But I had to take this one step at a time. Especially with a kid caught up in the middle of all this.
Samir: Or I could come over and cook us dinner? I don’t mind either way.
His reply came as I returned to work.
Cole: Sure. That’d be nice.
I smiled and replied with a confirmation before I tucked my phone away, though the rest of the day, I couldn’t put away the promise of tonight’s dinner.
By the time I clocked out, I had a shopping list and a plan and got to it right away.
“Have a great time, Mr. Ali,” Elliot wished me from behind the counter.
Zainab, on the other hand, smirked.
“Hope you get lucky.”
I thanked Elliot and ignored Zay and left the bookstore in a rush to get to the grocery store before it closed.
An hour later, I was standing on Cole’s front door with two full bags of groceries and my smartest casual clothes I owned.
“Hey.” Cole opened the door, Ella by his side, holding his hand.
“Hey back,” I said and crouched down to greet the little one too.
“Sami!” she exclaimed and threw her hands around my neck, hooking onto me for dear life, and I couldn’t help but hoist her up when I stood back up.
“I guess I’ll take these.” Cole chuckled and picked up the grocery bags.
He closed the door and guided me through the house. For some reason, the main bedrooms were on the first floor, and the living room and kitchen were on the second.
“My parents wanted to have a view in their sitting room,” Cole explained on the peculiar setup.
As soon as we landed on the second floor, I stopped and took in the view.
“I can’t say I blame them,” I said.
Beyond the floor-to-ceiling windows was a clear uninterrupted view of the night sky and the moon that offered some ambient light in the otherwise dark living room.
After a moment, I put Ella down on the kitchen island and turned to Cole.
“Thank you for offering to cook,” he said.
“Thank you for having me,” I said back, and he smiled.
He looked so sweet, so breathtaking in his home environment. For some reason, it wasn’t what I expected it to be like. I didn’t know if I thought he’d have a bachelor pad or something similarly chaotic, but it was a pleasant surprise, nonetheless.
“So what are we eating?” Cole asked, and I started taking out the groceries and prepping my surface areas.
“How about lamb Surbiyaan? It’s saffron rice with lamb and caramelized onions.”
“Mmm, sounds nice.” Cole licked his lips. “Doesn’t it, Ella?”
Ella looked back at us, doe-eyed, and I laughed.
“Don’t worry, Ella. After tonight, it will be your favorite meal.” I patted her head and got to work.
Ella watched me for a while, but then Cole distracted her with the Christmas tree that still stood naked in the corner of the living room. While the rice boiled, I helped them out and continued to go back and forth until the food was ready and the tree resembled a piece of art; one of those abstract ones that featured splattered paint on a canvas and gave it a peculiar name like A Day in the Mountains.
