"When the prophet was asked about which act leads people to enter Paradise most, he replies; 'Piety and good manners.'
-(Tirmidhi).

DASH OF DELISH. . .

Stepping into the cooking school 'Dash of Delish' Nana took a whiff of the smell. She thought the place will smell so many types of dishes but to her surprise, it smells chocolate cookies with milky coffee. That alone made her stomach rumble, an onomatopoeic sound with the need to eat everything around the place but suppressed it and continue to walk deeper inside where she saw a receptionist sitting with a frown etched on her brows. She's looking deep into something in her laptop so Nana took a little more time to look around the lobby.

There is a counter bench right in front of her. A very long one that curved to where the receptionist is sitting at. Under the other long bench that's facing her, there are so many cakes, cookies, cupcakes, coffees, waffles and some biscuits. Everything is very clear to her eyes because of the stainless, unmarked, discolored glass that they're encased in. She made a intellectual note to buy a lot of things here before leaving later. With that, she walked further to the receptionist.

"Assalamu Alaikum!" She greeted, putting on her dazzling yet polite smile that no one can ignore.

"Wa'alaikum Assalam." The dark skinned young receptionist answered, looking a little taken aback since she's used to people saying 'Hello' and 'Hi' or even rudely asking her.

"I'm here to see, Ms. Asma'u." She asked straightforward since she's almost late, just five more minutes and she's late.

The school asked her whether she wants morning classes or afternoon. She sat down with Zayn and ask for his opinion, he said she should take the morning one so that they can go and come back together. Maybe not come back together all the time but can go there together and his parent's driver will pick her up. The morning classes starts at 9:00AM and ends by 2PM while the the afternoon starts at 03:00PM and ends around 6PM.

"She's in a class down the hall. You'll see FL written on top of the class." She explained, pointing her index finger to the hall by her right side.

"Okay, thank you." She thanked her and continue her journey down the hall, passing three classes before spotting it by the end of the hall.

Taking a deep breath, she pushed her legs further into the class, hearing some chatters behind the closed double doors. She opened the door quietly but the made a sound so all the other people in the class pivoted to look at her which made Nana to almost burst the door open and go back where she came from but she didn't. She kept changing her footings from left to right, nervously adjusting the strap around her shoulder. They're only making her nervous with their silence and stares.

"Hi, you must be Aisha Talib." A woman who looks to be at the age of thirty five said to Nana as she silently walk around the counters to stand in front of Nana.

The class is huge and very beautiful. The paint around the kitchen is baby pink and sky blue with some kitchen stickers around. There are five counters with different colour each; red, blue, yellow, brown and maroon. It looks like they want the kitchen to be in colour riot. Each counter has two sinks. There are two counters filled with foodstuff and there is also a door by the side that has store room written on it. Nana is already excited to start cooking here. If only she'd added more effort to cooking when Aunty Zu started teaching her.

"Yes, I am." She released her dazzling smile at the woman, waiting for her to talk again.

"Welcome to my class. I'm Ms. Asma'u but you can just call me Asma." She stuck her hand for Nana to shake and she did.

"You can also call me Nana." She beamed at her.

Asma asked everyone to introduce their selves since they're all new there and no one knew each other. Nana introduced herself to her other nine colleagues who are extremely friendly. There are three Christians among them, two Yorubas, a Baruba and the rest are Hausas like her. She knew she will be great with two of them, Habiba and Zainab because they are very easygoing, lovely and they seem to like her.

Habiba is married with two children whilst Zainab just got married and wanted to learn more things to Cook for her husband. Nana also told them that she just got married three months ago.

"Okay, girls. Listen up right now, the introduction time is over and now it's time for us to start cooking! All of you guys here are quick learners so we'll be cooking two things in a day and sometimes more. And today we'll making Lemon garlic butter shrimp with asparagus and Sweet potato gnocchi with pesto." She cheered from the table she's standing erect at which is in front of them.

She paired them all with their partners and Nana was thankful that Habiba is her partner. They'll work just great so they all stood there and wait for her instructions.

Asma asked them to bring out all the ingredients they'll need after giving them a printed paper that has the ingredients they'll need for the whole day. They kept everything on the counter which to Nana is many because she's just thinking about where everything will be stacked in just the little things she mentioned which made Nana even more eager to see what they're going to do.

"Now let's start; Place a large non-stick skillet with 1 teaspoon of olive oil and 1 teaspoon butter over medium heat. Add asparagus and season to taste. Sauté until asparagus is crisp-tender, 4 to 6 minutes." She let them do that for the next six minutes before she continued.

"Wow!" Nana breathed out after doing as she's said.

"Remove from the pan and set aside. In the same pan, add two teaspoons of butter and add shrimp. Season with salt and pepper, cook to 1 or 2 minutes on one side. Add minced garlic, Italian seasoning and onion powder..." Asma kept going around while asking them to adjust this and that.

"And we're done with Lemon garlic butter shrimp with asparagus and now we should taste what we cooked and then take a break before we continue." She beamed when she tasted the one Nana did.

"How's it?" She asked with hopeful eyes.

"Perfect! You really have magic in your hands, you're a fast learner." She inclined her head before moving around the rest.

Asma asked them to eat what they cooked as lunch and ask them to take whichever soda they want from the fridge and eat with it. They finished eating and stood up to continue with the last lesson for the day. Nana can't stop beaming because of what she accomplished. If only she'd added more effort to what Aunty Zu taught her before she gave up, or maybe it's because Aunty Zu is not a good teacher. Or, because she thought she won't ever get married to cook for any other man but now that she's married and happy, she wants to do her best for her husband.

They finished the last dish 'sweet potato with gnocchi, sprouted pumpkin seeds, salmon, spring mix, sliced honey crisp apple, and some dark chocolate.' They set the food aside but she asked whether she could pack it and take it to her husband. She wants to take the food to his office since they've finished before the real time they were supposed to. It's only 1PM and they are tired so she asked them to leave when they are ready. Everyone has finished packing and ready to go.

"You're not leaving?" Habiba asked Nana as they both stood at the lobby, Nana is already picking what she wanted to buy earlier with another recipe book to add in her bunch of other recipe books they gave them at Dash of Delish when they registered.

"I'll have to call my husband first. I didn't drive myself so I'll have to wait for a ride." Nana answered her, taking another paper bag to put Zayn's lunch inside.

She dialled his number and waited for him to pick up but he didn't, she tried three more times but got frustrated and stopped. Sensing her mood, Habiba offered a ride to which she gratefully agreed to even though she doesn't know where her husband's office is. Shame on her.

"Borkan Steels and Iron? I know the place, that's where my husband works." Habiba grinned like her face is about to split into two making Nana chuckle.

"Yes, I think that's the name." She agreed before calling Maaysa to ask about Khumais and confirm the company's name.

"We're here." The ladies both dismounted out of the car and to the entrance of the eight story building with light brown huge windows all around giving orange glow because of the sun rays.

Nana is really impressed with what her father in-law did and can't wait to explore inside. She and Habiba walked into the lobby but Nana stopped when she saw Hidaya having a heated argument with one of the workers there. She brushed it off and went straight to the woman who looks like the receptionist. She asked if she could see the boss but the lady said she needs an appointment and he's in a meeting so she sat down in the waiting room.

Ten minutes later, she saw Mashhub walking into the room whilst talking on the phone. His eyes immediately dropped on her and he hung up the phone to talk to her.

"Why are you sitting here?" He asked with incredulous eyes.

"They said he is in a meeting and I'll have to wait." She almost pouted but she remembered that she's not talking to her husband nor mother or brother.

"What?! Come with me." He started walking out of the waiting room almost angrily.

Nana tug at Habiba and ask her which department her husband is and she told her where he is and they took the beautiful rectangular elevator. She kept safe distance between her and Mashhub and they rode the elevator to the last floor.

"Wait in this office, he'll be here shortly." Mashhub told her and ask Habiba to follow him so that he'll show her where her husband's office is.

The office she's in is definitely Zayn's. The office is huge and you could see the streets outside bustling with so many people through the huge window that let's sun rays to shine the room with orange hue. The curtains are not draped down so the room looks like it's shining because of the sun. A huge black table with glass top sat by the window with a swiveling chair behind it. A brown shelf filled with files by his left while two couches and coffee table is by his right.

She sat down and kept the lunch for him, waiting for him to show up but someone totally unexpected did.

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Salam!
How are you doing peeps? I hope everything is going great with school and registration and settling down. Don't forget to VOTE COMMENT and SHARE. . .
QOTD: Who do you think is it? About Habiba and Zainab? The school? Ms Asma? About Hidaya's heated talks? What do you think?!

Bye!
Aishatu_X