As soon as Abba got down the floor, he smiled to himself and he brought his phone to his face. He dialled Nuriyya's number and smiled at himself. He wanted to surprise him. At first, he thought he can wait until tomorrow to meet her but he realized he couldn't. He just had to see her keep him sane after all the chaos that had been happening in his life lately.
"Abba na!" She called, that's what she called him. And whenever Nuriyya's voice uttered Abba na with so much possession, he felt walking on the cloud nine. How she drawled the name and made sure the 'na' she added to his name wasn't just there as a decorator. He was hers and she was his.
"Nuriyya," he called and got into his car. As he put on his seatbelt, he smiled again, "Where are you now?"
"I'm not home, at a friend's birthday party. What?" She asked, walking away from the crowd. She was really in love with Abba.
They met on the first day she first came to the university as a student, and from then; he made sure he nurtured his love in her heart. "Where's the location? I need to see you, Nuriyya, I can't wait until tomorrow."
She shrieked, "Oh my god! You're back already? I thought you were only saying it when you told me that on Saturday. I was planning to leave, but I'll wait for you. I'll send you the address now." Excitedly, Nuriyya ended the call and texted him the address.
It was the most beautiful hotel in Taraba, it had all such of resting places and they had reserved the whole of its restaurant. Abba looked at the address she sent him and ignited his car on. He couldn't wait to see Nuriyya. He drove until he got to the hotel and parked at the parking lot, looking up at the name, he read it out loud. 'A & H Hotels.' Maybe the owner of the hotel and his wife's name, the thought roughly crossed his mind as he walked inside.
He knew they were at the restaurant, he asked one of the people he saw passing by and they pointed at the restaurant for him. As he walked inside, Abba spotted Nuriyya seated on a seat, alone, as she chatted away in her phone. He heaved a sigh he didn't know he was holding. He had missed her so much over the week he had spent in Bauchi, it was no good for him; living away from Nuriyya.
He walked to her and sat down on the chair beside her. She seemed to be so much engrossed that she didn't know he was there until he planted a smooch on her left cheek. She looked startled, but the moment she looked up and saw it was him; she shrieked and hugged him. "Abba na, I'm glad you came back." She broke into tears, and he patted her back in a comforting way.
"It's alright, Nuriyya. I'm here now, right? How much did you miss me?" He asked, with a glint of happiness and love in his eyes. Intensely, he stared at her face and how she smiled looked much more like an enchanting spell than a mere smile.
She was beautiful in her unique ways, even though he can loudly admit that Aisha was more beautiful, but it didn't matter because Nuriyya was the one he loved. "I missed you this much!" She spread apart her hands widely and he chuckled at her innocence. Her eyes spoke her love for him whenever she stared at him. He felt that way and even more for her.
"What will you like to eat?" He called a waiter and asked of their menu, this was the first time he had been in this restaurant, or rather; this hotel.
"I'm full, but I'd love to see you eat." He smiled and choose among the menu. He looked around and the birthday girl with her friends was dancing to slow music. He fell in love with the place at the instant.
"Won't you dance?" He asked and smiled at her. She looked confused, and he motioned towards her friends for her.
"Oh," she smiled warmly and shook her head. "I won't, do you want to?" She asked. Just then, the waiter placed his dinner before him and he nodded his head at him appreciatively.
"Yes, I'd love to dance, but with you." Nuriyya threw her head back in laugher and nodded her head. "Eat, then we will dance, Abba na."
As soon as he finished eating, he took her hands in his and they moved to the dancing floor. He wrapped his hand on her waist and the other on her bare, and they danced to the tune of love.
She looked at him, even though deafened by the music, she spoke. "How's she doing?"
Abba turned his face away from her face and acted as if he didn't hear what she said. She poked his chest, "I'm asking you Abba na, where is she? And how is she?" The tears she had been fighting of broke down her cheeks and he used his thumb and cleared them away.
He guided them to their seat and took her bag in his hand before they walked out of the restaurant. They sat in his car and there was no sound to be heard apart from Nuriyya's whimpering as she cried softly. Abba heaved a sigh and took her hands in his, he kissed the tip of her fingers and spoke with a soft voice that sounded exactly like Nasir's. "I love you, Nuriyya. That's a fact that can never be changed."
She looked at him, and more tears rushed down her face. "If you love me, why didn't you marry me? Why will you marry her? Is that reason you've been going home ever since she started living in your home? You love her, don't you?" No matter how she wanted to appear strong in front of Abba, she couldn't. She had never hated someone like she hated Aisha. And the fun fact is that she had never set her eyes on Aisha.
"I don't love her, Nuriyya, I love only you. And that's something that will forever stay unchanged. Now, you need to calm down, do you want to go home with me?" He asked, and his eyes twitched with mischievousness. No matter how angry she was at Abba, she couldn't resist the charming side of him. And him taking her home would prove his words about his wife.
"Will she let me stay at her house?" As much as it pained her, she knew she had to set limits between her and Abba from now on.
"It's my house, and yours as well." He ignited the car and they drove out of the hotel. "But I'm sorry, I have your things taken to my room, you'll stay with me there. Is that fine?"
She smacked his shoulder playfully and he laughed. They stopped at an ice cream parlour and they bought it before they drove off to the estate. As much as Nuriyya despised setting her eyes on Aisha, she couldn't wait to see her. They parked and Abba hopped out of the car, he looked at her and smiled before he opened the door for her. "What? Let's enter. This has been your favourite place to stay, all over Taraba." She chuckled and took his straightened hands.
She watched as he unlocked the door and hesitated before she entered. Looking around the living room, Nuriyya watched everything as she left it last week, only that the aroma of Aisha's food still lingered on the walls. "Is she awake?" She asked as Abba guided her to his room.
He shook his head. "No, I told her not to wait for me. Come on, Nuriyya, I missed you." She giggled as he dragged her into the room and she fell directly on his bed.
Lustfully, Abba looked at her and smiled. He hovered over her on the bed and smiled seductively at her. "I missed you so much, Nuriyya." She tried pushing him off her but he firmly held her hands in his.
"You have a wife, Abba na. Go to her, I need to sleep." She was trying to suppress a giggle as he tickled her bare stomach.
"Stop that, you have a wife!" She shrieked when she felt his lips on her collar bone. She might act all strong from the outside, but no one knew her weakness apart from Abba. He was the man she wished to spend the rest of her life with, and whoever this wife of his was; she wasn't going to let her take what was hers from the start.
She giggled when she felt his hands making some ticklish circles beneath her shirt, and that was how they got lost in the web of their love. She felt walking on the cloud nine whenever she was together with Abba. And when they were intimate, she lost the means of her being.
❃
Aisha woke up and the moment she glanced at her wall clock, she freaked out and stood up abruptly. She rushed to the toilet and bathed herself, it was only some minutes left to nine. And she knew Abba wouldn't hear a word out of her excuse if she didn't make it out on time. She got ready and draped a small veil on her body, and was about to leave when she walked back to her wardrobe and took out a hijab. She remembered she was a married woman, and she should watch the way she dresses.
She took her bag, took one look at her room and made sure she had her journal with her before she walked out of the room. She froze in her tracks when she saw Abba still in his pyjamas as he kissed a girl that had some skimpy clothes in the balcony. The morning wind blew over them while they crushed into each other more. She held back her breath and walked in the kitchen to hide from this monstrous sight.
What is this? Who is Abba enshrouded within the name of Muhammad Muhammad Tijjani? She asked herself and gulped down the water in an instant. No, he probably wasn't the one. He had no reason to bring in his mistress in her house. Wait, she said her house? But he made it clear to her that he used her and his girlfriend might visit them anytime she wished. She didn't expect that time to be this soon. They were barely married for only four days.
"What are you doing here?" She heard his voice behind her and she freaked that the glass cup she was holding fell on the floor.
"What the hell is wrong with you? Can't you behave at least for once like a human being?" He thundered and she got frightened that she didn't know when she stepped on the glass in an attempt to get the broom and clear it off.
She let out a yelped and fell on the floor, clutching her bleeding leg in her hand. "What are you doing? Aisha, why are you so much of a fool than a true human being? What's the meaning of this now? Can't you see there was glass before you?!" The sound of his bellow was what contributed more in jumbling up her already frightened and confused mind.
With tears gushing down her eyes, she watched as he hummed angrily before her while Nuriyya walked into the kitchen, she was in her towel now. She touched his chest and briskly looked at Aisha before she turned her attention back at him. "What happened, Abba na?"
As he turned to look at Nuriyya, Aisha barely recognized him. With a soft voice, he held Nuroyya's face into his hands and smiled. "I'm not hurt, Nuriyya, there's nothing to worry about. She was only not being careful. Are you having a shower? I thought you were going to rest today?" Aisha swore she heard Nasir's voice in him when he spoke softly and lovely at Nuriyya.
With tears blurring her vision, she caught a glimpse of the disgusted look Nuriyya flashed at her before she smirked. "Abba na, I have to be in school, today. I have an important lecture to attend. Should we go and bathe? Tell her to clear the place please, I don't want you to get hurt even by mistake."
When he turned to Aisha, that softness and the loving look weren't on his face anymore. There was a bloodshot expression on his face that frightened her and cut her even more. "You should clear off the place and make breakfast before we're done." And they walked away, no one even cared about her bleeding leg. She heard Nuriyya's giggle when Abba kissed her neck and he wrapped his hand around her waist as they locked the door behind them.
"Mommy..." She cried out in so much timbre. This was the first time she had ever called out for Mommy since she met Nasir. But today, the pain was so much that she needed no one but Mommy. She cried bitterly on the kitchen floor before she trudged back to her room and looked for the mini first aid box Nasir gave her. Then, she laughed and asked him what she was ever going to do with a first aid box while she has him?
His response didn't get to her until today that she truly needed him the most. "There might be a day something will happen but I won't be there. Maybe I'll be late or we're even far away. You can treat yourself as I thought, but to heal soon, imagine myself doing that for you."
Then, she had laughed and given him the Billion Dollar smile before she said, "I will. Thank you, Dr." But as she treated herself now, she felt pain all over her soul. She knew the pain supposed to be only physical, but she felt it in the deepest corners of her soul.
She hugged her knees to her chest and cried until she felt that she had cried enough for the day. She trudged back to the kitchen and cleared the place away before she began making breakfast, it would be for them. She was sure she couldn't put anything in her stomach. She was setting the dining table when Abba walked into the living room with Nuriyya followed behind him as they held hands.
She was taking a custard in the kitchen when Abba called her and the next thing she heard was a thud of the ceramic bowl on her body before it fell on the ground and shattered into shards. She felt the coloured soup in the pepper soup splattered on her clothes and some of it was on her face.
"How can you put on so much pepper? Are you trying to make her sick?!" He thundered, and when she didn't answer, he hissed loudly and held Nuriyya's hand as they walked out of the house. As soon as she heard the sound of his car driving out of the driveway, Aisha slumped on the floor. She had imagined the worst life possible, but this...wasn't among what she thought would happen to her.
I'm sorrryyy. I forgot to update🤭 and I know at this point y'all hate me sef, I was roasted in the comments section😂 let me kuke carry my body and run.
Complete book available on both okadabooks and selar. Link on my bio.