So Much For Love

Chapter Ten

“Kai Malam! Did you wake up this morning with the resolve to give me a heart attack?”

He arched a brow and smiled even as she pouted. He had told her twice that she looked cute when she did that.

And the way he looked at her that moment made her heart fluttered and a thousand butterflies roamed the core of her stomach.

Ya Allah! She’d known him all her life but had rarely noticed he had the smile that had the ability to melt any one. At least she felt that way.

“You had no intention of stopping.” He stated matter-of-factly.

She regarded him briefly. He wore a flowing ash-colored jamfa with no cap on his head. He hung a small hoe on the crook of his neck as all those that went to farms did.

There was a heavy looking sack by his other shoulder. He looked very handsome and in a thousand ways, different from his brother Imran.

“What is it? I am in a hurry to get this home.” She asked as she mustered her I- don’t- care attitude. She’d hoped it worked.

Deep down her heart, she’d hoped she would bump in to him on her way to or pro. She was yet to ascertain the reason why. But she really was in a hurry to get back so she could attend her friend, Samara’u’s daughter’s naming ceremony.

“Look what I got from the city yesterday, when I took Malam Iro’s sugarcane produce to the market.”

He presented on his palm an almost rounded shaped fruit, “Go on and take it.” He encouraged when she hesitated.

She reluctantly took it and looked at it closer with apprehension like it had some sort of secret code written on it that she needed to crack. She wasn’t sure what it was. It was something new to her.

“What is it?”

“It is a fruit called an apple, and I bought it especially for you.”

She looked at him incoherently and looked at the fruit, “Why is it raw?”

Habib burst in to fits of laughter and she stood mesmerized by the melodious sound of it.

Oh Allah, something truly was wrong with her. How can laughter sound like music to her ears? And Habib’s for that matter.

“Here, take it back.” She shoved the green mysterious fruit…or apple or whatever name he’d called it at him.
She almost leaped on her tracks so she could get away from him, from her confused state of mind. Hopefully she could sort her feelings when he wasn’t around her.

He caught up with her, “I am sorry.” He stated apologetically. “It’s not raw. Just try tasting it.”

She didn’t want to stop. But she knew he would follow her around and attention of some people might be drawn to them. And the last person she wanted to face was her nefarious aunt.

“Please.” He insisted when she finally stopped near Uzairu’s garden. It was near the village with few passersby.

She took it and sighed. Then she very gently took a small bite out of it and was surprised by it softness. Within seconds, a sweet/sour flavor exploded in her mouth that she had to close her eyes shortly in order that she savored every bit of it. It was bliss.

She liked it.

“It is soft and smells nice.” She took another bite and relished its flavors. Even though she hadn’t wanted to, she couldn’t help herself.

Habib smiled again, obviously pleased with himself. She felt embarrassed.

That smile did a lot of things to her fragile system, half of which she couldn’t explain or even understand.