Paris, France.
March,2020.
They slept in late after fajr. In the morning, Aslam woke up earlier than Amna and called for room service breakfast. He got a bouquet of roses and scribbled and I am sorry note too and placed it on the nightstand.
When she woke up, he was in the balcony on a call with Mami. She noticed the bouquet first and then the breakfast spread which made her tummy grumble.
He walked back into the room just when she was about to walk into the bathroom.
"Good morning, babe." He smiled.
"Good morning," She replied and walked into the bathroom.
When she walked out there were droplets of water on her face and hair.
She walked to the table and looked around.
"Kaci breakfast?" She asked.
He shook his head "No. I was waiting for you to wake up."
"Ohh."
She sat down and took a bite from a croissant.
"Babe..." he sighed "I am sorry."
She looked away.
"I really am, I shouldn't have said what I said." He pleaded.
She stirred her tea and took a sip from it.
"Baby, talk to me please." He pleaded.
"Meh kakeso ince maka? Eh?"
"You don't trust me ne? Kana da trust issues ne?" She asked.
"Babe please let's forget about that, I am sorry." He sat next to her and cupped her face with his hands, then ran his thumb over her brow.
"Forget about it? That's not happening. You know a simple sorry doesn't fix this also? It's not about just what you said—it's about how you made me feel. Like you don't trust me."
He nodded, he knew he had already cracked her "I know. I know, and that's why I'm sitting here, telling you I messed up. I don't ever want to make you feel that way again."
Amna remained quiet for a moment. "Aslam, it's not just about this one time. You can't just brush things off when they get hard and expect a simple sorry to fix everything. We have to talk about these things properly. If something bothers you, you need to tell me in a way that doesn't make me feel disrespected."
"I'll do better."
She shifted slightly in her seat and sighed. "I don't want us to keep going in circles with this. We need to talk things through, not let them fester. I don't want to ever feel like my boundaries or my relationships are being dictated. That's not what marriage should be."
She made him his own cup of tea and handed it to him. She had an eggs benedict with salmon, a lot of pastries and her tea. They extensively spoke about how they felt for about an hour. They took turns speaking. They both agreed each person's feelings were valid but certain behaviors and actions were not. And spoke about the need to be accountable for what you do as a result of those feelings, which their marital counselor once mentioned.
