Chapter 19: Chapter 19

She sauntered into her room and stripped off her clothes before she sashayed into the bathroom and had a warm, relaxing shower. She slipped into something comfy before she prayed Maghrib. She sat there and did her azkhar till it was Isha prayer time.

After she went to daddy's living room and had a little conversation with him about school or if she needed anything, like they did most of the times, she went back to her room. She ran and jump onto her bed, sighing happily as she sink Into the mattress. She never knew how tired she was till her aching body came in contact with the soft mattress.

She looked at the wall clock, it was past 9pm. She closed her eyes and sighed. She felt as though energy was being constantly drained out of her. As though she was leaking electricity. And as her consciousness ebbed, her mind went into a free fall, swirling with the beautiful chaos of a new dream.

From nowhere came the sound and vibration of a phone, so authentic that Dalia scanned the room to see where it was coming from. She turned on the lights and moved around the room. From her bag she heard the ringing tone again. She heaved a sigh when she remembered the new phone Muhsin gave her.

She hissed a little as she opened the bag and searched for the phone. It stopped ringing but started ringing again after barely five seconds. "Muhsin?" She read the name out loud, perplexed. She answered the call and placed the phone on her ear before she went back to her bed and laid down.

"Hello, Dalia." She opened her sleepy eyes. "Salamu Alaikum, good evening," she started with. "Oh, where are my manners, Wa'alaikumus Salam. I hope I'm not disturbing." She exhaled again. "Why are you calling now? It's past eleven in the night." He chuckled softly and shook his head. "I've been working at home for about three hours now and I needed someone to talk to to clear my mind, that's why I called."

"But where's your wife? You have a wife, you can talk to her." He smiled desolately and scratched the back of his head. Amira was the last thing he wanted to remember. Just an hour ago they had a huge swedge about something not worth exchanging words for. "Well she's asleep." He lied. "Wake her up.... I want to get some sleep...." She whined nonstop. He couldn't help but laugh.

"Okay, okay, just tell me about school. How's the lecturers there? Are they nice?" He asked her when he noticed she was getting uncomfortable. "Oh ya Salam, I have an assignment that I have to submit first thing tomorrow morning." She dropped the phone on her bed and rushed to her bag before she fetched the book out. She whined and stumped her feet on the ground. How was she going to do it now? How did she even manage to forget about that kind of assignment when she knows the kind of lecturer they have?

She gasped and went back to her bed before she picked up the phone again. "I'm so sorry, I just panicked about the assignment." He could hear the hint of sadness and panick in her voice. "How did you forget that you had an assignment, Dalia?" He asked her. "I wanted to do the assignment at the school cafe because I have to browse when I was done with practicals but then you came and then I got home really tired and sleepy and then it slipped my mind." She knew how to throw a tantrum, he observed.

"Oh so now it's my fault?" He asked teasingly. "No, yes, no I just forgot about the assignment and the lecturer is a no nonsense woman, she would not listen to any of my pleads." The tears burst forth like water from a dam, spilling down her face. "Dalia? What's with the tears now? Please calm down. This isn't something to stress yourself about. Just read the questions to me, I will browse using my computer and tell you the answers, is that okay?" He asked and she nodded before speaking up. "Now wipe the tears first." She did as she was told before they started the assignment.

She read the first question as he typed it out in his computer. "Get a pen close, I will be telling you the answers and you'd write it down." She quickly stood up from the bed and fetched her pen from her bag. She started writing what he was telling her as she continued to rant about the lecturer. "She is so wicked and selfish. She won't teach the topic, I tell you, that's why she gave the assignment on it and if someone gets it correctly, she'll start telling us to go get it from that person. Giving us assignment and making presentations is what she's good at and also wearing the same shoe for weeks." He threw his head back laughing at her rants. "I'm being serious here," she pouted as though he was there.

"Now how did you know she wears the same shoe everyday? So you keep an eye on what people wear huh?" He spoke jokingly. "No I don't by Allah. It's just that hers is too much and very noticeable. I can count the times she had changed her shoes and even her clothes, I can count them." She continued talking throughout the time he was helping her do the assignment.

"Okay now read the answers back to me let's go through it and correct some things." She did as he told her and they corrected the mistakes she had done while telling him about her lecturers. "Oh Allah now I feel so relieved all thanks to you. I don't know how to start thanking you for helping me do my assignment."

"I could do anything for you after what you've done for me, dalia." She smiled through the phone. They continued talking for a while till she kept throwing tantrums about being sleepy and he refused to allow her go sleep.

**

On a Saturday morning, Dalia got ready and daddy's driver dropped her off at Muhsin's house. She rang the doorbell. Several minutes later, Amira opened the door fully dressed for the day. "Make sure everywhere is spotless before I come home." She walked away. Without a back glance, dalia entered the living room as she looked around. She heaved a sigh and dropped her bag on the sofa before she entered the kitchen and brought out the cleaning supplies.

She did the usual and used the burning incense from amira's room all around the house. She moved to the living room to pray dhuhur before she starts cooking lunch. After she had prayed, she moved to the kitchen to start cooking.

She cooked jolly rice with pan grilled fish and arranged everything in the dining area. She was elated to finish her work early today. She wandered to the backyard and walked around the garden as she observed the colourful flowers and plants there.

He stared at her from his window as his lips curved upwards. Seeing her made his heart twirl. What if he hears her voice or better, she smiles at him? He placed his hand on his chest before he inhaled and exhaled deeply. Looking at her gave him peace of mind. And talking to her would make things more better for him. He smiled a little before he moved away from the window and went into his closet to get a shirt. He wore it and stepped out of his room.

The nice aroma of food mixed with burning incense hits his nostrils the moment he stepped foot out of the room. He heaved a sigh of relief as he found his way downstairs. Weekends were always the best now. Especially when she cooked for them. He stopped by the dining area first to see what she had cooked before he joined her outside.

He stared at her for more than a minute before he spoke up. "I see you're enjoying the view." She turned to look at him, horrified. She exhaled, hand on her chest. "You really scared me," she whined tilting her head. "I am so sorry," he whispered moving closer to her. She gave him the smile he had been wanting to see all day. It felt like liquid adrenaline being injected right into his bloodstream. Just enough to make him excited. "Good afternoon," she greeted him, looking so innocent as ever. He couldn't even return the greetings, instead, he kept smiling at her.

His skin tingled when they locked eyes and his heart beat erratically in his chest so hard that he felt as if he would burst. "Are we in some sort of staring contest." She giggled at his goofy smile. He blinked his eyes and looked away for a second then returned his gaze on her. "When did you come? I see you're already done with the house chores." She nodded her excitedly. "I am, but I don't know when daddy's driver is coming back." She let out a desolate sigh and looked down.

She looked at him and giggled again, a very pleasing, purely feminine sound. "Why aren't you wearing any shoes?" He also looked at his barefoot before his eyes bulged out. How did he manage to come out without wearing any shoes? "I didn't even noticed, I was so eager to come say hi to you. And it's not like I went somewhere far." He shrugged his shoulders and continued staring at her. Looking into Dalia's cat-like eyes felt like looking into the sun for too long- it almost burnt, but the burning sensation was satisfying to Muhsin. There were butterflies, no, an entire zoo in his chest but it felt pleasing.

"How was the assignment we did? Hope you aced it." He gave her a sly smile. She shook her head, "she haven't returned it yet till Monday. I just hope I do pass because that woman..." She let her words trail off as she sighed for the time she couldn't count. "When are you starting your exams?" He folded his arms around his broad chest while she fiddled with the flower she plucked before he showed up. "We are starting in a month. We've been having tests over tests. Really stressful." She lamented tiredly. He was about to reply her when his phone rang from his pocket he fetched it out from his jeans pocket before he answered the call. "Salamu Alaikum, Aunty. Good evening," he greeted her. Dalia looked up at him before she smiled brightly. He was speaking with his mother, she mused. And he was speaking the language she always wanted to learning. "No, no aunty calm down. Everything is going very great now Alhamdulillah." He spoke for some minutes before he bade her goodbye.

"Care to tell me why you were staring?" He smirked at her. She flushed and looked down at the flower. She twirled it around and observed it, it looked more appealing than when she plucked it. "Hm?" He hummed waiting for a reply. "I was not staring.... I just..." she trailed off and smiled sheepishly. He raised a brow and urged her to finish her sentence. "I love your language. I love everything about fulani, it's very enticing." Her eyes glittered with excitement when she spoke. "Hm... I never knew." He folded his arms on his chest again. "Do you want to learn the language?" He asked her and she briskly nodded.

He chuckled at her facial expression. "Then I would gladly teach you how to speak fulfulde just not today. I am so hungry now and all I can think of is the mouth watering dish I saw in the dining room." They walked towards the back door and entered the house. She went to the living room while he stopped at the dining area to serve himself the goodies she cooked.

He looked at him as he walked into the living room, holding a plate. "Have you eaten? Why are you sitting on the carpet?" She stared at him, tongue tied while she wondered which question to answer. "I'm not hungry yet and I feel more comfortable sitting here."

He turned on the tv with the remote. "Sit on the sofa please you're not some sort of maid." He didn't glance at her the time he spoke. She rise and sat down on the sofa like he asked her to. She took a glimpse of him and looked away. He was enjoying the meal, she could tell by his facial expression. His whole attention was on the TV, she thought. But his actual attention was on her. He knew looking at her might make her uncomfortable.

He finished eating and rise from the sofa. "You should eat before I take you home. I will be right back." He excused himself and went to his room. She sat down there watching the show that was on as she waited for him. She wasn't hungry after all.

He came back about thirty minutes later wearing a new set of kaftan like he was going to an occasion. She lowered her gaze before she started drooling over someone's husband. "Have you eaten?" He asked and she shook her head. "I told you I wasn't hungry. Seriously I'll eat when I get home." He sighed defeatedly and guided her to his car. He dropped her off at home and left afterwards.

Later that day, she was on her praying mat doing her azkhar after praying Maghrib when one of the maids announced the arrival of a visitor. "He's looking for me, he said? Me, Dalia?" She asked perplexed as she pointed to herself. The maid nodded her head. "Does mommy knows he's here?" She inquired. "Yes, she knows he's here. She left to her room just now after she had told me to call you. He's in the main living room." She excused herself and closed the door.

Dalia stared at the blank space wondering who it was. She knew it would never be muhsin. Or was it? No, it can never be him. Or it was that idiot guy from School, abdulwahab that has been bugging her. But how would he know where she lives? Well he could do anything to get her, she observed that totally. She hissed slightly before she rise from the mat and folded it. She wore her fluffy slippers and stepped out of the room. He would surely regret coming to where she was.

She entered the living room without uttering anything. He glanced at her and beamed. "Oh sorry, it's you.... Salamu Alaikum, good evening." She fiddled with her hand embarrassed with how she had behaved. He smiled at her again. "Wa'alaikumus Salam. Evening, how are you doing?" Yusuf asked her. She smiled and nodded. "Please sit down." She took slow steps into the living room. She settled down opposite him on the one seater, head ducked.

"Sorry I came unannounced. I have been wanting to come check up on you after what happened in Yola. How have you been?" She glanced at him for less than two seconds and looked away. "I'm fine, I'm okay now." She smiled sheepishly. He did most of the talking while she only nodded her head or spoke when it was necessary. He kept the leather bags beside her leg as he announced he was leaving. She looked at it an looked at him before she shook her head. "I'm sorry but I can't accept this," she mouthed softly. "Why not?" He smiled at her. "It's just a gift so please don't say no else I'll get unhappy."

She nodded her head and thanked him. She walked him to the door and went back to the living room. She took the bags and headed to Mommy's room with it. She knocked and waited till she was given permission to enter. "What is this?" Mommy asked looking at her to what she kept beside her. "I don't know, mommy. He was the one that brought it," she spoke innocently and deep down, she was terrified of the woman sitting majestically on her coffee table chair. "And your small brain didn't tell you it's meant for you? Will you pack this things and leave my room before I knock your head." Dalia quickly packed everything and quickened her pace out of the room.

She took deep breathes as she closed her door before she slumped on her bed. She sat upright and opened the first white nylon. It was two beautiful handbags and two set of jewelries. She opened the other one. She saw two packs of pain reliever, a heating pad and two boxes of perfumes.