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Maybe he had seen that kind of drama in a movie but never in reality. To the extent one's son cut ties with you?
Normally the parents do the disowning but in that case, the son disowned the father and he wasn't just surprised about it, he was shocked. If his son was to disown him like that, he wouldn't be able to live with it.
But that didn't stop his intention to get him married to the woman of his choice. If his son wasn't being choosy then he was sure as heck that he got the perfect woman for him. Or so he thought since all he knew about her was her name. The picture he got had her face covered with a veil so even he could not see for himself her real face.
"Let's drop by my office Aman" Alhaji Nasir ordered to the driver. "Okay sir" The driver replied before taking the turn to the street that would lead to the Wipro Co.Ltd headquarters.
Stopping right in front of the entrance of the building, the chauffeur went out and circled the car before opening the door for Alhaji Nasir. He took that as his cue to step out of the car.
The moment he did step out of the car, his personal assistant rushed to him with his phones on his hands.
"Welcome back sir" Abe greeted. "Thank you Abe, any important phone calls while I was gone?" Nasir asked. "Actually yes sir, it's not work related but I feel you should attend to it" Abe explained. "Tell me the details in my office" Nasir said before they walked to the elevator.
It took them just a little while before they reached the office.
"Do excuse us for a while Fatima" Nasir said to his secretary whom he assigned with the work to reorganize the shelf in his office.
"I'm all ears Abe" Nasir said as he settled on his seat. "Mr. Dandawaki sir, you have been getting calls from an unknown number since you left this morning and I didn't feel the need to pick it. But then the number sent a message few minutes back and I felt it has to do with something you should know of" Abe explained passing the phone to him to show the message that displayed on the screen.
"Please this is Mateo, I was a chauffeur and guide to Mr. Zaeem here in Germany. I have been trying to get your contact for days now because there's something you need to know. It is about your son, do call me when you get this message so I can go into details"
The message read.
"Waste no time in dialing the number Abe" Alhaji Nasir ordered.
Abe accepted the phone and dialled the number. It didn't go through the first try but it did the second and Mateo picked the call on the first ring. Alhaji Nasir had the call placed on speaker.
"Good afternoon sir" Mateo greeted. "Afternoon Mr. What were you mentioning about my son?" Alhaji Nasir asked. "Yes sir. The first day I brought Mr Zaeem to the hotel, he said he would go for a walk and he did but never came back" Mateo explained.
"What do you mean never came back?" Abe asked. "Yes, I called his number several times but it wouldn't even get through. When I requested for his room to be opened, all his stuffs were there except his phone and wallet and the hotel said he didn't check out too. That was why I tried to contact you, it's been five days since he disappeared" Mateo explained.
"Alright Mateo, we'll call you back in a while" Abe said and disconnected the call after noticing how uneasy Alhaji Nasir became upon hearing that.
"Abe, get the best agents you can in Germany and make them investigate this. Have them meet Mateo so they'll figure this out and be sure to find my son in three days or no one's gonna like it" Alhaji Nasir ordered in a dangerously hoarse tone. "Yes sir" Abe replied.
"What are you waiting for? Get it done!" Alhaji Nasir shouted. Abe nodded and took quick strides out of the room, not before keeping his devices on his table.
Alhaji Nasir couldn't move or do anything, he stayed still for a long while thinking about the possibilities of Zaeem's disappearance. Did he finally decide to leave him? To disown him just like Uwaimir did his father? Or did something happen to him? Or perhaps it is part of his plan to avoid marriage?
Those questions didn't fade away at all, they kept replaying in his head and he didn't know which of the reasons to pick.
Indeed, the news left him in a jar with no possible way to escape, well except to break out of it.
~°°~
Furry for the one who dared to step away from his reality. It is probably the worst decision he made in his life or probably the best. He couldn't tell, he had to wait till time told him what his decision meant regarding his life.
Uwaimir drove mindlessly away from the city. Of course he knew where he was going as he had been there before. That place was the best place he ever knew in that country especially because of the memories he shared with someone there.
He still remembered their laughter and smiles, their chatters and words. It was the same day he came back to Nigeria and fought with his father. When he left, he had no where to go so he found himself driving to the cliff side. Even though it was a tourist attraction because of its views, there was barely anyone there.
Thinking about all those made him reminisce what had occured, what he did that made them meet, what happened before he got separated with them. And till that day, he didn't see them again, not even by chance.
Flashback:
Uwaimir stood right by the cliff side while his eyes remained closed. He closed his eyes to devour the satisfying feeling of the sensational breeze against his skin. That feeling made him forget all his problems, or at least relieved him of their stress.
Then another, who was oblivious of her environment at first sighted him from quite afar. Somehow, she found herself imagining things she didn't want to, she decided that he was trying to give up living. And she couldn't turn a blind eye to that, not when she had a way to help.
"Haneed, hurry come!" Nusra whisper yelled at her 15 year old brother. "Not again Mami, can't you just let me enjoy this without your rants and nagging?" Haneed asked. "No I can't, look!" Nusra started. "Don't he look like he'll jump and commit suicide?" She asked.
"Don't say commit Mami, it is not a crime" Haneed said swiping away on his canon camera to see the shots he had taken.
"It is a crime Haneed especially if he is Muslim and just answer the damn question" Nusra said annoyed. "No Mami, he looks like a normal person who is enjoying the view of a cliff. If he wanted to die, he would have jumped ages back. And besides, no one in naija commits suicide, kowa ɗan iskan kansa ne" Haneed shrugged.
"Haneed you cannot say that to someone who's hurting" Nusra said. "Exactly! When did he tell you that he is hurting?" Haneed asked emphasizing on each and every word.
"I just feel he is" Nusra shrugged. "Well done anty feeler" Haneed said rolling his eye balls. Of course she was older than him but because he was taller and looked more grown, she had to handle every annoying part of him. "Whatever, just help me save him" Nusra said.
"He does not need your saving" Haneed said. "Of course he does now just do as I say" Nusra said and Haneed sighed. He knew she wouldn't let him be unless he does as she wished.
"Pretend you're kidnapping me, drag me forcefully so I'll shout for help" Nusra explained the plan. "That is your plan?" Haneed asked because of how absurd it sounded even to his ears. "Yes it is, now just do it"
"Whatever helps you sleep at night" Haneed shrugged. "Just make sure I don't get beaten for this" He added immediately. "I will" Nusra assured before they both got their acting skills working.
"For Allah's sake try harder Haneed, anyone can guess you're faking it" Nusra said and Haneed rolled his eyes. He didn't say anything though as he did as she told him. Nusra then started shouting for help and that gained Uwaimir's attention.
Uwaimir didn't take long to realize what was happening or what he thought was happening before he rushed to the scene to stop the stranger from hurting her. But he stopped the moment he reached to give the teenager a punch, he felt he was too young for it. Instead, he grabbed him by his collar and tried to strike him down by his leg but Nusra's words stopped him. "Hey chill, he's my brother"
Uwaimir didn't say anything as he turned to look at her. She had a smile of excitement on her face which made him to start wondering if she was a mad woman.
"And I'm out of here" Haneed said as he picked up his camera and walked away to keep taking pictures.
"Hey again! The name's Nusra, I'm 17 years of age. Your appearance made me like to believe that you do not know our native language so we shall converse in only English" Nusra introduced.
"Why'd you shout for help if you ain't needing one?" Uwaimir asked. "Ya Allah the accent, I love it!" She squealed dreamily at him. She must be a psychopath he thought but didn't say anything. There was nothing he could possibly say since after all, she didn't reply to his question.
Nusra sighed then smiled again. Yeah definitely a psychopath!
"Okay listen! I suck at giving advices so I'll just stick to the essentials. It wasn't your fault! Don't push it and most importantly don't let go. Don't push yourself to admit what you don't believe you did and do not let go of your life as it is worth living. Life may be hard at most circumstances but someone told me something, that there is someone somewhere who is always willing to make it easy for you. And your someone today is me. Let me bring upon those eyes of yours a smile of eternity, a glitter of the heavens and the sparkle of the constellation of stars" Nusra said.
Even though Uwaimir didn't understand how that was related to him, it still went deeply and soothed his heart. He could definitely relate to some part of it and somehow, he felt grateful that she said those words to him.
"You're smiling!" Nusra said. "Yeah no kidding, no one frowns at the words of a poet!" She added with a smile too, that made his disappear though.
"Uhmm I do get that you were trying to help but I cannot understand how all this is related to me" Uwaimir said. "I said them to you so you won't think of commiting suicide again"
"Wait! Y'all thought I was going to commit suicide?" Uwaimir asked. "Weren't you?" Nusra asked back. "No I wasn't"
"I knew it" Haneed commented coming back to the scene. "I thought I said he was just enjoying the view, yet you insisted on the charade" Haneed said. "Yeah Haneed no need to point it out" Nusra said. "Oh you mean point out the fact that I am smarter than you?" Haneed asked and Nusra groaned.
"I'll like to introduce to you my annoying brother Haneed" Nusra said with an eye roll. "Why does that sound like a fake use of vocabulary?" Haneed asked. "You're saying that to a poet? you no get sense" Nusra replied making Uwaimir chuckle in amusement. He would do anything to have that kind of relationship with someone who genuinely cares, the sibling relationship.
"I'm sorry for interrupting your moment of loneliness, I genuinely thought you were to jump" Nusra apologized.
"It's okay and I'm not lonely, I'm just alone" Uwaimir said. "Your eyes do give you away on situations like this. Besides, no one comes here alone except they're feeling lonely. I know from experience" Nusra chuckled. "At this point of life where I feel I'm on my own, it doesn't even matter" Uwaimir shrugged.
"Will you like to join us on our hike, we'll be here for a while" Nusra offered after hesitating for a while. "Will that be okay with you?" Uwaimir asked, he didn't want to be a reason they'll feel uncomfortable. "As long as you're not a serial killer, I think i'll be fine"
"If it means getting a break from Mami's rants, I'm in too" Haneed shrugged. "You wish" Nusra rolled her eyeballs. "Okay then" Uwaimir said making the two parties involve to smile. They were genuinely happy to be in his company.
The rest of Nusra and Haneed's hike had Uwaimir in it. They had a lot of fun and took lots of pictures, of which Uwaimir appeared in only one. That too because all three of them got to be in the picture.
For a long while, Uwaimir forgot he didn't have a home to go back to, he forgot the fight he had with his father before he drove to that place. He let himself wither away in his world to delve into another's world while sharing their happiness. And it took him just a while to be able to feel the same amount of happiness as them too.
Maybe what Nusra said was the truth, there is someone somewhere that is always willing to make life easy for you, so easy you'll enjoy living it.
End of flashback
Uwaimir smiled. Even though it had been four years since the event, everything was etched vividly in his brain, mind and heart. His brain didn't forget how peaceful it felt, his mind didn't forget how happy he was and his heart didn't forget how loved he felt.
That was exactly why he felt that should be the place he goes to find solace after giving up on his father. He was going to live on his own from that moment on and it wasn't really easy for his heart. Hence he came to remember the one moment he had cherished for long.
But that was the last of them he ever saw because they parted without sharing each other's contacts. He knew not their identities nor their contact address or number, all he knew was their names. For them though, they knew nothing about him, not even his name as they didn't ask and he didn't remember to tell them.
At some point, Uwaimir even started to wonder if they were humans at all. Maybe they weren't.
Even if they weren't, he shall forever be grateful to them and he will always remember everything about them. Especially the last sentence he shared with one of them;
"Farewell stranger, farewell not because we are leaving but because I fell for the eyes that were not looking at me"
Because he waited to ponder on that sentence and understand what she meant, he didn't realize when they drove away from him.
No matter how hard he thought about it, he realized he was stupid for just that moment of their day. And that's exactly why he'll never be able to forget the sentence.
Uwaimir sighed before he dragged his phone from his pocket to call someone. He had succeeded in calming himself with memories, it was now time to think about what next to do with his life.
"Rick! I'll send a new account number and name tomorrow, do transfer all the money there" Uwaimir said as soon as he picked the call.
"Why? Did you finally leave?" Rick asked. "Yes! Yes I did" Uwaimir replied with a sigh. "I'm proud of you man, catch up with ya later" Rick said before disconnecting the call.
That wasn't the first time Uwaimir had thought of leaving his father, it was just the first time he tried to and it worked. Because he had been planning to, he made sure to save from the ample amount of money his father kept sending him on a different account that was under Rick's name. He now knows he was wise for his decision.
On that note, Uwaimir said a farewell to pain and a hello to freedom. He shall look for happiness anywhere he goes. And he knew just the perfect place to start searching for happiness.
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Uwaimir people! Uwaimir!
New characters just popped up again. Make sure to remember them cause they'll pop up again somewhere in the book!
Guess that's all!
Remember the deal please! Gotta remind y'all!
Question of the day: Uwaimir or Zaeem? Nahla or Nusra?
Lots of love,
Deedi--❤️