Current Day
There is a nauseus churn in her abdomen. 'Ah, what time is it?', she quickly glances at the clock on her laptop's bottom right. It shows 8:10 PM. "Gosh! Not again.. " She shuts the laptop cover and heads to the kitchen.
"I waste so much time on facebook. I was in for 5 minutes and..and I never keep my word. What am I gonna tell him? He will be home anytime now. I haven't cooked a thing! Darn!What do I do? Google for a 15 minutes recipe? umm..Nah! will take me 20 minutes...quick..come on, think of something quick! Oh, you are a genius! Soup it is!" Her dark black eyes light up.
She butters up the wok, throws in some fine chopped onion, garlic slices, carrots and celery and adds 4 cups of water and leaves it to boil. She takes out veggies in the freeze and chops them- few mushrooms, corainder leaves, spring onion, tomatoes and grabs two medium potatoes from the pantry and dices them. In the meanwhile, water comes to a boil. She throws in the vegetables, adds the stock, gives it a stir and leaves the fire to do the rest. Five minutes more and voila! Dinner is ready. The door bell rings, just on time.
He is back, tired and weary, and hungry, not to forget. She sets up the table while he freshens up. She tosses a couple of bread slices with butter and garlic to accompany the soup. A warm aroma stirs up the dining hall.
"Mmh...smells nice", he picks up the aroma as he steps out the bath. Their eyes meet. She smiles.
They both sit down for dinner. As he takes in a sip of the soup, he notices her eyes following the spoon into his mouth. He pauses. "It's perfect...like always." She breathes a sigh of relief and smiles. She takes a spoonful herself and just as she tastes the soup, her face turns pale. "I forgot to add salt and pepper. And you tell me it's perfect?"
"It is perfect. What do I do? I like what you cook for me. I swear, it is delicious without salt too." She looks into his eyes, furious that he might be lying, while he makes that face and she can't help but let her wrath go. She does not know if she should be angry or be happy that he never minds.
"What do I do with this man? You are hopeless, you know that?"
He keeps silent and smiles. She tries to stop herself but eventually smiles back.
"I am going to add salt. Do you need some?"
"Whatever you like."
...............................................................................................
Later that night, she is already on bed, her eyes closed. Her mind is subconsciously rewinding the day's activity. She turns side with her eyes opening briefly. In that nano second, before her lids close, she has a tiny glimpse of him. Her eyes are fully open now. He is sleeping soundly by her side. His curls falling on his forehead, just the way she likes. She looks at the man beside her and kisses softly on his forehead, careful not to wake him up. A gush of emotions surges up her throat and her eyes well up. She immediately sits up as if to avoid purging. She wipes her tears and kisses him again.
"I love you so much".
This time, it wakes him up. He rubs his eyes with the back of his palms. He sees her sitting on the bed at the middle of night. "Why are you still up? What's the matter?"
"Uh.. nothing. Actually you were snoring, so I woke up", she says with a sheepish smile. Immediately checks if her cheeks are still wet.
"I don't snore."
"Yes you do. How would you know anyway?"
"I know 'cause I'm smart."
"Yah, yah smarty pants."
"Come here".
He grabs her by the hand and locks her in his arms.
"Now let’s see how will you escape my snores this time?"
"I hate you."
"I know."
.....................................................................................
To be contd...
