"Assalamu Alaikum Abba ina kwana," Abulkhair said when he picked the call. He cleared his throat to get rid of the morning voice.

"Wa alaikumus-salam, I woke you up from sleep koh?" Abulkhair shook his head before he remembered Alhaji Muhammad couldn't see him.

"A'ah no problem."

"Toh shikenan. I want you and Aishatu to come over for lunch later today." Abulkhair said an okay and they exchanged pleasantries. They ended the call and Abulkhair checked the time.

"Shit. Shit. Shit." He said scrambling from the bed. It was already 10am and he had a zoom meeting by 8am which was supposed to last at most two hours. There was no way his assistant could have handled everything. His presence was very crucial and since he couldn't make it in person, he decided to make it a zoom meeting.

He had told Eesh to wake him up 7am but she didn't. Now he had missed the meeting and it was all her fault. No, it wasn't her fault. It was his fault for thinking she'd wake him up. But it was her duty as his wife.

He blocked out the internal conflict he was having and looked at his phone. He saw ten missed calls from Habeeb and three from his personal assistant. He immediately called Habeeb back.

"Assalamu Alaikum." Abulkhair said and Habeeb answered.

"Where were you? You scheduled this meeting, no one else said it had to be done today. We could've waited till when you resume work but no, you insisted we do it. Now look at how you made us waste two hours that we could've used for something important." Abulkhair sighed and apologized.

"The new engine is ready and I've gone through the blueprints, they need five hundred thousand to get started on the making." Abulkhair sighed. All these would've been discussed in the meeting he missed.

"Send me the blueprints and the budget. You know I can't give money without seeing the budget." Habeeb agreed and said he'd send it through the mail.

They ended the call and Abulkhair plugged his phone to charge then went downstairs to find something to eat. He never brushed before eating because it was said to cause ulcer and he didn't like the fact that he wouldn't feel the taste of whatever he was eating due to the taste of the tooth paste which never wore off on time.

He saw Eesh sitting on the couch with legs crossed. She had her phone in hand and an air pod was attached to her ears.

"Aisha." Eesh rolled her eyes. She had corrected him and had gotten tired of it. Her name was Eesh and not Aisha, why didn't he get that? She didn't have it in her to keep on correcting him for the rest of their lives because she didn't plan on becoming a divorcee. She got rid of the last thought and paused the video she was watching.

"What is it? Do you want to ask for your food?" Eesh sneered with a sinister smile on her face.

Abulkhair reminisced the taste of the food she made, his mouth was suddenly lubricated and his tongue involuntarily slipped out to lick his lips. But when he remembered how he had stooled and fallen unconscious because of the poison that was surprisingly delicious, he swallowed down the saliva.

"No, I'll order something." Eesh laughed, the laughter sounded wicked to Abulkhair's ears.

"Are you sure?" Eesh showed him a warmer and without thinking twice he opened it. There sat the prettiest naan he had seen.

"Still think you need to order?" Eesh showed him the second warmer and he opened it. There sat chicken curry.

He mentally shook his head and covered the warmers then pulled out his phone. Eesh was watching him with mouth agape as he ordered for chips and fish from God knew where.

"So I cooked for nothing?!" Eesh screamed in frustration. Abulkhair shrugged and went into the kitchen. He took a carton of yogurt from the fridge and poured it into a glass cup.

He came out with it in his hands and sat on the couch opposite Eesh. She narrowed her eyes at him then hissed. She went into the kitchen and came out with a plate and spoon in her hand. She fetched the chicken curry on one side of the plate and placed two of the naans on the plate.

"Don..." The rest of what Abulkhair wanted to say was thrown out the window when Eesh put the naan in her mouth.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" Eesh questioned after swallowing the one in her mouth while cutting another piece of naan. As Abulkhair opened his mouth to speak, she fetched the curry with the naan and put it in her mouth.

"You don't have to prove to me that..." Eesh cut him off.

"Hold up!" Eesh swallowed. "Who wants to prove what to who?"

"You want to prove to me that the food..." Eesh cut him off again.

"That the food what? Do you think you're worth explaining to? Why would I lie to you? Do you think I'm scared of you that I would have to lie to you? News flash, I'm not, and will never be. You didn't create me neither did you birth me so stop thinking so highly of yourself. You're not that important. And also, incase you've forgotten, you decided to eat the food I made the last time, I didn't lie to you to make you eat it." Eesh said angrily and took her plate. Walking towards the stairs, she stopped and turned back to the couch and took her phone.

"Do you know what? All these isn't your fault. Ai I was the one that made the mistake of even attempting to cook for you. I was the one that messed up but this mistake won't repeat itself. I promise." Eesh said to Abulkhair's face and picked the warmers then took them to the kitchen. She transferred the food into plastic bowls and put them in the fridge while muttering incoherent stuff to herself.

"Aisha I..." Abulkhair attempted to talk to her but she stopped him with a raise of her hand.

"Don't. Just don't." Eesh said through gritted teeth and walked up the stairs.

Abulkhair rubbed his low-cut head and sighed. That day was just not for him, and to say it was just few minutes past ten in the morning.

The door bell interrupted his thoughts and he sighed for the umpteenth time that morning.

"Good morning." A lady smiled at him and handed him a polythene bag. He touched his pocket to tip her but found out he didn't have a penny on him. He smiled apologetically at her.

"It's okay, you don't have to tip me. Just type in your phone number, that would do." The lady smiled again and pulled out her phone. Abulkhair frowned.

"Sorry, I'm married." He attempted to shut the door when she put her leg, stopping him from doing so.

"Well you look like a Muslim, so you can marry four wives. Even if you're not going to marry me. We can just play around." She smiled again and Abulkhair hissed before telling the security to take her out.

He transfered the chips and fish into a plate since it was still very hot and ate. After eating, he washed his plates and went upstairs to talk to Eesh.

"Aisha." Abulkhair knocked on Eesh's room door. She didn't answer so he repeated the process. After doing it the third time she answered.

"It can't be my door you're trying to bring down. What is it? Haven't you eaten? What do you want?"

"Abba said he wants to see us for lunch today," Abulkhair said. She wasn't going to open the door, that he knew. And he was very sure he had hurt her by thinking she'd harm him through food or something. But what was he supposed to think? Last time he trusted her and ate her food, he almost died. Of course he had to be skeptical.

Who was he kidding? There was no way Aisha Muhammad Umar Jalingo was hurt because of such a petty thing.

"Okay, what else?" Abulkhair mumbled a nothing and walked away to his room.

He entered the bathroom and took a hot bath then got dressed in a platinum short knicker with white shirt.

When he checked his phone, Habeeb had already sent the email. He immediately took his laptop and got to work.

When he was done, he checked the time and saw that it was already thirty minutes past twelve, and he wasn't ready for the lunch. He contemplated taking another bath. He loved his cleanliness so he just went into the bathroom and took another bath, a cold one.

He got dressed in slate starched Getzner which was sewn into a knee-length kaftan and trousers. The neck and hand didn't have any embroidery yet it looked stunning. He took a Patek Philippe wrist watch and wore then sprayed his signature oud, adding a little oil perfume. He considered wearing his normal amount of perfumes but decided against it knowing Eesh would definitely say he was dressing up for her, which he wasn't. He just loved to look and smell great, that was what his father had taught him.

He slipped on hand-made half-covered shoes and took his phone and wallet. The keys were in the garage so he didn't have to worry about that. Walking out, he knocked on Eesh's door.

"Come down, we're leaving now." Abulkhair rushed down the stairs and almost fell on his butt when he saw Eesh sitting cross legged in the parlor all decked up. She looked beautiful as always. A cream lace sewn into a buba with v-neck line and bell sleeves with straight-cut wrapper tied atop the buba was clad around her body, complimenting her dark shimmering skin. He could sight the ring he single-handedly asked to be designed for her reflecting on her finger.

"Oh, you're ready." Eesh rose her head from her phone and gave him a once over, taking in every bit of his look and features. She frowned.

"Where are your cufflinks?" That was when Abulkhair noticed he had forgotten them.

"Be right back." He jogged up the stairs taking two at a time and returned minutes later with a silver case in his hands. When he opened it, Eesh involuntarily looked at her finger then hid it under her cream veil. What did he think he was doing? Did he think wearing cufflinks which had the same design as her ring would make her fall for him or something? She scoffed silently.

"Did you say something?" Abulkhair rose his head and look at her. She shook her head and he nodded then walked ahead of her.

"Let's go." Eesh followed him and they walked into the underground garage.

She gaped as her eyes roamed the place, to say the place was beautiful was an understatement. There were about twenty cars, each of a different model. The place was darkly lit with nightlights adorning the four corners. She sighted her Porsche sitting pretty at one end of the garage.

"This is beautiful." Abulkhair smiled and opened the drawer then took out a random key.

"Let's go." The drive was quiet one from Gwarimpa to Asokoro.

"Daddyn baddo!" Eesh screamed and jumped on Alhaji Muhammad making him laugh loudly.

"Aishatu, you're now a married woman. Shouldn't you behave like one?" Eesh rolled her eyes and hugged him tighter.

They talked and after about thirty minutes, lunch was served. While on the dining table, Alhaji Muhammad brought out an envelope and dropped on the table.

"Daddy what's that?" Eesh asked.

"Go ahead and open it." Eesh dropped her spoon and snatched the envelope off the table.

"You have got to be kidding me." Eesh muttered then put on her fakest smile.

"Are these for us?" Eesh asked.

"Yes." Alhaji Muhammad smiled. Eesh passed the envelope to Abulkhair and he looked as shocked as she was.

"Your flight to Egypt leaves tomorrow night by twelve. I hope that's enough time for you to prepare?" Alhaji Muhammad smiled.

"It is." Abulkhair answered and Eesh smiled in agreement.

They finished the rest of the lunch in silence.

In the evening when they were leaving, Alhaji Muhammad accompanied them to the car.

"Aisha, Ahmad, make sure you enjoy this honeymoon. I honestly don't want this marriage to be a burden on you both. I want you to make this work." They both nodded and left the house.

°°°

Gwarimpa, Abuja, Nigeria.

"Hello? Yes. They were at the Muhammad Umar mansion today. But they're leaving for their honeymoon tomorrow. Send in money for the flight."

"Okay. Make sure you're as careful and unnoticeable as possible." One of the men scoffed.

"You think I became a top FBI for nothing?" He ended the call and immediately an alert entered his phone.

He booked a flight to Egypt and laid down on the bed, ready to start his work fully the next day.