Hey my lovelies 🥺🥺So sorry for the late update, I suddenly fell sick last night and I'm still down but I summoned strength to post this chapter.

It's mostly unedited so please be kind. Also, don't forget to share and vote, leave a comment and follow me on here. If you'd like to know what I get on with during the week, follow my Instagram theomoope, I do a KEEPING UP WITH OMOOPE there.

Happy Reading

It was nine zero two am when Nadia rolled over in the double duvet she had pulled over herself. She cranked open one eyelid to see her husband fanning himself with a magazine on the coffee table. She groggily tried to adjust herself elegantly, but what elegance was to be seen being covered by a down comforter and another thick self warming duvet.

She finally let go of the duvet and plucked the down comforter out to cover herself, only at that point did she say "Good morning." He had watched her with indulgent eyes the whole time she was wrestling with the bed clothes and now his laughter burst out.

"It's not that cold. I have the thermostat on thirty two degrees because of you so slowly come out of bed to test the temperature." Nadia felt herself smile at his words, he was obviously suffering in the heat as he was already used to the sub zero temperatures of Switzerland, but it was her own first time anywhere cold outside Nigeria.

She let go of the comforter slowly, feeling better about herself. It was as though the cold she felt when she woke was psychological, she now felt a little hot. She walked to where Abdullah was seated and smiled at him.

"You're awake?" She felt herself nod like a rattle drum and watched as he laughed at her reaction. He patted the space next to him on the love seat and Nadia eased into it. The housekeeper, Olga, had sourced for Nadia the fluffiest sleep sets that felt like wearing a plushie.

Nadia saw as he signed off on one last document, sent it off to Elijah who was in Abuja and turned off his iPad to set on the small coffee table beside him. Earlier when they awoke to an alarm Nadia herself set, she had taken a shower to wash off the grime of travel and didn't need another so early in the day.

"What do you want to do today? We're not in a hotel, it's our house, Olga is downstairs waiting to hear what you'd like to eat, but after breakfast, would you like to rest in today and start our itinerary tomorrow?" Nadia considered it, then she shook her head. There was so much about the country that she knew nothing about, she had even always thought that it's largest city, Zurich was the capital, only to take a look at their destination the previous day as Bern.

Nadia had looked at Bern, a winter wonderland with wide eyes. It was as though the inches of piled high snow were clouds and not a cold inducing phenomenon. She pulled herself together and said, "No,I think I'm well rested enough, I only have three weeks away from work, I already spent three days in Abuja, I want to spend the rest of the time enjoying what you planned for me." Nadia watched as Alhaji threw his head back and laughed loudly, happily.

He stopped laughing but a smile still hung on his lips. She pulled her legs to herself, feeling the warmth of her woolen pyjamas that was finally generating some heat. He said to her, "You can dress warm, not too many layers because you'll be in a warm place for about half of the day, also, I have business in Zurich." Nadia raised a brow imperceptibly, she was about to be rude, so she swallowed her words and considered them again to ask with a pout that could hang a bag,

"Is that why you chose here?" She watched him fall back into the chair, trying so hard to keep his laughter inside. Nadia turned herself away from him, before she realized that he was only calling her bluff, so she turned back to him and asked, "What work?"

He blinked, then turned serious. "I sent Elijah to the Henny Penn headquarters here in Switzerland. They seem to think because I sent an assistant and our lawyers, we're joking. I need to make a surprise appearance with evidence that puts us ahead. I want to get at least, fifteen million dollars in settlement, for the pain of the parents of those children, one million dollars is not enough, but it should suffice." Nadia nodded, her faux anger lessened considerably, and she leaned on him after pulling herself in his direction.

She felt him hold her firmly, then he held her hand, rubbing it slowly until she sighed again. They sat like that, slowly getting used to one another until she felt him move.

"I have something for you," He said. Nadia raised her head and watched as he walked to a part of the room where his closet was. He pulled the door open, went in and came back with what looked like an envelope, when he moved closer and Nadia realized he was holding two envelopes.

He say next to her and patted her knee and said, "Take this card." He handed her a gold Mastercard. Nadia looked it over and saw her full name engraved on it. She looked up at him in surprise, she watched him laugh at how surprised she was.

"That's your card for this trip and for the next four years, or till the card expires." Nadia blinked for a good moment, trying to figure out what was going on. It didn't look any different from the ones she had, the question must have been on her face so he answered.

"Your naira card is practically useless if you have a big transaction to make." Nadia let the mocking laughter in her throat bubble out, she laughed until tears smarted her eyes and she wiped them off.

"What kind of big transactions would I ever have?" She watched her husband shake his head before handing her the other envelope with crisp swiss franc notes in it. Then he said, "These are for any minute transactions you need to make." Nadia looked up to him with such appreciative eyes that he pulled her over and kissed her forehead.

"Would you like to go see what I have planned for you while I'm in Zurich for the day?" Nadia hesitantly nodded while holding the card and the money. She slowly got up, yawned and stretched fully like a nimble cat, all her joints creaked like an unoiled machine and she suddenly fell back in a moment of unconsciousness. She felt warm palms hold her exposed waist, the amazement and shock of it all had her running into the bathroom, a split second later.

*****

Nadia heard him before she finished descending the glass and steel stairs. The stairs should have been bone chilling cold, but against her socked feet, it was warm, just like the warm and toasty rest of the house.

She climbed down the stairs and entered the den where Abdullah's voice was coming from. She found him cross legged on the reclined sofa, laughing uncontrollably with someone on the phone. Nadia walked around him and as she was about to turn to sit next to him, he held out his hand and she took it.

"Yes, she's here want to say hello?" Nadia watched as Abdullah leaned back and asked her with his eyes if she wanted to speak to the person, once she nodded in agreement,the call was immediately turned to a video call that turned out to be Maymunatu.

"Ya Nads. Good Morning, you look so beautiful, Ma Sha Allah." Nadia let her smile bloom out, she loved the young woman whose tenacious character was worth everything.

"Thank you my darling, missing your daddy?" Nadia asked as she rounded the chair, she'd previously been standing behind her husband, shoes still in hand.

"Who misses him? I called him to remind him to buy me something. You both are coming to London in sometime soon so-"She left her statement hanging, seeing as her father's face had changed. Nadia let out a bark of laughter before asking what Maymunatu wanted.

"It's a van Cleef jewelry set, I think you'll like it too Ya Nads, so if you like it, you can buy it for me in white. I already have the red from Gwaggo." Nadia smiled as she nodded, noting down the brand name.

"Why is it that, you-" Nadia rubbed his hand to quieten him, he was going to say something harsh and she didn't want that. He turned to her and said, "She never asks how I'm doing for more than a moment before wanting something. It's always, buy me this or that. When have you bought something for me." Nadia watched the both of them amusedly, the thing was watching their identical faces get angry or anxious was something that made Nadia burst into laughter everytime.

"Daddy, the bean bag you have in your office, who bought it? Your coat rack? Who bought it? Your last Umrah trip, who paid for it? The wristwatch you're wearing, who bought it? I tell you to buy me things because I want you to buy me things I like. Left to you, I'd still be getting Thirty stories books." Nadia couldn't hold back her laughter anymore, her loud bark of laughter filled the room.

She turned to her husband and seeing him silent, she shook her head and said "Maimz? I'll buy your gift, don't stress okay?" Maymunatu joyfully ended the call, muttering something about how wonderful it was to finally have an aunty and how she needed to make her dad understand quickly that being a woman was a lot of money.

Nadia turned to her Abdullah, he had finally stopped sulking and was now waiting for her. She asked him in a low voice, "Are you angry?" He shook his head, then he sighed as he adjusted himself into the comfortable sofa.

"I- Maymunatu is one of those very aware children, very compassionate, thoughtful. she was So young when her mother and I divorced but she would call me from her everyday at midnight for more than a year to be sure I was fine. I got so used to it that I used to sleep after Isha just to wake up in time for her midnight calls. I was just thinking of that." He grabbed Nadia's hand that was soothing him, holding it to his chest.

"I'm sure she knows you appreciate her thoughtfulness." Nadia's hand vibrated from the deep laughter that came from his chest.

"If she doesn't bankrupt me first, I'll agree." They both laughed, the slightly tense atmosphere dissipating. She wore her felt boots and got up, she was dressed in a brown cable knit cardigan, with another light sweater inside.

"And speaking of gifts, I saw the lap blanket you knitted my mom, I'm extremely jealous, because your website is closed due to too many orders, I couldn't bulldoze my way into having one of mine." Nadia shook her head as they approached the door.

"You could have just said, you wanted a cardigan and I'd have knitted you one." His mouth dropped open, so comically that Nadia couldn't help the laughter that bubbled out of her.

"Maymunatu has a bag, a bag." He emphasized on how his daughter had a handwork of hers and he had nothing. "she nearly tore my eyes out of jealousy with the tote bag. She carried it everywhere, I almost put it in the dustbin." Nadia laughed harder but managed to put her hands in the trench coat he picked up from the coat rack.

"I mentally promised to make you something that matches mine." It was a blue version of her wine travel praying mat set. She decided to knit him an additional ocean blue cardigan to make him feel better.

"Really? Then I can go smack in the faces of everyone who asks where the sweater is from? Oh that, my wife made it for me. I can almost see their faces." Nadia shook her head but stopped walking upon seeing the housekeeper hovering at the arch leading to the main door.

"Olga?" Nadia called out, pronouncing her name just as Abdullah had done the previous day. She smiled at herself and mentally gave herself a pat on the back.

The woman in her fifties with wisps of her blond hair at the front turning white, Nadia gauged her to be in her early sixties. She remembered that when they arrived the night, they'd been helped in by her, most of their boxes were lifted upstairs by Abdullah's driver, A Smallish man from Netherlands.

"Qurratul Ayn?" Nadia jerked out of the reverie she as in when Abdullah prodded her gently calling out his nickname for her, she cocked her head for Olga to repeat her question.

"I'd like to know what you both would be having for dinner?" Nadia wondered for a few seconds before asking what was available. The woman listed a few options and Nadia shook her head gently until she heard there was spaghetti Bolognese with fried chicken in batter.

"I think that's fine. Please make small portions, I'm trying to watch my weight." Once Nadia spoke, she watched as Abdullah who had been typing furiously on his phone looked up and laid his eyes upon her. He said nothing but went to brace himself near the main door.

As Nadia walked out of the house into the cold wind with flecks of snow, she shivered, wrapping the knitted scarf she had made around her neck properly pulling it tight as she hurried to the idling car waiting under the driveway alcove.

She watched as her husband stomped furiously into the car, she almost giggled at his pouting face. "You're not even eating at all. Yesterday night you barely finished your food, during breakfast you pushed your food around. Your diet has not started yet, we haven't even gotten a second opinion." Nadia didn't speak, she only forced herself to stop feeling sorry for herself. Only half a week into her marriage to him and he'd shown how worried he could be about her, she would have missed this sort of treatment if she'd listened to all the people who said he was too old for her.

"It's only a symptom of changing environment, I barely eat on the first few days." He raised an eyebrow as if to ask if she was really telling the truth, she firmly nodded and he visibly put down his fears.

"Where are you taking me?" She asked him, as soon as the driver wound out of the gates into the street. He pulled up an image on his iPad and handed it to Nadia who took it nonchalantly only to see her favorite knitting queen.

"Don't tell me I'm meeting her?" He nodded, and Nadia's scream filled the Maybach. She covered her mouth because she saw how scared the driver was.

"You're not just meeting her, she's tutoring you for the next one week on newer knitting and crocheting techniques, you said you wanted to learn Turkish knitting, she's your tutor." Nadia watched her husband's face, he looked so proud of himself as though her surprise was worth it.

"But it's our honeymoon, why am I learning? When I should be walking around with you?" Nadia raised her head to see him chuckling, he asked her with a lilt of his lips. "Am I not breaking the cardinal rule of a holiday myself by working? We're even that way." Nadia leaned as far as the seatbelt would let her to see his audacious face.

"So that I won't fine you for working?" His face came together in question, then he leaned back to look at her face as well before nodding and saying, "If you put it that way. Let's say we're even." Nadia raised an eyebrow herself. He was about to wiggle out of his promise.

"You promised a fun filled honeymoon. Who said I wanted to learn while on my honeymoon." She watched as his mouth fell open in question, wondering how to reply. She refused to crack a smile.

"It's for your own advancement? Isn't that enough?" Nadia shook her head. Then placing her left palm horizontally on her right one, with a shake of her covered head, she answered him cheekily, "What is fun filled when I'm busy learning Turkish knitting?"

"I'll be your first customer. Then you can charge as much as you want. I'm capable." Nadia's laughter filled the warm car as they were through the slick chilly streets of Bern.

*****

Sooo, what do you think of the chapter? We'll return to Alhaji's POV next week so we'll know what's up in Zurich.

See y'all on Friday. Please don't forget to vote and comment.

Last, if you write Nigerian themed love stories, please dm me with your book, Bonus points if it's a marriage of convenience set in Nigeria. While I go to work, I'd like to be able to read something.

Bye my loves, I love you all so much. May God bless you❤️🥺

TheOmoope ❤️🥰