Basma likes Fendi

4 | Gossip Girl's

•Basma

"When are you going to stop this?"

That was Aaliyah's pragmatic self speaking.

"Stop what?" I asked, pretending to not know what she was ranting about.

"Scamming men!" She yelped, hissing.

Despite how nice she was, she has never had a filter—just like me—she couldn't control her mouth, sometimes she would rephrase her sentences to avoid hurting people's feelings. She just spewed whatever she felt had to be said.

I laughed, shaking my head, "I'm not scamming anyone. It's called tactical persuasion. They did it all on their own accord though."

"Don't you want to get married?"

I sighed—feeling a bit resigned—did I really want to get married again?

"It's not about getting married. I'm looking for love and ingenuity."

"You can get all that if you look in the right places. It's not always about the money."

It's mostly, always about the money, I said to myself.

"I've been searching in a few places. I've met some people just that I'm not sure I can spend the rest of my life with any of them except Bashir."

She hummed in acceptance, "Has he shown any interest?"

"He hasn't approached the subject directly but he has been dropping hints. He said something that irked my interest though and it kept ringing in my head since the last time he texted me."

"What did he say?"

"He spoke about my parents in present tense. Do you think he's pretending?"

"I don't know but be careful. Where is he from?"

"Kano."

"That's good. So what's his job?"

"He's a contract manager." I smiled, proudly despite her absence.

"Masha Allah. So what great qualities have you noticed in him?" She inquired.

"He's tall, handsome, rich..."

She screamed, which forced me to stop midway, "Madam is that all you noticed?"

"He's quite nice. I noticed that he enjoyed long walks just like me and listening to the Qur'an play throughout the night. Whenever he calls me we both switch to the same surah so that we can listen to it in sync over a peaceful silence."

"That's good but you know contract managers don't make that much money unless they're stealing from the company they work for and also it depends on the company itself—basically how much they make too. It's all about connections and how smart the person is. I'm not saying this to make him look bad. I'm just saying you should question how he goes about his finances. Try to figure out if his hustle is legit."

With Aaliyah, you just couldn't get angry. I knew she was looking out for me so I couldn't be offended with her thoughts.

"That's something I can't answer for now. I'll get Ajman to help me with the investigation then I'll ask Bashir some things too."

"Ok. Till then, just keep watching him. Also, if you need anything don't hesitate to call me."

That was why she was one of my favorite people in this world. She showed me family didn't necessarily mean blood.

"Alright sis."

"You know we have to meet up with Alhaji Rufai to discuss the building of the hospital right?"