Desolation

Chapter 09

Janis turned to Amina who was foolishly smiling at the doorway. "Welcome to my humble abode."

Amina got into the apartment and started glancing around with a look of adoration. Amina loved the vibe of her apartment. It was so cozy and colourful. It felt like someone actually lived there. There was a contrast of warm and cold colours and it worked perfectly well. "It's lovely Janis." Amina breathed out.

"Thank you. Now let's get you to your temporary room. It's quite small but it will have to do." Amina couldn't care less for the size of the bedroom. She was just grateful to even be staying in one.

"I don't mind." She instantly replied to Janis' comment.

Janis showed her to a room that just had a twin size bed with grey sheets, a rocking chair at the corner facing the window and a simple wooden wardrobe.

Amina turned back to Janis and gave her an awkward one-handed hug to the side as her other hand was still holding on to her handbag and suitcase. "Thank you so much. Once again."

"No problem." Janis returned the hug as best as she could. She was foreign to the concept of actions of gratitude and affection and so Amina's hug threw her off guard.

Amina pulled away sensing Janis' discomfort. She went over to the bed and placed her bags on it. "So.....what now?" She asked curiously to Janis who was looking out of the window, trapped in a reverie.

"Well my shift is in a few hours and I need to take a nap. You can watch TV or make a meal or something." Amina could see that Janis was sleep evaded. Her face was pale, a contrast to the unwanted dark under eyes.

"Sure thing. You look like you need rest so go take a nap Janis." Amina gave her a sympathetic smile. "By the time you wake up I would have made something for you to eat before you go back to work."

Janis gave a weak smile but it reached her eyes. She was grateful for Amina, even though they had just met and it was her that was helping Amina out, she couldn't help but feel warm around her presence. She had such a natural motherly love that effortlessly warmed the hearts of people around her. "Thank you Amina." She turned around and left Amina to go take a much needed nap.

Amina let out a silent sigh and fell onto the bed. She was tired from all the walking and so she couldn't even begin to think how Janis felt after working a night shift and then walking out in the sweltering California heat.

She decided to switch on her phone and check for any notifications. It was then that she noticed the countless missed calls from Henry and one missed call from Aaliyah. She didn't feel like talking to any of them. Even though Aaliyah was her best friend she didn't feel like hearing her shout at her for her actions. Deep down, she knew Aaliyah's chastising came from love but that still didn't make it any less vexatious.

She left her phone on the bed and got up. She decided to head to the kitchen and see what she could cook up whil Janis took a much needed nap.

Amina was pleased to see that the kitchen was convenient and clean. It was in no way big or opulent but that was never the purpose of a kitchen.

She opened the fridge to see that there was enough to make some chicken fajitas and so that was what she did.

She was mindlessly humming the tune to 'I will survive' by Gloria Gaynor when she heard the sound of footsteps nearing.