KANO STATE, NIGERIA.

"Why were you rushing in like you've been chased by the devil?" Nazir's dulcet voice rolled down the tip of his tongue and she almost lulled her head back and sigh but didn't, instead adjust herself on the leather seat.

She shrugged and gave an honest answer, vowing to be as honest as she could since she is almost whole lie. "Because we have these thugs in our area and I'm afraid they'd pay a visit to this flashy car."

Nazir nodded, tapping his finger on the steering wheel but didn't comment. What is he to say? That it is no problem he can fight them off? He is not a violent person neither is he a masochist so no, he had rather be quiet and just enjoy the silence of having her around. He's been working hard to get her to go out with him and finally, he got that chance on a blessed Saturday. He shot his shoot in the office earlier and got lucky.

"Any guess where we are going?" He yawed around to stare at her for a few minutes then stare back ahead through the windshield so as to not cause an accident.

"Nope, I have no idea. You didn't say anything earlier." She shrugged, taking her phone off her pocket to check the time. It is just eight fifteen in the evening and she is supposed to be home by nine or Afaf will have her head.

She said she don't want people talking about them when they are trying to keep a low profile. If she starts going out like this with Nazir, people will start pointing fingers at them and then their whole low key life will be blown. The ones that must've forgotten about their existence in the area will recall they live there and the failed marriage will sprout out all over again. She don't want that so she should get back home as soon as she can, when there are no people around.

She even went as far as saying if Nazir is really serious about her, they won't have to wait for long. She will tell him how poverty is eating their fingers and they cannot do anything meant for a bride to do and if he is still willing to marry her, then he should be her guest. They won't lie or get another debt because they want to impress people, they cannot have that on them. As it is, they are trying to parvenu off this ladder that does not move.

That night is meant only for the truth and even though there are things she don't want to tell him till she tells Imad, she has to pour them out. She's going to be garrulous that night but it doesn't matter, she has been ready to say everything since she started persuading Imad again. If only the recalcitrant man would stop for a good five minute and listen to her. She is sure it might change things, it is forty sixty percent.

The man has the most pinnacled ego and hatred she's ever seen. How can someone hate the person he's loved like Imad does? Or is he making it all a show so she will back off and he won't be hurt again? It all makes sense one way or the other which is why she is going to try one more time. If it doesn't work out, she is sure Allah has planned something better for her somewhere.

"Ice cream or dinner?" Nazir's question yanked her off her unicorn and she thought over that.

She pursed her lips then her stomach groaned in protest against the hollow emptiness, making her blush. She's hasn't eaten since morning when she pushed a few akaras in her mouth courtesy of Husna's grandmother, their tenant. Without those people in their lives, Amirah is sure they wouldn't have made it anywhere. They'd be in an abysmal long ago with no endorser or succor, for real.

Nazir's rich laugh placated her insides, he finds that funny while she is wallowing in embarrassment. Her stomach normally doesn't make those sounds just because she is hungry, she only feels it in her chest or back. She should've asked her doctor what was wrong with her and know all the symptoms she was supposed to face. It has happened with Imad once in their bureau and now Nazir on their first date? This is not done, so not done.

"Now I get my answer. Italian or Spanish?" He has this easygoing smile across his face and for some odd reasons, she feels awfully comfortable and safe.

"Spanish will have to do. I'm tired of Italian cuisine anyway." She licked her lips imagining basmati rice with those greens and reds floating inside alongside well made chicken. Oh, God, her stomach will flutter again and it did!

"Anything you want, your Highness." His smile is still intact but it didn't reassure her anymore.

She manage to make it look taunting in her head because he called her her Highness! It happened only when she was in the palace and when she was Imad's wife. Does he know or is she just being paranoid because of what the night hold for her?

Thank God Afaf gave her a few change that if things don't end well, she should just get a cab and get back home herself. Prevention is better than cure, her sister had said.

They made it to a Spanish restaurant downtown, somewhere Amirah has never been to. It looks like a place only people with galore would go to, people from opulence. Amirah didn't feel out of place though, she was trained becoming a princess once upon a time so she brought that aristocratic panties up and held her head up high. She squared her shoulders and smiled up at Nazir who ushered her inside.

The restaurant is huge and there are couples hanging all around looking wealthy and opulent in sophisticated outfits. She thanked Husna immensely for her thoughtfulness on her outfit, she kind of fits quite well inside. The decor and theme in the place is brown and tinge of oat, it looks good. The sofas and tables are brown but the tiles underneath is oat along with the walls that are not closed with brunette wallpaper.

They glided to a boot and sat down on the tufted brown sofas and opened the menu immediately. Amirah is doing anything she could to keep the topic off for a while and gather more sheaf of courage. She needs a miscellany of it but they keep pouring down the minute she had them all in a sheaf. She does not even have prerogative over her own mastery and emotions now.

After they ordered, Nazir started up light conversation asked on a date and she'd sworn he browsed them on google but didn't point it out. She don't want to embarrass him neither does she have the energy to humour them.

She is busy freaking out on what to do and now to start with her past. He is helping her evade it after sensing she hates talking about it -which she appreciated- and despise it so much. It would've been easier if he'd just ask her about it, she will pour them out without refraining at all. How can she start about that now?

She took deep breath and smile, a forced one he could see. "I know you want to know about my past and trust me, I have a lot to tell you if you are really serious about me, about us."

Nazir licked his lips, eyes flared with curiosity that is corrosively eating him up. "I have never been this serious about any woman before, trust me. I want this to be the last date we go as unmarried couple if I can. Just say the word and I'll show you just how serious I am."

"Well then, I can tell you all you want to know." She rubbed her wrists again, the strength she has gathered slipping through her fingers like she's never grasped them.

"You can wait till you are more comfortable, Amirah. Because I am serious doesn't mean I want to push you into pouring out your life. I can most definitely wait till you are ready to say it out." He gave a reassuring smile, depleting half the anxiety.

She shook her head in denial, he does not know what he is saying. If he'd known a thing about her, he wouldn't be so nice on her. "If I don't tell you everything now, I won't be able to work this out. You deserve to know this much just in case you need to back out before it's too late so don't stop me."

He opened his mouth to protest but kept them shut when their order got placed on the table, a nonalcoholic bottle of grape wine. He poured a little into both their glasses and placed hers in front of her, she took a quick sip. This should get blood to circulate in her cranium and ferocious courage should fill her up through an invisible fistula. If only that was possible, it didn't forestall anything but influx and inundate her.

"I have been married to my boss, Imad." Nazir's movement cessations but she continued anyway. "I'm sure you've heard about his one day old marriage with some lady, I was the one. We got divorced because of some things I did which I was and still am not proud of but it has to be done. I promise you, I didn't do anything to intentionally hurt him, I would never because I still love him. Yes, I won't lie about this too, I am still in love with my ex husband but he abhors me, you won't have to worry about me going back to him." She gave out a hollow chuckle, darker than the one her stomach gave minutes ago.

"There are a few minutiae stuff I can't tell you about without first saying them to Imad, you have to forgive me for this. And..." She took a deep breath, pinching the bridge of her nose -something she's learned from Imad. "I am poor! I don't have any of my parents, they are all dead." She didn't stop even after seeing the pity in his eyes for her, she does not want that pity of his at all. She's seen the fake and real ones to know his is genuine, she still abhorred it.

"If I agree to marry you, I am going to disappoint both you and your family. You are from a very influential family and they expect your wife to do as much as you are going to do but I cannot. We are inundated in so many debts which is why I'm working my ass off as two different persons." The way his eyes widened in galvanization had her chuckling a bit. He looked comical before he schooled his expression.

Her maverick hit her again and she continued, totally unaware of the person close to them listening. "I work as a maid in my ex husband's chamber right now but with a façade, they don't know I am Amirah." His expression screamed how the other person eavesdropping on their conversation had.

"I put on lots of makeup and changed my name from Amirah to Ameena. It hurts seeing my ex husband with his new wife but what can I do? I caused everything upon myself and I have to endure the consequences. It is difficult but I have to push through if I want to pay off the debts biting us off. I have two older sisters, one currently in India fighting off her husband's cancer and the one I told you about, studying law with a niece.

"I am the leader of the family now since Afaf, my sister that is studying law clearly needs to finish off schooling. I studied business online for two years with the help of the royals and that is how I got to take my brother in-law's position in the company to help with more debts. I didn't know Imad was going to be my boss, but he was the one anyway. I thought we won't cross paths if not in the chamber, but luck wasn't on my side." She shrugged, biting off her lower lip to feed her hollow stomach.

She continued with narrowed eyes. "He acted like he does not know me or our past didn't exist, I almost believed it was all a dream, nightmare but how could I? I've spent all those years fighting off my guilt and thinking about how he is coping to make it look like a plotted story. I confessed my love for him few days ago but he downright told me he hates me and wants to see me rot in hell." Her eyes turned glossy again, she had to pinch her arm to stop the tears from rolling down.

Nazir made a move to interrupt her again but she shook her head. "Let me finish everything then you can talk." When he nodded, she continued. "He even told me he suffered this heart problem after I left, I didn't know about it, I swear." She cried the last part again, the tears finally rolling down her cheeks because every time she remembered those words, it makes her ache all over.

She cried again quietly, dabbing her eyes with the napkin on the table Nazir offered her. "I didn't know he was suffering like I was. Mine shouldn't be the story now, it can come later on. My mother was also fighting off breast cancer, that is where all our debts came from. Hospital bills and checkups with surgeries all inundate us deep. She died right after the last surgery and I was the one who worked then, barely an adult but I made it anyway.

"At seventeen, I was working as a maid in the palace with fake ID. My sister's friend who is also royal helped us got the work, it is not easy getting it without connection. Imagine, becoming a maid in the palace itself needs connection." She shook her head at the absurdity but she has gone through that to know.

"I was always on alert, checking my makeup every five minutes to make sure it is not running down my face to blow my cover, I can't have that. The royals will question me and I won't know what to answer them, Imad didn't return. I wasn't ready to tell them anything, it was all my fault and they'd punish me for what I did so I keep running like a coward. I make sure all my works don't merge to where I can bump into them and I hardly do.

"Then Imad came back, I was assigned to work as his chamberer. It was tough, I thought I was over him but it was clearly my own imaginations. The love only blossomed while we were in Italy, I couldn't handle those myriad of emotions and I confessed. He never stops calling me Ms. Adam, it was strictly professional." She bowed her head on the table when their waiter strutted with their foods. She's lost her appetite.

After the waiter left, she cleaned her tears again only for them to roll right back. "I couldn't reawaken his heart."

Nazir was flabbergasted, so is the anonymous person sitting beside them in catatonia. He has no words at the tip of his mouth, he couldn't even move a muscle to twitch to thank their waiter. What she's just revealed about herself had his craniums gleaming with deadly malignant fireworks. He cannot place a hand on what he is feeling but he is sure there is nothing close to fury or annoyance. Only arsenal of sympathy and compassion for the lady in front of him.

The anonymous person isn't supine anymore, his brain is in stampede which happens only sporadically.

Nazir cleared his throat and said. "You are hungry, have your food and we can finish off." That smile again that made her feel safe graced his face and she nodded, eyes bloodshot and mouth too weak to ever move.

All her muscles are immobilized, her thoughts jumbled after revealing so much to this man but she feels light, ethereal even. His expression doesn't look anyway repudiating but rather calming. There is semblance that he believes her and is willing to give them a chance. She really is attracted to him, so they can make it work right?

Ahhhhh, Amirah is spouting out everything to this man and anonymous dey here. Any guest who our anonymous is?

What do you think will Nazir say? Accept or reject?

I'm done writing this book guys!!!!!! Alhamdulillah😭