A black jean jumpsuit with a white long sleeved inner shirt is casual enough right?, plus jumpsuits really make me look cute so yeah, this is a pretty great casual look. A gentle knock on my door resounds and before I can grant permission to whoever it is, the door creaks open to reveal a slim and very beautiful figure of Ameerah.
" Hey, baby girl. You're going out?" She asks softly, gently closing my door behind her and gracing me with her enchatting smile. " yeah I am, Haneef is coming to pick me up. He says he wants to surprise me" I answer, wrapping a black veil around my head and looking directly at the full length mirror in front of me to avoid myself wrapping something absurd. I can see Ameerah say some words under her breath, with furrowed eyebrows. " I can see that you really don't want to listen to my advice" she says and I watch her view in the mirror again, roll her eyes. " Ameerah I see nothing wrong with hanging out with your ex boyfriend. And he seems very cool so tell me why?, why should I stay away from him?" This time, I respond to her face squarely from where I'm standing.
" I can't tell you why so just forget about it, do what you like" she answers, rather rudely. " Honestly speaking, if you really want me to stay away from him you should give me a valid reason. The only reason that's obvious here is that you're just jealous that your ex is trying to be happy without you" I truly don't care if he hurt her, but it seriously had to be said. " I'm trying to look out for you and you're calling it jealousy?, do you honestly think I would have left him for no reason and end up being jealous?" She snaps and with my hands on my waist, I walk closer to where she's sitting on my bed. " Then what's your reason?" I ask, looking straight into her eyes but she looks away, guilty. " can we not talk about him anymore?, please. I don't want him ruining our new bond" She says with pleading eyes and I give in, it would've been hard not to.
" Thank you very much, for bringing Daddy back to me" she says and I sit beside her on my bed. " He gave me like all the answers to questions that made me depressed all this while and I'm honestly more than grateful for your kind gesture Zakiyah. May Allah bless you" she adds, now hugging me tightly. " You know it was I and Saleem that made it all possible" Saleem would have been more than glad that this was the outcome, I miss him every single day. " He's in a better place In Sha Allah" sure. " Daddy wants me to move to Abuja with his family" A better environment without Habeebah?.
I'm certainly in for that option.
" That would be very nice Ameerah"
" It will but he needs to talk to your dad first, to you know officiate everything"
" Like you're getting married" I say and watch as we both giggle at the idea. " Honestly I thought I would get married to Haneef but things happened" the weak smile on her face makes me more and more curious. " Ameerah you can trust me with anything, why did you really leave Haneef?"
With a very heavy sigh she responds, " in as much as I need to tell you, I also don't want you to know. You'll be safer not knowing anything" I'd be lying if I said those words didn't send chills down my spine. My default IPhone ringtone blares around the room from the my bed and I grab it, as soon Ameerah gets a look at the Caller ID, she hurriedly leaves the room. I'm aware of all their family secrets but right now, I can't help but feel that there's something I'm missing. " Kiyah, I'm outside your house"
" Alright" I answer and end the call. With one more look at the mirror, I wear a pair of white sneakers and grab my black midi side bag, I'm all set. I'd already informed Daddy who I'd be spending the day with and he was more than glad that I'm slowly letting happiness creep into my life again, it's better than been depressed all the time I mean. It still hurts but sulking 24/7 won't do me any good.
Walking out of my room and down the stairs, I find Habeebah sitting with crossed legs on a couch in our main parlor, watching whatever intrigues her psychopathic mind. Not mentioning a word, I walk as fast as I can to avoid a scene unfolding but of course, a psychopath doesn't know know peace is in her dictionary. I really can't wait for all her drama to be finally over. " So you can't greet right?. Even after almost killing me, you can't even greet and apologise to me you witch. I wonder how your father's living knowing he brought a witch to life, that's probably how your mother died, you killed her"
" You must be mad" I snap, letting all what she said sink in as I stop at the bottom of the stairs. " what the hell is your problem?"
" Is it me you're insulting?, ah you won't see the end of madness today. Shebi you said I'm mad, eh you'll see madness today" Habeebah says, getting up from where she sat and hurriedly running to where I'm standing still right at the end of the stairs. Unluckily for her, there's water spilled on the ground and right there and then, she slipped and fell hard, hitting her head harshly on the tiled floor. She never learns not to mess with me, one way or the other, they always end up back-firing.
Mumu.
" Ameerah, come check up on your mom" I scream at the top of my lungs and walk out of the house, greeting Baba Adil as I walk out of the gate to meet Haneef's black Land Cruiser parked right outside my gate. The car oddly looks familiar and it finally clicked, no wonder he knew where I lived to pull out the firework stunt. He obviously saw me the day him and Ameerah were outside talking, he was probably trying to get her back or something. Sha, it's all good. " Finally you're out, let me get the door for you" Haneef says, getting down from the car and walking me over to the passenger's door. " Well how nice of you"
" Come on, go in" He says and I get comfortably seated in his all back interiored car. " So where are we going to exactly?" I ask as he gets into the car, buckling his seat belt. " Just buckle your seat belt and enjoy the ride" He answers, starting the car. The car has that elegant new scent, and everything around's sparkling. " Why're you making it your responsibility to make me happy now that Saleem's gone?" I ask as I examine his striking features with his stuck on the road. " Well I'm sure he would have loved it if I could make you happy with his absence, so here goes. You deserve to be happy Zakiyah and I'm ever ready to make it possible" Who would have thought that the man that tried to slap me that day would be able to make butterflies erupt in my belly just from his thoughtful words.
The drive was quite long, but certainly worth it. I got to explore how smart Haneef is and he also shared some of his interests with me. Our destination, Royalty at its finest in Nigeria, Kajuru Castle. A luxury villa I've heard of but never even thought of going to. The pictures we took aren't even doing justice to how extremely beautiful the place is, just from walking around the castle with our tour guides, I felt like a princess. It's amazing how a place like this still manages to stand in Kaduna honestly. The views of the entire village from the castle left me in awe and I was also dazzled by how nice and clean the swimming pool was. Pristine breeze engulfed the whole castle and I was more than mesmerised, one could just come here to get away from everything and actually set your mind free, you could heal your mind here.
As I and Haneef walk side by side with the tour guides in front of us, they lead us to a room in the castle. The room's decorated with many flowers and caligraphy works and the light from the sun glistened the entire room, making them sparkle in my eyes. I give Haneef a questioning look before walking in and all he does in return is flash me his charming set of white teeth in a cute manner. The guides quietly leave us as we walk in and I notice the mat spread on the hard wood floor with snacks and drinks seated on it.
The caligraphy works sparked my interest the most, they're but gold. The caligraphist quoted many beautiful verses from the Qur'an and the famous quote by Emily Brontë in her book Wuthering Heights.
~whatever our souls are made of, his and mine are the same.
They're all so beautiful, remarkable pen work and painting. The name at the bottom of one of the works catches my eye and as I read it out to myself, a sudden gasp escapes my lips. " Halima" it read, my mother. This all belongs to my mother, my goodness, how did Haneef get a hold of this. " Saleem and your Dad were preparing this for you after you had come back from Dubai. It had to push through..." Haneef says and I simply couldn't hold myself from hugging him tightly as tears roll down my cheeks. This is the kindest and most thoughtful surprise I've ever received in all my years of existence.
No words could describe the joy in my heart now, I only got to see pictures Daddy had shown me but Saleem was planning all this, it would have been much better if he were here to share it with me but I'm satisfied with the decision Haneef and daddy took to go on with the surprise, I'm forever going to cherish this. " Thank you so much" letting go of Haneef, I say and continue looking at the masterpieces my mother made. " Your mother was quite talented, no wonder you're good too" Haneef comments and my lips form a smile. " I'm a carbon copy of my mom, in and out probably" I answer.
" Do you have pictures of her?"
" Yeah, I don't carry them around sha" I respond and we finally settle down to eat the snacks provided for us. " What about your mom?" That question made him shot me a smug look. " Well she was a gold digger" he responds and chews down his samosa. " There ought to be some good stuff about her, even though she left you guys you had to be close at some point and there should be some traits of yours that were passed down by her"
" Honestly Zakiyah, my mother isn't someone I like talking about but sha, there isn't much to say, she was a typical African mother and I'm happy I didn't get to inherit any of her traits. I didn't feel entirely loved by her you know, she would always show me off to her friends at weddings back then but indoors, we weren't close. That mother-son bond was never there" Haneef says, trying to hide the sadness in his voice. " Well I'm sorry you had to go through that"
" nah, Khairiyah's mother made me feel loved so that's enough for me" His level of consideracy is admirable. " at the last wedding I went to with my mom, I saw this very cute girl dancing and when I smiled at her, she started crying...it hurt my feelings you know"
" you thought your smile was honestly going to sweep a baby off her feet" I answer with a laugh, remembering how I once ran to my mom crying when I was little after a stranger had smiled at me at Juwairiyah's mom's younger sister's wedding, Aunty Ihsan. " Well people love my smile and I was hurt really, I can never get that event out of my head and she was very very cute, she was trying to dance" He says and I feel the urge to ask " What was the name of your mother's friend that got married?"
" I think Ihsan, if I can remember clearly" oh my God. I begin to laugh, extremely hard. I honestly can't believe that he could possibly be the creepy boy that made me cry to mummy, I used to be so afraid of strangers. " Why are you laughing?" Haneef asks, laughing along. " I think I'm the girl that cried when she saw you" I say in between laughs and he furrows his eyebrows. " How's that even possible?"
" I attended that same wedding when I was little"
" my goodness. So you're the tiny girl that broke my heart?"
" Very much yes, I was working on my dance moves while eating a plate of rice when I saw you. You totally ruined the mood for me" I respond and he bursts into a pretty contagious fit of laughter. " Are you kidding me, well can you dance now?"
" Wo, I'm not an expert" I say and watch as he takes out his apple device from his pocket. " Come on, let's dance" he's actually serious. " are you kidding me right now?" I ask as I stare at his palm in front of me. " You're a pretty good dancer, I'm not. You want to laugh at me?"
" Come on, it'll be fun. It's just the two of us here so don't be shy, feel free. The girl that ran to her mother that day was certainly not shy, come on"
" I can't dance"
" You can"
" Haba now"
" I won't stop disturbing you" He says and forcefully pulls me up to my feet. Standing an inch away from him, I let myself slowly delve into his eyes and his mesmerising features. How can someone be this handsome?. Every feature of his is perfectly constructed, giving the unique build of his face.
We danced together, living in each other's smile and ignoring everything else around us. Haneef was who I needed to keep my vibes alive after everything that happened. We were both hurting but that moment we shared together was enough to cancel out every problem that raced our minds non-stop.
" So Zakiyah, did you enjoy your day?" Haneef asks as he parks right in front of my gate. My feet's killing me. " I very much did thank you" I respond with a warm smile and unbuckle my seat belt. We left Kajuru Castle by 6 and now it's already 7:00pm, the drive was long but very interesting. We had played 10 Questions and we had a pretty great game. " For a short girl, you're very humble and calm. All the short girls I know are trouble makers"
" and who informed you that I'm not a trouble maker?"
" My brain"
" Well the normalcy of your brain might be faulty"
" oh my God" after gasping, he says and I begin to chuckle. " I'll come check up on you tomorrow, take care of yourself" Haneef says after helping me open my door, like a gentleman. " You don't need to check up on me always"
" Well I want to. I would love to, not only because of Saleem but also because I love your company" He responds with a smile, enough to warm my heart. " I see why Saleem kept you in his heart for years" he says looking directly into my eyes. " Why?"
" That's for me to know. Come on, go in now. You need your rest" goodness, my heart was eagerly waiting to hear the compliment.
Weird but I'm kinda hurt.
I'd already made plans with Daddy to find a place for all of mummy's works in the house, I'm not planning to make her presence known everywhere around the house, certainly not caring what Habeebah has to say about any of it.
Zakiyah:
You guys should come by tomorrow, we're going to place mummy's works all over the house.
Tay Tay🙄❤:
Nice, sure we'll come.
Your pictures are very nice too you know, I'm glad you're finally getting yourself back.
Juwee💖:
I'm honestly glad too. Don't worry we'll come as early as possible to set everything up. Our dresses are ready by the way, we're going to slay Khairiyah's dinner💃💃.
Zakiyah:
Yayy, I can't wait to see my dress. I'm glad I'm getting back on my feet too. Haneef's doing the most he can.
Juwee💖:
Lol. We can see that, I have a feeling he might end up being your next.
Tay Tay🙄❤:
God bless you goat. You just said my mind, weird you thought of something that brilliant.
Juwee💖( replying to Tay Tay 🙄❤):
You're insane guy🙄.
Zakiyah:
Haneef can't end up being my next. Why will I end up with someone my step sister was with and is even warning me against cause of jealousy?. Wo, I don't want wahala o.
Tay Tay🙄❤:
Forget Ameerah abeg, Haneef's a nice guy irrespective of his past and I believe Saleem would be better off knowing you ended up with someone he trusts alot. He's sweet and nice to you, I lowkey think he's trying to win your heart.
Juwee💖( replying to Tay Tay🙄❤):
So because this one has seen Salman now, she knows how someone likes another. Get dafuck out of my face fool😂.
Tay Tay🙄❤( replying to Juwee💖):
You see why I said you're a goat. Baboon🙄.
Zakiyah:
You guys won't kill me abeg🤣🤣🤣🤣.
Haneef and I can't happen, I like my relationship with the both of them as it is, I don't want it to change. I don't think he likes me sha, he's just trying to be nice because of Saleem, so Tay Tay, your mind rest.
Tay Tay🙄❤:
Oya now, let's see. As for you Juwairiyah, don't let me catch you.
Juwee💖:
Ment, I will over near you. Cuddle you sef.
My friends are insane, but I love them alot really, I won't be a sane person without them.
It would be totally impossible for anything between I and Haneef to happen, he's still very much in love with Ameerah.
Him being nice doesn't warrant him developing a liking for me, I guess.