His Other Half

Seventy-two

Omniscient

Ahsha had gotten home first and after getting Nasir settled with the nanny she went to take a shower. It wasn't until her hands had begun to wrinkle that she exited the shower. She took her time moisturizing her body before she got dressed. As soon as the door opened she saw Malik sitting on the bed.

"Hi." She said. He didn't speak. She looked at him with a raised eyebrow. "Something wrong?" She asked. Silence. "You don't hear me?" She questioned. Nothing. She stared on confused. "What's your problem?" She asked watching before he stood.

He stared at her with this look in his eyes that left her a little stunned. Malik held his hand out for her to grab. She looked from his hand to his face before grabbing it. He brought the palm of her hand up to his lips meeting her eyes again before kissing it. A shiver washed over her before he led the way downstairs.

As soon as they reached the bottom of the stairs she could smell something delicious. "You cooked?" She said with a smile. Malik chuckled at how happy she got.

They continued into the kitchen and her smile grew at the sight. Spread across the island was all of her favorite food and drinks. She looked up at Ares and Pablo only to see the same look Malik had upstairs. She let go of Malik's hand. "Why do you three keep looking at me like that?" She asked.

"Like what?" Ares asked tilting his head. "Like you have something to say." She said. "Maybe we do," Pablo said. "Or maybe we don't." Malik chimed in with a smile. "Did something happen? Am I missing something?" She asked as she began to grab some food.

"Did you mean what you said?" Ares asked. She looked up at him and then at Malik and Pablo. "About not needing us," Ares added. "But still wanting us?" Pablo finished. Ahsha licked her finger not missing their eyes following her movement. "Yes." Was all she said. "Was that for Abeba or us?" Malik asked. "Both." She said keeping it short.

Pablo rolled his eyes at the one-word responses. "You know you can use more than one word." He said causing her to smile. "Why when it's getting under your skin?" She asked.

"Is that really something you want to do?" He asked her. "Maybe I do." She said licking the sauce off another finger. "Maybe I don't." She added.

"The real question is why are you three being weird about what I said?" She asked. Ares went to move towards her, but Malik stopped him. She looked at the two of them curiously. "What is it?" She asked wiping the rest of her fingers clean.

"We don't really know," Pablo said. "Know what? What is going on?" Ahsha asked. "Something happened during the hearing today and we're not really sure what it is," Malik said. "Okay describe it because I didn't see anything." She said.

"It was during your monologue," Ares said as his voice deepened. "We felt this sensation take over our bodies," Malik said.

"What sensation?" She asked growing worried. She went to move only for them to back away from her. Her mouth dropped before a look of confusion covered her face. "Wha—," "I think we're going through some type of heat," Malik said. Ahsha's eyes widened before she laughed.

"I'm sorry I don't mean to laugh but I can promise you are not going through heat." She said. "How do you know?" Ares asked.

"Because I'd feel it also and I don't." She said. The three of them glanced at each other skeptical because they knew what they were feeling. "Okay, fine. Tell me what you're feeling?" She asked.

No one spoke. "Did your body start to warm?" She asked. They nodded their heads. "Your hand got all clammy?" She continued as they once again nodded their heads. "All you could think about was being close to me?" She said as she moved towards them.