Hey special people, I know I promised yesterday or Friday, but I had such a long week and I'm only just recovering.

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Happy Reading.

Alhaji picked up a piece of hot masa and bit into it. He looked at the puffy rice pastry and marveled at the ground beef in it. 

"You should dip it in the yaji for it to taste better." Maymunatu said as she placed another plate of masa on the coffee table. She handed her father a glass of lemonade and poured from the pitcher another glass for her brother. 

Maymunatu picked a few masa, shook some of the sweetened pepper on the side and picked up the glass she'd poured for herself before sitting on the floor to enjoy her food. 

"Mays, this tastes really good. When you lived in my house, why didn't you make this for me?" Alhaji laughed, he had finished eating the masa and no longer feared the he could choke on the  pepper. 

"You and I are different people. She's cooking for me because she wants an eight thousand dollar Chanel bag. You didn't buy her that, did you?" Alhaji responded sarcastically to his son.

Maymunatu focused on her food, not looking in the direction of her father or her brother, then an idea came to her. She didn't speak though, she ruminated on the idea while she emptied her whole lemonade cup. 

"Oh, I see. You could have asked me, I can pay half of the money. Daddy will give you the rest." As soon as Na'im spoke, a half eaten piece of Masa flew in the air and landed on his head, squarely. 

"Don't promise her what I didn't say. I don't have money." Maymunatu put down her plate, picked up her father's and Na'im's and while walking to the kitchen, she said, "I heard Ya Nadia likes that sort of bag. She's saving up for it though." She left that information hanging in the air, as though it wasn't something that got her father excited. She handed the plates to a house staff waiting at the kitchen door to receive it. 

She pulled a piece of tissue from the box near the kitchen door, cleaned her hands and walked back to the living room where her father and brother were talking. 

"Daddy, that means you can ask your personal shopper to buy two. You know, one for her, the other for me." Alhaji frowned at his daughter but her words reminded him of a call he had been meaning to make for days. 

He got up and adjusted his casual thobe, slipped his feet into soft indoor slippers. "I'll think about it." As he climbed the stairs, he heard Maymunatu whisper to her brother that she still wanted that money he would give her so she could buy something else.

Once he got into his office, he shut the door and pulled up his personal shopper's number from his phone. He ended the first call he was making and started another. The call was picked almost immediately, the voice of  an older woman sounded in Alhaji's ears and he smiled as he greeted his mother's friend. 

"Walaikum Salam Abdullahi. How are you doing? You refused to come and see me in London when you know I can't travel with this old bones of mine ba? Toh." Alhaji laughed lowly, feeling a little shy at the admonishment. He let her say her bit before asking if she was at home and could talk. 

"Is it about your impending wedding, In Sha Allah? Yes. Your mother and I talked about it already." Alhaji cleared his throat, then he said, "I know she must have told you to start preparing, but please don't collect a penny from her." 

He heard the old woman chuckle and then she cleared her own throat before responding, "Well she said, I should make a list, it's on it way to her in a few days, now that you've spoken, I'll send you the list first, along side the account to wire the money to. Let's get it done quickly." Alhaji nodded, then he realized she couldn't see him so he answered. 

"This your bride must be really good to you, I've never seen your mother so excited to do anything before she always behaves as though nothing bothers her." It was Alhaji's turn to chuckle, though it came from a place of realization, he still chuckled. 

"Well, she met her weeks back and told me she likes her." Alhaji said what he knew out loud, in front of his mother and his mother's friend, he always felt like that seven year old boy that was sent to collect hold from her house and being it home without drawing anyone's attention. 

"Ma Sha Allah. So, for the list I said I would send, you know normally when we do lefes, we usually do all the main high street classic bags, about fifteen of them, do you want me to add other colors or do she have a style you like?" Alhaji thought of how lovely Nadia looked in pink and asked that pastel colored bags be added and he didn't care about the cost, she could go all out. 

"That was what I was waiting to hear. Us older people, with Dior, Kurt Geiger and Hermès, we're good to go, you must go all out for younger women, I'll also try to see if I can wrangle a custom Hermès Kelly or two." She excitedly added even though custom Hermès bags took at least a year to make. 

 "In a few days, I'll ask her mother and mine to call you together, then you all can decide. I'm not so sure about all these color things."   Alhaji quietly informed his mother's best friend. 

"Don't worry, I'll do my best. I'll send you the invoice as soon as I finish compiling it. May Allah make everything work in your favor and keep you both together in happiness forever. Ameen."  Alhaji ended the call and looked at the vaulted ceiling light that he had not turned on when he got unto his office. Just as he got up to adjust the lights, he realized that it slipped his mind to tell her about the Chanel bag Maymunatu wanted. 

\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\* 
"Sir, I have some news." Alhaji's ipad pen stopped, it was poised in the air for a few seconds before he raised his head to Elijah. He knew whatever he was about to say was not so good. 

"Let's hear it." He put down the pen and put his elbows on the oak table that served as his office table. 

"Ms Surayyah Aminu Abbas is going to Kano to see Miss Nadia's mother at around two pm." Alhaji's eyebrows rose in question, he couldn't believe his ears. 

"Where did you get this from Elijah?" He asked his assistant, he asked because he was doing everything to mask his anger, the very one that was threatening to burst through the seams of the place he'd stored it in. 

"I have a few sources in the palace, sir. Her driver was informed of the address and time and he informed me." Alhaji shook his head, he turned his chair around and faced the glass that separated him from the rest of the world in deep thought. 

He thought of how he refused to fight dirty with his ex-wife over his children, especially Na'im's paternity. He wanted a semblance of an easy life for his only son, he didn't fight when she took Maymunatu away to London and put her in a place with a sexual offender, he hadn't fought then, because he believed in family, he believed in making sure that outsiders didn't notice a single crack, now though, he was done. Done. 

"How about we play Surayyah a reverse uno card." Elijah looked at him, Alhaji had turned around just to see the look on Elijah's face as he said his plans. 

"We only have a few hours till she leaves for Kano." Alhaji's lips raised into a sarcastic smile at Elijah's words. Then he clasped his hands and leaned back into his chair to say, "That would depend on how shameless she is." 

Elijah blinked, confused for a moment, then it dawned on him what his boss was about to do. "We'll go to Kano, but while we prepare to go to Kano ourselves, you send out that two minutes video Na'im received at that time, about her father talking shamelessly about the foundation funds. Remember?" Elijah nodded excitedly, feeling the best way about the plan. 

Elijah immediately took out his personal phone and dialed a number. The number picked on the second ring, Elijah set the phone in speaker and sat in front of Alhaji. "Hello, Oga Aminu," He greeted back more mildly to the hailing that Aminu had given Elijah. 

"My guy, what do you have for me, I'm geared up and ready to work." Elijah chuckled lowly, behaving exactly like his boss. "I have a video you want to see. I just sent you a thirty seconds snippet, watch it and get back to me." Aminu held Elijah oj the phone as he watched the video, his exclamation reaching Alhaji and Elijah through the phone. 

"Where's the rest?" Aminu demanded, then he pleaded with Elijah, "Where's the remainder? This would take my blog up so high that I can't even imagine, thank you for thinking of me." Elijah rolled his eyes and got to the next question. 

"I know you have pictures of my Oga's date with his fiancee." Elijah stated calmly. Alhaji sat upright almost immediately, asking with his eyes what was going on, Elijah signaled for him to calm down. 

"How do you usually know these things Oga Elijah? I haven't even found the woman in the picture but you already know I have the pictures and your boss has a fiancee? Wawu. What about Gimbiya Surayyah then?" Elijah refused to say another word until Aminu agreed he was ready to negotiate with all six pictures for that one two minutes video of the Emir confessing to stealing funds meant for workers salary. 

"I have sent you the pictures. But you know that if they don't use me, they could use other bloggers." Elijah rolled his eyes and said very proudly, "If they're still thinking of publishing those pictures by now, they don't know what is good for them." 

Elijah ended the call after assuring Aminu that he would not be arrested nor prosecuted, pictures flooded Elijah's phone and he turned them to his boss. Alhaji let out air from his mouth tiredly and asked, "Are this all?" Elijah nodded. 

Alhaji knew without asking who had done this picture sharing program,but he was in no mood to confront anything or anyone anymore. 

He waved Elijah away after giving him a few instructions on what to prepare for their Kano trip. He turned his chair back to face the glass and wondered what he would have done had those pictures come out. 

\*\*\*

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Alhaji gave the black as tar gate a few sharp knocks before running footsteps reached the pedestrian gate and it was opened. The gateman greeted Alhaji very happily, and let him into the house. 

"Mallam is not around, only Hajiya." Alhaji nodded and said Hajiya was just the person he wanted to see. 

"Let me inform her." He stood there in the shade while the gateman ran into his apartment to ring the main house. He came back all smiles and ushered Alhaji into the house. 

When he reached the house door, he knocked again and a Stony faced woman who looked exactly like Nadia opened the door. She eyed Alhaji from the top of his covered head to his coffee brown kaftan and brown footwear. 

"What do you want?" Alhaji smiled and greeted, "Assalamualaikum Hajiya." She sighed and said the response to the Salam, still standing at the door with no bid to let Alhaji into the cool house. 

"What do you want? You've pitted me against my daughter, she doesn't talk to me like she used to anymore. You're no good for her, if anything happens to you, how will she be taken care off? Who will stand up for her? My little girl has suffered enough, she doesn't need to add the stress of your wealthy family to it." Alhaji sighed, his hands clasped behind his back, still letting her rant.

She sighed and opened the door wider, letting him into the mercifully cool house. Alhaji wiped his forehead where beads of sweat had stayed stuck to him. 

"I do not intend to make Nadia suffer. You raised an amazing young woman who knows how to make good choices, she is a kind, caring person who has brought me and my family nothing but joy. I hope-" She raised a hand from her seat and Alhaji stopped speaking. He looked at her and waited for her to speak. 

"Aren't you married to your town's emir's daughter?" Alhaji shook his head. He sighed then he responded very carefully, "She and I were married, we divorced over seven years ago. I really have nothing to do with that family anymore." Alhaji watched as her anger faltered. 

"Are you sure?" Alhaji nodded. He was being truthful, he truly had nothing to do with the family anymore. 

"And your family won't say she's marrying you for money? Nadia is my only child, I don't want her to suffer." Alhaji smiled at her words and said, "I am an only child too and by a stroke of luck, my mother met Nadia. She likes the woman you so joyfully raised, and I would never ever make Nadia regret marrying me. That is my promise to you." 

She gave him a look, Alhaji had met people enough to know that her mind was changing. She adjusted herself and asked, "So why are you here?" 

"I came here to show you a list. And to give you personally, my mother's number. You can call her, she'll vouch for me, I truly have nothing but the purest intentions towards your daughter." He handed her a list that be had Elijah print before they left the office. 

She took it and read through it. At some points she nodded, in other places she frowned, then she nodded again. "Just do as you truly wish with the Kayan Lefe, we really can give Nadia everything she wants." Alhaji smiled again, it seemed like his wealth was a sore spot for her. 

"I will think about what you said and call your mother as soon as I can. Okay? I was going to Islamiyya when you knocked. I'm late now." Alhaji took that as his cue to leave the house, his job there was done, whatever happened afterwards was a testament of Allah SWT's grace. 

******

This chapter is probably the shortest I've written in a while. 2460. Anyways, I hope you people enjoyed it.

I'll see you all on Friday, by God's grace.

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TheOmoope 💙