UNCONDITIONAL

III

Although her night's sleep was interrupted, Noor woke up at 5 AM sharp. Following her daily routine, she brushed her teeth and changed into her workout clothes. They had a private gym at her custom built Mediterranean style home, so it was a matter of crossing another hallway before she reached it.

Running a minute early today, she waited outside the door for Prem to go from the treadmill section of the gym to the weights section. Within a minute the door of the treadmill section of the gym flew open and he walked out before disappearing behind the door to the weights section. She had caught a glimpse of him and that was enough for her to start her day and her morning workout. She headed over to the treadmill.

Once back into the living area of the house, she arrived at the dining table to see her breakfast laid out. Taking a seat at the table, she waited impatiently for the most important item of her day. Within seconds, one of the servers rushed out of the kitchen with Prem's water bottle.

"Apologies ma'am, instead of bringing it to the kitchen, he left it behind in the gym today." She apologized as she placed the water bottle before Noor.

"He can leave it wherever he wants to. It is not his job to bring this to the kitchen, but if I'm not mistaken, that is exactly what your job is." Noor's disapproving tone left the server nearly shaking.

"It won't happen again. I'm sorry." She repeated.

"You may leave." Noor waived her away before picking up the bottle and drinking the water out of it. Prem's leftover water from his morning workout was the first thing she consumed each morning. It was the only thing that kept her feeling connected to him as their last meal together was almost two years ago now.

Later, Noor was heading out for work when she heard some dishes break in the kitchen and hurried over to see what the commotion was about.

"Do you call this shit food? Make me something else!" A woman Noor couldn't stand for a single second screamed at the chefs and the servers. She turned around at the sound of Noor's heels at the kitchen entrance. Arms crossed, eyes piercing deep into her soul, Noor took a slow, intimidating walk over to her.

"This...is not a restaurant. It's my house. The food prepared here will be of my choice. You're standing in my kitchen, speaking to my staff. One more word in a raised voice at them, and I will have you dragged out of here. Is that understood?" Noor spoke in a low, threatening voice.

"I'm not scared of you." She managed to say in spite of being clearly terrified. "I'm Prem's guest and I will do whatever I want." Her voice broke as she shrugged taking a step back. "Also, shouldn't you be thanking me right now? My busy schedule let you borrow your husband from me last night." She had the audacity to invite a smirk to her lips.

With a quick unforeseen step forward, Noor grabbed her by the throat and backed up against the wall behind her. She reached over for the knife on the counter next to her and brought it up to the throat she was holding. "Talk about my husband one more time, and I will slit your throat open." Noor wasn't joking. "You spend enough time with him to know I can do that, right?" She asked as she ran the knife along the side of the horrified face.

"Noor!" Called out an angry voice from behind her causing her to drop the knife at once. She turned around to see Prem dressed in a crisp cherry colored suit at the kitchen entrance. She took a moment to appreciate the day for bringing him across her twice in twenty four hours. She admired his beauty for a second before looking back at his mistress and pumping some hand sanitizer onto her palm from a nearby bottle. Slowly rubbing her hands together, she walked over to Prem and looked him in the eyes, "take care of your whore before I do."

"You will stay the fuck away from her." Prem advised in a dangerous tone.