Judging Me | On Hold

{Chapter 19}

"Sometimes laughing in your most depressing times makes things more bearable, even if it is just a little bit."

{S Y E D A}

I ring the door bell and the next thing i know is that door is open and Adnaan is at the door, in a terrible yet funny state. He has oil stains on his shirt, flour stuck in his hair, his hands dripping with water, sleeves rolled up and a plate with one, single paratha (really crispy roti) on it.

My mouth hangs open. He gives me an irritated look and runs a watery hand through his floury hair.

"What you lookin' at?" he says giving me a glare.

I close my mouth but end up opening it again, a laugh escaping from it.

Adnaan rolls his eyes while watching me laughing my heart out.

"Just-just to make o-one para-paratha you get this-this messy," i laugh, clutching my stomach and wiping off a tear beginning to come out my eye.

I place a hand onto the concrete wall, trying to hold in my laugh and control it.

"If your done being psychotic, please, come in," he say, both his hands, well one hand the other has a plate with a paratha, leading into the house, his back bent slightly, an absolute fake and silly smile plastered on his pink face and his voice tinted with irritation and annoyance.

"Why yes, sir," i say, dipping into a curtsy, fuelling the fire blazing in his eyes.

I walk in, taking the plate in his hand, heading to the kitchen.

"Oi Syeda, give it back! Do have any idea how much time that took me to make?!" he says, running after me.

"Exactly why you need so much help from the one and only me," i say, placing the plate on the kitchen counter.

Gosh! The kitchen is even messier than him.

I shake away my thoughts and start to order him around.

"You clean the kitchen, whilst i make the parathas but first i need to get changed and wash my hands," i say, throwing him a mop, which he catches effortlessly.

"Yes, mam," he says, saluting me.

"Oh, shut up," i say, rolling my eyes, strolling out of the kitchen and into my room.

~After cleaning the kitchen, making a batch of parathas and praying~

Adnaan somehow made the kitchen squeaky clean, Osman is too busy setting up the table, making sure everything is perfect. What i mean by perfect is that all the plate must in line, all the glasses must be in line, all the utensils must me in line, the tissue box must be perfectly in the middle and all the chairs must have equal space, at times i think this guy has OCD but really he is just a perfectionist.

I just placed the last paratha onto the stack of four, now five, when the door bell rang. Adnaan, already finished cleaning, dried his hands and went to open the door. A few seconds later, i hear my mums angelical voice.

"Assalamualyakum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuhu."

"Wa' alaykumus salam wa rahmatullahi wa baraktuhu," me, in the kitchen, Osman in the dining room and Adnaan probably next to Ammi managed to say in unison.

I dry my hands with a cloth and take the plate of parathas into the dining room. Osman already there, takes the plate from me and puts it in a place, again trying to make it look perfect.

What a perfectionist.

I roll my eyes and go to my mum. She embraces me, her sweet vanilla scent wafting up my nose. I enhale it in before breaking the embrace and giving her a toothy grin.