THIRD PERSON
When Laila pulled up to Uncle T's, Azizah suddenly let out a loud shriek,
"Oh my God."
"What? What happened?"
"See him."
"See who?"
"My babe. Laila, stop the car. I want to see him."
Laila could do nothing but shake her head as her best friend was jumping in her seat.
"Azizah, calm down. I need to park first."
"Can't you park faster?"
It took all of Laila's self-control to not hit her friend across the face as she looked for a place to park.
As soon as Laila parked the car, Azizah jumped out and ran to her boyfriend. And Laila could do nothing but watch as her best friend and her boyriend were falling over each other as if they hadn't seen each other for years.
"Farouq, you have to meet Laila." Azizah said when Laila got down from the car wearing her Dior sunglasses.
Laila walked up to them after locking her car,
"Are you guys done with your relationship rubbish?"
"Don't mind Laila. She's just hating."
"It's fine." Farouq said with a smile. "Hello Laila, I'm Farouq."
"Hey, it's nice to meet you."
Farouq was a good-looking guy with light skin and dark brown eyes. He was about sixfoot five inches tall and was very well dressed. He sensed some familiarity from Laila, but he couldn't see her face because of the oversized sunglasses she was wearing.
"It's nice to meet you too, Laila. Shall we go inside?"
Laila and Azizah followed Farouq inside before he turned to them,
"I invited my friend to the dinner. I hope you don't mind."
"No, there's no problem."
But nothing could prepare Laila for what she saw next. As soon as she entered Uncle T's, she saw an all too familiar face. Azizah saw it too and turned to look at Laila,
"Isn't that your fiance?"
"It is. Maybe he's here for another reason."
Farouq came over to show them to the same table that her fiance to be was sitting at,
"Hamza, this is my girlfriend Azizah and her friend Laila."
"Laila?" Hamza asked his friend, skeptical at the situation.
"Laila, could you remove your glasses?"
Laila glanced at Azizah, who urged her to remove the glasses. She slowly took them off and stared directly at the man she was supposed to marry in a few weeks.
"Are you stalking me?"
"You wish I was stalking you. I'm here because my friend invited me to see her new babe."
"That is the same reason that I'm here."
"Good. Let's not make a scene and spoil their night."
Azizah and Farouq could only watch as their best friends argued,
"Can we eat now? Some of us are hungry."
"I agree with Azizah. We can talk while we eat."
Laila and Hamza glared at each other before sitting opposite their best friends. They soon ordered their food and were talking casually.
"So Laila, I'm curious. Where are you from?" Farouq nervously tried to make conversation, "I just mean that you don't look like a Nigerian."
"I'm actually a half-caste. My dad is part Arab, so I picked the look from him."
"Oh."
"What about you? Are you Shu'Arab?"
"Yes. I'm actually Fulani from Gombe."
They continued talking until Azizah brought up exes.
"So, Farouq, do you have any past relationships?"
"Yeah. I'm not too proud of them. Since most of them ended up horribly. What about you?"
"I have two exes."
"What happened to them?"
"The first one cheated on me with Kubra..."
"Who is Kubra?"
Laila answered him,
"Kubra is this bitch that was in our friend group."
"Isn't that a bit harsh?"
"Harsh? Babe, this girl is a bastard. Stupid hoe."
"Azizah, calm down. What about the second one?"
Azizah went stiff at the mention of her ex,
"He was the best. He was caring and loving. Before he started hitting me."
"He hit you? What did you do to him afterwards."
"I didn't do anything. Laila is the one who helped me."
"What did Laila do?"
"I broke his leg with a metal baseball bat and ruined any chances of him having children."
"You did what?"
"I wanted to do the same to that bastard she dated first, but he ran to London with Kubra."
"So you would kill for Azizah?"
"Of course I would. Any bastard, bitch or hoe that wants to harm her has to face me first. So warn yourself. If she ever cries because of you, I won't hesitate to end your life."
Hamza, who was beside Laila, stared at her in astonishment.
"Is that a threat, Laila?"
"No, Farouq, it's a promise."
Farouq couldn't speak for a whole minute,
"Don't worry, Laila. I would never hurt Azizah."
"You'd better not. For your own sake."
They sat in an uncomfortable silence until Laila broke the ice,
"I mean, I won't kill you per say. If I do that, Azizah will be sad."
"I don't think I should get on your bad side."
"Don't worry, as long as Azizah is happy, I have no problem with you."
"You don't have to worry, Laila. She is my happiness."
Laila looked astounded. She had never heard anyone talk about Azizah like that,
"I don't think we'll have a problem. She's lucky to have you."
"She's lucky to have you too, Laila."
"Thank you, Farouq."
"What about you?" Farouq asked, "Have you ever had your own happiness?"
"I dated this guy once. He was amazing. But then, I guess I did something wrong. He told me that I was too crazy for anyone to love me."
"That's horrible."
"I just gave up on dating after that."
Hamza stared at Laila, almost feeling sorry for her. His feelings of hatred for her made him inclined to think that she deserved that treatment from her ex.
"But Laila, what about Khalifa?" Azizah asked.
"Who is Khalifa?" Hamza blurted
"Khalifa is Laila's cousin. He always loved her."
"Azizah, shut up. He did not."
"Then why did he propose to you four times?"
"He did what?!"
"You heard me right, Hamza. He proposed to her several times."
"Azizah, stop. He's married now."
"Yeah, because you rejected him, he married that bitch Kulsoom."
"Don't insult Kulsoom. Khalifa really loves her."
Hamza looked appalled. How dare she say that?
"Why are you defending your exes wife."
"Khalifa is not my ex, and I'm not defending his wife."
"Then why did you look like that when Azizah was talking about him?"
"Look like what?"
"Like you were still hung up on your ex."
"Oh my God. Hamza, what is your problem?"
"What is your own problem?"
"What the hell did I do?"
"Can you guys stop?" Farouq snapped at them, irritated.
Laila couldn't understand why this guy was acting ike a jealous husband. It wasn't as if he wanted to marry her anyway. And Khalifa was already married to someone else, even if he wasn't, he was six years older than her, even though he looked relatively young for a thirty two year old man. Hamza, on the other hand, was unable to explain what he felt when he heard about Khalifa. It was mix of jealousy and anger. He didn't even want to marry her, but one mention of another person hitting on her made his blood boil. Meanwhile, Azizah was watching their interaction with bated breath. It wasn't their intention to make them fight. But Hamza had been acting so passive all night, it was nice to get a reaction out of him.
"You guys are getting married in two weeks and you are acting like high school ex lovers." Farouq was still annoyed.
"Maybe they don't want to get married." Azizah reasoned.
Laila and Hamza stiffened at Azizah's comment and Farouq noticed,
"You guys don't want to get married? Why are you going through with it?"
"We don't have much of a choice." they replied at the same time.
"What do you mean by that?"
"All the formalities have already been finished. The wedding is in two weeks. There's no turning back."
"Who knows about this?"
"Nobody, you guys are the only ones."
"Good, let's keep this a secret. If the family finds out, it will certainly cause a scandal."
Nobody spoke after this. They all just ate their food in silence. After a while, Laila's phone rang. She picked it up, and saw that her friend Sa'adah was calling. When she saw her name, her heart skipped a beat, and fear consumed her soul,
"Azizah, when last did you hear from Sa'adah?"
"Last week. Why are you asking?"
"She's calling me."
"Who's Sa'adah?" Farouq asked.
"Sa'adah is our friend that was diagnosed with cancer. She had to move to the UK for treatment." Azizah explained quickly before picking the call and putting it on speaker.
"Hello Sa'adah." She was answer with a sob and her heart fell to her stomach, "Sa'adah, what's going on?"
"Laila? Where is Azizah?"
"She's here. What's wrong?"
"Laila. Put the phone on speaker, I want her to hear this."
"Babe, it's already on speaker. What's going on?"
Azizah was already crying. The thought of loosing any of her friends shook her to her very soul.
"Laila, Azizah. Fuck cancer!"
"What!! Sa'adah, are you serious?"
"Wallahi. The doctor said it himself. I'm free. All the cells are dead. Laila I'm free."
Laila had no words. Tears were streaming down her face. Two years ago, Sa'adah was diagnosed with stage 3 stomach cancer. And she watched as life faded from her friend. In a desperate attempt to save her, her father relocated her to the UK for treatment.
"Laila, Azizah. Are you guys crying?"
"Of course we're crying. You're finally coming back. Fuck cancer."
"I'm finally coming back home. The food here is horrible. My hair has even started growing back."
Azizah couldn't stop crying. As someone who studied medicine, she knew the risk behind Sa'adah's treatment. The chemotherapy that was supposed to kill the cancer cells was actually poisonous and could kill her instead. Her survival rate at stage 3 cancer even with surgery was less that 70 percent and she survived.
"I'm so happy for you Sa'adah. I wouldn't be able to bear it if you died."
"I survived. My parents haven't stopped crying ever since they heard the news."
"When are you coming back home?"
"I've already booked my flight. I'll be back tomorrow. "
"Isn't that too sudden?"
"What do you mean? Aren't you getting married again?"
"Yeah, I am. But don't you need to rest?"
"I've been 'resting' for two years. I'm coming to Nigeria tomorrow, so prepare a feast for me."
"Yes ma."
"Azizah are you still crying?"
"Why won't I still be crying?" Azizah said between sobs "I almost lost my best friend. I missed you so much."
"I missed you too, but you have to stop being such a baby. How will you find a boyfriend like this?"
Laila and Azizah glanced at each other,
"Actually Sa'adah, we're actually at dinner with Azizah's boyfriend and my fiance."
"Azizah has a boyfriend?"
"Yeah. He's right here."
"Wait has he been listening to our conversation?"
"Yes. Pretty much."
"Shit. Why didn't you tell me? Assalam Alaykum Azizah's boyfriend and Laila's fiance. How are you guys doing?"
Hamza and Farouq answered, "Walaykum Salam. Alhamdulillah, we're doing good. Congratulations, fuck cancer."
"Thank you. Azizah, Laila, your boyfriends passed the vibe check. Maybe when I get back, I'll look for a babe for myself. Is Khalifa still single?"
"No. He got married last year."
"What! To who?"
"Kulsoom."
"Ugh, that bitch?"
"That is exactly what I said when I heard."
"He's too good for her."
Laila couldn't say anything as her two best friends insulted her cousin's wife. Raining insults upon her like she was the devil herself.
"Okay, that's enough."
"Don't pretend like you don't hate her, Laila. Don't forget what she did to you at her wedding."
"What did she do to Laila?" Hamza asked
"She found out that her husband had showed interest in marrying Laila before and got angry. She poured punch all over Laila's off-white dress."
"It was an accident."
"No, it wasn't, Laila. Stop trying to make excuses for that bitch."
"Exactly. Whay do you keep defending her?"
"Because I promised Khalifa that I'll be a good in-law to her."
"But she's a bitch."
"That doesn't matter. As long as I don't see her, I can't be annoyed by her."
"That's enough about that." Laila said "Let us make a toast. To long life and prosperity."
"To long life and prosperity." They all repeated after her. Even Sa'adah.
"I have to get some sleep. I have a flight to catch. See you guys tomorrow, In Sha Allah."
"In Sha Allah. Bye Sa'adah."
"Bye guys."
The call was dropped and they called for the bill to be brought.
When it arrived, Laila insisted on paying,
"Don't worry, I'll pay."
"I can see the Arab in you, Laila. But since I invited you here, I'll pay."
"No, it's okay Farouq. I can pay."
"Laila, it's not okay. I'll pay." Farouq handed his card to the waiter before Laila could protest. He payed for their meal and thanked them for coming,
"This was nice. Let's do it again."
"I agree. It was a nice experience."
They walked to the parking lot and said their goodbyes before getting into their respective cars and driving home. Laila dropped Azizah off at her house before going home. The moment she got home at exactly 9:48 pm, she was swarmed by aunties,
"Laila, where have you been?"
"We have been looking for you."
"Why did you run off like that?"
"It's your mother that is spoiling you like this."
Laila just ignored all of them and went to her room . She had a bath, prayed, and collapsed on her bed. She was so exhausted, and slept immediately.
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