Chapter 52 33: Regret

"But I didn t say anything wrong, Ya Fareed. You should ve said to him that, 'Mujaheed, try this soup, Nana made it but I stirred it for her when she was praying. But the way you said it is an intellectual theft, Ya Fareeda! You violated my copyrights."
At this point, Mujaheed couldn t keep his laugher anymore, because he knew if it was visible, they would ve already seen the flames of anger coming out of Fareeda's ears. "Intellectual theft? Copyright? Nana I'll make sure to send you to your grave today!" She strangled her and Nana kept screaming.
Mujaheed laughed before he dropped down the plate and went to them, he peeled Fareeda s hands off Nana s throat and shook his head at her, "What if she dies, Fareeda?" He asked with a hint of laughter on his voice even though trying all he could to sound as serious as he could.
She rolled her eyes before she smacked her on her thigh, "I ll just have to bury the idiot! Copyright, huh? I'll learn how to cook, and you ll have to beg me before I'll let you eat my food."
Nana coughed and pouted her lips, "Then if that happens, we ll make it this way. All the foods I've cooked for you were a loan and you ll have to pay it back. To be fair to you, you ll have to make whatever I want to eat for a month. It s not equal, but I'll manage that way to clear your debt-"
Fareeda lounged forward to make sure she had Nana s throat in her palms but Mujaheed firmly held her as he chuckled, "Nana, if you don t have a death wish, run back to the mansion and save your life!" He warned and she knew better than to stay in the same space with Fareeda for at least a day now.
"Goodbye, Ya Fareeda! I'm sorry and forgive your little angel, I love you!"
Fareeda glared at her as she ran out of the mansion before Mujaheed released her. "Fareeda, why are you so furious over this little issue?"
"Little issue? You re the one supporting that girl and I'll make sure I break every bone in her body." He sat down beside her and hugged her to himself while he smiled soothingly at her.
"That s not it, she just wants to see you happy, and you know how stubborn Nana could be."
She sighed exasperatedly and turned to face him, "I want to join a catering school." She said firmly with all seriousness in her eyes.
Mujaheed threw his head back and laughed despite how he kept forcing himself not to laugh. "Why? Are you serious?" He knew cooking was among, if not the most hated things to Fareeda.
She pulled her body away from him, "You re laughing at me," she pouted her lips angrily and wrapped her hands around her chest.
He suppressed back his laughter and shook his head, "No, why would I laugh at you, Fareeda? I'm just wondering how you could do that, I know you hate cooking the most."
"But I want to be cooking for you. At first I want her to teach me, but now I don t want it anymore, I'll join a catering school."
"Is that what you want to do?" He tenderly asked and she stubbornly nodded her head with her pout still unshaken on her face.
"Then you should, so as long as it will make you happy."
She immediately turned to look at him, because she thought he wouldn t let her join any catering school. "Are you sure? I can join?" She asked excitedly and he nodded his head at her.
"Yes Fareeda, if that s what it takes to see that smile on your lips, then you should do that." She squealed and hugged him tightly, giggling excitedly. "But you should make sure not to burn down the house in the name of cooking."
She looked at him and punched his chest, "Mujaheed!" He chuckled before he kissed her lightly on the lips.
...
She drove into the house with a smile on her lips, excited to go and cook what she had learnt today. It was still a miracle to her how Alhaji allowed her to go to the catering school, but deep down she knew it was because Mujaheed told him and not her, if not, he wouldn't have trusted her enough to let her go. And even after he had agreed, on days Nana didn t have school, they went together with her and she had the best moments she wanted.
She took her bag and hopped out of the car when she saw Asma u and Fareeda couldn t even remember the last time she had seen her. She stood in front of the car with an arrogant expression on her face and Fareeda wondered what that meant. Yes, she was still aware of the kind of person she was, but each day spent with Mujaheed boosted her self esteem to an extent and now no matter what Asma u might say to her, she might even end up beating her until she lost her consciousness.
"What are you doing here?" She asked, trying walk out of the parking lot when Asma u stayed on her way and flashed her a look full of hatred that Fareeda wondered how someone can hate his blood sister to the extent that Asma u hated her. Why? Because of a man or there was something more to it?
"You think you ve won, right, Fareeda?" She asked coldly and Fareeda palmed her face out of exasperation, because she knew she might not have the patience to deal with Asma u stupidity today.
Fareeda lifted her chin up, remembering Mujaheed s word when he told her that she should never feel ashamed of herself. We all sinned and the only one she should hung her head down toward was the almighty, whom she would have to beg for forgiveness and he was the ever forgiving, the most merciful. "What do you think you re trying to do, Asma u? Look, I don t want to make a habit of hitting my family members, but really, I might just knock you down here, Asma u, to even make it easy for whoever it is that s going to take you to the hospital."
Asma u threw her head back arrogantly and laughed while she clapped her hands, "Wow, you really get some nerves there, Fareeda. So, you ve finally gained the courage to speak back at me, right?"
"Who do you think you are?" Fareeda asked as her eyes turned bloodshot with her anger. She didn t want to tolerate this girl, she might just knock her out of her breath in any moment. "Well, don't you dare think that because of the last encounter we had, I'll have to stay like that forever. If you ve forgotten the old me, I'll make sure you remember how I used to be. I don t want to vent out my exhaustion on you, now, get out of my way." She pointed at her and Asma u held a stoic expression on her face.
"Do you really think that just because you re finally regarded as his wife, you have the guts to do whatever you like and say whatever comes to your mind? Don t forget about my promise to you, Fareeda. Since you dare got intimate with him, crossing my chance of having him as mine, I can as well kill you and have him all to myself."
"I'd love to see you try, and I assure you, even if you ve succeeded in killing me Asma u, Mujaheed will never take you in as a wife, not to talk of love you." Asma u was about to speak when Fareeda held her index finger up and stopped her, "One more word and you ll force me to to give you the beating of your life. You might ve forgotten how painful it stung when I hit, but ask your mother, I'm sure she still remembers." Fareeda pushed her out of her way and was aware that she had nearly fall down but she didn't look back at her.
She was about to bring out the key of the chamber when he walked into the house and her face immediately lit up into a smile. "I'm exhausted." She whispered and hugged him, knowing so well Asma u was still standing in the parking lot, having a full view of them.
He lifted her face up and smiled, "Did they expelled you, or are we still safe?" He joked, and she pouted her lips.
Excitedly, Fareeda lifted her face and grinned at him, "I've learnt something today, let s go in, do you want to learn how to make it too?" He lightly kissed her lips and she gasped while he chuckled and took her hand as he guided them into the chamber.
"I don t have much time on my plate, but anything for the wife." She laughed, enjoying it when he referred to her as the wife instead of her name. She didn t know what was happening to her, but her life had been the best when she had decided to forget about everything that reminded her of Adam and focus on herself, her husband and Nana. These two people were the only people that made her life truly beautiful.
They went directly to the room and he helped her got out of her hijab and she immediately increased the temperature of the air conditioner. "How was it today? Did the hijab suffocated you like before?" He made her wore Hijab before she left, and even though she hated wearing hijab unless she was going to pray, she had to oblige. And so far, she had even been more comfortable in her hijab than any clothing she had ever worn.
"No, it was fine today. Everyone kept saying this mustard color suited my skin, I think I should buy more clothes with the color, don t you think?" She asked as she sat down on the edge of the bed and he sat beside her, looking at the way she took off her veil and smiled when she let her hair down.
He pinched her cheeks and shook his head, "You aren t allowed to buy anything for yourself, I'll do that for you, okay?" He fixed his gaze on her and she smiled and nodded her head, even though she wanted to argue with him about this. But there was once a time when they had a fight because she ordered an abaya online and when he collected it for her from the delivery man, it was only the power of god that stopped him from burning it and buying a new one for her.
She lifted her feet and placed then on his laps, he looked at her and she flashed him her best puppy eyes, "Please, Mujaheed, I don't know why my legs feel so heavy for me these days, I can t even stand for too long."