‘Lady Sakina’ Shyla announces, holding the door to her room wide open. ‘Here is our new helper.’
I don’t have the chance to ask about Lady’s Sakina’s title, beyond the thought that surely, it’s a joke, before Shyla pushes me inside the room. I’m hesitant, walking in slowly, but quicken up when Lady Sakina beckons me to her side with long elegant fingers.
With the curtains half-drawn, the light trickles in, tinted blue, and the sun’s rays fill with smoke. I step inside the room, apple spice tobacco reaching my nostrils, and I take a deep breath in. Unlike my husband, I love a little tobacco in the air. I smart at the thought of him. No matter what lies between us right now, there’s no denying how much I miss him.