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CHAPTER 23
Looking through the room she realized how big and elegant it was. It was a modern Arab sitting. The ground chairs where simply fine, she knew her cousin Faiza would die for the room. Hauwa and Fauziyah were in their room.
She took out her phone and dialled mama's number twice but she didn't answer. She called Khadijah who picked like she was waiting.
"Amarya" she screamed causing her to remove the phone from her ear, she smiled hearing a familiar voice, she missed home but she had made a decision she had to live with it.
"Burst my ear and be happy"
" I reach? I no want trouble with your husbi abeg. How far nah, gist me oya" she said impatiently.
"See you, gulma will kill you" she laughed
"See leave that one, them Nafisa sent us pictures from your transit. I want to hear everything". She didn't tell her much except for the breakfast incident.
"Aww Oh my" she gushed " I can't wait to get married too so that my husband and I can do public display of affection" she continued. Zinar rolled her eyes from the other end.
"Am just waiting for anti-Hauwa to gist everyone she knows about it".
"Don't forget adding salt and Maggi" Khadijah finished and they both laughed. Anti Hauwa was the fun aunt, the only flaw with her was her mouth. She could exaggerate everything.
She heard a knock on the door and she went to open. It was Nafisa and Amna they had come to show her around the house. They left the room together after they chatted with Khadijah for a while.
"So do you like it here?" Nafisa asked Zinar, they were on the swing set just beside the main house. The house was enormous. It was bigger than both the girl's homes back in Canada. She wondered how just three people lived in it, though there were maids but still. They walked to the garden. It was serene, it was big yet it was moderate for the house, she looked around admiring the absolute beauty of nature, the different flowers, the trimmed carpet grass; it looked perfectly green and kept almost like it was artificial.
"Is that a fish pond?" she asked forgetting the question she was asked. She moved closer and it was a fishpond. She sprinkles some of the feeds she saw and watched as they race to the surface for a bite.
"Yeah, Jaddo loves fishing. He got it built after his legs started to feeble." Amna answered.
"How often do you come here"
"Abi and Abu come here quite often to check with work" Nafisa shrugged. (Abi- Omar while Abu- Abdullah.) They showed her the rest of the house and each place they showed her was its own lit. They snapped a bunch of pictures before heading inside. It was already time for zuhur. The ladies prayed together while the men went to the masjid, Ahmad was out for some errands for Jidda, he had sent Nafisa to tell his wife.
"Try some of this" Jidda said to Zinar. They were seated on the table for lunch. She had made her try almost all the Arab dishes severed ranging from fatir, tabbouleh to kapsa and many other dishes. She told her she had to get use to the Arab meals since she was married to one. Most of it were nice except for the ones that were tasteless or dry. She had had Arabian dishes before and could even cook a few, she learnt from when she was in Egypt. Launch didn't seem as awkward and uncomfortable as breakfast. She was still shy and nervous but managed to catch on and laugh at the jokes Jaddo made. Things seemed great, they were all trying to make her feel at home.
"I hear you are quite good with crochet and wool" Jidda asked adding more salata to her plate.
She looked around with a nervous laugh "I won't say good".
"Stop being modest its soo not you" Amna said and got a glare in return.
"I have never passed a cap"
"Oh, don't worry, I will show you all the tips there are to it" Jidda said excited and somewhat proud. "Finally I'll have some granddaughter woollen time" she shared a smile with Zinar.
Ahmad smiled seeing how things were going. They had accepted her and that was all that mattered. He knew if Jaddo was ok with her then everyone would fall in place, at least eventually. If his family back in Canada accepted her and Jaddo that was good enough for him but he wanted her to be happy, have a family there.
He was pulled out of his daydream when he heard his name.
"Taste this, its Ahmad's favourite," Jidda told Zinar. She got a little of it on her plate before taking a spoon out of it, it was one of the tasteless ones. She smiled as she munched it away.
"You don't like it" he whispered to her. He saw her expression when she was eating the first spoon and that was the only bite she took.
She looked at him with a childish smile "it tasteless"
"Try it with the yoghurt" he served her and it tasted better. She tasted a bunch of other dishes that were served. There were many dishes, she was sure it wasn't their typical dinning, it was too much. Maybe it was all part of welcoming her she thought.
Ahmad headed to Zinar's room. They had barely talked since they got married. He didn't like to admit it but she made him nervous. He said salaam before opening the door. He went inside and she was on the floor beside the bed talking on the phone. She was laughing and free. He couldn't understand a word she was saying since she was speaking in Hausa but he loved the view of his wife being herself. He was sure she was talking to someone back at home. He excused himself giving her some privacy. He went to his room. He called mamma, they were living for Canada that night. They spoke for a bit and she promised to call him when she was less busy with people. He checked and replied to his mails from the office and social media. Some part of him still couldn't believe he was married to the girl he couldn't stand or that it took them almost three years to get there. It felt so surreal, he was sure he made the right choice. He hadn't really given much thought to the kind of woman he was going to marry except the fact that she had to be of good character and background and was Arab which Zinar had checked all except that she was Nigerian.
He checked the time on his wrist, she should be finished by now. He knocked the door once again and he heard her voice from the other end telling him to get in. He opened the door and she was still at the same spot he left her with her phone on her lap.
"Zinar" a familiar male voice echoed the room from the phone. She disconnected the call after telling him she would call him later.
"Hi" she smiled at him as he moved closer and sat next to her on the floor. He felt her shift slightly. He turned and smiled at her. He had so much to say but didn't know how to start- so he decided to wing it. He saw he was making her edgy by the way she was tapping her hand on her laps. He held them in his hands feeling every jolt of electricity that fired through his nerves. Her eyes were slightly wider. She was having a similar feeling except it was because she was not use to being that close to a man that was not her brother or cousin. She felt so awkward.
"I got you something" he took a white paper bag that was sitting in the bedside drawer and handed it to her. She looked at him and then the bag like she wasn't sure. She collected the bag and opened it. It was a wrapped box, which she thought the sheet was pretty tasteful.
"The sheet is pretty"
He gave a short laughed "I hope you like what is inside". He watched her as she unwrapped the box and slowly opened it as if she was afraid of what she might see. She stared in the box and a smiled wondered her faced.
"Wow," she breathed. She traced the content of the box. She loved it. She was starting to feel bad. She had never gotten him anything.
It was a ring and a bracelet. They were very casual yet elegant and it also had their ship name on it. "it beautiful, thank you I love it" she said genuinely. "And the ship name" she laughed, "not bad after all". He didn't think she would wear it immediately but he was glad she did. They were silver but the name was written in gold. She substituted it with the ring and one of the bracelets she was wearing.
"You look beautiful," he said when she had worn them. She managed to thank him sounding cool. She picked the wrap sheet and the rest of the things all the while feeling his gaze on her, making her self-conscious. "Do you like it here"
"So far so good. I see where you all got your charms". They talked about each other's family, getting more familiar with each other's origin, home, culture...
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These are the ship name suggestions,
ZIMAD from TheOmoope ,jiddahabbas23
ZAHMAD
AHNAR
ZINAD
So please which one sounds better and am still open to new suggestions. Will edit the chapter and add the name when it's decided...
Thank you for the reads and suggestions 😘