The difference she made!

His confession

 Fajr was in the kitchen doing the dishes when she heard Khalid calling; "Fajr... Come here!"

She shut off the water and rubbed her hands on the front of her apron; "Coming!" She yanked off her apron, tossed it on the dining table and walked out of the kitchen.

Fajr saw Khalid holding a chess box. He placed the board on the table, gestured for her to come and pulled out a chair for her. She sat down and tucked her short black skirt under her bottom.

"Are you familiar with playing chess?" Khalid asked.

He sat on the chair opposite of her and started setting up the pieces, the white pieces on her side, the black pieces on his side.

Fajr turned her attention to the rows of black and white squares; "of course."

She was observing him as she was waiting for the board to be set up.

"Ready to begin?" He asked at the moment he finished and looked across the board at her. Her baggy white shirt hung off her left shoulder revealing her smooth, flawless skin. "Do I need to remind you of the rules?"

Fajr shook her head, then asked; "But what happens if I beat you?"

Khalid leaned back, folding his arms across his muscular chest. He seemed amused; "well, what do you want if you win?" He rephrased her question.

Fajr brought her hand to her face, put her chin into her palm; "Hmm, you will take me shopping!"

"Unbelievable! you want to test my patience? you know I don't like shopping....and seriously why can not  women think of something else?"

Fajr smiled and shrugged carelessly; "that's my condition!"

"Ok deal! there's no way you win the game anyway. You have the first move."

When she lifted up her hand to move a piece, Khalid caught her hand; " you haven't told me what I will get if I win."

She moved her eyes and shrugged again; "whatever you want!"

A broad smile appeared on Khalid's face; "are you sure?"

"Yep!"

She moved one of her pieces, then waited for him.

His plan was to draw out the game by not cutting her down too quickly. He planned on beating her, but the point was to take as long as he could.

They continued back and forth for several minutes. Fajr took less time moving her pieces. On the other hand, Khalid wasn't paying much attention to the board, he really didn't need to. He enjoyed watching his wife instead. His eyes traveled from the severely knotted bun of hair on the top of her head, went down past thick, bushy eyebrows past a small nose and thin lips coated with red lipstick, then fixed on her grey eyes.

Meanwhile, Fajr was moving her pieces seemingly randomly around the board, her face wore a mask of concentration. He captured one of her rooks, and her queen.

Fajr sighed and spent a long moment studying the board.

"You'll have to come up with some kind of strategy, if you want to win." He teased her.

Her brows were knit together and her dainty mouth was pulled into a frown. Then her face cleared. She moved her rook across the board; "Checkmate" She told him smiling, still looking at the board.

"you say that when you win." He said patiently, not even looking at the board.

Fajr looked up at him confidently. "I know." She quirked an eyebrow and said slowly; "Checkmate."