The scent of sautéed garlic
I woke up from the sofa with my head still aching, walked slowly while looking for him. I knew he didn’t wake me up so I could have more rest as I haven’t slept well these past few days. I found him fast asleep in our bedroom. His hands was holding his cellphone.
I took the phone and wanted to put it on the table. I looked at the time on the screen. It was 02.00 am. I smiled a bit because it turned out that he was reading a fried rice recipe until he fell asleep.
I remembered I last night cried because I felt sick and had only eaten porridge in the last few days. I’m also too weak to cook and I know these 2 weeks were his busiest time of the year in his office so he won’t have time to cook. Also, we couldn’t do delivery food for safety reasons.
I put the cellphone down on the table, watched him sleep and softly whisper “You’re such a silly guy”. I knew he couldn’t hear me because he is in a rapid eye movement sleep zone. I then lied down next to him and hugged him from behind.
The next morning I woke up and smelled the scent of sautéed garlic.
He helped me wake up, put a plate of fried rice in front of me, kissed my forehead and said “No more porridge for today.”
“Thank you babe” — I replied.
