Being Mrs Dantata

15

"I won't wake up tomorrow to see that all this has been a dream bah?"

It was way past midnight and Zayd just wanted to sleep but Amal, being a huge ball of energy, was preventing him from doing so. They lay facing each other on their shared bed, the sidelights of the room turned on and the duvet drawn up past their middles to ward off the chill the air condition provided.

Amal poked her husband's cheek when she was met with silence. "Answer me, Sa'ed."

Zayd exhaled and opened his eyes to look at the woman he loved with all his life. It was crazy how he now had two women he loved. Well, he was still getting there with Hanan but they were on that path all the same.

Amal's hair was in its signature loosened state and her face was as spotless as ever. She had a warm smile on her lips and her eyes shone with excitement which made him smile back.

"Come on," She whined like a child. "Tell me!"

"Amal, In Shaa Allah when you wake up tomorrow morning, all of this will still be real. Hanan and I talked and we decided we want to be together. Three of us ate dinner together and then you went with me to drop her off. You were also there when I said Saminu will take her to the CDS venue before he comes back to take me to work tomorrow morning. Can we go to sleep now?"

She grinned, nodding her head immediately. "Yes!" She then snuggled into him and excitedly squealed. "God, I'm so happy."

He wrapped his arms around her, placing a soft kiss on her hairline. "Me too, Amal, I'm very happy too."

~*~

"You must have hit the jackpot to come in a car like that."

Hanan, who had collected her stamped performance clearance letter from the CDS president, turned to look at the male who had spoken. She frowned. "Are you talking to me?"

He nodded. "I am." He stretched out his hand while a smile appeared on his face. "I'm Mustapha Ibrahim. It's nice to finally talk to you."

She smiled tightly. "Hello, Mustapha." She proceeded to put the stamped letter in her file. "I don't shake men."

He awkwardly let his hand drop. "Sorry. Hanan Sufyan, right?"

When she raised her head and he saw the wary look on her face, he laughed.

"I noticed you from the first day actually. Each time they called on you to get your PC, I noticed you too." He put his hands in the pockets of his khaki trousers. "I was surprised when I saw you arrive in that car. That's why I said you must have hit the jackpot."

Hanan wondered why Nigerians could not mind their business. She said the first thing that came to mind. "To be honest, Mustapha, I've never noticed you in this CDS so this conversation is very awkward."

He dramatically brought a hand on his chest, right above where his heart rested. He feigned hurt. "Ouch, Hanan, that's mean. Almost everyone here knows me."

She immediately knew he was one of the cocky ones; one of those who made the CDS meetings rowdy and expected everyone to like them. He was the kind of person she considered a red flag because of the amount of energy it took to converse with them.

"Then there must be a lot of people who would want to stand and talk with you." She had things to do and she didn't have time to spend making small talk. "I have to rush down to Area 10 because today surprisingly happens to be my biometric date and I don't want that place to get choked up."

He beamed. "It's my scheduled date too! Come on, I'll take you there. It's a good thing I came with my car today."

She shook her head. In her mind the red flag shone brighter. There was no way she was going to trust him. Something felt completely off.