Chapter 10

They arrived at Abuja exactly 12:15pm. He drove them straight to Aisha's house where Ameenah would be staying. After a long drive, they finally arrived at the mansion owned by Aisha's husband.

From outside, the house looks impressive. It has been built with wood covered in render and has walnut wood decorations. Large, octagon windows allowed enough light to enter the home and have been added to the house in a mostly symmetric way.

Ameenah loved everything about the compound. The beautiful white roses planted beautifully. The water fountain. Parking space made just for car parking. A gazebo and many more.

They walked towards the entrance. Bashir rang the door bell and after few minutes, a maid opened the door for them. "Good afternoon." She greeted beaming at them. They replied and she ushered them in.

Ameenah looked around the living room. It was decorated with beautiful Golden Royal cushions with a large black soft carpet and a golden glass center table right above it. The stunning and glamorous Black and Golden curtains made the living room to look more attractive. The chandelier above light up the living room to make it look more glamorous than it already is.

"Ameenah!" Aisha squealed jolting her out of her train of thoughts. She engulfed her best friend in a tight hug, "you're finally here."

"Look at you!" Ameenah exclaimed when they broke the hug. "You look so beautiful and fresh, omg!"

Aisha twirled around smiling. "Oh thank you." She grinned. "Please come sit." They sat on the three sitter. Aisha couldn't stop smiling neither did Ameenah.

"Seems like I'm no longer needed here, so I'll be on my way." He said feigning hurt. "No wait! I'm so sorry I got carried away. I just missed my best friend. Please, come sit I'll call Adam now." She smiled apologetically and walked upstairs to get her husband.

He sat on the sofa just few steps away from Ameenah. He looked at her and chuckled before moving his eyes away from the beautiful creature. "What?" She asked. "So I can't look at you now and smile?" He put both his elbows on his knees. "No you can't," she smirked.

"Well you have to forgive me cause I can't stop looking at your gorgeous face." He beamed. "You are beautiful," he added. He has never complimented a girl he just met few hours ago. Not even Yasmeen. She blushed lowering her gaze. "Thank you," she muttered.

The couple interrupted their chit chat. "What are you guys talking about?" Aisha smirked looking at the both of them. "That's none of your business!" Ameenah glared at her.

"Ameenah, you are welcome." He greeted. They exchanged pleasantries before he thanked Bashir for the help. He never thought Bashir would agree to this but luckily, he did. He knows his friend quite well when it comes to ladies.

"I'll be on my way home now. Ameenah," he looked at her beaming. "I'll see you next time...."

"Which is tonight, right?" She grinned. He chuckled, "I'll see if I can make it."

"You're definitely going to make it," Adam chirped in. "You guys are in this together huh? No wonder you guys got married." He shook his head. Adam accompanied him out to the parking lot.

"So you knew your wife had friends like this and you never told me? Are you sure you're my friend?!" He punched his shoulder. "What?! How can I when you weren't ready to let go? May her soul continue to Rest In Peace." He prayed and Bashir answered with an 'Ameen.'

"How can I get her number? I want us to be friends nothing more." He defended. "Yeah I see where you're heading. If you want her number you should come later for dinner." He smirked. "Fine I'll be here after Maghrib." He sighed.

He wouldn't want to miss this great opportunity. He entered his car and started the ignition before driving out of the compound.

•••••

"You know how some parents are! It's definitely not Aamir's fault. Don't blame the poor soul please." Aisha said in a soothing voice. "Can we stop talking about this please. I'm trying to forget about him."

"Good idea! Why don't we talk about Bashir?" She grinned. "Not this guy again please. I'm not interested in someone like him," She sighed. "Why?"

"Why? You are asking why? Obviously he's from a rich family! You want me to fall in love with him and get dumped again?" She bayed at her. "His parents aren't like Aamir's. They're so nice and I bet they'll love you as their In-Law. You should give him a chance and by the looks of it, he likes you and I know you like him too."

"Aisha, you're crazy. I'm going to go take a nap." With that, she rosed up and left the living room. She headed up stairs where her room is.

As she plumped her head on the pillow, the thought of Bashir crossed her mind. "Bashir!" She murmured. She chuckled remembering how he smiles at her every time she looks at him.

She remembered exactly how his face looked. His attractive personality, good sense of clothing and polished in behavior. Oh Ya Allah, he is so good looking, tall, sharp featured, well built, balanced weight. His side burns made him 10X more handsome than he already is. Bashir!

She slept off thinking of him. His smile! His sparkling eyes. How he chuckles. Bashir! He has captured her heart in just few hours without her knowing.

••••

"I'm definitely sure he came back because of you! Better go take a shower and wear something presentable." Aisha winked. She rose to her feet walked out of the room. Ameenah just woke up few minutes ago when Aisha came in to announce Bashir is back.

It was already getting dark. She sighed and stood up from the bed and sashayed into the bathroom. She took a warm bath, performed ablution and came out. She dressed in a nude pink A shape gown and wore her hijab to offer her Maghrib prayer.

After praying, she tied a matching veil around her head and applied some eyeliner to her light brown eyes and some mascara. She applied little lipgloss before slipping into her Aldo flat shoes. She took a deep breath and exhaled before stepping out of the room.

One step at a time, she finally arrived at the living room where she found Bashir and Aisha's husband. Her heart skipped a bit when She met with the eyes she has been longing to stare into. He smiled looking at her glowing face. She smiled sheepishly lowering her gaze.

"I'm going to leave you two to talk a bit." Adam interrupted. "No! No please I'll go help Aisha with dinner," she quickly protested. "Thank you Adam. You can go now." Bashir said ignoring what she said.

Adam laughed and shook his head before giving them some space. "Aren't you going to sit down?" He asked looking at her. That moment she realized she was still standing. She sat down on the two sitter while he was on the three sitter.

"What do you want us to talk about please? We're not some sort of couple you know! We just met this morning and it seems like you're already getting comfortable with me."

She couldn't believe she said all of that. She smiled sweetly at him. "Uhh well, yeah I know. And I don't see any fault in just being friends..."

"No! I don't do that! I don't have male friends! I've never had one and I will not start having one now!" She interrupted. He chuckled not believing how sharp her mouth is. He never thought she'd be a talkative. "You never shut up don't you?"

She felt the urge to roll her eyes at him. "You should be happy that I want to be your friend." He smirked resting his head on the sofa. "As I told you before; I've never had any male friend and I do not want to start having now. The only male friend I will have is my husband, In Shaa Allah." She stood up and started walking towards the kitchen door.

"What if I want to be your husband?" She stood still at the spot she was standing at. She slowly turn to see if he was kidding. "What?!" She murmured. "Don't mind me please. I sometimes joke around. We just met today, like you said."

She shook her head in disbelief before sauntering into the kitchen. "Start arranging the warmers at the dining table." Aisha instructed. Ameenah took two warmers to the table before coming back to get the plates and utensils.

They all moved to the dining to eat dinner. "You're a great cook. So delicious," Bashir commented taking another spoon full of fried rice and chicken. "Thank you, bashir. I learned some from this pretty lady here." Her gaze moved to Ameenah who was sending daggers her way. "Really? I'd like to try her cooking one day."

"Don't worry, you will." Aisha gave her a sweet smile. Ameenah rolled her eyes in completely annoyance. After they were done with dinner, they offered their Isha prayer before moving to the backyard to get some fresh air.

The married couple moved to the gazebo and settled down on the soft couch while bashir moved to where Ameenah who was standing by the pool, looking at her reflection. "You look moody," He started. "I'm fine."

"No ameenah, you're not. What's up? Is it what I said earlier?" He looked at her side view. She is a beautiful creation made by Allah. "I'm sorry," He added. "It's okay." She turned to walk away when he stopped her. "What do you want from me please?" She asked, annoyed. "Why are you always shooting me out. By Allah I've never approached any girl like this before. Even when..." he paused, having a reverie of Yasmeen. "Even when?" She asked wanting to hear what he wanted to say.

"Never mind." He smiled sadly. "You can go. Sorry for disturbing. Good Night."

She paused looking at him walk over to the couple. He said his good night before leaving. She watched him walk away. She felt bad all of a sudden. She was a bit harsh on him. There's something about him. There's something disturbing him and she has to find out what. She saw it in his eyes.

She shivered when the cold breeze hit her petite body. She sauntered in and headed up the stairs to her room.

She sat on the edge of the bed. She sighed heavily burying her face with her palms. She heard a soft knock on the door. "Come in."

Aisha squeezed the door open, "you okay?" She asked coming in and closing the door behind her. "Can I ask you a question please?" Ameenah said instead of answering her question. "Yeah, what?" She sat beside her.

"I want to know more about bashir." She stared into the blank space. "Like, he looked kinda disturbed. I did something and all of a sudden his mood changed. Is something bothering him?"

Aisha exhaled pinching the bridge of her nose. "Yasmeen! I'm definitely sure it's her!"

"Who is she?"

"His ex fiancé." She replied. "What happened to her? She betrayed him or what?" She asked wanting to know more. "No, not at all. Yasmeen was a great person. She died of car accident."

Ameenah gasped placing her hand on her mouth. "Innalillahi Wa'inna Illaihir Raji'un." She exclaimed. "He loved her so dearly. I knew him for just few months but I could tell how he loved that girl. She's so sweet, kind, beautiful. Not only bashir even I got the shocking of my life when I heard about her death. So sad." Aisha shook her head. "This is the reason why I want you guys to work out. He is trying to find love and move on. I know you'll love him even more than she did. And I know he'll love you too. And I could tell he likes you. Yes you guys met today, crazy right? But with time I assure you, you'll know he's a great person and what happened between you and Aamir, it won't happen again. His family isn't like that."

Ameenah really felt bad for how she treated him. All this while he was hurting but yet he still gave her his sweet smile. She knew something was up.

Aisha stood up from the bed. "I have to get going. And think about what I said."