Falling For Haneef

25.

Tay Tay's POV

Even though my time in NYC was pure bliss, I'm more than glad to be back home. I've missed my family so much. Mama had prepared dishes upon my arrival and I luckily was opportuned to meet my father at home. Well of course, it's January.

I missed my Mufeedah's insanely cute face, they were all so excited when they saw my huge box. Well of course, I would never leave my home without getting them presents on my way back. Zakiyah's father took me gift shopping and I must say, shopping with Zakiyah has taught him a lot. I spent the past few months by his side and my stupid heart has grown fond of a man that's old enough to be my father, he's literally my bestfriend's father. Zakiyah would kill me when she finds out I have actually developed feelings for her father, I mean truth to be told, I didn't tell my heart to like him. It just got swayed by how perfect for me he was.

Now that we're back in Nigeria, he's going to be very busy so the bond we shared will loosen. It's something i know will definitely happen and even if my heart's going to yearn for his presence, it's going to be for the best.
It's totally insane for me to be in love with my bestfriends father. What was I really thinking?.

Night time and all my siblings had gone to bed, they'd be resuming a new term tomorrow. I take a shower and get ready for bed, as I dust my bed, my mother invites herself into my room unannounced. " Tayibah" she calls.
" Na'am mama?" I respond.

" Come here, I and your father want to have a word with you"

" Nayi wani laifi ne?( did I commit any offense)" I respond and I watch my mother roll her offense. " Ba abun da kika yi, wani magana ne ya taso ( you did nothing, it's just a topic that came up) " what in the world could that be?. " Maganan school din ne? ( is it about the school)?" It can't be, he engineered convincing  Zakiyah's father to let us all go abroad. " Stop guessing and come to your father's room" this is not something any Nigerian child would love to hear.

Many things are running in my head. I haven't done anything wrong so why am I being invited to the lion's den?. Or has my personality changed?, man I just came back today, how could they have noticed that?. I'm sure I haven't changed a bit. Or have I been using bad language around unconsciously?, cause I heard a lot on the streets of NYC, it won't be surprising if they rubbed off me unintentionally.

Gently knocking on my father's door, a salam escapes my lips as I turn the door handle and walk in to his room to find both my parents seated on side by side on his sofa, laughing at something on her phone. There's no tension around and the warmth in his room makes me sit comfortably on the couch in front of these two lovebirds. " yauwa, Tayibah is here" Mama calls, fixing her gaze on me. " Ah, my beautiful daughter. How was New York?" Dad asks. " it was very okay Alhamdulillah"
" That's nice. Did you get to explore?, I hope you did, cause New York is a beautiful place"

" sure, I saw a lot, including the statue of liberty too. It was nice, thank you for letting me go"

" You're welcome, you were there to support your friends recovery so yeah no regrets. Your mother showed me the couple watch you got for us, very classy" Aww I'm so glad he likes it. " Yayy, wallahi I'm so happy you like it"
" of course, what inspiration did you get to get us something so romantic?, did you by any chance come across a romantic place?"

" No fa, I just thought of what you would like, the watches fit perfectly since you both have collections of those, so mine will be more special than the ones you have"

" of course of course. So tell me something Tayibah, do you have a boyfriend?" He asks and I instantly freeze. I hope this is not what I'm thinking. In case you don't know the fulani marriage tradition, when a young girl comes of age and her parents feel she's ripe for marriage, they go on a quest to find a responsible person for their daughters and marry them off, these responsible are usually their cousins. This didn't happen with Aunty Zahra so why is it happening with me?. My parents are litrate enough to ignore that tradition. They said we could bring anyone when we're ready for crying out loud.