Chapter 2

After breakfast, Marwan went back to his room to continue finishing his assignment while Maisarah and Said (their father) left to work.

Said took the New Proton Saga to work while Maisarah rode her motorcycle to work. Said did not say much to them and left to work.

“Ibu, I am going,” Maisarah said while she shook her mother’s hand. She got on the bike and left for work.

A few minutes after Maisarah left, a black Honda Civic car arrived and parked in front of the house. A man who looked to be in his late 20s got out of the driver's seat.

The man went to the back seat and opened the door. Two beautiful and cute boys came out of the car. The first boy was around four years old while the second boy was 2 years old.

Both of the boys looked a lot like the man and they also had some resemblance to Said.

While the man took the boys out of the car, Zainab (their mother)came to the front door. When she saw the boys, she smiled happily.

“Danial! Danish! Come to Nenek here,” Zainab got out of the door and went to the front gate happily.

When the two boys saw Zainab coming, their eyes lit up and rushed to her excitedly.

“NENEK!!!” They shouted excitedly.

“Ow! Ow!” The two boys ran and pounced on Zainab’s embrace. They were quite energetic but Zainab loved their energy.

“Ibu, I am sorry again,” the man apologized to Zainab.

This man was the eldest sibling of Maisarah and Marwan, Mohd Muaz Bin Said. Out of the three siblings, he was the only one who was married and had children.

“Hmm~ it’s okay. I love them to be here too. I am not going to be lonely at home,” Zainab replied sweetly while patting the two boys' heads.

“Sigh… maybe I should find a different caretaker. This one has been taking too many vacations,” Muaz looked apologetic.

It was not easy to take care of kids, especially active kids like Danial. Danish was a bit tame but Danish ran around a lot. Muaz did not want to increase his mom’s burden but it was an emergency.

“Do you want me to help? I can ask some of my friends if they know a good caretaker,” Zainab spoke and she added, “Or you can just let me take care of them. It is not like I am busy and I love spending time with my grandchildren.”

“It’s okay, Aleeya and I will think of something. I am sorry again, Ibu,” Muaz apologized again.

“It’s fine.” Muaz took the bags filled with his children’s stuff and put them in the living room. After that, he talked for a bit to Zainab before he left. He needed to rush to work too.

After Muaz left, Zainab closed the gate and locked it. With the two boys there, it was safer to lock the gate. Who knows what would happen if she left it open?

“Nenek, I want to watch a cartoon,” Danial asked cutely.

“Okay,” she turned on the television and clicked on the most common cartoon channel in Malaysia, the Astro Ceria.

After the channel was on, Danial and Danish were glued to the television immediately. Zainab took the toy bag that Muaz brought on the carpet while the other bags were on the sofa.

Zainab checked on the time and it was 7:15 AM. “I need to send the Kuih now.”

“WAN!!!” Zainab shouted but there was no response from Marwan. She went to Marwan’s room and knocked on the door. “Wan! Are you sleeping again?”

The door opened and Marwan peaked his head out of the door, “Yes?”

“What are you doing? I shouted just now and you are not responding.”

“I am doing my assignment while listening to music,” Marwan pointed at the study desk where his laptop was on with a headphone connected to it.

Zainab glanced at the laptop and said, “I need to send the Kuih. Look after Danial and Danish for a bit.”

“Huh? The brats are here?” he peaked towards the living room and saw the two kids sitting in front of the television. They looked so focused and possibly could not hear a commotion happening behind them.

“What brat?” Zainab glared at him. “You shouldn’t call your nephews like that,” she reprimanded him.

“Anyway, look after them a bit,” Zainab spoke and added, “Don’t hit them!”

“...” Marwan was speechless, ‘Am I that kind of person?’ he thought in his mind. “OK.”

Zainab left while Marwan got to his laptop and brought it outside. He made sure to close his room door as he did not want the two kids to get in.

He once left it open and the duo got in and caused the room to be in a chaotic state.

He arrived at the living room and since the two brats were too focused on the cartoon, he let them be. He did not want to disturb them or they would start running around.

Marwan continued with his assignment while glancing at the two boys once in a while. Zainab left the house in another car to send her Kuih to a restaurant she had a deal with.

***

While Marwan and Zainab were busy at home, Maisarah was stuck in a traffic jam. A common occurrence during the morning. The adults were going to work or sending their kids to school. With so many events happening at the same time, it caused this scene.

Although Maisarah was riding the motorcycle, the jam-packed traffic caused her to get stuck there too.

BRR!! BRR!!

While she was waiting for the traffic to move, she felt her phone vibrate. Since they were not moving, she decided to check on her phone. There was a message from a person named Rafiq.

When Maisarah saw that name, she smiled sweetly. She unlocked the phone and clicked on the message.

Rafiq: Salam, are you at your workplace now? *smiley face emoji*

Maisarah smiled and typed in her reply.

Maisarah: No and I am stuck in the traffic now. *frown emoji*

Rafiq: Ow, that is harsh. Are you going out late today?

Maisarah: Not really but I guess everyone wants to come out at this time today. Sigh.

Although Maisarah replied with a helpless tone, she was full of smiles while she replied. The duo continued exchanging messages.

While she was typing, the car started moving. She quickly finished her message and sent it. Maisarah put her phone inside the motorcycle’s basket and moved along the traffic.

Less than a minute of moving, Maisarah arrived at the intersection she needed to use to go to her workplace. It was packed with cars and motorcycles too and she was stuck once again.

She had a helpless face and decided to check on her phone again. There was a new message and after she read it, she replied and this continued for a few minutes. While she was exchanging messages with her boyfriend, the traffic would move slowly.

As she got used to it, she did not even put off her phone when she drove the motorcycle. Then, while the motorcycle was moving slowly, she saw an ad playing on the advertisement board beside the road.

[New Flavor ~ Mangosteen Rush] it was an ad for a chocolate brand with a new flavor. The model for it was a new rising actress Liyana but Maisarah was not looking at her.

“That looks delicious,” she gulped while looking at the new chocolate and then, a message came. Maisarah was excited with the new message and when she wanted to check it, only one of her hands was on the motorcycle handle.

In excitement, she accidentally pressed on the gas.

VROOOM!!!

“!!!” Maisarah was extremely shocked, “KYA!!!” she screamed as her motorcycle zoomed forward and hit the car in front of her.

BANG!!!