Enthralled

capitulo trece.

"You know you don't have to do this, right?" Mahdi had been repeating the same sentiment since he'd walked into the house.

I'm sure that he must have been horrified to come home after a long shift, only to discover that I'd turned the entire place upside down as I attempted to deep clean it. The cleaning had started the night before; Cairo was staying at my parents' house over the weekend with the other little ones and I was feeling useless. It had started out small- I'd rearranged a few things in Cairo's room and before I knew it, I was attacking the house one room at a time.

Mahdi had walked in at the worst time because I'd taken photos and artwork off of their respective shelves and haphazardly stacked them while I dusted me wiped down each plank of wood. "I know that I don't have to, but I'm bored!"

"Glad to see that you're coping while on sabbatical." Mahdi's strong hands began to knead my shoulders as he placed a quick kiss to the side of my head. "You've lasted three weeks Rinze, maybe it's time to go back?"

I sighed deeply, knowing that it was all that I wanted to do. While I loved being at home more often, I constantly felt like there wasn't enough to calm my racing thoughts. Some people were built to live in calm, domesticated bliss, however I was not one of them. "I think that if I've made it to three, then I might as well take the full four. How do you feel about me going back to work?" My cleaning project had been put on hold as I grabbed Mahdi's arm and dragged him to our bedroom.

We'd had a routine now; when he came back from work, I'd lay in bed with him while we spoke about nothing and everything until he fell asleep. I would trace his face in the way that always relaxed him and we would enjoy that tiny slice of bliss.

"Me and you are the same, Rinze. These jobs that we've taken on make us who we are. I just don't want you to work yourself to death." Mahdi offered me one of his heartbreaking smiles as he pulled off his t-shirt and tossed it in the hamper.

Like always, he was right and the time away from work had done its job in that regard. I got to experience all of the little moments that I missed when I allowed myself to be sucked into an extra shift at the eleventh hour. "And that is totally fair Latif, I promise to only work my contracted hours. Director Tyler will probably be happy to hear it, she was never the biggest fan of my work/life balance."

"Proud of you." Mahdi got into bed and lifted the covers for me to follow. "Are you still avoiding your therapist?" His voice was softer and I knew that he was fighting sleep to talk to me.

I curled into him and hooked one of my legs over his body. "We don't need to talk about that right now. You're tired and you need to sleep."

"Mm, you're deflecting." He looked at me with a sleepy smirk. I loved him like that; sleepy and carefree- it was the only time when he didn't appear to be carrying the weight of everyone else's troubles.

I started to trace his face, deciding that it was better to stay quiet. He was tired and further conversation would only rob him of much needed rest. It didn't take much time for Mahdi's breathing to even out and before I knew it, I'd dozed off as well. Only Mahdi was capable of making me feel safe enough to fall asleep with practically no effort. Sleep was as easy as placing my head on his chest and breathing him in. I woke up after a short nap and got on with my day- that included finishing my cleaning job and then taking Onyx out for a walk.

Onyx and I took a few laps around the neighborhood, and by the time we returned Mahdi was awake and in the kitchen. Onyx bounded over to him excitedly while I headed into the living room. Mahdi joined me on the couch with two smoothies in his hands and I briefly thought back to living with Lani. She would always make me a smoothie before I went to work. Sighing, I grabbed my phone and sent my best friend a text to see what she was up to, Leilani and I hadn't seen each other in ages, despite the fact that I had been off work for almost a month. It was difficult to find a free moment when she was busy finishing up her degree and working full time while also being in a relatively new relationship. However, we kept in constant contact with each other through calls and texts which in many ways was enough for us.