never ceases to amaze me.

"He asked you to watch over me," I said with a smile. "Its okay, you don't have to. I'll let you know of I need anything."
She nodded and left.

The table held Omelettes, French fries, Chicken sandwich, Dutch pancakes and brownies. Everything looked so appealing but my appetite seemed to have accompanied my husband to his appointment. The whole eating with him on the dinning table had been awkward at first but I got used to it. His absence felt like an important part of my breakfast was missing. It was such a strange thing. How does one leave so early for an appointment without a decent goodbye?

Or did he leave because of the previous night? The thought alone gave me goose bumps. I don't know how I gained the confidence to throw myself at him without warning. I must have been possessed by something as I would never in my right senses do such.

And when he carried me...Ya Allah! I felt on top of the world with charged air all around me. I doubt he felt it too.

Mama Atika had become his newly inaugurated assistant that he only dropped messages with her. He could have called my phone, or at least sent a message. The more I thought about it, the more it threatened to upset me. No, that didn't seat well with me. He had been so good to me, I had no reason to be upset yet that did nothing to quench the growing flame within me.

I ate a few brownies which i forced down with a hot cup of Strawberry tea. I've never liked tea but because I saw that he always took tea, I decided to try it out to. How had I gone from forcing down breakfast to thinking about my husband?
My phone rang saving me from my thoughts.

"Rukky baby!" Nana's voice sang, a breath of fresh air from my suffocating thoughts.

"Mamman twins...how are you doing?"

"I'm fine and how is Mrs Ahmad?"

I scoffed. "Nana, how does one leave home without telling the people there about it?"