Mrs Mahmud, Mrs Mas'ood

Prologue

30th September, 2020

For a Wednesday, Athena – his older brother's restaurant and lounge – was extremely busy. After spending hours in there, the inflow and outflow of guests no longer fazed him. His new focus point was the lady his brother was talking and laughing with at table 14; a lady that was not his wife.

Mas'ood Dantata narrowed his eyes and wondered what was going on. Zayd Dantata never left Amal – his wife – alone and this was a sensitive period for them as she had recently miscarried; their fifth in almost four years of being married.

"Before you kill Zayd," Hassan Tambuwwal – Zayd and Mas'ood's best friend (more of Zayd's than Mas'ood's) – said as he stopped right beside Mas'ood, "Amal said she pushed him towards her. She just sent me a text when she saw that I was shooting him that same look."

Mas'ood finally looked in the direction of the table Zayd and Amal occupied when they arrived earlier. Amal sat, looking as elegant as she always did. Her gaze was trained on her phone screen and a moment passed before she raised her head to glance at Zayd and the woman Mas'ood did not know. A near minute later, she looked back to her phone. A small smile then appeared on her face and Mas'ood felt relief creep in.

There was no need to murder Zayd after all.

"Chef?"

Both Hassan and Mas'ood turned to face the female employee of the restaurant despite the fact that Mas'ood was chef and Hassan wasn't. The female put her hands behind her back, a sign of respect towards both men who managed the restaurant on Zayd's behalf. "There's an order for the Indonesian seafood fried rice and the Chef de Cuisine thinks you should handle it."

Mas'ood frowned. "Why? He's more than capable of handling it himself."

"The order was placed by Architect Dantata on behalf of the lady he's with." She explained. "He wants to leave a first impression."

Maybe, Mas'ood told himself with a brief glare thrown his brother's way, there was still need to murder Zayd. He'd add a chuckling Hassan to the list.

He sighed and walked in the direction of the busy kitchen, the female trailing behind. A work station had been arranged for him and the other chefs knew better than to get in his way as he worked. That did not stop them from staring at him in awe the way they always did when he ended up in the kitchen to take care of one order or the other.

He worked quickly and neatly. Just as he was finishing, his phone rang. He glanced at the screen as he cleaned his hands and with a raised brow, he accepted the call. He brought the device to his ear. "Zayd, na rantse -"

"I know I'm troubling you and I'm sorry. I'll make it up to you, I promise."

"You don't have a choice ai."

"So Amal and I are leaving because she's not feeling too good. There's a lady on table 14, her name is Hanan Sufyan and the Indonesian fried rice is her order with a glass of virgin mojito to go with it."

"An order I had no choice but to take care of."

"Ya hakuri, dan Allah. Anyways, the food is on the house. I took care of the bill so just let her know."

Mas'ood's brows could not go any higher. "You did what?"

"Just attend to her, Mas'ood. I'll call you later. I love you."

Mas'ood hung up and muttered to himself. "That's the only thing that's saving you; the fact that I love you too." He put the device in his pocket and faced the other chefs. "Is the glass of virgin mojito ready?"

"It's been taken to the table already, Chef!"

"Thank you."

"You're welcome."

Mas'ood picked up the tray of food. With an exhale, he walked out of the kitchen. He easily found his way to the table and she raised her head when he set the food down. He kept his smile polite although curiosity burned in his chest. He told her it was on the house and when she asked how he knew her name, he told her who he was and explained that his brother was behind the free meal.

When all he got from her was confusion, Mas'ood told her Zayd was the one she had been with. His suspicion that Zayd hid his surname was confirmed when she freaked out.

Mas'ood's hands balled into fists at his back and he let out a long sigh before he muttered under his breath. "I swear zan kasha wannan mutumin."

At Nizamiye Hospital in the Jabi district of the capital city, he stood with the surgical team. His body gradually felt the exhaustion but he forced himself to keep working. They were almost done. The head surgeon was out of the operating room as the main part of the surgery was over. Only the suturing and cleaning were left. Since he was one of the assistant surgeons, he did it while the others watched on.

As she cut the suturing thread each time he told her to, Aysha Aliyu smiled behind her mask. "Should we go out for dinner tonight? It's been a while since we did anything together."

The other members of the team and the few students in the room with them agreed almost immediately. She looked at him when he said nothing. "Dr Muhammad?"

Mahmud Muhammad, the brother-in-law of Mas'ood and Zayd Dantata and Amal's older brother, kept his eyes on the work he so badly wanted to finish. "Maybe another day, Dr Aliyu. I already have plans." He pulled the needle out. "Cut."

She did, her face falling behind the mask. The anaesthetic nurse looked at Aysha and spoke gently. "We can always have one with him another time. Dr Muhammad is busy so let's not disturb him too much."

Mahmud said nothing and Aysha nodded at the other woman. "You're right." She turned back to Mahmud. "Next time, we won't let you say no, Dr Muhammad."

Mahmud pulled out the needle. "Cut."

Half an hour later, he walked towards his office while massaging his sore neck. He stopped when his name was called and with a sigh, he turned around. Aysha smiled as she caught up with him, her hands in the deep pockets of the sparkling white coat she now wore over her scrubs. "I'm sorry for the dinner invitation earlier. I had no idea you already had plans."

He let his hand fall to his side and he shot her a small smile. "It's alright, Aysha. Like Eunice said, there's always a next time and you already said you wouldn't take no for an answer."

Her smile widened and she nodded. "Exactly."

"So until then...I have to go, Aysha. Please have a lovely public holiday tomorrow. Happy Independence day, I guess."

"Same to you. Stay safe, Mahmud."

"You too."

He grabbed his white coat from the hanger when he got to the office and put it on before he gathered his things together. Ten minutes later, he was driving out of the hospital's premises and towards his parents' house in Mabushi; a house he refused to move out of. Not like his mother would even allow him to do so. There was little traffic as people had begun returning from work and school runs. He did not mind and he took his time.

When the help opened the front door for him a short while later, Mahmud thanked her and walked in. He had not fully stepped into the living room from the entrance lobby when he was pulled into a warm hug by the woman he loved with all his life. He let his bag fall to the ground before he hugged her back, burying his face in the crook of her neck and allowing his body relax after almost 24 hours of non-stop work.

Aisha Muhammad smiled as she patted his back. "Sannu, Mahmud. You did well today."

His arms around her tightened and he sighed. "Hi, Mama."

Her smile widened and she let her hand go up to softly cup the back of his head the way she had been doing since he was a child. "Hi."

~~*~~

See you soon!

- Latifah