Against The Tide (Formerly Two Tribes)

30: Sink Or Swim

When Afrah opened her eyes and didn't see Jameel beside her, her mind started to drift to where he possibly could be. She didn't want to believe he had gone to Najah. Why would he even do that? It was true that they were married but in the real sense, they weren't more than mere acquaintances.

Initially, she wanted to go to his room and see if he had gone back there, but on second thought, she decided to make him breakfast for the first time. For a fact, she knew he would appreciate it a lot. And although she didn't really fancy cooking, she knew she had to step up her game if she didn't want Najah to snatch him away from her. Afrah wasn't blind to Najah's antics. A real definition of miss goody-two-shoes. Afrah had never seen someone as desperate as Najah was. The name alone hassled her.

As Afrah got closer to the kitchen, she began to hear voices from within.

"What do you want for breakfast?"

"Anything is fine."

Afrah halted in her tracks; her heart pounding aggressively in her chest. Jameel was with Najah!

"Is... Afrah too—?"

Hearing her name emerge from Najah's lips vexed her. For the first time, she found herself despising the name. The way she pronounced it sounded so hideous.

"Of course," Jameel replied.

Afrah chose the moment to make her presence known.

"But—" Najah's sentence was cut short when she sighted Afrah.

What?" Jameel turned around. He seemed more shocked than surprised to see her there. He didn't even make any move to go to her or at least speak to her. And that act vexed Afrah. She would have shown her disappointment if Najah wasn't there, but because she was, Afrah decided not to give her the satisfaction of witnessing any disagreement between herself and Jameel.

On the contrary, she decided to spite Najah instead. She would make the kitchen so tight for her that she wouldn't have any option but to leave them alone. Her presence was intruding. "AfMeel..."

Afrah narrowed her eyes at Najah as she called Jameel by her endearment for him. The confusion on Najah's face didn't go unnoticed by her and that make a triumphant smile curl her lips.

To make her even more uncomfortable, Afrah walked closer to Jameel and wrapped her arms around his waist, and placed her head on his chest. The sound of his heartbeat had irrevocably become her favorite melody.

"Good morning, Afrah," Najah greeted with a smile on her face. Even the blind could tell it was fallacious. "How did you sleep?"

"Oh, girl, you don't want to know!" Afrah mouthed to herself.

She turned to look at Najah; her arms still wrapped around Jameel's waist. "Splendid, right, AfMeel?" Afrah smirked.

Jameel didn't reply, instead, he removed Afrah's hands from around him and walked towards the cooker.

Embarrassed, Afrah masked her emotion with a poker face.

"Since you're already here, Afrah," Jameel said. "Why don't you join us in making breakfast?"

Afrah? Did he just call her that? 

"Sure," Afrah walked over to him. "You left me there and came here alone. Why didn't you wake me to come along? It's your fault we slept so late last night." As soon as the words left Afrah's mouth, she felt she shouldn't have gone that far. She had said that to diss Najah but she ended up feeling crappy for having to go that low.

Najah cleared her throat before speaking; "I think I left the tap on. I will go turn it off."

"Okay," Jameel responded. "Do that."