Laila was flying.

She was in the air, flying and it wasn't a dream.

How was that happening?

She slowly unfolded her eyes and immediately closed them, then peeped again as she felt herself flying down into a soft mattress.

She wasn't flying, she was being carried. Well, you already guessed it: Sudais.

His arms that were wrapped around her body slowly released her as he moved his weight off the bed to stand and stare at her.

Laila continued with the act, acting as if she was asleep until she heard him chuckle. "I know you're awake now."

Internally sighing and slapping herself, she squinted open her tightly closed eyes. With her half point of view, she met the man in a cotton milk jallabiya with his arms dangling by his side. He picked a hand and placed the back of it on her forehead.

In a small voice, she beat him to a question. "What gave it away?"

He shrugged, moving to dip his butt on the bed as he turned to place his palm on her forehead. "Your muscles became tense just before i dropped you on the bed. You're heating up, what's wrong with you?"

Now that he did mention it, what was wrong with her was that they weren't married, but she cheated-ishh. She wouldn't have cared if it was mids January when they had gotten married-fake married when she bolted, in fact, she would've been glad. Now, with the fact that she was looking at him unable to do or say anything, she took her gaze off him as she tipped her weight to her right side and laid on it, rocking back and forth thinking how everything had changed before whispering; "Just a headache, i think my blood pressure is a little high."

He slowly nodded, then proceeded to rub her back lovingly. He didn't know when it had happened but he didn't even want a fly touching or hurting her. "I'm sorry. Do you know why?"

She sniffed, of course. "I'm a 500level medical student. Of course, i know. My emotions shot the blood pressure up."

He hummed, "Should i get you some painkillers? Or would you like to sleep the headache and emotions away?" She knew they saw each other in a whole different line of view after his little breakdown, but why was he acting nice? Too nice...

Her rocking halted as she gave it a thought then nodded at the foremost while slowly rising her upper body, only to rest her back against the headboard. "Painkillers, please. I have to start reading anyway."

"I'm going to but you do realize you take that stuff on an unhealthy level, right?" He reasoned, raising a brow as he slanted forward, discreetly breathing in her intoxicating smell and resisting the urge to touch her skin. He loved her skin. He loved—

She sighed, gently swaying her head up and down. "It's for school. It's worth it." She answered over the sound of him rummaging through the pill box. He got them and a bottle of water for her before dipping into the bed with one leg underneath himself and the other dangling off the bed.

He slowly started as he placed 2 pills into her palm and watched her dawn them along with the water. "Speaking of school....i um-i created an app for you."

Laila stared at him for a minute and he shifted every now and then, expecting an answer. He didn't, so he tilted his head, mouth slightly agape. "You going to say something, Sadiya?"

"I-i...i-" she stuttered, lifting her hands to motion at pure gibberish before she gathered herself. "You love me?"

His five senses all ceased for a second as his smile faltered while his nose wrinkled and his eyes squinted, what was she doing to him? "No, i said i created-"

She shook her head, "Yes, it's the same as saying you love me. Ka fada cikin rijiyar sona..." she added in a sing-song, then giggled at Sudais' furrowed eyebrows.

He started again, although he was trying hard to hide a smile. "Sadiya, i created an app for you to make how you read easier."

She pointed to her chest, "You created an app for me, you love me, same thing. There's a mansion with my name written all over it growing in your heart."

Sudais took seconds to digest what she had said before he threw his head back and let a loud laugh vibrate off of him, masking the fact that she might be right, but he was too scared to admit nor come to terms with it.

Despite the headache that seemed to be disappearing not even a few minutes after she had taken her painkillers, she joined him, vibrating forward until she placed a palm on one of his arms to prevent herself from falling into him.

When it died, he removed his phone from his pocket while shaking his head and scrolling until he found what he was looking for.

He handed her the phone to go through the app as he ran her through the details. "Um...so that day when you were complaining and crying about school, you said you wished you could have a recorded textbook to listen to ko?"

She nodded with her attention still on the phone.

"Yeah, so, when i asked for that voice note of yours, i wanted to have your voice, for you. It's an app that you can take a picture of a script, it'll scan it, and then you can choose various voices with various speeds and listen to it instead of having to read it from the textbook. Let's say you're just revising."

She nodded, teary eyes met him and she quickly returned them to his phone and sniffled.

He went on, gesturing at the phone, "You can also add a pdf on it instead of taking a picture to scan it, and then i added a search option. Let's say you want to read, a chapter named pen testing from my Cybersecurity textbook, and you don't want to scroll into the pdf to find it, you can just search it. You can do a general search too, meaning not just one pdf but everything. You can also select a paragraph to put on repeat, or like a list, you know? Umm...what else?"

He trailed off, flashing his eyes to the ceiling in deep thought before it clicked. He rose an excited index. "I added your voice, mine, a Nigerian, American, Arab and British accent. And...i added your mum's voice to it too..." he watched as she froze before tilting her wide eyes to meet his apologetic ones. He didn't want any clash, to be honest he wanted them so stay like this forever so he added before she could burst. "I just thought you'd like to hear her read you your notes. I-i can re-remove it. Ish-i think. I can make it exclusively for you before i release it on the app store too, okay? Do not be offended."

Laila's eyes squinted as the sides of her lips lifted, not in a smile but in a state of confusion. Why would she be offended? "What? No! Why? I-i mean yes! Yes! Yes! This is..." she paused in search of the word as she surveyed the ceiling, bringing her hands to clasp the phone to her chest. "This...it means the world and beyond to me. Really," she caught his hands that were clasped in front of him and brought one up to squeeze with hers, in return squeezing his weak heart that had been enveloped by her, contrary to the fact that she was the one with a heart condition that made the organ weak. "Thank you...So soo much. I love this, this is brilliant. You're brilliant. I can't comprehend this. But, still, thank you."

That was all he needed to feel warmth in his chest and his pulse to accelerate. He smiled as he looked down at their hands and placed his other hand to sandwich their hands. "You're welcome."

He had wanted to keep eye contact with her but she had taken her eyes off his the moment they met to anywhere but his scrutiny.

She cleared her throat, flashing the phone at him and then scrolling around the app. "So...what did you name the app?"

"It sounds stupid but...i named it Audiofy. It sounds somehow right?"

She shook her head, squeezing his hand, and resisted the urge to slap him. She didn't hold the thought back though. "I'll smack the lack of self-appreciation in you. Are you crazy or what? It's amazing! The name doesn't matter, it's how much easier it makes people's lives that matters."

"Is your mum's voice ok or should i make it exclusive to you?"

She had no doubt: "Make it exclusive, please."

"Ok, and oh-" he dipped a hand into his side pocket and fumbled his fingers before he was grabbing a squishy thing out of it.

Laila's eyes squinted as he placed a fisted hand toward her and she rose a brow.

His lips squeezed before he turned his fist upside down and unclenched it to reveal a squishy pink leather.

Laila gasped, unconsciously releasing the phone to grab the candy. "Oh my God! Where did you find it?"

He smiled, tilting his head to the side with his hand supporting his face. "My links fell and disappeared under the bed. I pushed an arm in and grabbed some stuff to find the pair of links, it was under the bed."

Laila sighed, clutching the candy and bringing it to her chest as she rocked forward and backward. "Thank you..."

"It's okay...Why won't you take it? I...i mean why do you value it so much?"

Laila stared up to her right, recalling the boy's almost non-existent face in her head. He was there, but not quite there. "It was...um-someone gave it to me."

He hummed, eyes distant from her. "Do i want to know that someone?" He had learned that the stupid doctor who gave her her shot was her ex and was hoping he wasn't the one who gave her the candy. If he was, he'd find a way to throw away the candy with no remorse.

The corners of her lips fell towards the floor and her lips started to tremble. "Yes...he was-Umar was a cheesy kid."

"Oh," his eyes popped out, "Was?"

"Yeah. He um-he died." I think? Could someone, more so a kid survive that bomb last that wiped over 50 citizens as the news said? She didn't think so.

"Oh..." there was a long silence before he added. "I'm sorry...about the kid i mean."

"Yeah," she nodded. "Me too."

They sat in a tension-filled silence until he asked. "It's past Isha, Have you prayed?"

For the first time since their conversation started, she lied, "Yes, i did. I prayed."

The room went silent and she did her best in avoiding him, aimlessly scrolling through the app until he spoke again, firmly this time. "Sadiya."

She flicked her peer to him, to his nose and mouth, not eyes. "Huh?"

"Look at me."

She frowned. "I'm looking at you."

He shook his head. "You're not looking into my eyes." How did the man know?

Since she was caught in the act, she paused her breath to align her gape at him and instantly felt her heart rate accelerate. Unconsciously, -because the man seemed to be siphoning information out of her through their eyes- she grimaced, dropping the hand with the phone and fisting the sheets.

"I've noticed something about you. You don't like praying. Especially when you've done something. What have you done?"

Instantly, she let out an awkward chuckle, shrugging. "Nothing. I didn't do anything." Thank the lord almighty she didn't stutter.

He saw past her lie but ignored it, the issue at hand was far more serious. "Then why do you not like praying?"

"I-i...i just-" she sighed, shaking her head as her sham fell and broke into pieces. She cast her head down. "I...sometimes i feel...um, that i sin too much, that I don't deserve to pray to God, and sometimes, i feel...like my prayers don't even get answered, so why should I pray?"

He stared at her in disbelief, finding it hard to digest what she said. He wet the dry part of his lower lip and set them into a straight line. "What separates us from non-muslims?"

Although not sure of her answer, she rose a brow but gave her unsure answer nonetheless. "Salat?"

"Yes. Salat. That's our main difference. If you don't pray, you're practically a non-muslim. Kinsani de ko? You realize if you die right now, i mean, right now...the first thing you'll be asked in your grave is your Salat, right?"

When she didn't answer, he untangled their hands and grabbed her upper arms to grab her attention. "Look at me," She did that with pink eyes. "Your Salat is the first you'll be asked, don't let it be the last thing in your schedule...or not in your schedule at all."

He also put his head down to scoff before bringing it up. "Allahu ghafurur rahim, Sadiya. Don't you ever forget that. And you're talking about your prayers not being answered. Haba Sadiya, you're a grown-up. You must know that whatever prayer Allah hasn't granted to you has been exchanged with something better. Or...it might've even been answered in another form or it's awaiting you in your hereafter. We also do not always get what we want but what is best for us. A fami? (Do you understand?)"

He shook her until she said, "Mi fami. (I understand.)"

"Exactly. Let me tell you something and this is coming from someone who memorized the Quran when he was only 13 years, someone who has large Islamic knowledge but still sins as if he didn't know the consequences. I'm not a saint, ko? But, whatever i do, playing with my salat is not one of them. Because what if i die sinning and not repenting?" He directed his last question mostly at himself and not her.

"There's this rule me and Tahir have placed on ourselves. We hear the adhaan? Turn off the music. We need to go out? Pray first. We're traveling? Find a filling station and pray. One of us fornicated? Take a bath and pray. But don't skip a prayer for useless things, kingane? This life is temporary. We do not want to spend eternity in hell, are you getting me?" He paused to take a breath, chest slightly heaving up and down.

She nodded, sniffling her runny nose.

Sudais had a lot more to say but decided against it. He released her. "Umma. Umma. Umma jula. (Get up. Get up. Get up and pray) I'm watching you. What prayer didn't you pray today?" He threw the question with squinted and suspicious eyes.

Laila threw her arms out, "Come on. Don't look at me like that. I almost always pray Subh, Magreb and Isha. It's just zuhr and asr i'm used to skipping cause of school...but yeah, i only prayed subh today."

He nodded, "Okay, perform wudhu and come and pray all your missing prayers while i watch you."

Instinctively, she said, "Omo. That's punishment sha."

He found nothing she said amusing as he narrowed his eyes, "It's better to get punished here temporarily than get punished permanently."

Laila didn't want to pick up a fight. For the first time. As such, She popped her chest out, raising an erect palm to her temple as she saluted. "Yes, sir!"

He chuckled, "Vamoose!"

With a smile, Laila got off the bed to pick up her specs from her bag and walked to the bathroom. After she had closed the door, she slammed her back into it as her smile fell. The tears she had managed to hold back-not the happy tears, the 'i-am-so-going-to-drink-poison-and-kill-myself tears- broke past her with a sob.

In fear of Sudais overhearing her sob about something she wasn't ready to explain, she pressed her hands over her lips as she slid down to the tiled floors and dropped her glasses on her side.

In pure frustration over the fact that she couldn't cry out loud, she repeatedly hit her fist on the floor as she vibrated with silent tears. Her hands were begging her to stop but she needed the pain somewhere else. They had to be her rescue.

How could she be so stupid?

She let out a silent groan as she brought her fist to punch the side of her face before grimacing. Son of a bitch! That hurt!

She'd been living under the same roof with one man, but was married to another?

How the hell was she going to deal with this?

She sure as hell was not going back to Nurain. Enough was enough.

Sudais...who was less bad than Nurain couldn't be blamed for her situation.

She'd never admit it, but she knew she had a habit of blaming things on people when things didn't go her way. She couldn't blame him and it was frustrating.

She couldn't even blame Daddy as she had used her mouth to tell him she was divorced and had even finished her iddha.

But-but...it was his fault! He shouldn't have married her off like that.

It wasn't her fault!

She was not going to stay and be patient in a disrespectful marriage with Nurain. If she did, with the issues she inherited from her father, she'd end up in jail not a year later.

The only time she was so sure about something and turns out, everything everyone said was true. She and Nurain just couldn't be, Goddamn it.

All the warnings from her parents and her siblings went on deaf ears.

When it all occurred, she couldn't run back to them. Daddy had made it pretty clear. Said and she quoted, 'If he does anything to you, don't even think me and your mum will help you because we won't. You love him? Ok, he is all you have now.' And with that, he had stormed out a few months before the wedding.

Now, she wished she had a time machine. She wished she could take it back. Listen to the old man. Listen to her mum. Maybe, just maybe she wouldn't be here, life taking away even the littlest moments she had just when she thought she was going to have it all. Dragging back in school because she was always distracted. Emotions rattled her every now and then. The need to talk to someone but the fact that she had pushed everyone out of her life for the same person that did her dirty.

Laila wasn't a patient or a good woman. She'd probably let her impulses take over and stab Nurain in the neck if she stayed in their disrespectful marriage and she wasn't about to throw all her efforts to go to jail without that Dr. Coming before her name.

It was better this way. Why couldn't he understand? Why? Why did he have to-

Laila let out a yelp as the bathroom door pushed into her back, "Sadiya? Sadiya? Are you there?"

"Yeah. I'm fine. I'm fine!" She quickly wiped the tears off her face as she stood up and hid behind the bathroom door that was being pushed open.

At the sound of her throaty voice, he pushed aside every voice in his head that told him not to invade her privacy and did that by stepping into the bathroom, barefooted. Except he didn't just step into it, he stepped on her glasses that immediately produced a crushing sound and he jumped back.

"Why would you leave your glasses on the floor?" He queried, bending to pick the frame and the glass that had disconnected into 2 pieces.

Laila clasped her hands behind her back, head cast down as she started to nod before he even asked anything.

"And I didn't ask whether you were fine or not, Sadiya. Why are you telling me?"

"Huh?" She glanced up then started to bite the insides of her cheek and fiddle with her fingers. "I...i thought you'd ask me that."

Silence.

Silence.

Silence.

"You're lyin-no, you're hiding something. What are you hiding?"

She did what she did best, turn it around. "I'm not. Maybe you are."

"I am not." He gritted. Oh, she hit a nerve. "Seriously, what's happening? What's wrong?"

She feared he might read through her and tell what she was hiding. She couldn't hold it back, she let out an ugly cry. "I'm...I'm tired. Schoo-school is stressing me..."

Sudais' frown died and so did his tense muscles. He rose his hand but didn't attempt to touch her. Physical touch might be his love language but it wasn't Laila's and he knew that. "Um...it's...it's okay?" It sounded like a question even to him. He pictured himself bashing his head into the wall in his lame attempt at comforting her. "You're okay," he found himself bending his legs forward and backward as her tears increased. "You...you want water?" She shook her head, her cries trimming down as she slowly dropped her arms from over her face. "Oh-okay. You should perform wudhu...yeah?"

She nodded and he beamed. It died down when he sighted the confusion on her face. Stupid ass. He managed a smile before he continuously nodded and left the bathroom.

***

Friday, 24th May, 2019.

"Aren't you going to school today too?" Sudais asked a sweating Laila who stopped swirling the soup in the pot. He gestured at his back. "And why do you have 4 maids over?"

Laila whacked the edge of the wooden spoon on the edge of the pot before closing it, placing the spoon into a bowl, and turning to him. "N-no. I took 2 days off." She stretched an arm toward the open diner filled with food warmers and a few on the kitchen island. "I am making Friday food for everyone that likes me."

Sudais hummed, crossing his arms over his chest with his eyes widened in shock and his lips stretching back. "Someone is in a good mood today."

Laila chuckled, lifting her shoulder to push her glasses up the bridge of her nose on her damp face.

Huh. The man had no idea.

To go along with him, she shrugged. "I am. That's why everyone is getting food today."

"May i ask who and who?"

She squinted an eye, squeezing one side of her lip, and motioned at the numerous warmers. "There is semo, Egusi soup, and pepper fish soup for Mama Kaka, da kuma Maya's mum, and my mum's younger sister; Mama talatu—"

"But Mama Kaka doesn't like you." He exclaimed, his hands going into the air at his statement. She was his stepmom but they didn't get along. They never would.

"I don't like her too, but i'm pretending like i do," when she got only a hum from him, she continued. "Shrimps fried rice with roasted chicken for Mima, Hafsy, Muri, and his wife. White rice and chilly chicken for Maijidda, then cake for her kids. Gizdodo for Adda Raihan. There's masa for Mami, Galadima, and Shehu," She finally turned to gesture at the pot, "And, this is miyan taushe to go with it. Then, there's chin chin," she pointed at the other side of the kitchen with a maid standing over a pan of oil with square-shaped dough being fried in it.

"Pine apple and coconut juice for everyone. Then, there are crepes but I haven't stuffed them for my nieces and ne-" she paused to angrily yell, "FATIMA!" The girl, Fatima, who looked scared for her life appeared through the back door of the kitchen, "You left the air fryer on! Kinaso ki qona min gida ne?" The girl sprinted to do what she had failed to do with Laila yelling at the top of her lungs again, "SARAH, WALLAHI IF YOU BURN MY CHIN CHIN AGAIN YOU WILL MAKE THE DOUGH AND FRY IT IN 30 MINUTES BEFORE I LEAVE FOR JUMU'AH! AND CHECK THE OVEN! IT'S STARTING TO SMELL LIKE SOMETHING IS BURNING."

She cleared her throat and turned to an amused Sudais still standing and leaning by the double door fridge. She managed a smile and wiped the sweat that ran down her forehead with her clothed shoulders and asked with a raspy voice, "You think they heard me?"

He nodded the act doing nothing in calming his heating up body temperature and warming up heart. What the hell was wrong with him!? "I think the whole estate heard you."

She smiled again before twisting back to the pot and dropping her smile.

What she found was, forgetting was a big work. She couldn't just forget the fact that she wasn't married to the man standing across her or the fact that she thought she cheated on him when technically she didn't, but the betrayal was ten times fold. She couldn't wipe it off.

Hell, she wished one of those memory witches existed so they could wipe her memory from last week. But there wasn't. So, she had to make herself do more things so there was no time for her to think.

The day before, she had spent it mostly at the market getting stuff she didn't have for her cookout that day.

And she had avoided talking to Sudais. If she did, she made sure she was talking more than he did and dismissed any questions asked.

Hence, here she was. On her last day of suspension. Making food while venting on 4 maids. 2 of which were hers and 2 she had asked to come over from her parent's house.

"HELLO!"

Laila gasped as she released the spoon into the pot which splashed its viscous liquid back to her face and unto her lenses. "Sadiya? Are you alright? Why do you keep zoning out?"

"I uh-it's just-um never mind." She stuttered, removing her glasses to place it on a clean space before she turned off the gas and turned to Sudais, lightly swaying.

His hands swayed up and down in front of his chest, "Woah woah woah. Stop right there, makahuwa. Let me get you a new set of glasses."

He disappeared and Laila sighed, then glanced at the girl who was eyeing her. "WHAT?" She yelled.

God, their ears should be hurting from how much she had been screaming at them.

"It's um-i think the bread is done ma."

"THEN TAKE IT OUT OF THE OVEN! OR DO YOU WANT ME TO DO THAT FOR YOU?" God, she was going to pass out of annoyance if any of them asked a stupid question one more time. She turned to the maid standing at the door to the backyard with a similar look of fear of being on the receiving end of Laila's screams.

She had no luck, Laila roared at her too. "WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING AT? FIND SOMETHING TO DO! DO THE DISHES! I DON'T WANT TO FIND A SINGLE UNWASHED DISH BY THE TIME I AM BACK!"

"Yes ma'am."

Then disappeared. Which left Laila with 2 more. One was not in sight and the other was annoying her with her presence.

So she vented on the poor girl. "ARE YOU FRYING FOR THE WHOLE OF ABUJA? NO, BA? THEN FINISH THIS UP!"

Her chest heaved harder as she breathed her rage off. Her sweat continued to drip down the sides of her face as she groaned and threw her head back.

God. What to do!

She focused on calming her breath and ventured on pouring the tempting soup into food warmers before placing them on the kitchen island as the diner was too full to carry them.

Sudais had forgotten about her glasses, she concluded. She was done so she yelled a final, "STORE THE BREAD IN ZIPLOCK BAGS BUT DON'T ZIP IT. I'LL ZIP IT MYSELF!"

She bumped into the man right when she pushed the door open into their bedroom.

"Thought you forgot it," She muttered, taking hold of her case of glass, then adding. "I don't like this one. So i need to shower and clean the other one."

He nodded, suddenly not as happy as he was a few minutes ago.

She didn't like that, so, she started. "I was going to let you on to believe that i didn't make you anything. But, i did."

The faraway look on his face faded and he beamed down at her, "Really?" Then tilted his head to his right, eyes twinkling and brow risen. "What'd you make me?"

She hummed, clasping her hands behind her back as she started to move her shoulders side to side. "Um...there's fresh bread, it just got out of the oven."

"Oh...So you like me?" He asked, hopefully. It'd make everything so much easier if she did too.

Laila punched his chest and he laughed, putting his arms out in defense when he realized he might not want to know what her answer was. He was scared but would never admit to it. "I want to eat that right now,"

She chuckled, nodding. "You can. I made your white rice with plantain but I forgot and used groundnut oil for the stew instead of palm oil. I'll make you another when we're-"

"No," He shook his head not wanting to stress her further, "It's okay. I can eat it once in a while. You've done more than enough today."

She let out a loud sigh, bringing her fingers up to gently massage the sides of her neck. "You have saved me a minute more of shouting at these dumb people. And uh-oh! I made you dambun kaza yesterday but you didn't come home early."

His mouth formed a perfect O shape. Now he wanted to kiss her. "Thank you!" He exclaimed, spreading his arms forward but not as an invite for a hug. He knew Laila wasn't much of a hugger. "Thank you so much. I'll take a shower eat and then we can leave."

She nodded, stepping to the side and into the room. "You're welcome."

Because you're spoiling me with comments, I'm spoiling you with updates too😗
So yeah, comments are the update's game motivation from now henceforth. Let's see how this chapters comments goes🥳