Chapter 34 22: Attention Seeker

"Nothing, I just want to stare at you as you sleep. And you sleep beautifully between." He smiled and her eyes flickered at their entwined hands for a moment before she smiled again. She didn t know how she was finding it possible to keep on smiling at him, but what scared her the most was that she didn t pretend in her life. If she did or said something, then that was how she felt in her heart. "Have you gotten the henna for me?" She asked while she placed her feet down on the floor, feeling the warm concrete floor as it chilled her skin. "I did, and that s why I was late and didn t get to pray in congregation. We have to pray together now, hurry and perform your ablutions." She smiled and nodded her head. Mujaheed watched as she walked into the bathroom and he sighed while he smiled. He didn t know, but he had noticed she was more lenient today, more submissive. And he liked that about her. He had her in his mind for all the hours she had slept, and the way her lips tasted had stuck in his mind throughout. He had to come and sit beside her because all he cold think of was the taste of her lips in his, the softness of her body and how her hands felt when she had them in his hair. He knew controlling himself would be so hard for him since he had done the mistake of knowing what it felt like to kiss and be kissed by Fareeda Kamal Sardauna. She came out of the bathroom with water slowly dripping from her face and smiled at him. "Let s pray, I want to apply the henna." They prayed, and for the first time in her life Fareeda prayed together with a man. She knew Adam had been her first in some things, but in all the things that mattered to the soul and melted the heart, Mujaheed was her first. She realized that she had never prayed with Adam before and had never thought about it. But standing behind Mujaheed as the words of the Almighty rolled down from his lips provided peace to her soul. After they were done, they went to the kitchen to make preparations for the henna and she turned to look at him with a whiny expression as he cooked while she dealt with the henna. "Nana always help me with this and now I don t think I can do it alone." She said with a sigh and he kept the spatula before he came to her, she was sizing and shaping the black sellotape. "I know Hajia wouldn t allow her to come, at least not after what you did to her, Fareeda. But I'll try and help you with it, I think I ve once helped someone with it, I can do it." He smiled charmingly at her and despite the glare she wanted to cut his eyes with, she smiled back innocently. "Who did you apply it for? Your wife? That one you don t want me to know about?" She giggled when he shot her a hard glare and stubbornly nodded her head. "You aren t going to scare me with those mahogany eyes of yours, I must say it, Mujaheed. Who s the one you re talking about? She should be your wife, right? What s her name? The way your talk about her alone is evident that you love her, what a lucky woman she is!" He stared at her for a minute and smiled, slowing down the gas to let the food simmer as he came back and sat down beside her. "Whoever I love will be tagged as a lucky girl?" He asked with a mischievous smile and Fareeda wanted to smack herself for always not knowing how to keep her thoughts to herself. She rolled her eyes at him and fixed back her gaze to the sellotape before her and counted if she had reached twenty for all her fingers, hands and feet. "What s so special about you that she ll be tagged as a lucky girl? I think the wrong word slipped off my tongue, I beg your pardon." "Fareeda, you re so stubborn that it amuses me all the time. What is there if you just say it out? Come on, say it." He laughed as he nudged her shoulder and she placed the razor blade and turned to look at him. "What do I need to say? I'd appreciate it if you stop putting words into my mouth, please." She rolled her eyes and was about to get back to her work when he held her hands and smiled, putting up a feign hurt expression. "Say it, 'Mujaheed, I d be lucky if you fall in love with me. Nothing will change in you, not even the honey color of your eyes, Fareeda." He stated and she punched him lightly on the chest before she shook her head. "You must ve been mistaking me for someone else. It s Fareeda Kamal Sardauna, incase you forget. I have something to do and for you? Ahh!" She screamed while she pointed at the cooking pot and he quickly stood up and rushed to the gas, "The food might get burnt while you look at someone s daughter as though you re going to eat her alive. I bet if you aren t in love already." She laughed at the hard glare he threw at her while he worked meticulously and took care of the food. He made sure the food was set in the warmer before he came back to the chair and sat down, "Only one thing will prove that to us, whether I'm already in love or not, but I doubt if I am. Do you want to prove me wrong?" She threw her head back and laughed, shaking her head. "No, thank you. I know you aren t in love already and you can't even fall in love with me, we re not meant to be, and you re so serious to have made such a mistake. One way or the way we ll have to find our separate ways." Mujaheed felt a squirm in his heart, he hated it when she made lousy comments like this with a smile on her face and act as if nothing had happened or she hadn t said anything wrong. "What s wrong?" She asked, taking up her razor blade as she went back to work. He just kept staring at her, wondering that if there would be a chance for them to go their separate ways, she would be okay with that? She wouldn t feel bad without him? Like he knew he wasn't in love yet, but she was the only person after Nana that he had let close to him, opened up to even though all he let them knew was how he looked like and sometimes how he acted as, but he was certain it would hurt terribly when he wasn t together with her anymore. "Nothing," he said as he stood up, taking the bowl she had mixed the henna in and walked out to the living room with it. She watched him as he kept taking the food items to the living room and before he left the kitchen for the last time, he turned to her and spoke, "I ll wait for you in the living room after you re done cutting the sellotape." And she watched his retreating back before she sighed and fixed her gaze firmly on her work. She knew what made him acted this way, he didn t like the comment she made, but at least this wasn t the first time she had made such comment, was it? She made sure she remembered him about the possibility of each of them going their separate ways lest they became so comfortable living with each other. What she didn't understand was the reason why he pulled up that expression, was he worried? Had he gotten used to her already? To even the point that he will be so worried that she had said such a thing? And as sadly as this might sound to her, she knew it was already too late. She walked to the living room after she was done and found him watching the television but with just a single glance Fareeda knew he didn t even know what was happening. He looked ruminative and at least Fareeda didn t want this to happen between them today. If it was some other day, she would have shrugged off her shoulders and went about her business, but she wanted things to get better between them. At least for today. She smiled, gulped down her ego before she placed down the tray of her sellotape and walked up to the sofa he was seated. She sat beside him with a charming smile on her lips and he didn't look at her, "Mujaheed!" She whined, and that forced him to look at her pouted lips. He stared at her but without saying anything and she whined again, "What have I done? You don t even want to look at me?" She asked with a smile at the edge of her tone but she knew she had to act all innocent and cute if she wanted him to forgive her. "Nothing," he said as he shook his head, "Let s eat then you can apply the henna." He was about to step down from the sofa when she held his hands and he turned his attention to her, "I told you, you did nothing wrong, Fareeda. Can we eat?" She stubbornly shook her head, enjoyed the heat going on between them. She loved it when he was acting all stubborn and tough when all he wanted to be was pampered and loved. "No, we can t eat, until you forgive me at least." "You don t done anything wrong to me, Fareeda. I don't know of it even if you ve done something. I'm famish-" before he finished what he was saying, she planted a quick smooch on his lips and his eyes dilated and she ducked her head down shyly before she mustered the courage and looked up at him. "There, is that enough for you to forgive me?" She asked with a soft and shy smile and Mujaheed despite wanting to be angry at her over and over again, he couldn t. The way she looked, with almost half her hair showing and innocent merged with beauty dripping from her eyes. The way her shy smile added sophistication to her face and just her, being Fareeda Kamal Sardauna was enough for him. He shook his head mischievously, "That isn't enough, but this might be enough." With a swift, he had her in his arms with his hands cupping the back of her head as he kissed her harder than the first time he had kissed her. Fareeda grinned softly and kissed him back, she had been craving for that since she woke up and found him intently staring at her. He kissed her until he felt their breathe were going to halt and they pulled away from each other to take a breather and he smiled at her when their eyes met, "Now, you re forgiven. Should we eat?" She grinned and nodded her head at him.