ASHRAF'S POV
***FLASHBACK***
"Hey there, baby girl." I jumped in front of her, frightening her.
"I thought Ace told you to stay out of my way." She said still walking away from me.
"Why do you call him Ace?" I asked, a little curious.
"Because he's everything to me." She answered, walking pass me again.
"Slow down, Tinker." I jogged to catch up to her.
"I'm running late. And what did you just call me?" She frowned, stopping in her tracks to look at me.
"Tinker as in Tinker Bell. Cos you're short." I shrugged as she continued to walk.
"Never call me that again. Don't you have anything better to do?" She asked, trying to get rid of me.
"Other than annoying you, I'm free for the day Tinker." I teased further.
"Stop it. And would you please stop following me? Your breath smells like Cigarette." She stated, scrunching her nose in a disgust.
"What's wrong with that?"
"I hate it, which is making me hate you." She mentioned, fastening her paces.
Okay, that hurts. I didn't want her to hate me, I wanted her to love me and I'll make sure of that.
I watched her movements as she disappeared into a building.
I felt like I didn't deserve her, like she was too good for me. I felt so dirty next to her, like some fucking trash.
How can this little girl make me feel this way? With everything she does, I find myself wanting to get close to her.
She hated me smoking? Well, I guess it's time Ashraf Safana changed his ways.
***END OF FLASHBACK***
I missed her. I missed how she would laugh at my jokes, how she would glare when I called her Tinker Bell, the way she would scold me if I smoked or drank alcohol, how she would rain cusses on me in Arabic thinking I didn't understand, that sass of hers that always turn me on. I missed everything about her, absolutely everything.
I would do anything just to get a glimpse of her. And my Jackass best friend doesn't spare me a picture of her.
A rumbling thunder interrupted my thoughts as I looked out the window at the pouring rain. It was 5:30am after Subh Prayer and I couldn't go back to sleep.
I sighted some movement outside which alerted me. Focusing on the character, I realised it was that witch.
Thanks to the security lights, I was able to see her expression. She was laughing, jumping up and down in the rain like a small kid which reminded me of Jann, she loved the rain. She took of her scarf and her hair ran down her back as rain poured down on her. She was wearing sweatpants and a baggy shirt which was wet.
I've never seen a Nigerian girl having such long, smooth and silky hair. I could just run my hands through it.....
Wait, Wait, Wait, What was I thinking? That was wrong. Looking at her exposed hair was wrong. Me thinking about any girl but Jannah was wrong.
I shook my head and closed the curtains, going back to my bed. I tossed and turned on my bed but couldn't fall asleep so I stood up and walked back to the window. She was still there but exercising, doing situps, jumping jacks and some more. She grabbed a tree branch and did like 3 pullups before releasing it, probably feeling pain from putting too much pressure on her ribs. For a semi illiterate girl, she sure knows how to stay fit making me more suspicious of her. She claimed she wasn't fully educated yet speaks fluent English, She claimed she was raised poorly yet have impeccable taste in fashion and then she was strong enough to endure such vigorous exercise with the injury she obtained.
I marched down the stairs and out of our house, heading for the strange girl. She got startled seeing me and scrambled for her scarf, hurriedly tying it on her head.
"Good morning." She stated, rocking back and forth on her heels.
"Tell me the truth. Who are you and what do you want from us?" I asked, straightforward. I had a serious expression, hands folded across my chest.
"What are you talking about? I am a worker in this house." She answered, feigning clueless.
"I don't believe that crap. You better tell me or else...." I trailed, making my threat as vicious as possible.
"Look, I don't have time for this because I have work to do. Excuse me." She replied, walking right pass me and heading into the building.
How dare she? She just walked passed me!
I was seething, walking back to my room. I took a warm bath and changed into a black sweats and a black shirt. I checked the time to see it was quarter to 8 and I was to go pick up Fahad from the Hotel by eight. So I took my car keys and left my room. The rain has subsided as I walked to one of my cars, getting in. I called Fahad, informing him that i was on my way.
"Fahad." I called out, as i spotted him waiting in the parking lot.
"Ash, how have you been?" He asked, briefly hugging me.
"Good. How's my Jann?" I asked, making him glare at me.
He has always hated our friendship with Jann, saying I was a bad influence on her and all that.
"Busy with her work but she's good." He answered, throwing his luggage into the trunk and hopping into the car as I drove out of the hotel.
"This is the first time you aren't celebrating her birthday with her." I stated.
Her birthday was also same day as mine. Cool, right?
"Oh, we're definitely celebrating together." He muttered, not knowing I heard him and I abruptly stopped the car.
"Are you saying my Jann is here in Nigeria?" I giddily asked.
"Yo why did you stop the car?"
"Just answer the fucking question." I interjected.
"Alright...... Yeah, she's here." He answered, relaxing on the comfortable seat.
"Can I please meet her?"
"No fucking way."
"Please Fahad."
"No."
"I'm your best friend. Please convince her to come to my party tomorrow." I begged.
"It won't be easy but fine." He sighed, typing away on his phone.
"Thanks bro, you're the best." I playfully punched his arm and started the car engine again.
"Whatever, Man. Hey, how's that new girl?" He asked,making me groan loudly.
"You mean thatr witch." I corrected.
"Ouch. Why do you even hate her so much, she's beautiful." He said, making me groan again.
"She's manipulated everyone in our house into liking her." I focused on the road as he laughed out loud.
"You told me she cracked her rib trying to help you."
"She was just showing off." I snapped.
"By hurting herself? I highly doubt that." He defended.
"You're defending her as if she was your sister or something." I joked. He laughed nervously, scratching the back of his neck.
We dropped that topic and talked about work before reaching home. I took him to one of the guest rooms in our building and let him settle in as I informed Jalil about Fahad's arrival.
I took him to the main building's living room and headed upstairs to call Mami and the rest.
"I'll be down in a few minutes." Mami said, closing the door to her room. I jogged downstairs but couldn't spot Fahad. I heard voices in the kitchen and so I walked to the direction. There I spotted Fahad hugging someone, a girl. I knew it wasn't any of my sisters because they were all in their rooms except for one girl. Aisha.
I hid by the door and eavesdropped on their conversation.
"I've missed you Fahad." She said, hugging him tighter.
What the Fuck was going on? Was my best friend cheating on my sister? Wait! Her voice is different.
"Missed you too, baby."
Wait a minute. Fahad only calls one person by that name....
"Jann, are you sure you're alright?" Fahad asked her, holding her cheeks as she smiled at him.
Jann as in Jannah? She was Jannah this whole time? My Jannah? And I didn't even recognize her? What was she doing here? And why was she lying to all of us?
"One of you will tell me what is going on this instant or else I'm telling the entire Family." I boomed, walking into the kitchen. They scrambled out of each others hold and composed themselves.
"What are you talking about? I came to get a cup of coffee." He lied.
"Shut the fuck up. I know exactly what is going on here." I warned, walking up to Jannah.
"Why did you lie to me? I thought I was your friend?" I asked her.
"I didn't lie to you about anything. And friend? I thought you hated me." She said, acting confused.
"I overheard everything Jann, why are you doing this?" I asked, feeling hurt at the fact that my best friend and the love of my life hid something as important as this from me.
"I.... I..."
"She can't tell you because that's beyond her power." Fahad cut her off.
"What do you mean by....."
"Fahad, It's nice to see you again. How was your flight?" Mami asked, walking into the kitchen.
I gave them both a look that said, 'We will discuss this later'.
"Good morning Mami, it was good Alhamdulillah and how have you been?" Fahad asked her, sitting on the barstool next to her.
"Ah great. The rest will be down in few minutes. In the meantime,let me whip up a quick breakfast." She said, getting up from the stool.
"Already made breakfast Mami. What will you have Sir, tea or Coffee?" Jannah asked Fahad with a smile, as if she never knew him.
"Please call me Fahad. Coffee will be fine." He acted too. They were confusing me.
"What is that?" Mami pointed behind Jannah.
"Oh that? I couldn't sleep so I made cake parfaits with the leftover cupcakes from yesterday and some fruit salads. Those are chocolate cakes, I'm letting them cool off before I decorate them." She explained, pouring Fahad a cup of coffee and handing it to him.
"Oh, the cakes are for you?" Mami asked but she shook her head.
If it isn't for her then who is it for?
"I shouldn't tell." She said
"No, my dear. Please do tell who it is for?" Mami urged.
"Fine. I planned to give this to Hanan so she could give it to him, because we all know that Ashraf here isn't fond of me." She explained with a sad smile.
Aww, she baked a cake for me? That was so sweet of her.
She was right though. I would never have accepted it if I didn't know it was her.
"That's so sweet of you yet he claims you're manipulating us into liking you." Jalil said from the door frame, glaring at me.
"Where did you learn all these?" That was Kamal asking.
"My mom's a certified baker. My brother and I used to learn all these recipes from her." She answered, smiling at Fahad.
We proceeded to the living room where dad, Hanan, Tasleem and Fateema joined us.
"Won't you have break fast?"
Everyone's head snapped towards me except for Fahad who looked unfazed. All of them were giving me the 'what the actual fuck?' look.
"What?" I asked but they all shook their heads and continued to eat their food.
"No thank you, I'm okay. I'll be in the kitchen if you need me." She mentioned, making her way to the kitchen.
Kamal excused himself and trailed behind her.
Thinking about it, I didn't want Kamal or Jalil getting close to Jannah for a completely different and more selfish reasons.
After breakfast, everyone left to go on their daily activity except for me and Hanan who had to attend to our guest.
"Hanan." I called out from where she was seated besides Fahad on the couch in the living room.
"Na'am (Yes)." She replied, getting up and approaching me.
"Please go inform Aisha to get ready, I'm leaving for the mall now." I explained, scrolling through my IG account.
"Okay." And she sauntered off.
"You're taking 'the witch' for shopping?" Fahad air quoted, chuckling at his own words.
"Shut up. I need an explanation, and that will happen during the ride." I said, with a hard glare.
I was still wondering what he meant by 'she couldn't tell'. Why's that?
"I ain't going nowhere." He replied, folding his arms across his chest.
"It's either you come with us and discuss this privately or we talk about it here, where anyone can easily listen to our conversation." I threatened with a raised eyebrow. He sighed heavily and rubbed his forehead.
"Why did I even come here?" He muttered.
"Well......"
"Fine."
"What are you two talking about?" Hanan chimed in all of a sudden.
"Fahad wants to accompany us to the mall. You okay with it?" I asked.
"Yeah sure. I have some work at the NGO anyways so I'll meet you later?" She asked him and he smiled sweetly.
"Yeah." He answered and she left us, heading upstairs just when Jannah was descending down. She was dressed in a black Abaya, a rope tied around her waist. I looked away from her and glared at Fahad.
"The next time you look at my sister like that, I'll make sure to remove your eyeballs." I threatened making him laugh loudly.
"Now you know how hard it was for me to restrain myself from clawing your eyes out. Besides, I need to get over her now that mom is planning to get me married to sone girl." He said, getting up from the couch as Jannah was already down.
"Ahh Fahad my friend, but Hanan is the girl your mom was talking about." I told him and he looked so very much surprised, making me chuckle.
"I'll tell you everything later." I said.
We silently walked to my car with me having a lot of questions for the two of them. I sat on the driver's seat as Fahad opened to door for Jannah to enter the back before settling on the passenger's seat.
"Start talking." I commanded, manuevering my way out off our compound.
"As I said, it was beyond her power. What is there left to say?" Fahad shrugged and I pulled the car over at an alley.
"What's wrong?" Jannah asked.
"We are not leaving here until you tell me everything." I replied, dropping down from the car and the two followed suit.
"Why are you being stubborn about it? I told you-"
"It's okay Fahad, he deserves to know the truth." Jannah cut him off.
Finally!
I leaned on the car and folded my arms, waiting for her to start talking. She sighed, looked at Fahad and turned to face me.
"I work for the defence agency of Africa." She said, with a serious face.
I bursted into a fit of laughter and they gave me a confused expression, making me laugh harder.
"Defence Agency? As in you're a spy or something? Do you both take me to be a fool?" I turned serious.
They exchanged looks before Jannah squatted down and removed something from her shoe.
"What are you doing?" I asked, feeling self-conscious. Before I knew it, she raised what looked like a gun and fired. I felt a sharp intense pain on my arm making me clutch onto it. I checked for any injuries or blood as it hurt alot but there was nothing.
"What the..."
"A shot to the chest and you would be unconscious for about 20 minute, a slight headache after waking up and a little memory loss if not strong enough." Fahad explained as Jannah returned the bullet-less gun back to its place.
"What is that?" I asked.
"A tranquilizer. We don't kill, Ashraf." Jannah answered.
"You believe us now?" Fahad asked with a smirk. I groaned loudly at the pain shooting through my arm as I straightened up.
"But what are you doing here? I've missed you so damn much." I honestly said earning a glare from Fahad.
"Think about it. I come to your house and in a month's time, your uncle gets exposed and arrested." She shrugged, going back into the car and I did same, starting the engine.
"You took longer than expected though." Fahad blurted.
"I know right. And the constant insults and unending annoyance from Ashraf here wasn't helping my case." She rolled her eyes as I glanced at her through the mirror.
"I'm sorry Jann. If I had known it was, none of that would have happened." I apologized sincerely.
"Can I ask you a favor?" I asked and she hummed a response, taking out her phone from her purse.
"Can you please...err.... Please stop getting close to my brothers?" I stammered. Fahad bursted into a fit of laughter and Jannah joined him.
"Why? So I don't bewitch and manipulate them?" She joked and they both laughed at me.
"Shut up Assholes." I muttered as their laughter died down.
We arrived at the mall and in no time, we found what we needed and was about to leave.
"Wait in the car and I'll be right back." I gave them the car keys and ran back into the mall.
I bought her the perfect set of jewelry that i know she would love, some ankle and timberland boots and different types of bracelets all wrapped up in a box. A basket full of all her favourite chocolates, champagne, Oreos and some more.
I took it to the car and kept it in the trunk, not letting her see that. I was going to surprise her since it was also her birthday the next day.
"What took you so long?" Fahad asked.
"I forgot something very important." I mentioned, driving the car to the direction of our house. My arm was still hurting but not so much.
"How's your arm?" Jann asked, looking at me through the mirror.
"The pain is subsiding." I answered, smiling inwardly at her kind gesture.
"Get ready by midnight tonight baby, and meet me in their garden. We're gonna have a little one on one." Fahad beamed.
"Yayy. I can't wait to kick your ass, literally." Jann grinned.
"Hold up. Fight? But you're a......"
"A what?" I was about to say girl but judging by the way she was glaring at me, I guessed she got my point already.
"Nothing, I'm also coming." I stated.
Fahad and Jann continued to converse through out our ride home.