Chapter 38

                                    

                                          
     "Wake up, Amira." Hassan shook her lightly when they got home. She groaned and turned her face the other way.
     "Babe wake up." Hassan chuckled, prodding her lightly.
     "Can't I sleep in peace?" she mumbled and closed her face with her palms.
     Hassan shook his head and turned over to the passenger's side. He picked her up bridal style and shut the door with his foot, then took her inside the house. He contemplated whether to take her to her room or take her to his. Sighing, he dropped her on the couch and went back outside to bring her boxes. She had given her apartment key, kitchen utensils and buckets to her friend who had an extra year. Amira didn't have plans to go home after her convocation so she paid for another year's rent, but fate had something else in store for her.
     She stirred in her sleep and fell off of the couch with a loud thud. She groaned as the pain hit her back. Hassan sat on the other couch with a straight face, trying not to laugh at her.
     "Are you fine?" he asked her.
     "Who put me on this couch?" Amira glared at him.
     "I don't know, you walked there yourself." Hassan couldn't hold it in again so he started laughing.
     "You..." She stopped talking and threw a throw pillow at him. "It's all your fault I'm in pain "
     "Why are you so violent Amira?" Hassan threw the pillow back at her.
     "Why are you so mean? You could've put me in the room." Amira pouted.
     "I'm sorry, next time I'll put you in the room." He smiled. She nodded and got up. "I'm hungry."
     "Me too, do you want to eat out?" Hassan asked her.
     "No, I'll just cook." With that, she skipped to the kitchen and began cooking.
     "What can I help you with?" Hassan asked as he stood by the door.
     "Nothing, I can handle this alone."
     "Alright." Hassan walked into the kitchen and took out another chopping board.
     "Don't stress Hassan." Amira said seriously.
     "I'm not stressing." He shrugged and began to cut the carrots. Amira stared at him for a long while, not daring to look away. She watched as his palms moved swiftly and how his eyes were fixed on the board. She didn't know when the green beans she was chopping reached the end, so she mistakenly cut her finger.
     "Ow!" she cried out in pain.
     "What's wrong? Let me see." Hassan pulled her to the sink and opened the cold water tap. "Stay here while I get the first aid kit."
     "It's just a small cut, there's no need." Hassan ignored her and went to get the first aid kit. 
     "Sit." When she didn't move from the tap, he turned it off and pushed her down a kitchen stool. He cleaned the cut with an antiseptic and wrapped the finger in a plaster.
     "Seriously Hassan this isn't necessary." 
     "Does it still hurt?" She shook her head and picked up the knife.
     "What are you doing?" Hassan collected the knife and put it in the sink.
     "Trying to chop some vegetables." She rolled her eyes.
     "Don't worry, I'll do it."
     "No, I can't-" 
     "Shh, just be a dainty little princess and let me cook. What was it you were about to cook?" He smirked.
     "Spaghetti." she huffed and looked away.
     "Your wish is my command. You can go to the bedroom to rest. When the food is ready I'll call you." 
     She shook her head. "No it's fine, I'll just stay here. At least to be sure you wouldn't try to poison me."
     "Is that what you think of me?" Hassan asked, putting some oil in a pan.
     "No, not really. But I really do think you want to kill me in my sleep." She smiled.
     "Haha, I can't kill you even if I wanted to. I'm too young to live without a wife." Amira blushed and suddenly, her feet became the most beautiful thing she'd ever seen because her eyes were glued to the floor.
     They remained quiet, none of them willing to talk. Hassan finished preparing the spaghetti and dished it into two plates. He handed one to Amira and kept the other on the counter, then brought out two glasses and a big bottle of water. 
     "The food is surprisingly not bad." Amira commented, twirling another fork into her mouth.
     "Surprisingly? You seem to have forgotten how good I am when it comes to cooking."
     "The food isn't even that nice, just average." She shrugged and ate some more. When she finished the one in her plate, she got up and scooped some more from the pot into her plate.
     "The food isn't even that nice, that's why you're eating seconds." Hassan mocked in a low tone, but loud enough for her to hear.
     "I'm just hungry, nothing special about the spaghetti." She waved him off.
     "Sureee..." Hassan drawled out. 
     After eating, Hassan washed the plates because he didn't want water to get into her cut. 
     They went back into the living room to watch a movie for a while when Amira's phone rang. The sound of an old Nokia ringtone blasted through the living room. 
     "Hey girl!" Amira smiled.
     "I'm fine, yeah I just ate. How's home? Say hi to your parents. Honestly? I'm tired. I miss you already. Alright bye, love you." She hung up the phone and smiled. 
     "It was Hasna." Hassan nodded and looked at her phone. "Where's your seven plus?"
     "Oh I sold it when I needed money." She shrugged.
     "You needed money? Couldn't you have asked me?" Hassan frowned.
     "Well technically, we weren't on talking terms. By the way, I made my bank block transactions from you and my parents." she said nonchalantly.
     "Wow!" Hassan raised a brow.
     "I know my parents were sending money to Hasna but I never collected it. I hated you all at the time." 
     "So what changed?" he asked.
     "I guess, me? Being angry at my parents was actually quite stupid and childish of me. Now that I look back at the past year, it was pointless not talking to them. I regret my decision though." Hassan nodded and gave her a small smile.
     "And Hassan, I'm sorry for how I treated you. I mean, I-"
     "No Amira, I'm sorry for breaking your heart. I shouldn't have cheated on you in the first place. You had every right to be angry at me but babe, it was too long. I knew you wouldn't be angry forever."
     "Well aren't most men scum? Men cheat all the time so I should've just sucked it up and enjoyed the first year of my marriage."
     "It isn't too late to enjoy our marriage Amira." With that, he planted a soft, passionate kiss on her lips.