ALIYA

Chapter 24 - Bilal

Finally, it was Monday.

The long awaited day!

I quickly took my breakfast and left to work. Lest I forget, Rahina had warned me to be very careful this time around before I left. She had also begged me not to set my foot in our construction site, and I told her I wouldn't even though I knew I was only lying.

By the way, how on this earth did she expect me not to inspect a project that was under my administration? I really ought to, after all if something should go wrong I would be the one to be blamed!

I arrived at work around seven O'Clock, that was too early for me right? Well I knew why I did that. I wanted to arrive before Aliya so she could see my car outside and come to my office to greet me, but guess what? My plan didn't work at all.

I waited for her for hours while going through some files on my desk until the chief Engineer came in with some of his boys and humbly welcomed me back to work before raising the issue of our Lagos Hydropower Plan that he once talked to me about.

He was so concerned about the Plan even though its implementation would be too late at the moment since our present project had already gone far. If only I wasn't attacked that day by the locals of Galma then the Plan would have been implemented even though Amirah and other high ranking staff members like Jibril had strictly warned me against it saying the right time to implement the Plan was last year, not now that our work had began.

The Chief Engineer however really wanted us to use the Lagos Plan in Galma. Well we talked and talked until the presence of Amirah was needed, thus I called her and hopefully she helped me convince him to just forget about the Lagos Plan and focus on the already approved Galma Plan.

Amirah and I escorted him and his boys outside, they would be returning back to our construction site to meet Sufyan and continue their work. We were busy talking about Jibril's incompetence as the Construction Manager due to his unseriousness when my eyes landed on Aliya, she had left our Head Office and was heading towards the gate...

Was she going home already? I wondered as I dismissed Amirah and the rest before running towards her. So she had came, saw my car in the parking lot but refused to come and greet me in my office huh? And right now she seemingly saw me but didn't care to greet me as well as if we were we both at war.

"Going home already?" I asked her.

"No!" She said taking her eyes off me.

"Okay, where to?" I asked.

"Iya's restaurant" She muttered.

"Oh, okay. Let me escort you" I said and quickly continued before she protest against it. "Please don't say no!"

"But why?" She glared at me, making me to feel like pecking her on her forehead. You know, some women can be very beautiful when they throw glares!

"Because I want us to talk about something" I huffed, and without uttering another word to me she began walking away. "Hmm, let me take that as a positive gesture" I said following her and just as we were about crossing the road, I noticed how novice she was. "Novice?" I asked.

"No, I'm not novice" She denied not knowing I already knew the truth. Hence I promptly held her hand and ran into the busy road with her. "Innalillahi wa inna ilaihi rajiun..." Was all she kept saying until we finally crossed the road, thus she gave me a dirty slap on my face. "What were you thinking, Bilal?" She angrily asked while panting. "Were you trying to kill us both or what?!" She squealed, and continued yelling at me.

To say I was pained by her unexpected reaction was an understatement the fact that most of the people around the place knew me, and nearly half of the customers there at the moment were working in our company. I couldn't take the embarrassment so I turned around and returned back to our Head Office without saying a word to her.

******

While in my office thinking about what happened between me and Aliya earlier, Rahina arrived with one of our maids making me to drop my jaw in puzzlement.

Actually, I was surprised to see her. No calls, she should have told me she was coming. And by the way, it had quite been some time since she set her foot in my office.

"Surprise to see me, huh?" She said as she walked over to me and gave me a hug.

"Yeah, I'm surprised" I said as we averted.

"Well, you ought to!" She smiled and collected the food basket they came in with from our maid. "I brought you something for lunch, I know it's late but..."

"No, it's a perfect timing!" I cut in.

"Really, so you haven't taken anything yet?" She wrinkled a brow.

"Yeah" I gulped.

"Hmm, I was thinking you must have ate lunch already down the street" She said bringing out the food warmer in the basket.

"Not really, it's just that I'm busy today" I lied.

"Oh really?" She said before turning to our maid. "Sadiya, please wait for me outside" She ordered.

"Okay, Hajiya" The maid said and left.

"Can't imagine I cooked this all alone, for you" Rahina said while serving me, it was rice and beans. The stew was tick and the pieces of meat were big, I was already salivating.

"Awwwn, you cooked this all alone?" I uttered with my eyes glued on the food.

"Yes, I asked the maids not to help me because this is a special meal" She giggled sitting on my desk.

"A special meal indeed!" I beamed at her. Thus, we ate the food together and after that she belched and stared at me. "Any problem?" I asked taking a sip from the beverage in my hand.

"Nothing" She huffed. "It's just that I love you a lot, Bilal" She said and continued. "I love you so much that I can feel you everywhere in my heart"

Her words made me to mull over. Verily, I would never doubt the love she had for me because I knew it was genuine. But was I feeling the same? I really don't think so. All I know is I married her because I wanted to be rich and to have a better life!

"I love you too, Rahina" I gulped not taking my eyes off her.

Why couldn't I just love her for real? I mean, she was beautiful right? Yes, she was fair, romantic, or was it because she wasn't chubby or because she didn't have ample bosoms? I was busy thinking when she took off her veil, stood from my desk and sat on my lap.

"Let's make love, my king" She romantically said as she placed her lips on mine.

I tried to protest but I couldn't. Didn't she know we could be caught? By the way the door wasn't even locked and someone could get in at any time and... I couldn't finish my thought when someone salaamed in.

And it wasn't just anyone, it was Aliya. "Oh, sorry please!" She said as she quickly reversed back and slammed the door.

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Sorry for the late update, I was taking care of something that's why.

Anyway, if you catch anybody sharing this book - especially from this chapter henceforth report the person to me please.

I have stopped sharing my books on WhatsApp.