Schwa ✔️

8

"Let's go and see Hadiza" Fahad tells Alkassim who laughs. "An xo wurin!" He mocks.

"Come on! Wouldn't it surprise her that we returned?" Fahad tries to cajole him.

Alkassim laughs gaily. "ya Fahad, you sound as if we are both marrying her. Go and meet her now me I don't feel like seeing her" Alkassim refuses to move an inch.

"Haba baby brother. I don't know her enough to make her talk to me" he pleads.

"Go and take Dada. I am sure she will be happy to follow you" he continues to act big.

Fahad glares at him. "Kai I am not begging you again. Either come with me or I will just take my car back. I hear BUK without car is a lot of stress" he blackmails him.

"You said I was gambling. Why are you blackmailing me? Ya Fahad this is not fair. What would mom say!" He retorts.

"Is this about your gambling?" Fahad asks.

"Wai my gambling. Toh I am not going. Take your car" alkassim remains stubborn.

"What if I tell Daddy that you have three carry overs this semester as well?" Fahad raises the stakes.

"You won't dare!" Alkassim exclaims with alarm.

"Oh I will. Don't let me tell him you are also into debt" Fahad is being merciless.

"Kai Ya Fahad. You don't know when people are joking!" He backtracks.

"I'll meet you in one hour. Let's take my black Audi" he orders with a victorious smile. Alkassim just makes a face.

Though Fahad is the eldest in the house, he never quite treats his siblings as if he was any better than them. He is the type who didn't put much stock on unnecessary mannerisms. That is why even though he is older than Alkassim with five good years, they are still acting as if they are age mates.

All his siblings love him for his easy going attitude. It's quite difficult to see Fahad so serious. He is always jovial and nice. As long as you don't cross the line, you might end up thinking he is the most simple man alive. Though the simple ones always find one way to be so difficult too. But that because no one is perfect.

So Alkassim suddenly feels moody as Ya Fahad drives them to uncle Iliya's house.

"You are also worried about her" Fahad smiles faintly.

"I can't stop wondering just how anyone can go through so much so young. She is still just thirty years old. I don't think she is even thirty yet" he confessed.

Fahad smiles too. "We still don't know what really happened" he reminds him.

"True. But I am convinced she is innocent. That man must have broken her spirit ya Fahad. She could have been radiant and happy when we went to see her. Some men are just monsters. I can't imagine what she went through living with him" he expressed.

Fahad sighs too. He is actually thinking the same thing. But he is more worried about how she reacts to everything else. Surely, he couldn't have killed all of her zeal to want to be happy like everyone else.

So they arrived and this time, Alkassim has already collected Hadiza's contact number. He gave it to Fahad who calls her directly to ask her to come out and meet them.

............

Hadiza keeps looking at the clock. It's a Saturday of the end of the month. Sameer will be home today. And Madina will be suffering from his insufferable attentions already.

She feels anxious as she imagined what was going on at Sameer's mansion.

'she will cry with me every second of every day until you decide to come back to us"

His promise rings true in her ears. She feels disturbed. But she has to endure.

She can't go back for Madina. Because in the end, Madina will one day need her. And if she goes crazy with grief, Madina will be orphaned with no one to truly  understand the depth of her suffering.

She has a lot of work before she travels to china the coming g weekend. So she tries to focus on her new designs. Yet because she is so disturbed, she cannot seem to get enough inspiration to link her target audience with any particular new concept.

That's when her phone rang.

When she picked up, she says the Salam distractedly

"This is Fahad" he States from the other end.

"Oh" was all she said. She remembers where exactly they have met before and what exactly he thinks of her. She just didn't care. What he thinks, means nothing to her. She can't afford to worry about what others think too. She is not that strong.

"I am currently camping at your compound Hadiza. Can you come out to meet me?" He asks politely. This surprised her a lot.

"You want to meet with me? Why?" She demands to know. Surely, he has ulterior motive! If he thinks he can blackmail her with a tiny scene in her past of wonders...he is in for a big surprise!

"Because we have something to talk about" he States seriously.

Hadiza's smile is light and easy as she says "if it's about that incidence, don't bother wasting our time. It's already in the past where it belongs" she allows.

"I don't want to talk about the past either. It's more like I need to talk about a future" he replied steadily.

"You!" She states with tranquility. "Why will you need to talk about a future?" She wants to know.

"Because I can see a future with an us. Let's talk Hadiza. I have a proposal for you" he sounds eager which makes her believe firmly that he really does want something. It might not be her body or her money, but he definitely wants something.

"There will never be an us. I am me now. And I love being me" she  warns, just shy of stopping herself from laughing out loud at the absurdity of his 'us'.

",Once, I thought being me was ok too. Until I found out there is more to being an us" he replies.

"I am coming" she promises. She wants to know what sort of a man Fahad is. What kind of blackmail he is trying to achieve and if he thinks she could easily be threatened!

In her heart, she knows she is always a me. She hates the us that makes me look like an impossible dream.

And so a few productive minutes later, she is exchanges greeting with Alkassim who quickly leaves them to themselves claiming he wants to see Saah.