Collided (currently discontinued)

Collided- Chapter Six

Published: Friday, July 28th 2017 6:49 pm

Jummah Mubarak!!!

Collided- Chapter Six

February 21st 2018

        I always tried my best to help out around the house. To me it just didn't feel right to be living here as dead weight. If there was something for me to do or something that needed to be done, I wanted to jump on that and do it without hesitation. Sadly, that only lasted until my job and school took up most of my time. Before I knew it I was swamped with so much and I completely forgot about what I planned to do.

        Tehreem would hardly say anything about it apart from asking Amna and I to assist her in cooking, but she was usually the one to do all of the cleaning and cooking. But with her sudden declaration of pain, Ramadan, and summer coming up, it was time for me to pick up most of the slack. Ahmed was still away on a business trip, the kids are at school, Tehreem is resting, and I decided to do what I should have kept up doing a long time ago. Cleaning...

***

        One hour later I found myself laid out on the couch and using one of Amina's coloring books to fan me. Not only was I exhausted from doing all that I could to make sure the house was sparkly clean, the heat blew around the house giving it that winter warmness Tehreem loved. As the forecaster predicted, the tempurture had dropped tremendously over the last week, and it was now thick sweater weather. I might have been exaggerating about the heat not too long ago, but I've always been a cold person. I like the sunny weather, but the heat could kiss my butt.

        "Don't you have work today?" I sat up quickly, giving myself whiplash, as Tehreem descended the last step and eyed me tiredly, but with confusion. Her eyes wondered to the coffee table in front of the couch, and she groaned, walking towards it to rearrange the setup.

        "New schedule," I stated plainly, watching in sadness as she placed everything I had organized back the way she liked it. She then moved to the loveseat in the corner and moved around the pillows I had set up.

        "So when do you go in?" She kept her back to me as she asked me. Her hands moved around quickly as she fluffed the cushions on the couch and set the pillows the way she wanted them. "Hm?"

"Tomorrow. You don't like the setup?" I quickly asked when she moved from the couch to eye the living room from anything out of place. I have to stop her before she undoes everything I did.

"It just doesn't feel right," She placed her thumb and index finger on her chin thought. "Doesn't the room feel..."

"Feel...?" I questioned, slowly feeling my hopes of doing something right slip away as she found her words.

"Out of place!" She exclaimed, pointing at different places around the room and even the kitchen where I had dusted for half an hour. "Even this," She moved around the kitchen to pick up the fruit bowl. "Who did this? I never place the fruit this way, no."

"But couldn't you give the new setup a chance?" I stood up from my place on the couch and followed her movement into the kitchen and by the fruit bowl.

"I wouldn't be able to sleep if I left it this way, Jamila," She chuckled, setting the fruit bowl down and taking out a glass to fill up some water. "Would you mind helping me fix this—"

"I did it," I interrupted her with a sigh and gestured to my wrinkled clothes to prove my point. Her eyes widened as I said this and turned off the tap from running.