When Love Is War.

22

Zainab Hassan

Nobody was telling me anything, my mother was not speaking to me at all even. Something was going on and Timothy was in the dark about the whole situation. Just because I refused to dance to their tune I have been locked out as well. I was simply going through the motions today, I had a bad feeling about the elections. There was a part of me that felt we would be better off losing the election because frankly, the drama was just too much for me to handle.
It was currently 11:45 pm and the results from various states were trickling in, Benjamin was fast asleep on the couch with a blanket thrown over him, and at this point I envied him. With how tense I was sleep would have been a good idea but I could not fall asleep even if I tried. Timothy and Jason have been sitting with pen and paper in hand on the couch directly opposite the television for hours now.
I could not sit still, I kept pacing around the house. At this point, I was in the middle of reorganizing my entire closet and I would have been done with it if I was not taking an ample amount of breaks to walk back to the parlour and check on Timothy and the boys. I would ask them which states we won and the ones we lost, how we were doing in general. At this level, it was anybody's game we could win or the opposition could win.
Around 12:45 am I was sited on the floor in my walk-in closet when Timothy rushed into the room looking for me. Before I could fully enter the bedroom Timothy engulfed me in a crushing hug.
"We did it ", he said breathless from running up the stairs.
" We did what", I say a second before my brain pieces it all together.
"We won the elections", he answers.
In his excited state, he misses the worry in my eyes. "How could this be?", I think as I watch a very excited Timothy rush out of the room in search of his phone.

Sarayu Hassan

A day after the elections and the news of Timothy's victory was everywhere. The mood was hopeful, commendations kept coming in from the International community on carrying out free and fair elections. I was not even a tad bit excited about the whole thing but then it was probably my jealousy talking again, standing on the outside looking in even if I tried to be happy for him I was still sad.

May 29th, 2021 (Swearing-in day)

Since the election Timothy and Zainab have been busier than ever from what I could tell, we have gone weeks without seeing each other these past two months and when we do see each other Zainab wants to talk about the inaugural events and how we wanted the Presidential Villa done up, we spoke mostly about the interior design styles I preferred, what I would wear and who I wanted to invite to the events.
My life was relatively normal until last week Sunday when I had to attend the inaugural Church service and Thanksgiving held at the National Church of Nigeria but after that, it seemed like everyone remembered I existed, I kept receiving unwanted messages and calls. Timothy, the boys and I attended, Zainab and Mrs Idara King were notably absent. Mrs King's absence shocked me because all this while I thought she was a Christian following the Nigerian stereotype but she's an Alhaja, a practising Muslim.
Before and after the service people kept flocking toward us, people I knew and even those I did not. Everyone was suddenly so nice to me, even people that I had beef with in the past kept complimenting me and holding on to every word I said. I mean what I am wearing is nothing out of the ordinary, the lace Zainab's friend sold me was gorgeous and I would not expect anything less for the price that was paid but I sewed it into a simple iro and Buba. Timothy and I were matching from head to toe, my official make-up artist Layla tied my hair with a blue raw silk scarf that perfectly matched Timothy's blue cap, my white iro and Buba matched his white baban riga and we were both wearing black shoes, mine a pair of strappy heeled sandals and his were men's dress shoes. The boys were dressed exactly like their father and together we looked like the picture-perfect family even though we were far from it. Things have been very awkward between the both of us for such a long time and I do not think it would ever get better. He seemed to feel guilty about the whole situation.
The inauguration dinner was last night, it was a fabulous event very organised and well-planned out. It took place at the State House and all dignitaries that arrived early graced the occasion. World-class Nigerian artists gave beautiful performances and I thoroughly enjoyed myself.
Today was the main event, the Swearing-In Ceremony at the Eagles Square the main venue for such events in the capital city of Abuja.
From our sits in the air-conditioned VIP Pavillion, surrounded by close members of Timothy's family we watched as he took the oath of allegiance and office with Zainab beside him, swearing to do what's best for this country. After that his speech followed, it was a speech that would go down in history, with a campaign and a president that would always stand out in the sands of time. Not only was Nigeria getting her first female vice president but the seat of power was shifting to minority ethnic groups it had never rested upon. This event was a milestone in Nigeria's history and people watching all around the country had new hope in the country.
As we left the eagles square surrounded by much pomp and pageantry in a convoy of black bulletproof cars with the sun glinting off them several security vehicles in tow escorting us to our new residence the Aso Villa I thought to myself "I can not wait for this whole drama to stop", and then it hit me that this was my life for the next four years.

Writers Note; Hope you enjoyed the chapter, if yes then please click the star and if it feels too average hang in there and be rest assured that the drama will begin shortly. See you same time next week.