She didn't know how she had slept this long, maybe because she had so much in her mind and she tends to sleep so much whenever she was feeling down? Stifling a yawn, Jalilah stretched her body on the sofa and looked at the wall clock on the wall. What? It was already thirty minutes past 4 in the evening. How could she have slept this long? She closed her eyes and was glad that she had slept because if not for what had happened to Yazeed, she would have sleep immediately after she was back because of the spa she had eased her muscles. Speaking of him, she had forgotten about him and Jalilah immediately stood up.

She walked to the room and knocked when there was no response, she barged into the room. She met him praying on the praying mat, he had already taken his bath again and from the way he prayed, it was evident he was still sick, he was just being strong. She rushed to the bathroom, performed her ablution before she walked back to the room and sprayed the other mat behind him. She began praying behind him and when they were done, she stood up and offered the ones she had missed. He was still on the prayer mat after she was done and she coughed softly to get his attention on her.

He wearily turned to look at her, "How are you feeling now?" She asked, and he nodded his head at her. She watched as he stood up and when he took the carpet to fold, she offered to do that for him. Yazeed went back to the bad and he sat down at its edge, he was still sick and talking proved to be hard for him.

She folded the prayer mats and came to the bed, "Maybe you can't speak, right? I'd order for our lunch now, you can lay down for a bit before it arrives, I'll come in with the food when it does. Do you have the medicine you need? I'd get it for you if you don't have it here anymore." Even though she was speaking tentatively at him without staring at his face, this was the greatest kind of care Yazeed had ever received in a long time now.

He looked up at her, but she refused to have eye contact with him. He nodded his head and watched as she left the room, leaving the door slightly ajar because she made it clear to him that he can call her if he needed something. He took his phone from the nightstand and saw numerous missed calls from Wafiyya and Sulaiman, which sadly made him smiled. Funny how all his life he had relented on these two people, they were the only ones that cared about him. And now, he could proudly add Jalilah to their list. Another call came from Sulaiman even before he dialled his number.

"Hey, Man. How are you feeling now?" Sulaiman asked the moment Yazeed picked the phone.

"I'm feeling much better now. Thanks for getting that inhaler for me, I thought I wouldn't need it anymore, guess I was wrong." He had seen when Sulaiman snuck the inhaler into his trolley but he acted as if he didn't because he didn't want his efforts to be in vain.

"But, Yazeed, what have you done? I know that you won't be like this unless you've instigated it." Sulaiman pointed it and he knew that this question would come from any of them.

"I went to the gym," he slurred and stopped to take his breath, "I had a lot of things to think about, and I thought that the gym will make me feel better. I guess I was bad." He closed his eyes, feeling how hard it was for him to take his breath.

"But you know there are things you can't do, right? Yes, I know going to the gym and lifting weights isn't a problem, but you can't do that when you have a lot of thing on your mind. Why do you always want to risk your life, Yazeed?" It was evident that Sulaiman was pissed at him for doing that to himself. But there was nothing he could do, he had a lot of things in his mind, and it got choked up with the past life he so badly wanted to push out of his life as if it never, but when everything threatened to knock his breath out, he suggested he transferred his aggression to the weights.

Before he spoke to Sulaiman again, the door got turned again and she walked in with the tray in her hand, her eyes fixed on the floor she marched on. She moved further until she stood in front of him, where he was lying on the bed with his back being supported by the bed head. She placed the tray on the bedside drawer and sat beside him, making sure he there was enough distance between them.

"Are you on the phone? I can wait until you're done or if it's confidential, I'll walk out for a bit." He had realized that none of them was able to think about what had transpired between them. They were doing all they could to get it out of their minds, to act like it never happened.

Before Yazeed shook his head at her or even told her that she could sit there, Sulaiman asked. "Is that Jalilah's voice? Please hand her the phone, I need to tell her some things so she could take care of you since you can't do that yourself." Yazeed wished he could laugh at that, because how could someone that isn't his wife take care of him?

He handed her the phone though, and when her confused eyes looked into his as she placed the phone on her left air, he whispered, "It's Sulaiman, he wants to speak to you."

"Good evening, Sulaiman. Sorry, we didn't exchange pleasantries before." She chuckled, but from the way it came out of her chest, Yazeed knew it was more of a forced chuckle than it was real.

"Oh come on, you were in a panic then, I was too. The thing is, Yazeed is asthmatic, but he hates taking care of himself when it comes to that. Please at all cost, for at least a week or even two, take care of him. He shouldn't go to the gym even though he loves doing that a lot, having so much in mind triggers attacks for him, I know you can't control his emotions, but will you please try your best? I'll send the prescriptions of his doctor to you, get the pills for him because he wouldn't do that himself. Maybe you can keep the inhaler with you in case he goes to the gym like he did today..." She didn't let Sulaiman finished his words when she turned to Yazeed with a glare dripping from her eyes.

"You went to the gym, Yazeed? Despite knowing it won't be good for your health?" For the moment she had spoken, she unnerved his soul. She looked like her old self because he was sure the old Jalilah that wasn't tethered to her grief would find all ways to accuse him of being reckless with his health.

She turned her attention back to Sulaiman because she had to know all the ways to take care of him first. "Okay, I've understood all you said. I'll do that Insha Allah." They bade each other goodbye and she placed the phone by his side.

"What have you done to yourself, despite know you shouldn't have done that? Are you a small boy? Or don't you love yourself enough? We're talking about your life here, Yazeed. You could have easily died if I wasn't around, no, if Sulaiman hadn't put that inhaler in your trolley, what do you think would have happened?" She had fixed her accusative eyes on him and the glare was prominent on her face.

He was just looking at her, admiring the way she was concerned with his health that she even seemed pissed that he didn't take his health seriously. She shook her head and served him, "I don't know if what I ordered will be okay for you, if you don't like it I can order for something else. I'll have to go to the pharmacy and get your pills after you're done, do you need something before I come back?" He was just staring at her, from the way her eyes moved, doing all it took her to avoid his gaze. To the way, her lips synced perfectly with her words that it reminded him of what he had done to her. How she cared, which was so rare in his life. The only people he had received this care from were Sulaiman and Wafiyya, that's only when he let them know he needed the care.

"How are you going to the pharmacy?" He asked out of the blue, and for a brisk second, she let their eyes met.

"I'll have to get an uber or something, anyhow." She shrugged her shoulders and brought the plate she had served him on the bed.

"Am..." He began and stopped to take in his breath, "I have a car here, I've called them since morning and I'm sure they're done with the servicing and everything. It will be here anytime from now, you can drive here, right?" She knew he meant the traffic in Lagos, the rumbles of the streets and whatnot.

"Oh, yes I can. Take your food before it gets cold," she said and motioned for the spoon for him. She was getting uncomfortable with the way he had fixed his eyes on her as if he was thinking about the best way he could make her regret being worried about him. Which was unfortunate, because no matter how much she would try, she couldn't just ignore him, at least not when he was sick.

"Have you eaten?" He asked while he placed the plate on his laps and began eating, Jalilah wondered why he was being nice to her all of a sudden.

"I'll take mine later, I'm not hungry now. Do you need anything or I can leave?" She stood up and began fiddling with her fingers while she waited for his reply.

"No, thank you." He fixed his eyes on the plate and avoided staring at her until she was out of the room and Jalilah didn't know she heaved a sigh when she was finally seated.

She began eating her food as silently as she could, even though she could feel there was a trunk of thoughts wailing for her to ponder over them, but she ignored everything. A call came through her phone, she softly smiled before she slid the answer button and sighed, she knew this will be one hell of a phone call.

"Farha, I've missed you, my darling." She didn't know why she felt tears pooling the brink of her eyes just because she was finally having a phone call with Farha, maybe that was her way of setting her soul free? Because she was sure Farha would force her to speak even if she didn't want to. She had to pour everything out.

"Girl, I've missed you more even though now I'm so angry at you and I want nothing but to come down from Ogun to Lagos and rip your heart out of your chest. The only things stopping me from doing that is Baba, I just went to Lagos last week and spent a whole week, you know? So I'm sure he will chase me out of his house whenever he sees me now." She rambled in one breath and before Jalilah got the chance to reply to her, she spoke again, "How are you feeling? I know you aren't feeling right, but at least how are you coping with everything?"

Jalilah sighed and that gave way for her tears to cascade successfully on her cheeks, "It's chaotic, it's too painful for me to carry, Farha. I feel like I should give up to my demons that are trying to pull my soul into darkness, I'm not as strong as I make myself look." She dropped the spoon and hugged her knees to her chest, she knew she needed this conversation today.

"First, you know I hate it when you cry and I won't hesitate to hurt whoever hurt you and make you cry, you know that, don't you? You can cry all you want for now, but just now that you won't cry over this again, promise?" She waited for Jalilah to respond to her, and when she responded with a hum of a profusely crying person, Farha continued, "Now, tell me all that happened. I know you've been ignoring my calls and texts because you aren't mentally stable, tell me everything now. I'd listen to you. From the beginning until the end, what happened?"

Jalilah tried so hard before she was able to get a hold of herself and she stopped crying, but the moment she opened her mouth and began telling Farha what had happened, how Mama reacted and how Yazeed reacted too, she broke into even more painful tears. She didn't want to reminisce all that he had said to her ever again, but telling Farha all these was the hardest pill she had to swallow, she kept crying while she spoke and Farha was silent. Jalilah knew if they were together, Farha would have had her hands wrapped around her until now.

After she was done, she wiped at her tears but more gushed down. "That's what happened. I'm confused, Farha. I don't know what I should do, the next step I should take. Should I go back to Adamawa and tell Mama everything even though I know that would be the end of the world for me? Or is should stay here and live with the man that have said all those horrible things to me? I know he seemed to have regretted it, even though he hadn't mentioned a word about it, but I'm unsure about how I should act."

Farha sighed and she took a few minutes before she began to speak. "I don't even know what to say, this is the highest level of hurt I could imagine you've been into. Jalilah, that man is an idiot. A rascal and so stupid to have uttered to those to you, because, what the hell? What does he think of himself? I'm so angry right now that I don't think I'd have a good sleep today, those words will keep on playing on my mind until I couldn't think straight. I can understand Mama, she has all the rights to be angry at you, but that doesn't mean you should give up, okay? You've come this far, I can't let you give up even if you want to. Give her some time, she'll come around when she's done being angry at you."

"But Farha I need her now, everything is taking a huge toll on me, I feel like I should give up." She whined and more tears gushed down her cheeks.

"I know that you want to give up, but babe, you can't. Give Mama some time, she won't stay angry at you forever, as for that idiot, that stupid bunch of flesh and bones that calls himself a man, I don't even know what to say about him. And to think, he dared to kiss you? For real? Jalilah are you sure you weren't hallucinating about it?"

Despite profusely crying, Jalilah had to chuckle. She thought she was hallucinating it too until everything became clear to her when she was telling Farha everything today. "No, I wasn't hallucinating I thought I was too. But it's real, I was having one of those traumatic attacks of mine, I can't get a grip of what I've said then, but it's real, Farha, he kissed me. But nothing happened afterwards, I guess I fell asleep and he took me to bed, yeah. That's what happened." She was raking her brain to get the perfect picture of the memory as it was, and she guessed what she told Farha was exactly what had happened.

"How sure are you that nothing else happened? Jalilah I don't trust that guy a bit! What the hell? How could he kiss? Weren't he the one that made you that way? Such an idiot! Please, I need his contact, I have to warn him because of you!" She thundered, riled up to the greatest order.

Jalilah chuckled and shook her head as if Farha could see her, "Calm down, Farha. Yes I know he did a mistake, he shouldn't have kissed me. But I kissed him back, it's not his fault, you see? Though I could say it was just too overwhelmed and didn't even think straight. I can apologize to you on his behalf."

Farha hissed loudly and Jalilah could imagine her tapping her feet on the floor as she turned to every direction to see if there was something she could hit to ease her off. "Do you know what? I'm afraid, but you like this guy a lot. He's an idiot, can't you see? A pervert should have been the right word." She rolled her eyes and huffed out some angry air.

"Come on, don't insult him that way. What do you think I should do, I called you to find a way out, not to insult him." She was silent at the end, remembering how he looked when he was sick, how frightened she had been. It wasn't a good feeling.

"What should you do? Even if I tell you to ignore him now that he's sick I'm sure you wouldn't do that, Jalilah. So, take care of him like deep down in your heart you want to, but after that, know you're limited with him, okay? He has to know your value, you're much more than what he thinks. I hate to remember all the names he had called you with, Sakaran." She hissed and Jalilah smiled. She loved the way Farha cared about her.

"I'd do as you say, and even if I get carried away with my feelings, I'd have to contact you, Farha..." She wasn't able to finish her sentence when she heard a knock on the door and she excused herself. "I think the one bringing the car has arrived, Farha. I'll call you later, okay?"

"Wait, before you leave, promise me that you'll never cry over him again. Deal?" She asked and Jalilah smiled before she nodded her head at her.

"Yes, I promise. Bye, I love you."

Farha hissed, "Go and tell that to that idiot. Bye." She said before she ended the call and Jalilah laughed.

She got to the door and opened it, revealing a man, "Hello? How can I help you?" She asked and he greeted her.

"I've got a car delivered to Yazeed Adam Bunza from our company, or maybe I'm in the wrong room?" He asked, trying so hard to peer into the door.

She was about to turn so she could see if Yazeed could make it to the door, and when she turned, he was already behind her. "Hey, good evening."

"Here he is, bye." She smiled softly at the delivery man and walked back into the living room. She watched as they conversed briefly before Yazeed walked back into the living room with the car key in his hand. He placed it beside her on the sofa and sat at the one opposite hers.

"Here's the key if you still want to go out." He slurred and took his eyes back to the television.

She took the key and stood up, trying so hard not to smile at him because she wanted to. "I'm going to leave now, it's your pills after all. Do you need anything else?" She asked while fixing her veil, she had her shoes on already.

Yazeed pulled out his wallet from his pocket and pulled one out of his cards, "Here's my card, I don't need anything but don't hesitate to buy something for yourself if you want to."

She glared at him and walked into the room, walking out with her bag slung on her shoulder, "Have I told you I needed your card? You aren't the only rich person. I'll be bringing cakes and chocolates, you'll have to take some, you need some sugar to regain back your strength." She walked to the door while his eyes followed her every move. She turned to look at him after she had gone out of the room, holding the door closed. "Take care of yourself while I'm not here, okay? I'll tell them not to give you access to the gym even if you go there." She smiled softly at him and closed the door behind her, but she didn't miss the way Yazeed whispered, 'I wouldn't dare take care of myself.'

She knew if Farha had witnessed what had happened between them now, there was nothing that could stop her from beating Jalilah until she passed out. She took the elevator and when she saw the card, she smiled. Why didn't he tell her which kind of car it was? Even though he was humble, he was annoying altogether. She got into the car and drove off. First, she stopped at the pharmacy and got the pills Sulaiman had texted her before she drove to a pastry shop and bought some snack for them and also the cake slices. She went to the supermarket and bought tons of chocolate. That had always been her escape route, she loved chocolate that even if when she was sad, she forgot her feelings whenever she was taking chocolate.

It was already past 9 pm when she came back to the hotel and she took the elevator back to the room. He was walking out of the room while softly walking, his hand holding his phone close to his ear and from the way he was threatening the person on the other line, Jalilah knew it was no one but Wafiyya. She placed at the nylons on the sofa and slumped beside them, making a turban with her veil instead of the small hijab she went out with. Yazeed had never missed the way she took very care of her hair.

He sat down while speaking, "Wafiyya, I'll make Sulaiman bribe your department's HR and have you transferred to Lagos just so I can make your life a living hell, don't even think of trying me."

"I have all rights to try you, Yazeed. You aren't taking care of yourself, or is it because you have no other way to apologize to my beautiful friend that you'd rather fall sick knowing she wouldn't watch you die?" This girl always knew the way to his heart with her words, there was no arrow had she ever uttered at him that missed its target.

"I'm not going to talk about that here with you, I'll have your time some other day, not today." To say that this girl was worried about him and called to know how he was doing will forever remain a mystery to him.

"Oh, she's with you? Give her the phone please, I have something to discuss with her." He didn't argue, because he had been wanting to get a chance to run away from Wafiyya. He handed Jalilah the phone and he knew she knew who it was.

"Hey, Jalilah. Please put the phone on speaker, I have something I need to tell you both, and it's so tiring to call each of you." Jalilah wondered what it was, but knowing clearly how crazing Wafiyya could be, she ha to do what she said.

She put the phone on speaker and placed it between them on the centre table, "It's on speaker, what do you want to say?" She asked, and Yazeed looked at his phone.

"It's advice that might help you both. I don't know if it's just me, but I feel like you two need to get married, my reason? Because won't stay in the same house without being married tempting? And now you Jalilah have to take care of him, free of charge, without any reward as compensation. Anyways, it's an advice, I'm sure beneath your hearts you all want this to happen, Yazeed doesn't make her feel bad about this, she didn't know I was going to say this to you guys. Figure it out, if you can go on with it, I'd be the groomsman and bridesmaid all together." She ended the call and Jalilah wished she could run back to where she came from. She fixed her eyes on her fingers and didn't lookup.

She just stood there, waiting for whatever it is that was to come, the 'Your filthy body', 'Your miserable self', 'Your pathetic self' and whatnot. But as time went one, nothing came from him and she realized she either make this more nervous than it was for them or act as if she hadn't heard what Wafiyya said and that's what she had done. She looked at him with a sly smile and pulled the nylons she had slumped on the sofa.

"Here, we don't have to order for food today even though it's free. Or should we do that? As in just for the sake of having something free, we can't waste it you know?" She smiled and pulled out all that she had bought. She pushed out of the cake slices in his direction and the yoghurt, "Take this first, yes, I know you don't take sugar but you have to do that now."

He stared at how she was doing all she can to make it seem that she didn't hear what Wafiyya had said, even though he was sure she had only said that out of her interest, she knew it was something that will never happen. She just aimed at making them feel this way. Finally, Jalilah looked up at him with that awkward smile he hated to see on her face, "I'm sorry." He whispered, and she smiled and shook her head.

"Take the cake first, if you're sorry." With the smile still on her lips, she fixed her eyes on the television and began eating hers. He wished he didn't need much self-control in him to look away from her, but right now he had no choice but to look away. He wondered how she did that. How she looked so calm even though he was sure she was fighting in her heart, she was having things hard as much as she could pretend she was so strong.

After they were done taking the cakes, which surprisingly Yazeed didn't complain about too much sugar, she forced him to take his pills, all he did was stared at her and took the pills. How could she be so cool? He could imagine the raging war in her mind.

❤︎

Even though nothing had happened while they were in the hotel, nothing worth to remember, Jalilah wished they could stay there for a day or two, but they had to leave. And right now, they were driving to Princely high court estate, Oniru Victoria Island, that what the address he told her and she searched for it on the map, because she hadn't allowed him to drive, which Yazeed secretly found flattering. After she had driven into the huge black gate of the estate, she could say she was amazed.

she turned to him with a soft smile, "House number?" She asked, and he pointed at the house with 3 loosely hanging on the wall. She drove into its driveway and parked the car before she hopped out of the car, which he did the same.

"I love the estate," she said. She couldn't hide her amazement, it was amazing. It felt as if she had gone to an Arab due to the abundance of the palm trees.

He nodded his head in agreement while he turned to have a better view of the estate, it had been long, extra long even, since he last came here. "Yes, it's beautiful." But there was a hint of sadness in his eyes, as if this wasn't what he wanted, what he wished for.

He brought out their luggage and they walked to the door. After he had opened the door, he watched as she entered and stood at the console mirror staring back at her, the chandelier above it. She smiled widely and turned to look at him, "It's beautiful, so amazing." She stared at herself on the mirror and was afraid when the lady that stared back at her wasn't her old self. It had just been three days, but she managed to change to this extend.

Yazeed softly smiled and they walked further into the house, the look on his face looked as if this wasn't what he wanted. As if as she walked around the house checking the things, smiling and saying everything there was beautiful, she shouldn't have been the one in that position. But Jalilah acted as if she hadn't noticed his expression, because even if she did, nothing would change, she couldn't ask him anything about it, yes, she still remembers their rules. His rules to be precise because she knew he would never break hers.

"Where are the bedrooms?" She asked, and he motioned at the stairs for her. They moved upstairs in utter silence, the only sound coming from screeching made by their trollies. She was amazed to have found another living room upstairs, which looked more appealing to the eyes than the one downstairs. Because it had an attached balcony to it just like the one in the hotel. She had noticed a piano at the far end of the corner and she wondered if he just bought it for decoration or he could play it. But from the way one could barely notice it was there, he knew he just bought or the whole house was even a gift by his father.

He showed her his room, which was far away from his, they were in the same house for sure, but if he wanted, they could spend a month without meeting each other. After she had gone into her room, she smiled and slumped on the huge bed, she had missed her bed at home, in Abuja, but she was sure she would love this too. Because she loved the house, the ambience, everything.

Disclaimer: Please if you know you can't purchase my book or you'd come to my DM and either be begging or insulting me so I could leave the book for free, I'm sorry but I can't. As I've always said, this book is a preview and I'd stop updating on wattpad when we reach chapter 30 insha Allah. I'd appreciate it better if you stop reading it at this point than have you coming to my comments and dm with stories that touch. Thanks.

Complete book is available on both OkadaBooks and Selar. Links on my bio💕