The Wedding

Chapter 25

Monday

5 days to the wedding

"Want to tell me why we're heading out so early in the morning?" Yaseer looked clean and bright like the morning sun in the bright sky but his attitude was anything but bright and sunny. When she told him she had an errand to run in the morning he had no idea the lady meant morning...morning. He expected them to leave around 10 am, 11 am like they always did after breakfast. But she had woken him up with her incessant knocking on the BQ door at 8am asking him to come out. He went back in to bathe and in thirty minutes had come out; hence his present situation now.

"I told you I had an errand in the morning"

"I know" Yaseer looked at her quizzically "but the last time morning meant 8am to me I was 18 and why are you so upset this early in the day?" he looked at her

"I'm not upset"

"Of course you're not"

"I have something to do and I'd appreciate if you just took me there without all this. I'm in no mood for another interrogation"

She wasn't in the mood, now he wasn't either. After asking her where he was driving to; he said nothing more. He drove in silence until his car was sliding in between two others in a Hausa themed restaurant in town. She got out of the car, slams the door and marches inside leaving him standing there with no explanation. Yaseer reminds himself that she was Laila and after she calms down which will not take very long, she's going to return to him with an apology and an explanation so there was really no point for both of them to be annoyed. He decides to take advantage of being parked in front of a restaurant so he walks in to get himself some snack to satiate the early morning hunger he was experiencing all thanks to Laila. While he's at the counter buying his snack he notices Laila emerge from the back of the restaurant with a man who looked vaguely familiar. The two of them head to the door with Laila in the lead looking like she has no second to waste. During his purchase he tries to remember where he knows the guy from and as he walks away from the counter it comes to him that the man is Mukhtar's brother in law; their sister Halima's husband.

Why did Laila furiously march in here to find her brother in law?

He walked out, headed straight for them and shook hands with Ahmad. The guy was of medium height, he was dark complexioned and from his features looked a little above thirty. Yaseer then remembered the man's surname which was the same name written over the traditional restaurant. An entrepreneur...

"So what are you two doing here?" Ahmad asked his sister in law and Yaseer

"I wanted to speak to you" she looked at Yaseer pointedly "Alone"

"It's okay" Ahmad smiled. "Yaseer is no stranger"

"Fine" she said her face still grim "I heard your conversation with my sister yesterday" Ahmad's face registered his surprise "I know what's going on and I'm here to ask you to stop it. Take my sister back immediately. No one has to know this happened"

"If you know what's going on then you must also know I'm trying my best. My mother can be a difficult woman and-"

"What I know is neither you nor your mother are being fair to my sister. She lost her baby girl and instead of you to be there for her you're letting your mother ruin my sister's marriage"

Yaseer looked at Laila in surprise of both what she was saying and doing. He was surprised to know her sister's marriage was on the rocks but was also taken aback by how angry she was. The girl was certainly crazy but he knew she'd never disrespect an older person like that especially one that was married to her sister.