I love anything that has an Oud Scent and right now, all I want is to live in Saleem's car with him around forever and ever. I've never smelt an oud scent that's this amazing.
" What are you day dreaming about?" I hear Saleem ask from beside and I slowly open my eyes to stare at his handsome face, he's so dreamy. " I'm not day dreaming, I'm just taking in the nice smell your car has"
" Oh you're a fan of oud scents as well?" He asks with his face brightening up again, just like when he sighted me in the store. " I very much am"
" I'm glad"
" So where are we going to?" It hasn't been more than 5 minutes since we left Sidi and Sons together. That Haneef dude was bent on trying to ruin my day with his existence but no, I have my Saleem.
I'm not wrong for calling him mine, he likes me ( even though he hasn't said it) and I like him as well. Everytime I see him, I honestly feel happy and safe.
A feeling I've never felt for someone ordinary before.
" Uhmm, I figured you'd like ice cream so, Smart kids?" Their icecream is the best in Kaduna honestly, well it's a tie between them and Havilah icecream. " sure, they have really nice icecream"
" They do?, I haven't actually gone to any icecream spot here since I got back, so let's see" He answers and I turn my head around to get a good look at his side view.
He's so handsome.
He has this sideburns and I have to say, his spotless light skin is glowing and his beard and moustache, he's a whole package. He even has long lashes girls are dying for. " Stop staring at me lady"
" Why?, you're even lucky that I'm looking at you" I answer, trying to hide an embarrassed blush on my face and I take my phone out from my bag with the intention of taking a few selfies. " Which country did you actually study at?" I've been wanting to ask really. " New Zealand, I had serious fun there you know and the weather blessed me with this fresh body. Oh, let's not forget the accent" he says and flashes me a quick wink.
" I can see that you really don't want to maintain your fresh package, why will you come back to Nigeria?"
" Well, Madame, I came back for you" He answers, rendering me speechless.
Few seconds pass and yeah, I'm yet to give him an answer. " Cat got your tongue huh?" He says with a smirk and I shyly nod. " Well I wasn't joking when I said that, I really came back for you. I honestly couldn't get the cute little girl that seemed lost on her first day in junior secondary school with her oversized uniform out of my mind and heart, I waited 5 years for this you know" My heart, gosh it's melting.
" I really don't know what to say"
" well, just be straightforward with your feelings. It saves you from stress" He answers and I take a look at him, he smiles back sincerely at me and I take a deep breath before trying to pour my heart out as well. " Well, I guess I had a crush on you when I first saw you in school, you were tall and handsome and stuff. It died down when you left but when I saw you again a few days ago, the feelings rekindled" I say and watch him profusely blush from the side of my eye. " So you like me too"
" I do" I answer and immediately palm my face to avoid him getting a glimpse of me blushing.
" You really don't want me to see you blushing?, well it's normal. I'll get a glimpse eventually, well let's say pretty soon" He says with utmost confidence and I'm left to stare at the busy streets.
There's no place I'd rather be than here, beside my Saleem.
Smart kids, as usual is busy but we managed to get a seat at the top floor after ordering a medium-sized box of pizza and 8 scoops of ice cream each, Saleem insisted we ordered similar flavours and I certainly couldn't disagree.
" My Dad wants us to drop by his office later on, he wants to talk to you" I say to Saleem while chewing down a bite of delicious pizza. " Good, I can't wait to meet my father-in-law"
" Are you serious right now?, he's not your father-in-law" I answer and watch him stiffen. " do you have another father or something?" He answers and I instantly giggle, making his lips form a cute smile as well.
" Give me your hand" I hear him say and look at him closely. " Why?"
" Just place your hand here" he says, nudging for me to place my small handvinto his wide palm.
I quietly obey and watch him take his phone out from his pocket, after tightening his gentle hold on my hand, making shivers run up my spine." What are you doing?" I ask.
" Capturing the moment" He answers and uses his other hand to bring something out of his pocket again, a small rectangular white box with a black bow around it. " Here hold my phone and make sure you continue recording this, don't stop it" He says and passes his phone over to me. I take hold of it with my free right hand and watch him open the box to reveal a customized gold chain bracelet with my name on it.
" I've waited so long for this day, and now that I have the chance to make you mine, I'm not going to waste time playing around. Tracking you down when I came back wasn't exactly easy, but Hafeez helped me and here we are" Hafeez is his brother, my previous client. " No lady has made my heart flutter and my feelings go all over the place like you have. I came back here with the intention of getting married to you and settling down but I know that's not what you'll want now so Zakiyah Buhari Ali, I want to be by your side till the day you're ready for us to build a family together. I know you're having second thoughts of being mine now, because you don't know who I really am and trust me, you'll be mad over me when you realise how good of a person I am"
" How sure are you that you're a good person?" I just had to interrupt his heartwarming speech. " I am, I know I am. I want to make you mine so we won't look elsewhere and we'll focus on building us from this day forward" Saleem is thoughtful honestly, he didn't only consider his situation but of course, mine as well and he's willing to wait.
Making Saleem mine is a decision I don't have to think twice about, I've low-key been craving to have someone that isn't my daddy pamper me with all the love and care in this world and now that I have a chance to acquire that person, I'm surely not going to let it go.
" So Zakiyah.." he says again, this time wearing the bracelet around my wrist for me. " will you give me the honour of starting this new journey with you?" He says and I nod slightly. " I'll be more straightforward, will you be mine?"
" Yes, I'll be yours" There's no one else I'll wish to spend the rest of my life with other than Saleem. From the little I know, he's an amazing person, I honestly can't wait to learn more about my man. My girls are going to freak!!.
Saleem smiles happily in front of me and I make sure to take a picture of the moment with my own phone. He's wearing a blue sweatshirt and white casual jeans and his smile,
His smile,
I'm so lucky.
" Can you air drop the video to me, I want to send it to my girls" I say while taking pictures of my new bracelet on my slender wrist. " Sure, I'll do that later but for now stop taking pictures and let's eat properly. This ice cream tastes really great"
" Sorry, I'm coming. Someone just sent me a message, possibly a client. Let me quickly respond" I answer immediately after sighting a notification from an unknown number. They sent a video. " Okay then"
The video size isn't large, 4.2 megabytes. I tap play and to my greatest surprise, a nice song starts to play in the background and the words, " I'm sorry " starts to display in the background.
I burst into laughter immediately, calling Saleem's rapt attention towards me. What kind of whack apology is this?!
" Hey why're you laughing without me?" Saleem asks with a pout and I hand him my phone to watch what his friend sent me. " I met your bestfriend at Sidi and Sons earlier and he apologised to me, said he wants to be friends for family and friends sake. He apologised and it felt sincere, but I didn't buy it. I told him to really prove to me that he was sorry and that is his attempt"
" Well Haneef has never been good at apologising" Saleem answers, handing my phone back to me. " I can see that. I really don't like him, he's so arrogant and full of himself"
" Hey hey, hold it. We're on our first date as a couple not a date to talk about my bestfriend that you despise"
" I'll change the topic, but seriously, how can you be bestfriends with someone who can raise his hands to hit a woman?" I'm honestly beginning to wonder. " Before you think I'm anything like Haneef, I'm certainly not. Haneef has serious anger issues and obviously I don't and that's the root of all his problems, all I do is try to support him whenever he's in need but really, he's a cool guy, you can say he's nice too" Saleem answers and fills his mouth with a spoonful of icecream. I honestly just have a bad vibe around that dude, he sounds like bad news.
Daddy's office is always busy but even if he's in a not-so-important meeting, he always leaves to see me. I already called to tell him that we'll be on our way after Asr and here we are now.
" Are you nervous?" I ask Saleem who's seated right next to me. " I'm not, I'm actually very excited" he answers and takes hold of a framed picture sitting gracefully on Daddy's desk. " This picture is so cute" He says, admiring the picture of I and Daddy laughing together. It was taken on my graduation day, approximately a month and a few days ago. " Yeah it was taken on my graduation day" I answer with a small smile. That day was really a memorable one. I took the overall best award of the commercial class and also some other awards, I was also the assistant head girl in school that time with lesbo Mary Ann being my head. It was a fun post really.
" Assalamu Alaykum" we hear Daddy greet from behind us while closing the door behind him and walking into his office. Both I and Saleem get up from our seats to greet him, " Wa'alaykumussalam daddy" I answer and walk closer to give him a light hug. " Good day sir" Saleem greets and shakes Daddy's hand. " Good day, so you're the boy that likes my daughter"
" no, no. I don't like her, I love her" Honestly, I admire Saleem's courage. If I were in his shoes, I would have melted into a puddle. " That's nice, let's sit down. I know you guys don't want anything to eat cause you're coming from your date. By the way, how was it?" Daddy asks and we all take our seats.
" It was great sir, and Zakiyah agreed to be mine from this day forward" My God. Daddy's face stiffens from the words and looks at me for answers. " Yeah, we're a couple now" I answer shyly, knowing fully well that advised me to take things slowly.
Daddy sighs before finally speaking up. " I want you guys to take things to slow, why the rush?"
" We aren't actually rushing sir. We're in a commitment where we'll get to know each other better, and adjust. We both like each other so much so determination will make us blossom, your daughter is honestly in safe hands sir" Each trait of Saleem that unfolds is making me fall harder for him.
Love is sweet abeg.
" Well, if that's what you two want then fine. Zakiyah, did you bring your car here?" Daddy asks and I shake my head in response. " okay, I'll call oga Jay to take you to wherever your car is and make sure you head home, I don't want to hear any story and be careful. I want to talk with your boyfriend alone, that's if you don't have anything to attend to"
" Oh no sir, I'm free"
" Why do you want to talk to him alone?" I'm more than curious to know why. " He plans on being my son-in-law, so I want to talk to him, you know, man to man" Daddy answers while staring at Saleem strictly but Saleem's friendly face isn't shaking.
" Don't worry, I'll be fine" Saleem says to me and sure, I know he'll be fine. He has been bold enough to keep his friendly face intact while taking to Daddy. In no time, I find myself in Daddy's Land Cruiser with oga Jay by my side after bidding them goodbye.
I welcome myself to my usually quiet after an exhausting ride back home. I message Saleem to inform him about my safe arrival and the next thing I find myself doing is calling my girls up to inform them about the latest happenings.
" So when are we going to meet your boyfriend?" Tayibah asks from her line on the phone. " Whenever you guys are ready"
" But Zakiyah sha, I find all this weird, I won't lie. I mean it's great that he's straightforward and stuff, but why so soon?......" Juwee starts and I try to cut her off but she manages to continue. " You said you guys are in a commitment now to stay together, get to know each other and also adjust because y'all like each other, then why not just get married and actually seal the deal?, seriously I don't understand. All this just happened snappily and I'm flabbergasted, what if you find someone else you pick interest in, you're still young and damn pretty and everything, I'm just looking out for you you know"
" Juwee, I'm honestly 80% sure that me being with Saleem now is going to make me look away from another person and you know how loyal I am, if I want to achieve a goal I'm going to try my hardest to and now that I have a chance of sealing my relationship with Saleem later on, you know I have to take it. I really like Saleem"
" I know you do, I'm just worried about him hurting you and stuff" She answers and with a sigh and a warm heart, I respond. " I know you're worried but the thing is, I just feel sure about him, he won't hurt me by God's grace and even if he does, I have my girls to teach him a lesson"
" You sure do, I'm ready to break somebody's son's head I swear. Sharp sharp" Tayibah answers and a laugh escapes my lips. " You'll just be doing like one agbero guy. No wonder you don't have a boyfriend" Juwee answers
" You know if I really want a boyfriend, I can get him"
" It's a lie" Juwairiyah screams into the phone, making me crack up. " Like Tay Tay you chase guys away, you can even beat them up when they irritate you. Why're you sooo soooooo aggressive?" Juwee adds. One thing with Tayibah is that no matter how tough she is, she can become very emotional at some things, some unexpected things. I'm sure she's feeling bad right now. " Well it's not my fault that they're all so lame, they deserve beating sef, let me just catch any guy that comes with rubbish sweet talks"
" Well Tay Tay, one day, someone's sweet talks will sweep you off your feet. It'll be so unexpected and you'll feel weird, I can't wait for that day honestly"
" E go tey oo" Juwee screams into the phone again and her evil cackle erupts. Even though a part of me feels so, I'm still going to look on the bright side. My bestfriend will find someone she's going to love dearly.
" Abeg shut your mouth" Tayibah snaps. " Sure whatever, I'm going to post your pictures on my status. The palazzo you wore today make sense sha, it's funny how you have a good sense of dressing but sometimes, it fails you" Tayibah says to me and I roll my eyes even though she can't see me. " Yauwa, Khairiyah sent her anko for the reception to me earlier. She sent three 6 yards for us" Tayibah adds and I instantly remember Haneef's apology stunt. " Is it only the reception we're attending?" I ask, we weren't really close so attending all her events will just be weird.
" Yeah, our mates are attending the reception only so yeah, we'll attend the reception only too" Juwee answers. " Okay toh, send your styles, I'll give Aunty Nafisa to sew for us, she still has our measurements" Aunty Nafisa is Tayibah's cousin but she's pretty older than us, so for respect sake, we call her Aunty.
" Alright, I'll ask mummy to call her henna woman" Juwee answers and my phone begins to vibrate, someone is calling me.
It's the Haneef dude. I wonder what he wants. " Guys I'm coming please, Khairiyah's annoying brother is calling me"
" oh answer and come" Juwee answers and I quickly end our call to answer his. " What do you want?" I snap into the phone. " Well good evening to you too" he answers and I roll my eyes. " What do you want?" I ask again.
" I figured you didn't like my first apology video that I personally took my time to make so come out to your balcony" okay I have many questions. " how do you know where I live?"
" I'll answer that some other time, for now, just come to your balcony"
" How do you even know that my room has a balcony"
" Just come out missy" he says again and I drag myself out of bed to my balcony. I look around with my phone by my ear until I sight a BMW parked right in front of our gate with the Haneef dude standing in front of it, waving and smiling at me. He's lucky that there are lights around for me to see him properly. " Why did you call me outside?" I ask into the phone. " Just wait for the magic" He says and before I knew what was going on, I begin to hear familiar firework noises, but less silent ones and I instantly lift my eyes to the dark sky to meet the greatest surprise of my life.
An extremely beautiful apology firework display saying, " I'm sorry for hurting you Zakiyah Buhari Ali" .
Oh my goodness, it's extremely beautiful, with multiple pretty colours.
My mouth literally dropped to the ground after seeing this.
There's no way I can't accept his apology now.