As per Maia specific direction, I arrived at the guard house of Freesia Court, a newly developed condominium residence located by the corner of Ampang-U Thant intersection 10 minutes earlier that the expected time. My client, Sabina Mohammadi greets me five minutes later, donning simple yet elegant batik printed off shoulder maxi dress underneath her oversize knitted cardigan. Although I find her extremely beautiful, my first impression of her was something I couldn't make out of.

My initial thought before meeting her was that she might be an Arab from the name and I have prepped myself with some Arabic pleasantries as ice breakers, but this is not the case. Sabina has an oval face, thinner trimmed eyebrows, an epicanthic fold of the upper eyelids, layers of fat underneath her hazel eyes giving a puffy yet attractive impression, high nose bridge and small bow shaped lips. I'm astounded by her beauty and somewhat perplexed to see her looking more of a Mongolian-Turkic instead.

"You must be Sofia," Sabina extends her hand to shake mine and I respond spontaneously. "You're such an angel, my saviour. You have no idea how relieved I am to have you by the last minute."

"Ha," is all that I can muster, stunned by her beauty. We walk side by side into the foyer of Freesia Court before she leads me to her block.

She continues, "Maia is an excellent babysitter. So when she recommends me to her equal, I jump right in and said okay."

"Ha," I repeat, still feeling astounded.

She chuckles to my gawkiness. "I bet this is your first time?"

"Yeah," I finally respond. "I might suck at this."

"It's okay. You're supposed to learn," she responds. "Your parents are okay with you coming here?"

"Well, they give exceptions to expats. They said I could learn a thing or two about their cultures," I said frankly, and she laughs to my blunt statement.

Sabina is from Afghanistan, but she speaks perfect English with no traces of Persian at all. She works for Taylor-Willis Bank, one of the prominent commercial banks in Malaysia.

Maia briefed me earlier that Sabina struggles as a single mother during her first couple of years split with her husband, alone with no family member to turn to other than her son, Hussaini. Despite her sappy past, I find her overly optimistic and contented as she doesn't show any signs of grief or remorse. She must have gone through a lot and thrived to achieve this state.

I'm captivated by the interior of her unit like a cut-out from IKEA catalogue, the kind of home you thought only existed in gallery showrooms. It's a spacious 3000 square feet three-bedroom duplex with two bathrooms and a garden balcony facing to its adjacent block. The magnificent contemporary living room greets me warmly, leaving me breathless with much awe.

The living hall connects to other essential spaces like the kitchen, laundry room, dining area, a master room and a bedroom with an additional room converted into a snug lounge room. Each room or space has its own palatial design, but the living room that interconnects with the dining area had its walls painted together in a combination of olive green and teal with a vague tessellation effect, giving an impression of futuristic masterpiece sprawling across the hall. And the furniture and drapes occupying the rooms are best believed from Laura Ashley and American Signature, complementing the hall with its contrasting colours of pastel yellow and vanilla, just to create balance.

It feels like I'm inside MTV Cribs where I envision imaginary cameras zooming in and out, panning across the room, documenting glitzy interior of this pad from various angles. Perhaps, this is how Maia attempts to detach me from my bitter reality so I can immerse myself into this British/American lifestyle that I cannot get out of.

Sabina takes me to the hallway further at the end of the diner, where the three-bedroom doors flanking on each side and a spiral staircase located in the middle of the hallway between the doors, leading to an attic dedicated for Hussaini's lounge and playpen. Sabina calls out for him but there's no response. She calls again and there's a grumpy voice of a child shouting back.

P/S - I'd visualise Sabina to look like the model @hbatool.hb

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Photo source : Geo Hazara