The Silence Within

Chapter 61

Her mother said there was an unusual glow on her face. There's a different mirth in her words and a distinctive sound in her laughter. Osasere had laughed it off like it was nothing. Esosa had pointed out that she smiles a lot and appeared happier than she had been in a long time. That made her conscious. Is she failing so bad at holding in the joy that radiated through her? She felt more alive than she had in a while. The songs she listens to were mostly about love and lively. She dances more than she would, like the whole excitement of her relationship with Jafar could not be held in. So, she has to dance to show some of that exhilaration.

Each day came with heightening high spirits. She looked forward to the next time they would meet. Her heart skips in her chest each time his calls and messages pops up on the screen of her phone and also those times he arrived at her office for lunch or at her home to see her and her daughter. Kisses were stolen when they are alone, behind her mother's back when she's not looking. The smell of him on her from the hugs they shared and the times he held her like she was the most fragile item has started to become a part of her. She has come to realise that her hands fit perfectly in his, like they are meant to be there, they belonged in his, for a lifetime. When she had cried about Esosa losing a large chunk of her hair and the need to shave off her hair, he had held her. His scent, muted musk and the whiff of his shaving cream, manly and relaxing, imbued her senses. She inhaled him like the cologne he wears was the air she breathes. She wanted to be able to recognise his scent anywhere. When they barbed Esosa's hair, it was ceremonial in a way. Jafar and Umar had come over. They had a haircut too, making Esosa happy. The little one had hated to lose her hair but knowing she was not the only one to go around with a skin cut gladdened her. They had a toast to Esosa's new look. It was weird but in a nice way. The sight of him telling Esosa that she's beautiful more than she had been and many will be jealous of her, trying to make her see the beauty in her new look in the mirror in the foyer was a moment she stored in that special place in her heart. The places he took her to, the earth and path they treaded together, she would love to walk them and visit them with him over and over again.

Osasere's outing with her girlfriends few days later was different. She talked more, there was a flush on her face and she laughed more than she would. She felt like she was on a cloud, floating to a beautiful destination. They had all looked fazed except Lola when she announced she was seeing someone as though she said she was going to die.

"Oh God!" Adeola gasped. "I hope it's not who I am thinking it is"

"Well, maybe"

"Oh my god! Oh my God! Bitch!" She drawled, still in shock.

"You are making a big deal out of nothing" Lola flipped her hand in dismissal. "She's going out with Jafar. Did you not see that coming? I saw it! I could smell it from miles away" She picked her juice and sipped from it.

"You are going out with Jafar?" Kiki asked like she wanted to confirm what she heard. "Did you think it through?" She looked away from her phone. Osas saw it coming, the rebuke, the kill joy, the bad omen. "He's a Muslim. Like a Muslim" She repeated as though she wanted them to see the point she was making. "Osas, you guys might not have a future together. What would your families say about your union? I bet his family will be very much against it. Do your mum know about this? I know she likes him for he has been so supportive and by your side all through but I am sure she won't want him as a son-in-law"

Kiki was right and she hated her for it, for saying out what she dreads a lot, a thought she had tried not to give any consideration. It had lingered somewhere in her mind, trying to push through that barrier she placed over it with the aim to ruin her happy times and she had not given it that chance. Kiki had succeeded into doing so in few sentences.