Last Tears

Chapter 18

"We can't be afraid of change. You may feel very secure in the pond that you are in, but if you never venture out of it, you will never know that there is such a thing as an ocean, a sea. Holding onto something that is good for you now, may be the very reason why you don't have something better."

-C. JoyBell C.

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"Well that was tiring" Maama sighed as she settled down on one of the seats of the VIP lounge of the airport after we finished checking in.

I pulled Abu down to sit between Afra and me so he wouldn't sneak off without me noticing. Ahmad and Akram ventured off to some other place. In the past three days excluding our little encounter in the balcony; I had been successful in ensuring minimal contact or communication with him. I was pretty good at avoiding him

He was pretty good at letting me avoid him.

Abu tapped me, asking for my phone to play a game with and I willingly handed it over. We waited for less than thirty minutes when the call for boarding was made and being first class passengers we boarded immediately. I held Abu's hand all the way through and only released it when I buckled him in his seat that was right next to mine; thankfully.

I watched as Akram came on board and headed for his seat that was just across the Isle from me and Afra his neighbor. Maama and Mr. Ibrahim were on the last pair of seats on our row while I heard Ahmad and Adil settled behind me. Our eyes met and I quickly looked away.

It was a long flight.

XXX

"Hello roomie!" Afra grinned at me as she stepped into the room, locked the door behind her and crashed on our bed. I crashed on the bed too; just with less excitement.

I pulled myself up after ten minutes and forced my roomie out of the bed so we could perform our prayers. It was 7am and we had a lot of prayers to offer since we had been on a flight for almost 7 hours.

Nigeria was so far away

XXX

"I have a solution" Maama said to me, "Since you refuse to buy what you want; Afra will just buy it for you" she smiled at her daughter who happened to glow at the responsibility entrusted on her. "And Afra doesn't know moderate" Maama looked at me a smug look on her face, "So it's either you relax and start acting like a part of this family and enjoy this trip with us; or..."

"She'll shop" Afra grinned then pulled me towards a jewelry store she had her eye on. I looked back to see Abu with Akram before I relaxed and followed her.

I wasn't going to lose a boy in Dubai

The entire experience was amazing; being in a place for the first time with people who knew all the ways to make the trip memorable; although they kept repeating if I would relax I would enjoy the trip a hundred times more.

The summit of Jebel Hafeet, the mosques, Hajar Mountains, the beaches, not to forget the shopping; the endless shopping on my roomies part; It was all exciting.

On the second to the last day of our trip; Maama planned us all to stay in the hotel to pack whatever 'junk' we had bought in preparation for leaving the following day.

"Maama?" Afra spoke going to sit next to her mother. We were spread out in the living room of the suite. Mr. Ibrahim and his sons were watching football. I chuckled at how Abu mimicked their excitement when a score was made even though I was absolutely sure he didn't even know what team he was rooting for.

"Mhm?" Maama asked distracted with her phone

"Can Ya Maheen and I be excused tomorrow? We have last minute shopping to do"