His Scandalous Bride

5: Now

Saddiq doesn't want much. Privacy. For his feelings. And perhaps, anonymity. And also not wake from sleep and find himself hugging Aisha quite possessively with her head resting quite comfortably on his chest as if it were perfectly made for this specific purpose. Not that he could understand how she had left the comforts of his bed and ended up cuddling with him or how he had let her—he has insomnia and during those rare moments he does sleep, he is a light sleeper. But not today it would seem.

What was happening to him? Saddiq wasn't sure he wanted to find out just yet especially after how badly his meeting with his father had ended. He was supposed to be his last hope. And he'd lost that too.

Saddiq Ibrahim Musa (or formerly Saddiq Makama) is the youngest son of Alhaji Ibrahim Makama; the youngest speaker of the house of representatives in the history of the country and currently serving his second tenure as the President of the Federal republic of Nigeria. He has two older brothers; Junaid and Jaafar. Both are senators and happily married with kids.

He was born into a third generation political family. His great grandfather, Alhaji Musa Garba Makama was amongst the most influential political figures of the 1950s who had helped shaped the country's political future. He worked with renowned politicians and freedom fighters like Sir Nnamdi Azikiwe, Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa, Sir Obafemi Awolowo, the Sardauna of Sokoto and many others who had fought hard for the freedom of the country and his grandfather, Alhaji Bukar Makama, is one of the three most influential political figures of the twenty-first century popularly known as the kingmakers.

Few know of this fact and even fewer know that the young techpreneur Saddiq Ibrahim Musa was related to such an illustrious family; it wasn't hard considering he bears no resemblance to the close knit famous family whom, even more famous for their political acumen and absurdly good looks, was their intermarriages—people make jokes about how uncanny they all look that it was impossible not to recognise a Makama. But he was different. Not always. But everything had changed eight years ago when Saddiq Makama was involved in a car accident.

It had been a rather ghastly accident. Saddiq doesn't remember much about the accident itself but he had been behind the wheels, driving, and had crashed while trying to avoid an oil tanker whose driver had unexpectedly lost control of the wheels. It was later revealed the driver had an heart attack while driving. They were three in the car but he alone had survived. People say it was a miracle. All passengers had been burnt beyond recognition.

Dealing with the aftermath under people's invasive gaze almost ruined him. There was no place to hide. There was no moment of comfort. There was no solitude for grief. There was just voices, and opinions, and a hollow. And because of this unwanted attention, strictly because of the attention, Saddiq was allowed privacy for the first time in his life and that's why sometimes, sometimes, he finds himself grateful for the accident despite what it had cost him.

It doesn't make him insensitive or ungrateful; the accident had cost him two of his most favorite people, and if there was a chance, no matter how little, of getting them back, there was no doubt that he would give up everything he has in a heartbeat. It is just that sometimes, just sometimes, he couldn't help but feel that way. However, there should be no doubt about his love and how much he misses Sameer and Sayeed. They were his people. They had the world to choose from and they had chosen him as much as he had chosen them. They met when they were five and they had been inseparable ever since. But he had lost them. On the same day. They had burnt to death. And it was his fault;

He should have been more prepared. He should have tried harder. He should have realized the danger sooner. He has loads of regret and there hasn't been a day ever since the accident where he doesn't blame himself for their death. It was his fault. They were dead and he was alive. How can it not be? He was the one driving. But God! He misses them today more than yesterday and  he was certain, it would be less than tomorrow. He has everyday for eight years now. And it feels unlikely he would ever stop. There was simply no stopping.