Days, weeks, months, and soon a year and a few months passed after Sadiq and Amani's seal of attachment to the hip.

It was unbelievable that Sadiq kept to his word about sticking with her. They became inseparable and Sadiq's decision to a lifetime with Amani proved to be his best decision even if he was letting Amani take the lead in their label-less relationship.

On the days they did not meet-days they were having too much these days since Sadiq was facing final year along with his expanding business while Amani was about to be a third-year law student in a month along with her shop and photography part-time job, they made sure they were on FaceTime or phone call to check up on each other.

Trivially varying, it did not mean they had a perfect relationship. Nor did they love how the next person made them feel every time, but something constant was Sadiq's boundless attention and constant reassurance; what she demanded and thought was too intense and would scare him away.

Amani imagined Sadiq hailing from a great, loving family but was surprised when he opened up, compelling her walls down to do the same.

Her biggest acceptance was; Although Sadiq tried, he was not perfect, and neither was she. He did things she did not like and she did even more, but they could not stay mad at each other for long. They were complete people who struggled with human issues and yet complimented each other. People who had fun weaved through their busy lives, went wild, and fell deeper for each other but none was courageous enough to make a move.

Sadiq was right when he thought his mother and family would get along with Amani; they did.

Added to the list of improvements was the gym Sadiq had enrolled them in following his notice of Amani's loathe towards her body. If she was more confident by losing some pounds, he was not one to judge.

Some things though would never change, like Amani's growth process that could take weeks skyrocketing but collapse by a single thought, comment, or elongated stare into the mirror; her inner, hurt child emotionally depleted from dealing with all her trauma.

The swine she called a father had not evolved. Neither had Mommy's futile hopes come true, compelling Amani to believe her stepmother didn't just have a leash on her father, but her mother also. Who would stay in such a terrible marriage when they could leave and live a good life?

On a brisk day in August, after the rain had hit the soil, Amani settled in the front passenger seat of Sadiq's SUV, staring at him while he stared at a note, futilely memorizing the words.

"Let me show you a trick," Amani rose an index, reaching for the note Sadiq released. She placed the note on the dashboard and turned to him, playfully nudging his shoulder.

His frown remained. He grasped nothing and had an exam in a week, he needed to see Amani and also get on a flight in the next four hours to Kano. He was stressed and she went on, wiping every page of the note only to pull her palms into a prayer form and rub it across his face.

The frown Sadiq had slowly modified into a grin before they burst out laughing.

"You're going to be fine. Free your mind." Amani reassured, clasping their palms. He nodded and brought her hand to his lips, tenderly kissing the warm skin coating her flesh.

A startling knock came on Amani's window and she flinched, their attentions zeroing in on the intruder. Her frown deepened at Walid and Sadiq rolled the window down from his side.

Walid waved at Sadiq before dropping his smile and angled a finger at their house gate, "Daddy is calling you. He is at Mommy's." Walid disappeared, leaving a dampened mood Amani to begrudgingly pay heed to the man's call only because she and he were taking off for Dubai the following week; she for her perfume wholesale while he was to resume work, and she didn't want him canceling her trip.

Once Amani sat across her father on a couch occupied by her mother, the man in casuals clasped his palms and slanted forward. "What is between you and this Justice Ali's son?"

A question Amani did not want to answer, she was not ready to answer; she had no answer for it. She glanced at Mommy for help.

"They're getting to know each other. He has good intentions. Marriage."

"He is a child," Daddy said, "Justice Ali's child. God forbid my daughter marry into that evil man's family."

To Amani, at least Justice Ali was not a coward who hid his sins and fed the world lies. He was brave and not a pathetic fool who raised his hands on women.

"His father's reputation is not his. He is a good boy."

Amani wondered if her mother could talk back to her father, why could she not leave? It was not that deep.

"I do not care. You, Amani," Daddy returned his glare to Amani who glared back at him; she had lost every ounce of respect or fear towards him. "Sena mutu ne sannan zakiyi aure? Toh I must see your wedding and it is not going to be with that boy. He is playing and passing time with you," he stated, truthfully knowing how men were, "Get yourself a husband by this December. You are getting too old to be staying in my house." He pulled to his full height, flashing out and leaving a puff of scented air behind.

"Don't worry, Amani. Take your-"

Amani didn't hear the rest. All this would not be happening if Mommy was as brave as Sadiq's mother who demanded a divorce.

Good thing she had a rez to the rescue. She banged open the door to her and Nadeen's room to find the girl in a sweater, sweatpants, socks, gloves, and beanie all to escape the weather while under the covers.

Amani threw her phone, charger, and wallet into a hobo bag, knowing she didn't need anything other than them to get away. She said goodbye to no one. She needed air away from them.

Some days it was a plane, some days a range rover, some days a rickshaw and on that day it was going to be the first cab she found as she stepped out of the house, dropping her head and beginning to stroll down the empty streets.

Amani's heartbeat surged when a car abruptly pulled to her side, making her clutch her bag tight and squeeze her toes against her slides as she slowly rose her head and braced herself to dash for her life.

Instead, she was met with the same car she had gotten off of some minutes ago. The driver's door banged close, and Sadiq crossed over the car to her boubou and veil-covered body.

"What are you still doing here?" She sought and spread her palms.

"I promised to buy myself the newest Jordan slides if I read and understand ten pages in an hour so I continued reading when you left. Where are you going?" Sadiq was standing over her with his hands dipped in his pocket by the time he was done. His eyes raked her from top to bottom before settling on her face and instantly telling something was off from her wet, dull eyes.

"I just want to leave this house, this state, this country sef!" She ranted, throwing her arms. Sadiq sighed, stepping back to drag the front door open before cooing and urging her to get in.

Amani edited the part about his father's notoriousness and told him what she wanted him to know, successfully relinquishing the strong tears threatening to gather in her eyes.

"How do you feel about coming to Kano with me?" Sadiq suggested, raising hesitant hands towards Amani whose eyes shrank in thought. This might be what she needed, and besides, she and her crew had an event in Kano for the next two days.

"I'll be leaving tomorrow anyway."

"No," Sadiq shook his head, igniting the car to life, "I mean today."

"Today?" Amani's brow rose. "How?"

"My flight obviously, let's hope the slots are not filled."

Sadiq and Amani spent the subsequent minutes surfing for a ticket to find Sadiq's flight filled but a few vacancies for the following flight two hours later. Weighing her options, the need to get away outweighed the part willing to wait a day to be out of the suffocating city.

"Let me just have Walid bring me my camera bag and you can drop me off to pack."

They did.

Amani got her bag and Sadiq dropped her off to pack while he left to change and bring his bag along too.

At the airport, Sadiq promised to get Amani's accommodation ready before he left and Amani's phone pinged with a text from mommy following the numerous, fruitless calls her daughter ignored.

Where are you? Call me back!

Amani couldn't hold back, she texted back.

Why won't you leave this brute?

Not a minute later a reply came through.

I can't leave you with your stepmom and father.

I hate him, I wish he wasn't in our lives. Amani confessed again and all her mother replied with was;

Come home.

Amani scoffed, shaking her head and clicking her phone off. This was why she needed a break. She dozed off for half of her flight to Kano.

Twilight was fast approaching by the time Amani's delayed flight had landed. Although she was conscious of the accommodation Sadiq got her, she silently sat in the front seat of Sadiq's 406 car, head resting against the tinted windows as she watched the still busy streets of Kano get darker over the sound of soft country music playing.

Cocoa fragrance romanced Amani's nostrils once Sadiq widened the door to the sapphire-themed lodge reserved for her. Amani wasn't one to fall for interiors but she'd make an exception for this as she followed Sadiq's lead towards a lobby that divided into two. He took the left one and announced. "This...is your room," he threw a finger to his back, "And that is mine."

"You're not staying at home?" It made sense for only Amani to lodge in a hotel. Sadiq's parents were from Kano and each had a house capable of accommodating him.

Mommy wouldn't approve of this and if Amani was honest, a part of her was apprehensive of the standpoint.

"They don't know I am here." He simplified, tucking her bag into the small closet and dropping her camera bag on the bed. "I will visit them before the luncheon."

"Oh..." was all Amani managed before sighing and dropping unto the bed. She was too drained.

Sadiq's view followed Amani's Abaya-dipped figure to the bed before he clapped his hands, clearing his throat. "So...do you want take out or should we get food after you've showered?"

Amani's upper body rose at his words, "Do I stink?" She rose her arm up, sniffing her armpit to perceive her fading perfume and Sadiq convulsed with laughter.

"Of course not," he waved a dismissive hand. God, Amani was not joking when she said she needed obsessive reassurance. "But you do look oily."

"It's the fat wallahi," she cried, facepalming and dropping her face. "I am so fat!"

"Um-um," Sadiq shook his index at her, inching closer before grabbing her upper arm and stubbornly dragging her up. "We're not doing that today. Shower and call me. Don't take the whole night."

Sadiq only left when Amani groaned a small, "Ok."

Amani scrubbed the oil off her, almost scrubbing her skin off her flesh too before dipping in another decent Abaya.

Making sure Amani was not standing on a plate of salad, Sadiq, and Amani summarized the night before ten, closing their doors after waving each other good night.

Amani took her best shot at getting a wimp of sleep rather than futilely tossing around but continued to go down swinging. In lieu, she picked up her phone and ghostly tiptoed in her knee-length square armless cotton pajama just to stop at Sadiq's door. She dialed his digits and almost instantly, he picked.

"I believe Hafiz now, ke yer masu kudi ce." His sleepless voice slipped past her ear, warming her stomach and feet that curled against the wood floor she stood on. His words compelled the sides of her lips up, a low chuckle she struggled against escaping and she was quick to clasp a palm over her mouth, hiding by the wall adjacent to his door.

"Why are you not sleeping?" She asked in a fruity tone, picturing his brows unquestionably rising along with one side of his lips.

"Why are you not sleeping?"

"I asked first," she rolled her eyes l, caressing a lady justice frame of art by the wall. "Why are you not sleeping?"

"Just doing some...work."

"What work?"

The door swung open to a firsthand shrieking Amani who almost threw her phone away.

"Work that does not involve hiding behind someone's door." He answered before disconnecting the call.

The scene went silent as each raked flying eyes over the other. Sadiq in a mid-thigh length knicker toped a smashing black shirt that hung yet settled over his torso, swallowed air, and parted his lips while his gaze explored and suggested every ridge of Amani's plump anatomy curling and bouncing on her feet as she tried to come off as unimpressed; an act she was floundering at.

"I was just watching a very interesting movie." He stuttered, throwing his hand back. Against his protests, Amani pushed him to the side to waltz into the cocoa coupled with his aromatic fruity and wood-scented room to find the Tv switched off from the socket.

She hummed. "Very interesting movie I see."

"I just turned it off." He cleared his throat and walked to the bed with a MacBook, notes, highlighters, and a box of pizza.

"That's not fair," Amani complained, jumping on the bed and dragging the box of pizza before looking up at Sadiq's smirk. "I thought we stopped doing junks?"

It only made sense to take a bite of the torturous, tempting-looking pizza and so she did. She moaned, dropping her shoulders with a quenched sigh as she took not only a bite but the entire slice of the BBQ chicken pizza. She stabbed a finger into Sadiq's chest, "Every time I relapse, it's your fault."

Sadiq laughed heartily, grasping her finger dipped into his torso before resting his face on his free hand and fixing large pupils on her narrowed ones. "It's not my fault you can't control yourself."

"It's your fault that you bought this."

Sadiq's voice lowered and he leaned even further, "Okay, let's do this," he paused to embrace her hand into his and brought them to his chest, his heart; the organ she owned. "Let's do junk for the days we are here and immediately after I am done with my exams, we retire to dieting and the gym."

Amani crossed her legs by the edge of the bed, her lips parting, stomach blissfully churning with needles. He was as euphonious as she had picture perfected in her head. "You're my safe haven," were the most transcendent words she could offer him, affectionately throwing herself on him, squeezing him and his enamored heart.

Sadiq's body went still with a raised brow before he revived, chuckling and rubbing her back. She bounced back, grabbing the box of barely-touched pizza and getting under the covers with it over her lap.

The now empty box of pizza decorated the nightstand by Amani's right, her peacefully sleeping figure uncomfortably resting on her right muscles an hour and a half later of talking Sadiq's ears off and almost spilling water on his keyboard.

Sadiq stretched his aching muscles, silently yawning before getting off the bed and rounding to Amani's side of the bed.

Body posture open, he dropped his head to the left side of his chest and willed for his racing heart to slow down. He moved his eyes to her newly developed freckled face that extended from her nose to the bottom of her eyes, popping her skin further.

He understood her state; at peace. He was too. She looked wholesome and beautiful in her sleep but this was not how he wanted things to be. He leaned to her forehead, placing a slow kiss on her forehead, and with a heavy heart, dimmed the lamp by her side. He needed to get away, he was barely breathing and grasping his lasso of control. He moved, his attempt swinging down when a cold, soft organ wrapped around his wrist.

"Where are you going?" Amani's rough, gruff voice queried.

"The other room." He simplified, turning to her blank figure.

"Stay."

"Amani," he breathed, wiggling his wrist out of her potent grasp. "We should stay-"

"Please, stay." She wiggled his wrist again.

"I'm sorry," he sighed. This was the best thing to do, he didn't know if he could control himself around her. It was best not to test it. "We shouldn't do this."

Sadiq ignored the part of him that wanted to lie beside her as well, heading for the door. Out the door and not a second later, he wasn't proud to admit that the offer was too hard to resist. Palm-fisted, he punched the air before him, stomping a foot to gain back control over himself.

"Kai! Mtsw." It was a reprimand to himself. Don't do it. Don't do it. Don't-

"Okay," he gave in, walking back to the room. "But you stay on your side of the bed, hm?"

Amani hummed, following a blank route she believed was him until she felt the other side of the bed and her chest dip, a sense of contentment and peace enveloping her. She furthered those senses and rolled to his side of the bed, enveloping him from behind to feel him stiffen for all the while she was drifting back to sleep.

Until his poise felt at home; turning and pulling her into her version of a human home. Free from strife, they slumbered into utopia, Amani's low snores a soothing background sound for him.

Everything was so wrong, yet too much of a divine abode to throw over for their next three days of junk, glee, merriment, pictures, and each's job.