HE IS MY CHAUFFEUR ✅

EIGHT

Aunt Siddiqa handed Adeelah two roots of beetroot, three balls of onion, five green and yellow ball pepper and two rounds of cabbage. She watched as Adeelah raised her brows, fluttered her eyes and twisted her face in whine. She knew Adeelah didn't like working too much. She didn't like cooking too except if it had to do with junk and light foods.

"You're going to cut them this way." She began showing her how to chop the beetroot and dice it. Her hand moved fast like it was just trained to cut.

Adeelah marveled at her aunt's adroitness in cooking, it amazed her to look at how people sway and swap ingredients to make a delicacy but when it comes to her, she didn't like it. Her aunt was a chef, food blogger, and because of her passion for cooking she normally takes order for different dishes either for wedding, birthdays or whatever occasion it may be.

When the orders are much, she called Adeelah and some of their cousins to help her. They all didn't look forward to days like those.

Adeelah collected the knife from her and started cutting the veggies. Aunt Siddiqa was two years older than her but she had to call her aunt and listen to her orders as her Oum taught her when she was alive. Oum said age is just a number and sometimes doesn't count. A twenty year old may be wiser and make a better decision than a forty year old.

"It's not fair, you know? I just came back from school. You didn't even serve me food." Adeelah complained, pushing away the chopping board. She began to imagine how her aunt even take orders. To her, cooking was one of the difficult things to do in life. She prayed she won't marry a man that would force her to cook because if she did, she would cry on a daily basis since she will have to cook three times daily. Adeelah did a silent prayer under her breath.

Her aunt looked at her and hissed playfully. She was doing it all on purpose because she knew what exactly Adeelah disliked.

"Shut up majnun and work!" Adeelah whistled a faux cry and after an eternity later, she finished cutting one onion with a sigh, constant rubbing of her face and running to the door and coming back in a jiffy. She turned to look at aunt Siddiqa.

"Aren't you filming it?" She asked, pouring the chopped veggies into a green bowl. By then, she had given up on nagging because it's obvious that her aunt won't reduce the work for her. She couldn't even believe that she had started enjoying it.

Aunt Siddiqa shook her head and transfered them to a drainer. She added sat to kill the microflora that may be on the surface of the veggies.

"I am typing this recipe because it's the first time I am trying it, when it comes out good, fine." She said, as she vigorously washed the veggies with salt and vinegar solution.

Adeelah rolled her eyes. "You will wash off the nutrients aunt," she said looking at the way they're being washed as if they were some fabric.

Aunt Siddiqa eased the pressure she applied to them. She whipped off the water on them and placed them on a clean cotton cloth.

"I want to wash off the bacteria and all. You know this microflora don't pity our stomach. Plus I got the veggies from a commercial garden which is very unhygienic." Adeelah just nodded.

She brought out a pot and put it on the cooker. She poured olive oil and coconut oil into the pot and cut some onions into it. She stired it with a wooden spatula.

"Give me those bottles." She showed up. The bottleboard was too high for her height and Adeelah was tall enough to grab it for her. Whenever she's alone in the house, she use a stool to get it. Since Adeelah was around, she would help.

Adeelah carried the five bottles down and stared at her aunt in question.

"They're homemade sauces. I made the onion sauce, garlic, soy, ginger and mixed spices sauce. I love to combine them all." Adeelah uncapped one of them and sniffed. The aroma was heaven that it made her tastebuds itch.