Anwar was having the time of his life. He hadn't realized how suffocating Biba's presence in his life has been until after she left.

The only problem he was having was with Alaa. He wanted to spend this newfound freedom spending quality time with her, but she seem to be a little bit detached lately.

For the umpteenth time he stared at the message she sent him this morning. We need to talk.

He sighed and finished up his look with a cushion cut citrine cuff links that dazzled against the dark green getzner he was wearing. He grabbed his keys and glasses and headed for the door.

He hoped they clear everything up today. Biba will be back in a few days and he will want to iron things out with Alaa before she does.

His plan is to tie things up with her and then head to Jabir's place to watch the champions league finals.

He easily spotted her sitting at the far corner of the restaurant wearing dark shades. Immediately he did, he knew something was wrong. Alaa won't be caught dead wearing a shade in a dark corner of a restaurant unless she is trying to hide something.

Fashion was something she took seriously. So he approached her cautiously.

She forced a smiled when she saw him.

"Hey, beautiful." he bent and tried kissing her forehead when she suddenly looked down as if checking her phone, leaving him to kiss the air over her head.

He sighed and took a seat. Whatever it was, it was serious. Else she had never flinched when he kissed or hugged her. Ever.

Both were silent and even the smiling waiter that approached retracted his steps, deciding to give them some privacy upon sensing the tensed atmosphere.

She removed her glasses and set them on the table. He felt a constriction in his heart. She had been crying for her eyes were red and puffy.

"I am going to Cairo." she said softly.

"Uh huh..." he nodded, unsure what to say or where the where conversation was going.

There's nothing new there. Ever since her family left Nigeria, she had visited them every now and then. Nothing there. She always comes back as she manages the family's hotel business here in Abuja. They knew Anwar has something to do with her staying back, but her parents have no objections for they took an instant liking for him from the first day they met him.

"I am not coming back." she added softly, "Abbu has found a husb-someone....and, and... "

She broke off and started sobbing quietly.

Anwar inched his chair closer and cupped her hands. Even though their table was a bit secluded, he regretted talking about something this personal in a public setting. He would have preferred somewhere private.

"Habibty listen..." he started.

"No, Anwar, not this time." she tried to wriggle her hands out of his, but he wouldn't bulge.

"What have I done to deserve this Anwar. All I ever did was love you. But you..."

"How is this about me? You said..."  he cut her off.

"You asked for time, I gave it to you not minding how much it took out of mine. You promised to sort things out with your... With that girl. But you didn't." her voice was a bit raised by now.

"Babe, can we go somewhere else and talk about this?" he tried to reason with her, but she wasn't having it. Instead she dabbed at her eyes and nose with a tissue.

"I am working on it Habibty. It is a bit complicated. Believe me I never meant for it to drag up to this point." he said softly.

"You kept her. You mocked my love... our love!"

By now he didn't care who was listening. He pushed his chair and went to her side kneeling like he was about to make a phony proposal.

"Habibty, hey, babe, listen to me. Give me some time please." he pleaded

"No Anwar. No more." she shook her head.

"Okay, tonight then. Tonight I will talk to Alhaji, I promise. You trust me don't you?" his voice was a bit frantic.

"What about her?"she asked with upturned nose.

"Don't worry about her, she is nothing to me, You know that. We will go to Cairo together this time. I promise. " he kissed her hand.

She forced a smile and a lone tear rolled while Anwar planted kisses all over her face and hugged her.

*****************************

In the evening, both men were watching the pre-match warm up and Jabir kept stealing a glance at him. The other guy whose name is Murtala but everyone called him Muree didn't seem to notice anything amiss regarding Anwars excitement.  But not Jabir, he knows when Anwar's eyes gets all big and sparkly it has to do with the devils powder.

"Guardiola is mad." hissed Anwar.

"Yeah, a mad genius." Muree added.

"For real, he just bottled this match before it started." Anwar said, staring at the starting lineup on the large TV screen.

He suddenly lost interest in the finals even before it began. He had a lot going on in his mind. Besides, his team was not playing. They got knocked out in the semis by Chelsea and now Chelsea were in the finals, and in what he sees as a tactical error by Pep, he has lost interest in the match.

Naturally as a Madrid fan, he doesn't support Pep's team. But they had scores to settle with Chelsea. He, Jabir and Muree alike.

"Why won't he bloody start Fernandinho?" said Anwar.

"Wait and watch. I tell you this guy has something up his sleeves." Muree added.

"We all know this isn't Lampard's Chelsea." Anwar said, while fidgeting with a pen.

The match began and then the room became silent except for the commentator's voice.

At the end of the match Jabir and Muree were furious. It all began with De bruyne's injury and then chelsea won with a lone goal from the first half.

They began to analyze the whole season of the champions league, cursing and blaming people along the way, even managed to bring Varane, Vinicious, Zidane and Florentino Perez into their rants. Jabir stopped only when he realized the whole time Anwar was quiet and calm, and even smiling.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" he fumed.

"Nothing, just that something serious came up and I need to talk to Alhaji about it." he smiled.

"Hmm... Serious, you say, yet your face says otherwise." said Jabir.

"Chill J, don't take things too serious.
If you will only sit back and take a chill pill. The world isn't that brutal after all."

"Yeah, snorting a chill pill through my nose is right up my alley." Jabir retorted.

Now the room became quiet.Muree whistled softly. Anwar got up to leave and jabir tried to apologize for bringing up Anwars drug use. It was a bad day, usually after shitty matches, he has to go somewhere to let out some steam before he could return to normal.

Anwar smiled after a while and tapped him on his shoulder. "Don't sweat it J, it's all good." And he left for a more important  business with his father.

***********************************

Alhaji Bappah stared hard at his son trying to see if he is fully aware of what he was saying. Anwar stared stared back defiantly. He didn't mince words. He wanted to marry Alaa and wants his father to hold his end of the bargain.

A bargain he has all but conveniently forgotten. How could he not have foreseen this day coming? Abdul-Jabbar had warned him against it, but he trusted Anwar, and himself. He hoped his son by now would have moved on with his wife and forget the Egyptian girl. How he was mistaken.

He felt helpless. He has failed yet again. He sighed and tried to play his last card.

"You will have to get your own house if you are to marry her."

Anwar was silent. And just as Alhaji Bappah was about to celebrate his victory, he heard his sons voice,

"Let's put a date on Cairo then." With that, he left his father looking like he had just taken the beating of his life.

Anwar smiled as he walked away with a swag in his steps. What man fears, cocaine dares.

Late at night when the effect of the drug waned, Anwar faced a problem.
Money.

A decent house in a decent area in Abuja cost a lot. Now, he had a fat salary thanks to nepotism, but coke is an expensive habit. A very expensive one.

But that is another problem for another day

In the meantime, he grabbed his phone and dialed Alaa's number.

"Guess what babe?"

*****************************

Heya guys, it's me again.
This is supposed to be tomorrow's update, but take it as a peace offering ko.

Hope you enjoyed it

Unedited

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