ENSHROUDED

23

He got distracted by the way her legs looked in the water and how she was happily playing with them in the water. "You look like a kid when you do that. You're an adult now, behave like one. You'll be 19 in not more than six months to come."

"I want to be a little girl when I'm together with you, no restrictions. I want to be myself. Yes, letters and no rules." She looked at him and smiled before she looked away.

"You're free to act all you want around me, Aisha. And in your poems, something about the eggs in your ovaries will be..."

She cut him off before he was able to complete his sentence with a shrill, "You shouldn't talk about that, Dr The rule still applies to certain things and you know. That was just a poem."

He threw his head back in laughter, "You look cute if you're shy. I just want to know if your promise of my 12 kids is still valid."

"Yes, it's valid. Next please." She couldn't look at him now. She wished she can beat the hell out of herself for writing something like that.

He heaved a sigh and looked at the stars, Aisha did the same too. They were silent for some time, just admiring the beauty of the stars, while the water soothed their hearts. Nasir turned completely that he was staring fully at her, "Aisha, let's say you're going to get married at me, not Abba. How would you act and feel?"

Her eyes were still staring the stars and he turned and fixed his eyes on the stars as well. What he had never expected in his life, and even though he wanted it to happen, he had never wanted to it to at the same time. Aisha silently leaned on and placed her head on his shoulder, her eyes still fixed on the stars.

"Can I borrow your shoulder for the time we have left?" She asked, still not looking at his face.

Nasir cleared his throat and silently nodded his head. This was the first body contact they had with Aisha, and it was worth the wait. Even though it was only ahead on the shoulder, it was the best he could ever imagine. She heaved a sigh and Nasir stole a look at her face.

"What are you thinking about?" He asked because the silence, her head on his shoulder and how her warmth was seeping through his body were killing him. But what had been making his heart flutter was how her hair was brushing his beard and it was ticklish.

"I wish I'm getting married to you, I think we would have made a lovely couple. We have to run to Katsina whenever we feel bored of Bauchi and this will be our favourite place every night. I'll have you around me whenever I'm cooking, but I won't be a good wife to let you have a taste. You know, just my stupid fantasies."

She closed her eyes and leaned more onto his shoulder, she wanted to wrap her hands around him but she knew that would be a little more intimate. She was aware of the prohibition of what she did, it was a sin, but she had no other choice. Ever since she knew she loved Nasir, she had never craved for something like she did for his warmth. She knew if she got married to Abba, there would be a day she would need a warm body by her side, and she would have only but a reminiscent of Nasir's warmth.

"You would have made a good wife, Aisha. But do you know what I'll love to see?"

She shook her head, which was still resting on his shoulder. "How our first child would have looked like. I'm sure everyone would swoon over him or her. But I love her, so she'll look exactly like you and give me that Billion Dollar smile on days you choose to sulk at me for no reason."

She chuckled, and Nasir felt the vibration made from her chest. "I love him then, so he'll look like you on days you have those annoying calls at the hospital. Urgh, I hate those calls."

Nasir laughed, and Aisha shuddered at how his body shook as he laughed. This was what she wanted to feel ever since she started loving Nasir. But she felt it the wrong time, that she knew. She knew this moment would haunt her for eternity.