Chapter 51 32: Cooking Saga

"Come on, Nana, what is it?" He laughed as he tilted Fareeda s head to his side, and when he did, she looked into his eyes. "Tell me, Fareeda, does she have a boyfriend?" Fareeda was about to speak when Nana screamed at the pitch of her voice, cutting her of guard. "Ya Fareeda! Not even a word, remember your promise!" She kept shaking her head at Fareeda and Mujaheed laughed so loud because he couldn t believe what Nana was hiding. "And you, Ya Mujaheed, how can I have a boyfriend? I'm just 14 years old, that will be regarded as child abuse, isn t it, Ya Fareeda?" She asked, and Fareeda laughed before she nodded her head. "Yes, it would have been regarded to as child abuse if it didn't happen the other way round, don't you think, Nana?" "Ya Fareeda!!!" She whined at the pitch of her voice and stomped her feet on the floor, they all burst into a peal of laughter, amused to see the way she looked. "Okay, I won't probe you to tell me now. Let s cook, what are you learning, Fareeda?" He slowly pulled himself away from her but firmly held her hand and she smiled without looking at him. She loved how tenderly he treated her, with so care as though she were an egg he was afraid might break. "I don t know," she shrugged off her shoulders, not meeting his gaze still. "She told me she s going to teach me how to cook your favorite but this girl has been playing around with the ingredients that I don t understand it anymore. What would be this favorite of yours, Mujaheed?" She asked casually and turned to look at him. He held her gaze for a few minutes before he smiled and landed a smooch on her cheeks. "For the one she knows, it s white rice and okra soup, should we make it together?" He asked, and Fareeda flashed him an askance look and wondered how he had learnt how to make things all by himself. "I've been wanting to ask you," she began as she turned around, her curiosity making her forget that she was supposed to be shy of him, not this outspoken around him. "How did you learn how to cook? Especially that gruel you ve been making me when I was sick, it tastes exactly like how Mama does it." He grinned and stubbornly shrugged off his shoulders, "I don t know, maybe I've once met your mother and she taught me how to do it so if by chance I get married to her dear daughter, I can make it for her whenever she s sick." She pouted her lips and looked displeased. "Mujaheed!" She whined, "Will you please be serious for once?" She asked and he nodded his head. Over yonder, Nana was only flashing them an amused look. Because this time yesterday, when she came to see Fareeda, she was all alone by herself and she looked in pain even though she hadn t uttered anything to her but Nana always realized whenever she was in pain. "I'm being serious now, Fareeda. What do you want me to tell you? How my wife taught me how to do it, or what?" She hardened her expression and he felt overjoyed. He wanted to make her jealous, being jealous had never looked so beautiful before. She turned to look at Nana despite his hands that were on her shoulders, "Nana, I guess Mujaheed has never told you before, but he used to have a wife, or he still have a wife." Nana gasped and looked up at Mujaheed, "For real? Is she the one you once..." "Nana!!!" He screamed and Nana threw her head back and laughed before he turned to Fareeda that was already glaring at him, he immediately shook his head at her, "It s not what you think, Fareeda, I promise. She s lying, oh my god, Nana!" Nana kept laughing, amazed at what she had done. He released his hold on Fareeda and glared at Nana, "Nana, will you tell me her the truth or not? Do you want to bring an end to my marriage?" Nana lifted her hands still choked with her laughter as Fareeda glared at both of them, "Ya Fareeda, don t kill us with your looks, please. He has never mentioned any woman before, and I'm also surprised when you said he used to have a wife, because he has never told me about her before." Mujaheed nodded his head when Fareeda s gaze fell back on him as they stood in line together with Nana as though being interrogated in the court. "She's right, I have only one wife and that's Fareeda Kamal Sardauna." She rolled her eyes at him and spoke before she walked out of the kitchen, "I have lost the interest to cook now, if you two are done, I'll be waiting in the living room." They watched until she walked out of the kitchen before Mujaheed turned to Nana and landed a smack on the crown of her head. "You promised me, Nana!" He spoke through gritted teeth, lowering his voice to make sure Fareeda couldn t hear him. "But that was your mother you told me about, and what was it you said about her? Just the cooking, right? And I just want to make you feel what I felt too, nothing more." She lowered her voice as she spoke too and out of no where, Fareeda poked her head into the kitchen. "You don t have to speak in whispers, your voices annoy me more that way, unless any of you have a death wish." They gasped at the same time and she walked to the living room stifling back her laughter. Mujaheed turned to Nana with a grin on his face, "Tell me, Nana, do you have a boyfriend?" He inquired nosily and she shrugged off her shoulders before she went back to the cooking gas. "How can I have a boyfriend? It s nothing, she just wanted to pull my legs." She wasn t meeting his gaze, and that was enough proof that she was lying to him. He feigned a hurtful expression, "Nana, I thought I was your best friend?" She rolled her eyes at him and went back to the sizzling pot, "You still are, but there are things that can only be discussed with girls, don t you think?" He moved closer to her and grinned, unbothered about her pout or the occasional glare she sent his way, "Tell me, is it the one things only girls discuss between themselves? Never want a guy know about?" She sighed angrily, "Ya Mujaheed why are you like this? I told you it s only girls matter." "I just want to know because you ve never kept something from me." "It s nothing you should know. If you can cook, fine, let s do that. But if all you re standing here for is to know what I'm hiding, then I'll appreciate it more if you leave me alone, please." He chuckled and moved closer, "Tell me, is it about your period? Like I don t know, but I know that girls always keep the first time they ve seen their periods to everyone unless the girls they trust." She dropped the spatula and screamed, "Ya Fareeda!!!" with her eyes clenched shut that one would think he was trying to either kill or molest her. He backed away immediately, knowing so well if Fareeda came there it wouldn t be good for him, "Nana! I not going to kill you!" He held his hands up with his palms out in a gesture for peace. "I'll be out, call me on the phone when the food is done, it s cooked for me anyways." He rushed out of the living room without waiting for Fareeda to ask him what it was about while he laughed at the pitch of his chest. Nana would forever be a character he would never understand. One day she ll act all sensible like a grown up woman. And the next day, she ll be the childish person he d ever get to meet in his life. ? "Can I come in?" He called out from the door and they chuckled while they stared up at the door. "Mujaheed what are you doing?" Fareeda asked with a hint of laughter on her lips and Nana chuckled too. They had never knew he could be this dramatic when he wanted to. Because with one look, one might think he had never laughed in his life, he looked as serious as they had ever seen a man be. "Someone told me that girls have something they talk about, I don't want to intrude." Fareeda shook her head before she went to the door and unlocked it. She watched as he smiled at her before he walked into the room and hugged her lightly before he kissed her cheeks, "I ve missed you." She blushed and tried to hide her face into his chest, "You haven t been out for two hours, Mujaheed..." She let her words trailed off when she felt him trying to kiss her neck, "Nana is here, Mujaheed. Come on, you haven t eaten your lunch." He entwined their hands and when they look up, they met Nana s amused eyes on them. "I'm going to say something, but Ya Fareeda will kill me before my life ends." They sat on the same sofa and chuckled at the dramatic expression on her face, "Say it, but if you know killing you will be the easiest way to cool myself down, I won t hesitate to do it, Nana." "I'd rather save myself, then." She groaned and the two of them laughed. Fareeda served him and she fixed her eyes intently on his face as she watched him eat the most hideous concoction to her eyes. "How do you eat this, Mujaheed? Don t you feel nauseous?" He chuckled and asked, "Why don t you try it yourself? It s not as bad as you think it is, Fareeda." She immediately shoved her face away from the spoon he handed her. "I'll pass on that, thank you." Scrunching up her face, she began to eat her food as well, which Nana made another soup for because they both couldn't take the concoction Mujaheed so much loved. Their attentions all were on the tv as they watched while they ate when Fareeda lifted her head up and directed the spoon she was holding into his mouth. He was about to ask her why when she shoved the contents of the spoon into his mouth. "I made the soup, how does it taste?" "Ya Fareeda! You only stirred it for me when I was praying. That's not how to make soups!" Mujaheed watched the hard glare Fareeda sent her way and knew what would be coming next, "Nana, the very day you ll take your last breathe, I'll make sure I make it so painful for you!" She threatened, and Mujaheed had to stifle back his laughter because he knew if he dared laughed out loud, it would only be him and Fareeda in this game.