"Good Morning, Alhaji." 

Alhaji Abdullah Bindawa stopped the treadmill machine and got off it, lifting the fluffy blue towel on the hand bar up to wipe his face. He had not yet shaved for the day so a five o'clock shadow was still on his face, not that it diminished his handsomeness, it made it even better. 

"Good Morning, Elijah. Sleep well?" He asked his personal assistant as he walked to a corner of the room where a water dispenser was waiting with a light green smoothie atop it. He picked it up and sipped the green liquid made with apples, honeyed dates, cucumbers and kiwi fruits. 

"My night was fine sir, thank you sir for the apartment. My wife and I love it very much there." Alhaji stopped and turned to his personal assistant with a fond smile, "Then you both use it properly, thankfully your name is on it." Elijah swore in his heart that if his oga would accept, he would have rolled around on the floor for him, because where else would he and his wife get a four bedroom condo on such short notice and in such a good part of Abuja too. 

"Thank you again, sir." He watched his boss sip deeply from his smoothie cup and wave his thanks off with a hand and a nod. 

"It's nothing, come on, who are those I'm meeting today?" He asked after belching politely from the mixture he'd drunk. 

"At nine-thirty, you're meeting alongside Mallam Sanusi, people from the South African Ministry of health." Alhaji Bindawa stopped walking on the hallway that led to his side of the house with a frown. 

"Who set up the appointment?" He asked, his voice going cold, all the cordiality from earlier, gone. Elijah cast his eyes down in fear, Alhaji rarely got angry but his anger was a consuming coal with room for more fire. 

"Mrs Usman did sir," Elijah prayed to the heavens for their office receptionist, she usually made decisions on her own without consulting her boss, she was already on one strike for the year, if she got another strike, she was close to a sack. 

"Write up a query for her from me, after that subtle humiliation Mallam and his team went through in Pretoria, I didn't expect anyone to welcome them to our offices. Besides that, shift their meeting to another time, I'm not ready to see them." Elijah let out a scared exhale, he knew his boss and would do just as he said, no meeting with them until further notice. During a visit to the ministry of health in Pretoria, they'd made Mallam Sanusi wait till about seven pm for three days at a time, his boss ordered Mallam to come home and less than two months later, they had arrived in Abuja for meetings over an HIV vaccine Alhaji had formulated with the team. 

"Sir, the Nigerian ministry knows they're here." Elijah's words didn't stop his boss from going into his inner rooms with a slam of the door. 

Inside, Alhaji Bindawa looked at himself in the mirror, he'd turned fifty a few months ago, but he looked nothing like it. He loved to eat right, with proper exercise, he'd kept his body intact. Infact, in a pair of golf shorts and tee-shirt, he looked as young as thirty five. 

He whistled as he carefully shaved his peeking beard, leaving nothing and patting a small portion of poraso's men's aftershave on his lower jaw. He left the bathroom and picked up the trousers laid out for him by his head housekeeper, a sixty five year old woman who had run his house since his divorce from his ex-wife, a Katsina princess some seven years back. 

Pining the flap ends of the trousers after tucking in the beige dress shirt he wore to compliment the grey suit set picked out for him. He buttoned up the inner sleeveless jacket and laid his suit on his arm. He took a few steps to the full length mirror near the door and nodded appreciatively as he took in his own reflection. He picked up Swarovski crystals encrusted cufflinks and attached them to his button down shirt, 

"Elijah? Let's move." He called out to Elijah who had been sending out emails to several people in charge of the meeting with the South African envoy. They could not blow them off, but they could show them a little Nigerian drama. 

"I've foisted them off to Mallam Sanusi and you'll be in the lab till twelve pm sir." Alhaji nodded with a smile and descended the stairs to the main living room where Mama Tas, his housekeeper was waiting with a smile. 

"Have a great day, Sir. Your lunch is packed and in the car." He smiled at her and walked away, leaving Elijah to collect a sandwich box for himself. Mama Tas liked to feed the staff around him, making sure they were well fed and watered, she liked to say that it made them more efficient. 

"Thanks Ma." Elijah thanked her and walked off with his boss, putting the box into the booth of the Bentley the driver had washed and polished very excitedly that morning. 

When he reached the side door, Alhaji had already eased himself into the backseat behind the driver and shut the door. 

"Why did you people beg me to buy this car again? How's it different from the  continental?" The continental he referred to was a two years ago Bentley Alhaji had insisted on using until his son who owned a Tech Company in the United Kingdom sent him half of the funds to buy the newest one. 

"Sir, that one." Elijah started to say. 

"These cars are just a status symbol, you do know that don't you?" Elijah nodded and started to say something more. Alhaji held up a hand and Elijah shut up, waiting to hear him say more. 

"I don't like to brag, you know? These people you're trying to make sure they respect me, I'm sure they already know I have this money. Alhamdulilah, that vaccine is enough to let them know I have it. Let's stop this status symbol updating, we can use money to make the lives of others better. Okay?" Elijah nodded in comprehension, enlightened. Alhaji had long established that he was not one to flaunt his wealth, it grew year on year without the man even lifting a finger and Elijah wholeheartedly admired the older man. 

Instead, he anonymously sent money to rebuild orphanages, public schools and hospitals across the country. He would see a beggar by the road side and send them money anonymously, he would pay for the eye tests and operations of so many people. Perhaps it was that innate goodness that taught Elijah and the staff around Alhaji to use their 'small' powers to effect little changes around them. 

Alhaji's personal phone rang as they turned unto the main expressway to the headquarters complex. "Na'im?" He called out happily to his first son, a twenty six year old who lived do far away than Alhaji would have liked. 

"Daddy. Assalamualaikum sir." His son greeted, prompting Alhaji to laugh happily for a second before responding to his son's Salam. 

"How are you, sir?" Alhaji smiled a little wider, he adjusted his light sleeveless jacket with some flourish before answering, "I'm very fine, Alhamdulilah. How's business? I saw your apps ranked top 100 in the world. That's good news isn't it?" He asked his son. The application, a lifestyle planner suddenly became the rave amongst young people who wanted to plan their lives for the year. 

Na'im chuckle travelled into his father's ear before he responded confidently, "Yes, that's a good thing. Alhamdulilah. Our hardwork is finally getting more visibility, it's also a morale booster for the employees. There's a happy buzz around here." 

Alhaji sighed in happiness. He might have been worried about Na'im's welfare when he suddenly started a company after his computer science degree six years before, now he could put the rock in his heart down and thank Allah for keeping his son safe, sound and successful. 

"Dad, has mom called you? Maymunatu and her had a disagreement and Maymunatu has been going to uni from my house." Alhaji went quiet, stunned into silence. 

"What happened?" He heard his son fidget without eventually saying what was wrong, He already knew what he needed to hear. 

"I'll call her immediately." He told his son and was about to end the call when Na'im said, "She's on break from next week Monday and I thought she could fly to Abuja instead of waiting at home for me?" Alhaji nodded with a dry mouth and ended the call. 

As he stepped out of the car, his call with Maymunatu connected and he asked his seventeen year old daughter tersely, "What happened this time?" 

\*\*\*

---

\*\*\*

"Sir!"

Alhaji jerked out of the reverie he was in and raised his hand to massage his neck. He'd been bent in a terrible position, wondering where he had missed it. 

His ex-wife punished their children with so much for the little sins he admittedly committed while they were married. She punished the innocent and her daughter was paying the price of that punishment. 

"Book a flight to Heathrow for me." Elijah turned to leave, Alhaji stopped him a few seconds later. "No! Call Maymunatu and ask when her exams end, get her on a flight to Abuja just like Na'im said." He found his way to a sofa in his office, an inflatable sofa that Maymunatu had ordered one day and had sent to him. Between nearly falling each time he sat on it and feeling rested when he slept on it, he didn't know whether to thank Maymunatu or throttle her. 

"Sir, Miss Maymuna said she still has practical exams till the seventeenth. I booked her flight for the morning of the eighteenth." Alhaji nodded, getting up and walked out of his office, Elijah walking behind him to the laboratory. 

"Sir," Elijah started, scratching his head. 

"Elijah, what is it? I don't need more bad news today. I just want to get this lab work done and go home." Elijah nodded, not nowing how to continue. Alhaji stopped walking, on the corridor that led to the main laboratory and gave Elijah a look that said, 'Continue'

"Uhm, we have news that you cannot travel out for your colonoscopy anymore." Alhaji turned his head in question to Elijah who pursed his lips in frustration. 

"The DSS says you're at risk of being kidnapped, they got Intel from France and though they haven't confirmed it, it's not too much to put out precautionary measures, they want to speak to you tomorrow. I've put out a notice for hospitals that can perform a colonoscopy here in Abuja. I should get a response in some days." 

Alhaji waved off Elijah and leaned on the wall, feeling the weight of the whole world on his shoulders for a second. He wished for the drugs he created to be a form of respite for people, but suddenly, malicious people had turned it upside down. They would stop at nothing to get a hold of him and force him to give them the things he created first. 

*******

Hello everyone.

Today is the day and here is Being His. Welcome to the love story of Alhaji and His baby. 😍😍

Don't fall in love with him oo, he solely belongs to his baby. We'll meet her on Friday night. So, tell your friends, your loves, even your enemies (you can reconcile after reading) that Being His is here.

Please 🥺 don't forget our agreement, you vote, comment, share, I update on schedule.

See you all on Friday by God's grace 💙💙💙💙

TheOmoope 💙❤️🥰