pleasantly surprised,” she added.
“My husband does not care for all that,” Sara protested. “But I will buy some new lingerie, I am not opposed to that,” she added and laughed mischievously. Soraya laughed with her.
“He is a man, of course he cares.”
“We have three children without me having a makeover, how do you think that happened?” Sara wiggled her eyebrows as Soraya laughed. “That will be you too, missy. I know you and Amir go at it all the time,” Sara said to Soraya.
“And I am leaving the room now,” Soraya said and rose to her feet. Aaliyah laughed and grabbed her arm.
“Come with us to the spa. I will go if we all go. It will be fun,” Aaliyah said.
“A woman needs to look after herself and keep things interesting for her husband. I agree, let’s all go. No one is allowed to stay behind,” Keira said as she helped Sara to her feet.
“I keep things neat and tidy,” Sara said.
“Neat and tidy? What are you talking about?” Soraya asked.
“Down there.”
“Oh gosh,” Soraya regretted asking as everyone started laughing. Leave it to Sara to bring up something like that. When they arrived at the spa, Keira went through the menu of items available and chose one of everything for all the girls. Laughing, they headed into the changing rooms for a day of pampering.
***
Finally, two days had passed and Aaliyah couldn't wait to see Joseph. Unfortunately, the girls were returning home. Sara had managed to prolong her work trip for as long as possible but everyone had to get back to work and their spouses.
The girls came to bid Aaliyah farewell before they left. “Good luck,” Soraya said before hugging her.
“Thank you,” Aaliyah replied.
“Stop worrying so much and just go with the flow,” Sara said to her. She could see how worried she was. Aaliyah smiled and nodded as Sara hugged her.
“Don't you feel amazing? The spa was worth it,” Keira said as Kaleena rolled her eyes.
Sara was eager to return home to her family. Tariq was having a hard time with the children and he had refused to call the nanny. Now that Leylah was four and the twins almost three, they had a penchant for getting into trouble and Tariq could not catch them when they split off in different directions laughing, as daddy gave chase.
***
Aaliyah looked at herself in the mirror. She had chosen a printed pencil dress and high heels. Her hair was extra silky because of the treatment she had gotten at the spa and her honey-colored skin was glowing. She headed downstairs to the lobby to await Joseph. They were going to spend the day at his house. He was already waiting for her when she exited the elevator. He was wearing a pair of jeans and a white shirt unbuttoned at the top, which showed off his amazing torso.
Aaliyah could feel his gaze before she spotted him. She immediately felt shy but tried not to show it. “You look beautiful,” he said to her as she approached him.
“Thank you,” she replied and kissed him on both cheeks.
“Your hair is different,” he pointed out as they headed to the car.
“Huh?” Aaliyah laughed. She was surprised that he noticed straight away.
“Did you do all this for me?” he teased.
“I did not!” Aaliyah lied. “We decided to have a spa day, that’s all.” There was no way that she was going to tell him that it was all for him.
“It's okay, no need to deny the fact that you wanted to impress me.”
“Stop!” Aaliyah giggled, but could feel her cheeks turning red. Of course he would find something to tease her about. He opened the door for her.
“Look at you getting all shy.” He was glad that he could still affect her this much. After all these years, he thought her interest in him would have died. Aaliyah slid into the car and ignored him.
“Where do you live?” she asked him as he started driving. She needed to shift the