ENSHROUDED

7

He straightened himself, "I'll help in the kitchen, then." And like a clingy child, he followed her into the kitchen.

Aisha turned and saw him standing at the kitchen island. "Have a seat and watch all I'm going to do. You shouldn't touch anything unless I ask you to. I can't have a Dr sick." She chuckled at the face he made.

"But I want to help, you're too young to cook for a whole family, Aisha." He said and walked over to where she was bringing out all she would need for the breakfast.

She turned and was now facing him, with her hands at akimbo, Aisha playfully glared at him. Over this week, she had become so close to Nasir that she felt he was the only wall she had to lean on for her broken self. He made her laughed more, smiled often, and she had her thoughts running away from her at the thought of him. She could remember when he asked her to get ready that they would go to the tailor and collect her clothes.

She wore the mustard coloured Abaya he chose for her and the moment she sat in his car, he swooned internally. It took him minutes before Nasir ignited the car and they hit the room. He was looking at her through the peripheral view. When Aisha got tired of the looks, she said. "Dr, why stealing glances at me?"

He turned and looked at her completely, without minding about the room and it was just a matter of seconds before Aisha screamed, "You're going to get us killed, Dr!"

He chuckled and looked ahead at the road, "This is what will happen if I'm to look at you the way I want. Between, you look beautiful with this abaya."

She smiled at him and touched the embroideries. "You said it will look beautiful on me, and it surely did. Thank you." Their eyes met, and they both smiled.

Remembering that memory now, Aisha smiled and said, "You know, Mommy used to tell me that if we were in a village, I would've been married. Maybe with a child or two now. I can manage a family, so cooking for one will never be a problem."

He had heard enough about this Mommy and wished he had met this wonderful woman that raised Aisha. She would surely be a once in a lifetime kind of woman. "Umm...so Aisha is now telling me that she wants to get married. Should I help and tell Mama?"

He laughed loudly at the look on her face, she was utterly confused. "No, I didn't say that. Dr!" She half shouted. And he laughed even more.

She turned and started dicing the carrots, not taking a look at him. He leaned in on the counter, smiling at himself. "But seriously, Aisha. I wish you were born in a village and bred in one."

Looking at him in askance, Aisha asked. "And why? Because you hate me so much that you want to see me suffer in a village? Having two kids to take care of, with their big nothing of a father and probable depression due to the emotional stress?"

He didn't know she spoke this much, because the first time he saw her, she was so calculative of her words. But even now, she wasn't yet comfortable with Mama as she was, with him. "No, how would I wish that upon you? I only wished you were born and bred in a village so I could get you at a young age. But here, one has to wait."

He was sure she didn't get his words, judging from the answer she gave him. "You have me here now. We talk, laugh together, eat together. I converse the most with you in this house. What do you have to wait for?"

"The day you'll start calling my name."

"That day should better not come, then!"

With his words ranting in her ears from one angle to the other, Aisha cooked her breakfast and he helped her in arranging the table. She asked him to call them while she hurriedly took her to bathe, and so he did. When she was out, they were already seated on their seats and waiting for her.