Chapter Two

Layla's POV:

I was lying on my bed on Thursday evening after a very hectic day at work when my phone beeped, i stretched to get it from my bed side drawer with my eyes still close, picked it up, opened my eyes, I got a text from an unknown number, well it's about damn time! I've been checking my phone throughout the day but nothing, the message read;

"Hii, it's Nabeel....this is my number"

Of course I thought rolling my eyes,before will he text me with someone else's number... but no....he has to spell it out

Hi there, of course I will save it right away....and I did

So how was your day???,he sent,

You want the truth?

Haha yeah,of course,but yeah, I think I already have an idea

Being an adult is soo stressful, i tell you

Tell me about it, i don't even have time for myself, just wake up, pray, go to work, come back by 7,and when I come back I'm usually very tired so I just pray and sleep... it's like a routine, like my life is programmed... and I can't even do anything about it.

Oh my God... That's exactly what i'm talking about but I go to work by 9:00am though... So my case is a little better

Haha.... Nope I think everything is the same o... So can we get to to know each other?

Nahh.... Let's do that tomorrow when we meet, we will be spending the whole day together

Alright no p, that makes sense, so i'm going to the gym rn, be ready by 10... Okay?

ok. The gym?? Rn??? It's 9pm

Ohh I know that, i have one downstairs, in my basement, so I go there when I can't sleep

Ohh ok, that's cool then. Toh goodnight, see you tomorrow.

Good night princess.

||

I stood in front of my wardrobe

For an entire minute

A whole minute

Staring.

Yet another glorious morning and I'm forced to make one of the most important,toughest decisions of my everyday life

What am I wearing today?

It's Friday and I'm going out with him today,I don't have anything to wear and i'm freaking out.What should i wear, why didn't I think of this before now. I run to Amina's room, my younger sister, we are only three, Abba, me and Amina, Abba is 23, I'm 21 and Amina is 18.

I open her door and barge in,she wasn't there"meena, are you in the bathroom, I'm coming in, i really need your help ASAP", I said entering her bathroom, and yes I guessed right, she was rounding up and stepping out to meet me,

"You dunno the meaning of privacy? "

"Mtcheew wear something and let's go to my room, i really need your help, that fine guy is taking me out today", I said wiggling my brows and smiling, i know she will give in if she hears fine boy, and she did, she quickly dried her body, put on her underwear and threw on an Abaya not bothering with her body lotion. We matched to my room and she went straight to my wardrobe

"I dunno how you don't already know what to wear, i mean look at this"she said pointing at my wardrobe that's open. "I already know what you are going to wear, just go and apply your makeup, i trust you with that, i will iron these for you"she said holding up a really nice kimono I bought last week, she paired it with an ash coloured pencil skirt and white vintage top that has black little star scattered on it, so I started with my make up.

"Go easy with the make up, we know you are the makeup artist but we don't want him to think you tried too hard to impress him, okay?"she said

"Ok, ok I know how to behave with a guy, i only needed you to pick something for me to wear, now shush and go iron that, and thanks a lot" I said batting my lashes at her.

She rolled her eyes and left the room, i finished my makeup within forty minutes and I promise it was the nude look, when I finished I took my phone to check the time, it's was 9:31 and I think he's gonna be late so why not take my time, so I went to look for other accessories to pair with it, my earrings where already on my dresser so I just picked black flats from my shoe rack and went to look for a veil to use, i was going to use a black one but decided against it so I just borrowed Amina's nude color veil for obvious reasons. I went to the kitchen downstairs, took an apple to munch on while checking my Instagram and Twitter account to pass time. Abba walked and smiled at me.

"Iyeh, someone's ready to blow some minds"he said whistling

"You know he's sitting in the the living room right and you haven't even gotten dressed, ladies are something else"he added

"Why didn't Amina come to tell me that he's already here, where is that girl"

"She didn't come to tell you cuz she's busy talking to him"he said, not looking up from the cup of juice he was pouring for himself,

"Ohh, I should have know, I'm going to get dressed,see ya"I said leaving the kitchen,

When I walked in, they didn't notice me,so I cleared my throat

"Hi, morning, I'll be ready in five"I said, not waiting for his reply but I heard a little 'take your time' from him while going up the stairs.

When I say give me 5, I don't even believe myself, so I come back downstairs after 8 minutes and tell him i'm ready to go, we go to his car which is white, but hey, I dunno the model,we got into his car and drove out. He complimented me and I thanked him. His cologne smelled heavenly and he looked pretty good, like how did i get so lucky.

"Where are we going to, i forgot to ask yesterday when you chatted me up"I voiced out,

"Uhmm, have you had your breakfast?"he replied,

"Nope"I said, popping the p, "ok that's good, let's go somewhere we can eat then talk,how 'bout that"I continued,

"Sure" he said,

The rest of the drive was quiet, we didn't talk again, i just sat there staring out the window and he concentrated on driving, the silence wasn't awkward at all, just comfortable.

"We are here"he announced when we got to the eatery,I quickly stepped out of the car before he pulls some kinda chauvinistic move like opening my door for me. But.... He still walked behind me and opened the door to the eatery. We sat at the very back and ordered,

"So... Let's get to know each other, I'll tell you something about me and you'll return the favor"I said,

"Okay, go on"he replied,he's being awfully quiet today but I just ignored it.

"I'm Abdullahi Layla, 21 years old, studied international relations in Abu, 2nd child out of three, work with foreign affairs "

"Garba Nabeel, 33 year old, studied business administration in Ambrose university,Canada, i'm the first child out of 2, i work with my father's company"he replied in the same format,

"That's cool, so do you have like a favorite color?", I continued,

"Red"he replied,

"Ok, then we have one thing in common now, mine is red too"I said, just as the waitress brought our food,she placed them on each side of the table and left, and we dug in.

"So is a sister or a brother"I asked,

"A brother, Zayyad, he stays in the UK, he doesn't have a good relationship with me and my dad, he's momma boy, very stubborn, does what he feels is right and to some extent I respect him a lot for that" he said with a small smile,

"Ohh,ok, so why did you want an arranged marriage , I mean I have my reason too and I don't mind sharing it, but if your reason is something touchy that you don't like talking about, it's okay too, i get it"I rambled on,

He chuckled lightly"you talk too fast, that's cute, but no it's nothing like that, I don't have any particular reason, it's just what my dad wants "he said,

"Oh wow, he made the decision for you? "I replied, looking dumbfounded cuz I would never let my parents do that, i made this decision myself,

"Yes, he did"he replied, clenching his jaw

He looked like he doesn't like talking about it so I dropped it.

"But I would like to know why you want an arranged marriage if you don't mind"he said, that's the first time he's initiated something since we got here,

"Oh yeah, it's not a really good reason but I guess I never clicked with any guy after that, so I had my first and only boyfriend when I was 17,i was in 400 level then, i know i'm really young but I wrote Waec and jamb in ss2 so I got into uni when I was 14,that's how dad wants it for all of us, i was staying off campus till I got to 300 level and I was 16 so they allowed me to stay on my own,i really liked him, his name is Ridwan, I had a crush on him since I was in 200 level, so when he finally noticed me, he told me he liked me and one thing led to another so we started dating, i really did like him so when he asked me out, i agreed immediately being the naive girl I was then,i didn't know that It was just a bet between him and his friends because they thought I was stuck up,he won the bet and got his money, i found out 4 months into the relationship and got angry and broke up with him even though I knew it wasn't necessary, i mean he was never into me, i know now it just sound really ridiculous but then I was really really hurt, I never really liked any guy after that, thought all of them aren't serious creatures, no offense and I still do BUT I want children so I just settled for this, i mean the man I get married has the right to marry 4 wives so it's a win-win situation .

"Okay, that makes sense, and I'm sorry about what happened with him"he said,

"Me too"I replied,we finished our food and continued with our conversation, I got to know that he wants 3 kids and that he already building a house that has 5 bedrooms, a visitors room and a boys quarter, for me he was ticking all the right box for my recommendation on a good husband and I was really impressed, i asked if he was in a relationship and has anything he wants in a wife.

"Yeah, about that, i really like you and I think this will work but"he started, of course there's a big 'but'..... " I want a housewife not someone that's of a working class, i mean I can take care of everything, every one of your needs, it's my responsibility as a husband and I don't even have time for myself so I want a wife that at least has time for me"he said,

"Oh, wow, i didn't know that, i just got this job, i can't just quit it, i know most of the hausa-fulani's don't like it but I'm not hausa, this might not work out"I replied,

"I know you aren't hausa,but seriously, I'm assuring you, i will put some of my properties in your name, after the wedding, I'm already processing the papers, your allowance will be 300,000 naira monthly, just for your need, I will take care of everything we need in the house, but I just don't want a wife that will be working, it won't be convenient or I could give you the capital to start any business you want when we get married"he added, "and if we eventually get married I have every right to tell you not to work cuz we are Muslims, that's the way of Islam"

"Alright alright It's ok, you're a good match so yeah, we can do this"I said,

"Well then it's settled, i will tell my parents, so we can fix a date and start the preparations"he said, smiling broadly

"I also want something." I inhaled deeply before I continued. "I know your needs as a man are necessary but I really can't see myself going to bed with a man I don't really know, what I'm saying is that can we not do it until we get to know each other properly after the wedding".

"Waoh, that's...ok I guess". He looked taken aback, i know I really surprised him but I'm not having my first time with someone i don't really know. "But I'm a man, and like you said we have needs, i wouldn't want my marriage to start off with me cheating, so like after how many days can I touch you ".

Now I was really surprised, he sure does know what he wants, after thing for sometime, i said, "30 days"

"Ok that fine then, I can handle that"he said smiling

"Alright then, we should leave, let's visit other places"

He paid for the food and we left.

I got home around 5pm, i was really tired and I missed Zuhr and Asr, after greeting my parent I went to my room, prayed, bathed, wore something that's more comfortable which was yoga pants and a shirt and went to Amina's room to gist about everything that happened today, she was my best friend, the only person that knew me more than any other person in my life.