Forbiden Fruits

Hubby and large hulking son (LHS) were unexpectedly called out of town so it's just us girls for the day. Hubby felt bad that he hadn't gotten the car repaired before he left. He was worried that it might breakdown while he and LHS were gone and there would be no one to come to our rescue, so he made us promise that we would only use the car for work purposes. "No unnecessary trips till I get back and get the car fixed," he demanded. We all solemnly agreed and sent him off to Karachi in the first light of morning, but once a blanket of darkness covered Isloo, we girls had other plans.

There's a new bakery in town. Rahat Bakers opened in the Blue Area 2 days ago. Abez says it has great gateaux, a kind of French cake. Personally, I haven't had any, but I trust Abez's judgment on this matter.

I was nearby on Monday but didn't want to fight the noon traffic and the grand opening day crowds so I returned home sadly empty handed. This afternoon I was just blocks away, but with only 20 minutes to get to my next class, I again missed my chance. Soclose, and yet so far away.

This evening when I returned home from my third class, I told the girls we needed milk and a few other essentials and we should head up to the local plaza for a little shopping adventure. Abez replied, "Oh, I plan to have more adventure than that."

"Rahat Bakers?!" I asked wide-eyed.

"Absolutely,” she whispered.

I gasped. "Daddy said no unnecessary trip while he was gone. That's makes it forbidden fruit."

"That's the best kind." she replied, clearly wiser than her young years would indicate.

Under the cover of a cool Isloo night we stealthily made our way to the Replacement Car, then a quick u-turn and we were on our way; three girls in search of gateaux and adventure.

Soon we spotted the lights of the Rahat Bakery. It was all lit up like a wedding hall, had a tartan-clad marching band, 5 clowns and spotlights in front. We moaned, clearly this was a little more adventure than we sought. Owlie, loath of large crowds, stayed in the car while Abez and I braved the throng in search of the much-touted treat.

The store was a mob scene. You'd have thought they were giving the stuff away, such was the excitement of the crowd. But the sad truth is that Islamabad is such a dull and boring city that something as mundane as a bakery opening could attract such attention.

Sadly no gateaux was found. We settled or a small chocolate cake with two coffee flavored cake slices to tide us over till we got home. The slices were really good, really richly coffee flavored. We enjoyed our cake when we arrived home. Do I need to tell you it was very tasty? No, with a title like Forbidden Fruits, you know the rest.