Chapter 17: Chapter 17

Still in her bed is Hajiya Basira Dantata. At 11am, one would think she might be up. It's sad to say the twins actually inherit this side of hers.Those three tend to be the last people to wake up in the house and who so ever tries to disturb Hajiya Dantata's sleep is definitely in trouble.

She sighed softly in her sleep, enjoying whatever she was dreaming about. Her husband, alhaji Dantata had long gone to work together with Faisal.

***

Umm rasheed gave Kalthum another  personal lecture before going to the market. Kalthum took her bucket and moping stick and head to the big boss's side of the mansion. The mansion has two long stairs to pass through. The one on the right is the way to the children's side while the one on the left is the parents side.

Kalthum feared what was waiting for her over there. She has this dread feeling that something is likely to happen and she does not wish to be on Hajiya basira bad side especially after all she has heard about her. Although ,umm rasheed told her not to worry but she still feels scared.

The funniest of all is that she isn't the only maid working there but the sad part of it is that the five maids she would be working with had already shared where each one of them would be working without informing her not until now and It so happens that she was giving the worst part, which is the madam's room. It would have been better if she was given the big boss's room. Atleast from what she heard, he has no problem unlike his wife.

She dropped the bucket and mopping stick on the floor so she could knock before entering. The moment she knocked on the door, she regretted it. She had totally forgotten what umm rasheed told her about not knocking, instead she should just enter without making noise because Hajiya dantata hates disturbance.

How could she have forgotten

" WHO IS THAT STUPID PERSON "

Now she knew she was in deepshit. She thought of running away but remembered that her other colleagues would point at her if they were asked and since she is the one in charge of the room, there is no way out for her. She took in a deep breath then pushed the door to make known of herself.

The first thing Kalthum noticed as she entered was the hate look she received from hajiya Basira. One must sure squirm under her harsh gaze.

" So you're the foolish girl knocking? Weren't you told that I hate disturbance? Didn't the nanny tell you?!"

" i-i-i

" SPEAK UP!"

" I'm so-rry ma. I fo-rgot " she replied with her eyes glued to the floor

Hajiya Basira got down from bed fuming. She marched towards Kalthum, then did the unexpected. She slapped Kalthum right on the face trice and that slap must sure leave a mark.

Kalthum held her face in shock. Her eyes became teary. Never in her life has she ever been slapped like this, even her mother dares not to slap her like this.

" That's for being so stupid. When next you try this nonsense again, I'll make sure you go back to the slum you were picked from. GET OUT OF MAY FACE " Hajiya Basira shouted

Kalthum need not to be told twice, she ran out of the room clutching her now swollen face, leaving the bucket and mopper behind . She ran not even sure of where to go, her only wish is to be far away from the wicked witch.

Due to the way she ran out like that, some of the maids already have a hint of what might had happened since they've gone through it too. They shot her a look of pity. She ran down the stairs and made way for the door.

Kalthum pushed the door and came crashing into Habeeb who staggered back but quickly got hold of himself before he could fall. She felt more embarrassed right now.

" i-m s-or-ry sir" she apologized with tears shinning in her eyes. Kalthum didn't wait for his response instead she ran until she reached her destination which was the garden. She knelt on the floor and wept like she has never before. Never have she been embarrassed like this.

***

Habeeb couldn't comprehend what just happened. He wonders why Kalthum has tears in her eyes. Did someone hurt her? He thought. He then decided to follow her to find out.

Habeeb saw her figure kneeling down on the carpet grass. Her shoulder shook as if she was crying. He moved forward to stand in front of her and his suspicion was right, she was actually crying.

" Kalthum? Are you alright? " he asked concerned

She quickly wiped off her tears then forced a smile on her face. The smile looks more like a grimace.

" why are you crying ?"

" No I wasn't " she denied .Even a blind man would know that she was crying.

" Yes you were crying " he folded his arms challenging her to prove him wrong.

" No I wasn't " she still stood  her ground

" you need to stop the lies already. I promise I won't tell anyone. Who made you cry? Is it my mother? "

Her eyes snapped to meet his" I never said so" she said softly

" you don't need to tell me before I know. What did she say you did? Wait! Is that a mark on your face?! Did she slapped you?! " he was shocked when he noticed the finger marks on her smooth face.

" i-i-i

" TELL ME KALTHUM! "

" Please sir it's was nothing. You don't need to bother. Actually it's my fault, I caused it " she said with pleading eyes

" No Kalthum! That woman need to be told the truth " he shouted out and made his was to the house.

Kalthum's eyes widen at this, she quickly ran in front of him blocking  his way.

" please sir don't do anything, I'm begging you sir. If you do anything now, I'm very sure it will  be the end of my stay here." she begged

Habeeb's eyes clouded in anger " she slapped you for crying out loud Kalthum! She has no right to do that, not to you or to any other maids in the house"

" please sir just let it be. I really need the money, please Sir " she went on her knees

" please don't do this Kalthum. Please Get up. Fine, I won't do anything "

Kalthum exhaled loudly " thank you sir"

His mother will never change. It's so sad to say that the woman in question was his mother, so heartless.

" Kalthum? "

" Sir?" she got up

" I know you don't want me to do anything but please when next she does anything like this to you, please feel free to tell me. There are other ways I could make her pay for it "

She shook her head " like I said sir, you don't need to disturb yourself. I don't want to come in between you and her. Infact, I think I deserve the slap sir, I shouldn't have forgotten what I was told. "

Habeeb sighed "  Stop saying you deserve it cos you don't, no one does. Another thing, on behalf of my mother, I'm deeply sorry for what happened "

She smiled" thank you sir. You're a good man"

Habeeb chuckled " so before I wasn't a good man? "

" What! No! I didn't mean it like that " her face flushed

He wiggled his brows " I was only joking "

She smile " thanks once again sir for not doing anything "

He shook his head " no, I should be the one thanking you for enduring. You shouldn't go through stuff like this "

" I'll get use to it " she shrugged

" Can I have your number? " Habeeb asked out of the blue

***

Kalthum's eyes widen at this " what for? " she didn't know why he needs her number

" because I want us to be friends " he said

She blinked her eyes multiple time " as in m-e  a-nd you" she pointed to herself then him

He chuckled " yes. I want to be your friend. I want to know more about this lady that helped my dying wife"

" but sir_

" No but Kalthum. I just want to be your friend, I didn't say I want to marry you " he said with eyes filled with mischief

She blushed " My bad. I was only surprised that you want to be my friend but anyways, I'll give you my number "

" That's what I'm talking about" he hand over his phone to her " type your digits "

She took it and did as told. After she was done, she hand over the phone to him

" here it is"

" alright then, thanks. I'm sure you're on whatsapp right? "

Kalthum nodded " yes"

"Expect my chat this night " he winked then made his way to the house leaving her totally speechless.

" was he flirting with me? " she asked herself . She shook her head as if disregarding the thought " No he wasn't. He can't be flirting "

She took one last deep breath then also went back to the house to do her work the right way this time.

***

Faisal fumed as he entered his office. He took the first thing his hand could touch on his desk then threw it across the office. His dad was his problem. Upon all the efforts he put to make this company grow, his father have the nerve to call his efforts useless.

His father never for once appreciated him and that hurts. No one would love to be called useless. He has sacrificed half of his life to this company and his father refused to see that. It hurts alot.

Even at the board meeting which they just had, whenever he gives his points, his father makes sure to render those point useless and that's so embarrassing. This isn't the first time he has been in a meeting like this and even the employees can testify  that he is the best boss they could ever have.

This got Faisal thinking, whether he had done something wrong to his father that made him behave like this today. Quite alright his father had never praised his working skills but today's own was different. It's as if something had triggered him to condemn his abilities and he wants to know why. Why would he do that to him?

He sat on his chair looking into space not until a knock snapped him out of his thoughts.

" Come in" he said to the person behind the door

To his surprise, a smiling Hindatu and her little son walked into the office.

" Surprise! " she squealed

A smile broke his face" wow! this is a wonderful surprise. I never knew you were coming " he stood up and took little Sameer from her arms .

" that's why it's called a surprise " she giggled then took her seat.

" hello little champ" Faisal said to little Sameer who only replied in his gibberish way " that's my boy "

Hindatu loves the sight in front of her. It makes her wish Faisal was her son's father. She sighed bitterly at the reminder.

Faisal, oblivious to the look on Hindatu's face said" To what do I owe this surprise visit "

" Well, remember the last time we talked about me going back to school? " she began

He nodded " yes. What about it? "

"  I'm here to take your offer but I promise to pay back when I have the power too"

" wow! That's a great news. I don't care whether you pay me back or not. Remember I told you I'll always be here for you Hindatu "

She giggled " thanks"

" so when do you start? "

" Right now the University are about to write their exams which means I can only start with them when they resume" she explained

" That's good " he nodded " whenever you need my help don't forget that I'm always here for you hindatu"

" I know ya Faisal " she sighed " actually their is another thing "

This got his attention " what's that? I hope you're not in trouble? "

" of course not. It's my mom" she said

He raised a brow " what about her?"

" She is finally back Faisal!She forgave me!"

A wide smile broke his face " you absolutely don't know how that makes me feel. I'm so happy you finally patched things up with your mother "

She nodded " yes I know. I feel so happy too "

" This actually calls for celebration" faisal said " lucky you, I'm not in the mood for work today so I'm calling it a day. We're going out to have lunch "

She blushed " okay"

Faisal took his car key and a now sleeping sameer " let's go"

***

They both took their spot at the restaurant and both ordered for fried rice and chicken.

" so....ya Faisal? " Hindatu called

He looked away from his phone to give her his attention " yes? "

" how is life with you? It's been long we talked about you, I don't want it to look as if we only talk about me anytime we meet " she said with a small smile

He nodded in understanding " actually I've been good"

She raised a brow at him " really? You know you can't fool me ya Faisal "

He sighed, she does knows his too well " the truth is I haven't been good. You know with all my parents of a thing. Have I told you that they are back"

Her eyes widened " finally "

" yeah they finally came back from their trip. One would think having them back would make everything better but no, it keeps on getting worst day by day"

Hindatu felt bad for him " so sorry about that "

He sighed loudly " let's just forget about them. Alhamdulillah the waitress is on her way with our food"

Hindatu giggled " you and food ko, your future wife have a lot of work to do "

Future wife

His eyes sparkles" then she better knows how to cook like you do cos I for one love delicious meals"

The waitress serve their food then left . They both dig in while Sameer is still taking a nap on Faisal's leg.

" I was wondering...." Hindatu trailed

" what? "

" I was wondering if you've met someone, as in a lady? "

Hindatu wished his answer would be no

" yes"

Her heart shattered at his response

" oh"

Faisal saw her expression then broke into laughter " of course I haven't. How would I?when I have alot on my shoulder."

She shot him a playful glare " so you were pulling my legs! "

" why wouldn't I, when you looked as if you were strangling  her neck in your head " he teased.

For a moment she thought he read her mind but when his face broke into a smile, her beating heart calmed down.

" of course not, I didn't look that way" she defended

" yes you did" he smirk

She scoffed " no I didn't. I was only jealous of the lady that was going to still the heart of my son's uncle"

He smiled  " you've got nothing to worry, no one is stealing my heart as of now. "

She blushed " I was only joking."

" be it a joke or not, I'm not with anyone at least not yet"

" oh okay" not yet? Does this mean he has met someone but he hasn't confronted her about his feelings? Hindatu thought

" yeah"

Some minutes later they were done with their food. They paid for the meal and made their way to Faisal's car

" I actually enjoyed myself ya Faisal. Thanks for taking me out "

" it's the least I could do. After all I was hungry too" he smiled " and this little champ here knows how to sleep"

She giggled " he is always like that. He loves sleeping, even mom always complain about it "

" I don't blame him. He is still youn_

" Faisal! "

He was interrupted

" Faisal! "

The person called again. He turned around and was surprised to see umm rasheed and Basma  walking to catch up with them

" Nanny? What are you doing here? "

Umm rasheed smiled " we came to buy food stuffs in the super market here. What are you doing here? " she asked but her eyes was fixed on Hindatu.

" we came to have launch"

" oh wow"

" Good afternoon ma"  Hindatu greeted

" how are you dear? Is that your little boy? " she asked pointing at the toddler in Faisal's arms

" yes ma " Hindatu nodded with a smile

" He is so cute " umm rasheed cooed

" thank you ma "

Finally Basma made known of her presence by greeting them. She received a curt nod from sir Faisal and Hindatu replied with

" afternoon "

Basma raked her from up to down. She never knew sir Faisal was into plain ladies Basma thoughts. On a second thought , she remembered that the lady has a son. Does it mean she is just his friend, she wondered .

" I guess we'll leave you two to your thing.The driver must be waiting for us" umm rasheed told them with a smile.

Hindatu blushed. The blush didn't go unnoticed by Basma who got curious . At that point Basma knew the lady in front of her likes sir Faisal. She might be a divorcee.

" alright Nanny see you at home " Faisal said as they depart.

***

Umm rasheed and Basma finally got home. The driver helped brought the items to the kitchen.

" Uhm, umm rasheed? " Basma called

" yes dear" nanny answered as they made their way to the house

" I was wondering... Please don't be mad at me but I was wondering whether that lady we saw with sir Faisal is a divorcee? "

Umm rasheed looked at her shocked " why are you asking?"

" well from what I saw over there, it looks like she likes sir Faisal and she has a son" Basma furrowed her brows confused "Don't get me wrong ma but the two make a fine couple "

" well dear, I really don't know what to say to you. All I know is that Hindatu is a single mother " umm rasheed told her

" oh" Basma's mouth formed a 'o' shape

" Nanny! You're back " a happy Kalthum came running to welcome umm rasheed . She took the polythene bag from her hand.

" Kalthum dear"

" how did the shopping go? " Kalthum asked umm rasheed, aware of the burning gaze of Basma.

" it was stressful but Alhamdulillah we are back on time "

" What's that on your face Kalthum " Basma asked as she points at her sister's face " it looks like a finger mark "

Kalthum shot her a look" I don't know what you're talking about "

Basma smirked " of course you do"

" oh dear. It's true, there is a mark on your face. Who slapped you?! " umm rasheed's eyes widen in shock

***