Flawed Perfection

Chapter Eleven: A Bit More Than A Stranger

8th February 2007.
Abuja, Nigeria.

The days walked by, finally growing enough maturity to pass by without giving Aisha a hard time. Big_ cold mansions, mean husbands, a cousin who'd come all the way from Dutse in desperate search of a husband from Abdullah's cline and pain no longer felt like all the necessary ingredients for a heart ache when she was faced with satin blue skies, warm mornings and vibrant colours.

It was one of her favorite spots in Abdullah's home. She very much found beauty in the way the sun rose above primly_ cut grasses like it was specifically created to fit in that mansion, like it was placed high up to feed her the tranquility that was slowly filling her chest.

And somehow, it saddened Aisha that it'd only last a couple of days before she got off painting. Since the annual event was only a couple of days away, she would get off her newest form of comfort and go back to being who she was_ loathing life wouldn't be so hard again. But before then, Aisha made it a point to make good use of the sight before her work lasted.

"Whoever gets to own this would be a bit lucky." As luck would've had it, Abdullah's voice resonated behind Aisha and it didn't stop in her ear, it drove all the down to her core, startling her enough to make her knock out a paint from the table. But it was more about the dread she felt about sharing her new_found space with someone who would either steal the comfort in the atmosphere or make her leave it.

Aisha glared at him before crouching to pick the almost emptied can.

"Don't worry about me. I've fairly been briefed_ you've been through a lot and you make a mistake or two everyday. I guess I just wonder if I scare you so much or if you get too comfortable in my house." A sickening smile was on his lips as Aisha glared at him.

For a moment, he seemed like the man who gathered all the attention without even trying and Aisha didn't want him to notice that glare was an excuse to look at him a little while longer so she looked away from him and back to the paint that was mostly soaked by the grass. But Abdullah was wearing a gray t_shirt that clung unto him in all the wrong places, paired with a matching grey sweatpants.

"That's all you have and you've fairly been briefed? You can't even imagine half of it. There's just enough to burn you a thousand times over." Aisha replied, realizing they'd started conversing like un_maddening humans did_ with no riffles or grenades, maybe just a bit of brutality.

"This looks like a creation of love." He ignored Aisha's statement and crouched to carry one of the paintings she was done working on.

"Makes me wonder, how you paint all these light paintings and drown in darkness." He said, studying the painting for a while and Aisha wanted to ignore his statement but she didn't know why she felt obligated to not do it.

"It's not my original theme of colours, I just figured they'd appreciate this more. I'm a believer of art and every other thing that makes life a home for humans_ just not love." She told him, the words a mirror of her emotions. Abdullah stood_ though in a modest distance, his height still overwhelmed Aisha's sitting frame.

"And what's a home without love?" He questioned and Aisha glanced over at him to find the sun casting shadows in his dark brown orbs.

'Oh this is really not good' she said to herself before focusing her attention on her paintings. It was the second time she tried to seem nonchallant about Abdullah in a single morning.

"I heard somewhere that humans are all equal amounts of distorted messes. What's love with overly contoured faces, dark secrets and lies?" Aisha said, making sure it sounded just as artificially complicated as humans acted.