Inara was happy to meet the Cook, a funny pot-bellied man who emerged from the kitchen, which was a door away from the dinning. He dished the food himself from the bowls into two separate plates for both her and Lemuel.“You are both going to be dreaming of this delicacy for days to come. I took my time and ensured all my culinary skills were poured into this, seeing as it’s also a welcome meal for your lovely new bride.”“Thank you.” Inara said, smiling. He looked and sounded funny, reminding her of Super Mario. She liked him already.

Inara was excited when she saw that Lemuel was driving them towards Oxbow, the restaurant where he had engaged her. His mood so far had been nice so she was hoping that this time at the Oxbow, she would get to eat what she wanted. As though reading her mind when they sat down, he asked what she had wanted the first time he had brought her there.“Barbecued Lamb.” she answered.“You do like good food.” he commented, making

After Lemuel left, Inara continued to lie there, hurt and exhausted. The little solace he had given her had helped calm her down but her bum was still burning.She picked up the TV remote control from the bedside table and switched on the huge television peeking through the wall.When it came on, she switched stations to Heaven’s Vine, her father’s channel for their Church. She just wanted to see something familiar and comforting. Her father was concluding a talk on the screen.“Be strong, be courageous, never give up. When you fall, don’t stay down. Get up and rise again. The worst thing that can happen to a man is falling and refusing to get up. Until we meet again, I remain Reverend Anthony. Keep your head up.”Her father’s scene went off and was replaced with comforting scenes of nature like waterfalls and streams. It was something she liked watching but it was doing nothing for her right now. Only her father’s words Get up and rise again stuck to her mind, giving her some strength

Lemuel drove her to the supermarket where she had first sighted him with that model and there, he purchased what was needed for the diet. Then he asked if she could ride a bicycle. When she said yes, he lifted her up and twirled her around making her shy in the supermarket as people couldn’t help but steal glances at them.Lemuel had always envisioned a partner that would go cycling with him and Inara had come uninvited. Still, in that very moment, he was glad that she had the skill already.“Let’s pick a bike for you then. Fancy a mountain bike?”Was he kidding? A mountain bike was perfect. “Very much.” she responded, her eyes sparkling with interest and he gave her a kiss.“Nara you have just made my day.”His words gave her an opening to push her luck. He seemed to open doors for her when he was happy with her so she decided to seize the opportunity.“Can I make a request?” She a

Inara sped her bike through the streets, taking a longer route that steered off the location of Men’s Aura. The route that cut towards Lemuel’s office would have saved her ten minutes but being spotted on her bike was a risk she wasn’t prepared to take.Being the early hours of the afternoon, there was no traffic and she reached Zee’s place in about forty minutes.Zee met her outside, dressed like her but with black sneakers. They hugged and then lifted Inara’s bike into the booth of Zee’s truck. They reasoned that to save time, once the mission was complete, Inara won’t need to come back to Zee’s place but return home from somewhere closer.As soon as they were inside the truck, Zee passed a black beanie to her and wore one herself.“Zee, we look like criminals.” Inara said as she finished wearing hers.“We are what we need to be.” Zee said and started the car.“Zee we have to be fast. Lemuel can’t get home before me or I’m dead. He will skin me alive.”“I know. We’ll be fast.” Zee as