Chapter 8 6: The Scent

"Jibril can do that for you, just leave the key with me and tell me the location, he ll bring it back home." "Will you please just leave me alone and give me back my glass?! This isn t a joke anymore!" She furiously moved forward, totally forgetting that she might fall with a single wrong move. If it happened in her room, she wouldn t mind. Because she could walk around her room and do everything she wanted to do without her eyeglass and she would be fine because she knew where everything was with her heart. She stumbled and nearly fell when Mujaheed rushed to her and she fell on him. She tightly held his arm and heaved a sigh out of fear, but what? This man scented like oud, a very rich and breathtaking scent that made her wanted to hold onto him for a second more. Maybe in the hospital when something similar happened she was so pressed by her bladder to even notice how he scented. She quickly got a hold of herself and let go of her hold on him. "Have you seen that? Now, my glass." She stretched her hand and he stared at the way she kept blinking her eyes, turning her face away from the rays of the sun while she used one hand in blocking her eyes from the sun. "Jibril will take you there, that s Alhaji s order, and Nana will escort you." He fixed back the glass on her face and she rolled her eyes at him almost immediately. She scoffed, turning to the gate but before she reached there, Jibril was already honking at the gate, he had brought the girls back from Islamiyya. She waited until they came inside and Nana rushed to where she stood, "Are you going somewhere, Ya Fareeda?" She asked, and Fareeda nodded her head before she made her way to the door. "Jibril, you re taking Fareeda to the hospital as Alhaji ordered and she ll tell you where her car is, so you can bring it back home. Nana, go and quickly get changed, you re going with her." Fareeda sharply turned to look at him and he softly smiled, satisfied with himself. She couldn t utter a word at him because she knew it would only worsen what happened and he would surely annoy her even more. And right now, she hadn t recovered from what she felt just a few minutes ago. "Nana, will you please hurry up?" She asked as she looked at Nana who quickly nodded her head and ran inside the house. He wondered how she could be so angry in a minute and be so calm and kind the next, her voice might only differ with the intensity she used it for, but it would always be the same. Soft, mellifluous, and sultry, he wondered how she had gotten a blend of all that. Nana was back in a minute and they walked out of the house as Jibril was already waiting for them outside. She told him the hospital and fixed her eyes on the streets of Taraba state. She hardly ever noticed things when she was driving, because her eyes were always fixed on the road but now that she had gotten the chance to, she thought. She had lots of problems to deal with, but right now her only thought was how to get rid of Mujaheed and take him back to his initial position. The gateman he used to be because if not because of the power he assumed Alhaji had given him, who was he to be controlling her life the way he wished? She quickly turned to look at Nana, "Nana, you told me that Asma u likes Mujaheed, right?" Nana quickly turned with a grin and nodded her head, "She does. She doesn t know how to cook, but the day I told her that he liked white rice and okra soup, she stayed in the kitchen with me until I cooked everything for him. And when he asked me to tell her to stop cooking anything for him, she nearly killed me, Ya Fareeda. I ve caught her numerous times watching him from Abba s balcony." Fareeda smiled, she knew Nana would never lie to her, and this was just the confirmation she needed. "Nana, how about this? We plan a date for them?" She asked with a grin and Nana flashed her a confused look. "You re getting married to him, Ya Fareeda! Aren t you jealous?" Nana scrunched up her face, she didn t like the idea. When she heard that Mujaheed was getting married to Fareeda, she had never been that excited her whole life, and what was this Ya Fareeda trying to pull? Fareeda knew violence or anger wouldn t work with Nana, sweet words always did. She pulled her closer to her and smiled warmly, "You know I have the man I love, Nana, is it fair to me to be separated from the man I love?" She made sure she gave Nana her best puppy eyes and the innocent girl softly shook her head. "As well as Asma u, it wouldn t be fair to her if her sister gets married to the man she likes, do you think she wouldn t feel bad?" Nana quickly shook her head once again, "I saw her crying yesterday when I went to take dinner to her." She added softly, feeling bad for the two sisters meddled into this. "That s it, what I mean here, Nana. We have to plan a date for them, we re doing this for Asma u and you said she has been showing signs to him since, right? He might also like her, he didn t need to show it, what do you think?" Nana nodded her head, "What do we need to do? And does that mean you won t get married to him if he likes Asma u? Because Ya Fareeda, I want you to get married to him." Fareeda wanted to smack her head so hard until she could hardly breathe but thought otherwise. "It s always best if you marry the one you love, Nana. And about them, I promised to take you out when we come back from the hospital, right? How about this, beg Mujaheed to come out with us on Friday evening, I ll tell Asma u that I will be arranging for her to meet with him in the park, we will also tag along. And if Alhaji knows I ll be going out with you, he would let him follow us. The police officers are always there, so there s no need to worry about who will guard the house." They kept on planning on how it would be and when they arrived at the hospital, they walked in together and Fareeda collected the glasses. She put on the first pair and it felt good knowing she wouldn t have to be so careful anymore. Jibril drove them back and after that, she gave him the key and told him the location to go and pick up her car, she hated it that she had to pay heed to what Mujaheed had said, but this will also be among her plan so Alhaji wouldn t suspect anything. They walked into the house and she nudged Nana to go one and do as they planed before she walked directly back into the house and went ahead to Asma u s room. She met her seated on her study as she scribbled some words in a paper, which she immediately covered when she saw Fareeda standing in front of her. "What are you doing in my room? You wouldn t have loved it if I did the same to you." She asked accusatively and rolled her eyes at Fareeda that chuckled softly. "Easy there, baby sis. I m here with something that will help you get what you do want, okay? And also, that letter should be delivered to him, what do you think? Before that, listen to what I have to say first, I ve planned to take the two of you out on a date, are you in?" She asked and noticed the way Asma u s eyes twitched, which she quickly masked up. "What do you mean?" She asked. "We re going out with Nana on Friday evening, and Alhaji wouldn t let me go out alone without Mujaheed, we all know he will ask him to tag along. So I thought it would be a good opportunity for my sister, we promise to give you two some space to talk and get to know each other, what do you think? Are you in?" Asma u was hesitant at first before she nodded her head softly and her eyes slowly went back to the letter she was foolishly writing for Mujaheed. She had no intention of taking it to him but writing it out would make her feel better. "About the letter, Nana will have it delivered to him even though we re not in the letter-writing era anymore, he has to know what you re feeling. Who knows, maybe he has some feelings for you as well. Quickly, finish writing it." "Nana! You re quickly needed in Asma u s room when you re done." Fareeda called out from the window, she knew there was a distance from the gate to the main building, but the wind might take her words down and also, Nana had sharp ears. "I ll send her in, don t worry." She tapped her shoulder and walked out of the room, a smug smile on her lips as she felt relieved. If this went as planned, she wouldn t have to worry about him anymore. 'Nana! You re quickly needed in Asma u s room when you re done. It would forever remain a miracle how no matter how she spoke in a high pitched tone, he had always heard her. But right now, Nana didn t seem to hear her as she kept blabbering that it made him chuckle. "Didn t you hear her calling you?" He asked, and she looked into his eyes. "Who? No one called me." She shrugged off her shoulders and continued, "You just have to do this once, please, Ya Mujaheed." "I ll think about it before the time comes, but you have to go, Fareeda called you." There were days he heard her voice singing early in the morning as she either danced or cleaned her room. She hated it when someone entered her room, only Nana was allowed to do that and that was why none of the maids cleaned her room, she did that herself. He didn t know where her room was, which window was hers, but he always heard her. That soft and sultry voice had never gone unheard by his ears. "Will you come? You have nothing to think about, Abba wouldn t say anything if he knows we re going with Ya Fareeda, please?" Nana will never let him rest unless he answered her and right now, it was time for Maghrib Salah. "I will, happy? Now, you need to go, she said you re quickly needed in Asma u s room when you re done." "Thank you, Ya Mujaheed!" She squealed excitedly and grinned at him, "I ll also tell Ya Fareeda that you hear her voice even when she doesn t speak at all." And she ran off to the house without waiting for him to either smack or knock the crown of her head.