The princess of bloom

23. A caring wife.

A-mee-rah. It took three more taps before Zahra woke up with a frown. Abdul's head was right beside her chest, so quickly sat up and rubbed her eyes.
"What is it now?" She grumbled.

"Really Ameerah?" Abdul forced his eyes open and returned. "When was the last time I bothered you?"

"Did you have to wake me up from sleep?" She huffed despite knowing what he said was true.

Abdul breathed and said quietly, "I don't have time to argue with you now. I'm so tired that I can't move a muscle. Come help me."

Zahra was speechless and didn't move. The room was silent before Abdul whined her name again. She felt like scratching his face but eventually came down from the bed. After adjusting her veil, she squatted before him and took his shoes off. She sat on the bed and picked up his right hand which was limp already. She removed his cufflinks before going with the other hand.

"Khaleef," she called out.

"What?" He muttered.

"Have you eaten yet?" She asked. Thinking about it, Zahra started getting worried. They hadn't seen Abdul eat in the house for three days now.

"I ate something in the office," he replied weakly.

She sighed and tapped his shoulder. "Go and take a bath then."

Abdul was quiet before sitting up. He swiped his hair from his face and glanced at Zahra through the dim light.
"Don't go back to sleep okay? Wait for me." He said and stood up.
"What the…" Zahra was speechless but he had rushed to the bathroom already. She rubbed her sleepy eyes before picking up his clothes from the ground. She went into the bathroom and dropped them in the laundry basket.

Zahra returned to the room and sat on the bed. Casually glimpsing at the small clock on the bedside, she saw that it was 11:45 pm. Does he have to be so late? She frowned when all that Anne and Fadilat had told her. Khaleef is going to be working out handling the company, so you need to be a loving and caring wife. To assist him in keeping the company moving, your job is to take care of him.

Zahra pouted as the words etched into her head again. Was it her fault that she forgot? First of all, it wasn't a love marriage, so she hardly felt any care for Abdul and as a new wife, the responsibility was still new to her. She stared at the bathroom room, remembering how weak Abdul was, and felt uneasy. She has to plan her sleeping time now. Since her drugs made her drowsy after two hours, she would shift the time.

Zahra had her head down when Abdul came out in black pajamas. He had a bath but it hardly pushed sleep away from his eyes. He didn't even glance at her and collapsed on the bed again.

"Don't lie of your stomach Khaleef," Zahra said but he stayed still. That was the position of someone in hell, definitely not her husband. Zahra sat beside him and turned him around. She adjusted the duvet and lay down on the other side.

"Did he pray at all?" She wondered. She highly doubts that. Calling Abdul now would be useless, so she adjusted to his side and held his head. Whilst rubbing his hair, Zahra drowsily read the sleep azkars.

……..

The alarm rang and Abdul opened his heavy eyelids. He wasn't clear-headed yet and stopped the alarm. He turned his head, only to be met with his wife's face. He instantly felt her hand that was on his neck. Abdul was still for a moment before gently moving her hand. He sat up and moved her to the other side and she didn't even show any sign of waking up.

What a heavy sleeper. Abdul shook his head and went back to sleep. It was only after Zahra's phone started beeping that she woke up. She checked and saw it was 4:40 am. Zahra stretched her arms and caught sight of another being on the bed.

"It's past 30, what's he still doing at home?" She wondered. She would wake up at the same time every day but Abdul was already in the masjid for subh. By the time he returned, she was back to sleep, and today, he was surprisingly still sleeping.

"Khaleef." She called out. Abdul opened his eyes and glared at her. "What?" He demanded.

She curled her lips and said, "Come on Khaleef. Do you know what's the time now? Are you missing Fajr today just for sleep?"

Abdul's eyes widened and he sat up quickly. He checked the time and gasped. "Why didn't you wake me up Ameerah?" He glared at her, making her dumbfounded.

"We have different alarms, dumbhead." She returned. He pointed at her angrily before standing up from the bed. Even if he rushed out now, he would only arrive when the salat is done.

Zahra ignored his tantrums and headed for the bathroom for ablution. She came out before Abdul went it. When he was done, he met her praying.

"I hope that's raka'atanil fajr. Wait for me when you are done." He said and started his too. Zahra said her Salam and eyed his back. She still waited and when he was done, he led them in prayers. The two sat down quietly on the mat before Abdul cut the case. "You know, this is your fault Ameerah."

"Excuse me?" She glared at him.

"Don't give me that look okay?" He pointed at her eyes.

"How is this my fault?" She slapped his finger away. "I am sure that you heard the alarm and refused to wake up."

"That was because I was tired." He protested.

"Who helped you yesterday huh?" She asked.

"Just yesterday." He scoffed.

"You are not my responsibility." Zahra snorted and wanted to stand up but he pulled her back to sit.
"I am your husband, so learn to respect me Ameerah." He scolded.

"Wow. It seems you are loving this respect thing a lot." She mumbled.

Abdul exhaled and said, "Just do your job Ameerah. In the duration that you take as my wife, you have to fulfill that duty. If not, you are bridging the contract."

"Wait wait wait," Ameerah folded her arms. "I remembered someone saying that I shouldn't get involved in his personal matters. Wasn't that you?"

"I did say that but you know that helping me will assist the company and nobody will suspect this fake marriage. So it's your call. Do it or leave it," he smirked.

Zahra clenched her fist before she harrumphed and climbed the bed.

"Think about it," Abdul laughed as he laid down too. Zahra blocked her eyes and she closed her eyes.

They agreed to act as a married couple only in public, but she has to fulfill some of her duties as a wife just to keep the pretense. What's the difference?!