"Nadia" Alhaji umar said facing her,

"Yes baba" she replied facing downwards, she just couldn't look at him even if they were seated facing each other,

"Please look at me my daughter" he said,She slowly raised her head up to face the man who has been a father figure to her for the past 8 years,

"Did I make a wrong choice by telling you to look up?" he asked,

Nadia squeezed her face confusedly, not understanding what he meant,

"Anytime I look at you, I'm always reminded of my late brother's face" he muttered sadly,

Nadia's heart raced faster at the mention of her father's name, she's still not completely over her parent death, The mere mention of their name always brings back her bad memories,

Alhaji umar seems to notice her discomfort as she shifted uncomfortably,

"Nadia, about the marriage-" he said, going straight to the reason he was seated in her room in the first place,

"If you're not comfortable with it, it's fine you can decline it" he said,

That statement alone was enough to excite Nadia to the brim, but unfortunately, it was short-lived,

"I don't know if I should be saying this-" he said, debating on whether or not he should continue with his statement,"our company is experiencing some difficulties currently, the only people we can get help from are the Ahmad's, but they won't close the deal unless I give the hands of one of my daughters to them in marriage" he said sadly,

Nadia gauged her uncle's reaction and saw that he looked very disturbed, she could clearly notice the appearance of more wrinkles on his face. Even though he can never take the place of her father, she still respects and loves him because he always stands by her no matter what, she knew she just had to help in any way she can.

"I shouldn't have agreed to their condition in the first place" he added,

"I'll--" she tried to say, but her voice broke as she talked, so she coughed to clear her throat,"I'll marry him" she said more clearly.

Her uncle's eyes widened not expecting her reply, he was happy she agreed, but he was still bothered,"are you certain?" he asked her,

"I'm not forcing you" he said to remind her again,

"Don't worry uncle, I'll do it" she said smiling at him. This is the least she can offer, at least it will make her feel less like a burden.

"Nagode sosai 'yata, Allah ya miki albarka (Thank you very much my daughter, may Allah bless you)" he said patting her head softly. She shyly looked down, not able to meet his gaze.

He was about to leave the room when he remembered, "please if insha Allah you get married into the Ahmad's family, don't let anyone know you aren't my real daughter" he said,

She didn't know his reason for that, but she concurred nevertheless.

****

After praying asr prayer (afternoon prayer) Nadia sat in her room going through her Instagram feed when she stumbled across his page

'Abdallah Ahmad',She tapped on his profile to reveal all his post, she tapped on his newly posted picture. It was certainly an unaware shot taken during one of his conferences.

She zoomed the photo largely to get a clearer view of him, even if he's well known to be arrogant, he is still very handsome with his prominent pointed nose, his chocolate skin and the light stubble of beards that grazed the side of his face and his chin.

She was still secretly admiring him, not knowing somebody was already close to her,

"booohh" Basma screamed into her ears loudly, She threw her phone down in fear clutching her chest tightly,

"subhanallah basma, you'll not kill me one day" Nadia said breathing heavily,

"sorry nadeey" Basma said, giving her a pitiful look. Basma bent down to pick up Nadia's fallen phone. Nadia attempted to stop her, but Basma was faster,

"I can see why you were so engrossed that you couldn't even hear me coming in" Basma said wiggling her two brows when she looked into Nadia's phone, Nadia looked down embarrassed,

"ke basma it isn't what you're thinking" nadia said,

"what do you think I'm thinking?" she said wiggling her brows once more,

"basma! oya leave this palce" nadia said pushing her out,

"wait, wait, wait, wait" basma said putting an halt to nadia's action,

"make sure you have something better to say, if not" nadia warned glaring at her,

"ok, ok erhmm erhmm" basma cleared her throat,

"I actually wanted to take you out",

"dad told me you agreed to the marriage, I thought you'll be sad so I came here to liven up your mood" she said, "I never knew I'll meet you here stalking him already" she added giggling,

"I wasn't stalking him"

"yes you weren't, I agree" basma said throwing her hands up,

"I heard you said something about outing" nadia said, "is it still on?" she asked,

"yes it's, if that's fine with you" basma replied.

Nadia quickly wore her black embroidered abaya and wrapped a black scarf lightly on her head. "I'll drive" nadia said snatching the car keys from basma,

"Nadeey don't crash us today again oo" basma shouted trailing behind her.

Since they already had baba's permission, The two girls sneakily went out of the house to escape hajia amina's questionings and rants.

"So where does the introverted nadeey intend to take us to?" basma whined when they both got into the car,

"just watch and find out, don't forget to tighten your seat belt" nadia said grinning evilly.

****

"we are here" nadia said smiling happily as she unbuckled her seat belt,

"you drove me all the way from home to this café, really?" basma asked,

"you can remain in the car" nadia said as she closed the door,

"nadeey you're being mean you know" basma said as she closed the door also trying to meet with Nadia's pace.

****

"your cheesecake with a cup of espresso"

"And your filled doughnut with a cup of cappuccino" the white friendly waiter said as he dropped their orderings on the table,

"thank you" the two girls muttered happily,

"this is actually nicer than I expected" basma said as she munched on her filled doughnut,

"I told you" nadia smiled victoriously,

"what is the name of this café again?, I'll surely come here some other time"

Nadia rolled her eyes at basma before replying her,

"Triple A café",

Basma mouth dropped open when she heard what Nadia said,

"don't tell me you don't know" Basma said,

"That what?" nadia asked inquisitively,

"you seriously don't know that -" Basma started but wasn't able to complete her sentence when commotion broke out in the reception,

Basma and Nadia turned in the direction of the noise to catch a glimpse of what was going on.

"You all can't do anything right!"

"Is that what I'm paying you for?"

"Are instructions that hard to follow?", a man wearing a white caftan yelled, but they couldn't see his face as he was backing them,

Everywhere turned silent as the man's voice continued to flow throughout the café,

The man stopped shouting after sometimes, then he turned towards where they were seated that's when she saw that he was,

"Abdallah" Nadia said to herself,

He took long strides towards where Nadia and Basma were seated, he threw a scornful gaze at Nadia before he left for the door, banging it loudly.

Nadia released the breath she didn't know she was holding when he exited the café.

The atmosphere of the café returned to its normal state when he left, but the comments people made didn't get past Nadia's ears,

He's so harsh

He's handsome but annoying

I pity his future wife

I don't care if he's arrogant, I can still marry him,

She heard different people's opinions of none other but that of Abdallah.

"Nadia are you okay?" basma said tapping her to pull her out of her trance,

"yes I'm" she replied shortly and lowly,

How can she be when she's going to spend the rest of her life with someone like him, he didn't even manage to at least smile at her, what she got was a scornful gaze,

"Nadia let's go home, it's almost maghrib (sunset prayer)" basma said.

The girls got up from their seat, leaving behind the cold coffee they paid little attention to. They drove back home silently, not saying anything to each other just enjoying the beautiful view of the city.

@zinat Abdulkadir