She didn't know what she was going to do anymore, her head had been so choked up that she didn't think she could be able to make it. For the last two weeks, Yazeed didn't spare her a glance nor did he speak to her even, and no matter how much she'd try, he wouldn't act as if she was there. She could still remember how happy she was when Yazeed called her and told her that he would be there to take her home, he had already told David not to bother picking her up. They were good then, so good that she sometimes mistook them as a lovely couple. She practically ran to his car after he pulled over at the ballet school and entered the car.

"I'm so glad you came, I haven't seen you for long." She said excitedly and Yazeed laughed, he loved the way she couldn't hide her excitement whenever she saw him.

"How long? It's only a few hours, Jalilah." He chuckled and ignited the car to life.

"I'm just seeing you today, you know? The last time I saw you was yesterday night." And she wasn't lying when she told him that she had missed him because she truly did. It wasn't an alien feeling to her anymore, she always missed Yazeed whenever they spent hours without seeing each other.

Yazeed shook his head and spoke, "You're getting attached to me, I don't know what would happen if you're going somewhere else." He knew she was, he was too. And deep down Yazeed knew he had to put a stop to this, to them, but he didn't know how to, because he wanted to keep doing this until he couldn't anymore.

They drove back home while she kept telling him how tired she had been, how she had to practice day and night and it was still not enough. She told them how she felt Mrs Rosey was only trying to be loyal when she told her that she had improved greatly. He wished he could tell her that, but there was no way he could let her know that he had never missed her night practised. He always discreetly saw it and after she was done, sometimes he brought something for her to eat but most of the times he didn't, because he didn't want her to suspect anything.

Before they got home, her phone rang and she looked cold before she picked it. She didn't know why she found it so bizarre to pick Jibril's call or even mention his name when they were together with Yazeed since when they came back from Abeokuta, it just didn't feel right to her, as if she had done a great sin. Or she was cheating on her husband, something of that nature. But right now she couldn't ignore Jibril's call, because she had seen his calls while she was practising ballet and it was only decent if she picked it now.

She stared at Yazeed through her peripheral view and saw that he had his eyes fixed intently on the road and she thought she could pick the call and easily excused herself from Jibril without him noticing. She slid the answer button and placed it on her ear, "Hello, Jaybee."

Her heart was pounding, and even though she acted all cool about it, her peripheral view was fixed on Yazeed that acted as if he didn't know what was going on with her. "Hey, Sanaya." He called with a soft voice that if she wasn't together with Yazeed, nothing could stop her from smiling, but she didn't now.

"How are you? Sorry, I've been missing your calls, I was at the ballet school." She apologized and pinched the bridge between her eyes awkwardly. It wasn't like Yazeed had something to do about it, he wasn't going to stop her from seeing whoever she felt like, even though Jibril spent days and nights telling her how much he loved her and wanted to make things official, she didn't think she was ready yet, it was always one excuse and the other.

"Oh, I figured out as much. But guess what?" He asked with excitement dripping from each word he had uttered. She wondered what Jibril was so excited about, she hoped it wasn't what she was thinking. Because two days ago he had told her that he was going to tell his mother about her but she had stopped him, it wasn't time yet. Little did he know that she didn't love him. She didn't even know why she was being nice and inviting to him.

"I'm at your house, it looks like no one is there because I've been waiting for nearly thirty minutes now..." He wasn't able to complete his sentence when Jalilah cut him off, surprised and shocked at the same time.

"You're what? Oh my god! When did you come back?" They spoke in the morning, but he didn't tell her that he was already in Lagos. What game was Jibril playing? She wondered. And if someone heard the way she spoke, one would think she was excited that she was finally getting to see him, she knew that was what he thought as well, not knowing that the first thought that crossed her mind was how was she going to do with these two men? Yazeed flashed her a glance and acted as if he hadn't seen her.

"Yes, Sanaya, I couldn't put up not seeing you for that long. Are you on your way already or I should come to pick you?" He asked, and she quickly shook her head as if he could see her. She had never thought she would feel this confused and out of words to say until today. Was she going to lie to him now that they were already close to the estate that she wasn't coming back home now knowing fully that he will see them on his way out of the estate? Or she was going to ask Yazeed to turn back the car and take her somewhere? She was stuck, in deep heat.

"No, I'm close to the estate, I'll be there in just a few minutes." She heard as he wished her safety and ended the call, and placed the phone on her laps. She didn't know what she was going to do. Jibril didn't know she stayed with Yazeed, she wasn't afraid that if he knew he was going to stop contacting, no, what she was afraid of was the perception he would have of her. While she had already told him she stayed with her Aunt. Why did she give him her number in the first place?

She was up the creak when they arrived at the estate's gate, she was surprised when she Yazeed parked outside without getting in. She turned to look at him and he wasn't staring at her when he spoke, "He doesn't know who you stay with, go ahead." That was what he said, so he understood what she was saying on the phone? She didn't dee it from his expression that even if she spoke he would acknowledge her presence. Silently, she hoped out of the car and he drove off with a speed that she had to silently pray for his safety.

She walked into the estate and the first thing she noticed was Jibril's smiling face and she wished she could punch his smile until that smile turned into a frown, but she acted as if everything was fine. They chatted for a while but she was so restless that she excused herself, saying she had to cook dinner before her aunt came back. And they bid each other goodbye while he promised her he would call her at night.

Jalilah sighed, that was the last day Yazeed spoke or even stared at her. He looked so absorbed in his world that she wondered what he meant by that. He didn't like her, he made it clear to her that he could never love her even if he was given the chance to, she didn't know what he meant whenever he acted he hated it when she shared something with Jibril. She could still feel that coldness that stirred between them when he dropped her off at the gate, but she wanted the warmth only Yazeed could provide to her. She missed him, but what else was she going to do? What more did she have to do? Farha made it clear to her that she should also act as if he didn't exist.

It was just a matter of days to the grand competition and she couldn't rest in peace. She was about to go to the downstairs living room to practice ballet as she had always done at night when she was sure he was done coming outside for either water or food, she slumped on her bed. Her phone, all her ballet tunes were in it. Today at the ballet school, their instructor's daughter kept crying that she had to give her the phone so they could learn in peace, and the girl did wonders to Jalilah's phone, she had to take it to the repairs, and they told her she had to come back tomorrow for the phone.

What was she going to the now? There was no way she wasn't going to practice today. She didn't know when tears pooled the brink of her eyes, she checked her MacBook to see if the recent tunes Mrs Rosey sent to her were there, but she had deleted them after she had transferred them to her phone. She searched in her trollies shelter-skelter until she found her portable wifi to see if she could download some tunes, but after she had found it, she realized that the last time she had subscribed to it was almost four months ago. Everything was on her phone, and she had lost the phone now, what was she going to do?

This was a crucial time for her, she couldn't practice, she had to do that. Jalilah didn't know she was crying until she felt her tears on her lips. She walked downstairs and checked the television to see if there were channels that played the music she could dance to the tunes, but it was clear that today luck wasn't on her side. She went up to the upstairs living room and did the same, but it was also the same. Jalilah turned the tv off and sat down on the sofa, crying her chest out. What was she going to do? He didn't speak to her, she would have borrowed his phone, if she didn't practice today she would slacken in her moves. She was crying so hard because that was the only way she could ease her mind off.

❤︎

He had just finished having a phone call with Sulaiman, and it wasn't a pleasant call. He didn't know how long they were going to keep hiding this, and the way things were escalating didn't seem good at all. After wallowing about it for some time, he realized he didn't take his dinner, the last meal he had today was breakfast. He had to find something to eat. He walked out of his room thinking of what would be of them after it got revealed, if not because of Sulaiman that was still doing all he could to cover it up, Yazeed didn't know what would happen.

He found the dinner she had left for him, she always did that even though she didn't have the assurance that he would eat or not, but she had never missed a day without keeping food for him in the kitchen, which now made him smile. As much as he didn't want to think about it or believe it, they lived like a married couple. He knew there were a lot of things that differed them to a married couple, but they had a lot of similarities which he couldn't deny either. He warmed the food and sat down in the living room while he ate it.

Wafiyya's call came through and he wondered if they had contacted her too. He picked the call with a question on his lips, "What is it? Something up?" He asked, and wished he didn't pick the call when she softly chuckled.

"Hey, calm down. I just called to ask you, I've been calling Jalilah but her phone is switched off, what's wrong?" He softly kissed and suppressed his annoyance, afraid that if she heard the way he hissed she would keep on interrogating and asking what was wrong, have they fought again?

"I don't know what's wrong, Wafiyya. She has been in her room for all I could remember, and it's probably not charged. If you aren't dying, can you wait until tomorrow then I'll ask her? You can see, it's close to midnight now."

"What if she's sick or something? Or is it her usual? I mean, always staying in her room?" She pressed further, Yazeed wished he was beside her so he could reset her head with just a single knock.

"Wafiyya, I don't know, she's not my wife that I'd be checking up on her affairs. Please let me rest, I'm not a baby sitter." He couldn't resist his annoyance, and right now Wafiyya knew she annoyed him but she wanted to keep on annoying him until he either insulted her or ended the call. It was always a privilege for her to annoy him over the phone knowing so well that he couldn't knock or smack her head.

"I told you to marry this girl but you're hell-bent on this bachelor's life, I don't know what you enjoy about it. What about checking up on her in her room?" She giggled when he groaned, Wafiyya was so much enjoying this.

"What if I barge in when she's changing or in a towel or something inappropriate? I've never been close to her room, or do you expect something out of the halal way?"

She dramatically drawled, "Ahhh! What did I say? Yazeedu I don't mean anything, I trust you two, if not, I would either force you to marry her, or discourage her not to leave with you. If I don't trust you enough, I wouldn't have teamed up with Sulaiman to talk to you, my cousin is a gentleman, he won't do anything bad." She praised, and Yazeed wished he could beat the living daylights out of her.

"Wafiyya, I hope you know that the moment I lay my eyes on you, I'm going to end your life, right?" He asked through gritted teeth, wondering how right Jalilah was when she said that he couldn't find the closure he wanted in a female friend through Wafiyya because he saw her more of a sister than a friend.

"Oh, Yazeed, you love me so much. But, jokes aside, how have you been? I know you aren't fine just hearing your voice. What has gone wrong? Hajia again? Do I need to visit Uncle Adam's house and teach that woman a lesson? She hates me already, why not add a topping of that hatred?" She giggled and Yazeed laughed along with her. Their family was large, but no one dared speak against Hajia or told her whatever he or she wanted apart from Wafiyya's father, and after he died, it was only her now.

"Wafiyya, you know she can make Alhaji marry you off, right? I don't want to be wiping your tears on your dinner. Save yourself the tears, the heartaches and whatever it is you're going to suffer in your married life." He laughed and stood up, aiming back at his room. He was ascending the stairs while he spoke with Wafiyya, and by Allah, it was slowly taking things off his mind. That's one thing he liked about her, she didn't probe him for answers about what was bothering him, she only waited until he wanted to tell her himself and do that, and for that moment that she waited, she made sure she made him laugh.

"I don't know why in our family they all have their eyes on me, please, Yazeed, am I the only 23 years old girl that isn't married in our family? Help me check." She whined and he laughed at her. He knew how she struggled and what added more pain to her wounds was she never kept shut if one aunt or uncle spoke about how she wasn't married yet.

"You aren't the only one, but you're the most disrespectful, so they want to take you away from them, to your husband's house to have some rest. What makes it worse is, you've never missed an event, and you always retaliate. Wafiyya, you're too much for them to handle."

"But what about you? Why wouldn't they ask you to get married? Is it because you're Hajia's baby and they're all afraid to wrong her?" She asked and they laughed. He couldn't stop thinking about this, he loved the way whatever was an untouchable topic for him, that was when Wafiyya felt the need to keep speaking to him about it. And somehow, in some way, it made him feel better. Made him feared less of whatever it was.

Before they got a hold of themselves and stop laughing, Yazeed was sure he heard the sound of someone crying the living room he was about to pass. He didn't know who it was, he wasn't sure if it was Jalilah or someone had broken into their home. Yes, he could boldly call it their home because she was his home. "Hold on, Wafiyya, I think I'll call you later or in a week, don't call me unless I call you myself."

"You're annoying, do you think your voice is that sweet that I couldn't resist to call you? Bye, but please take care of her, I know you're going to check up on her, okay?" She ended the call and Yazeed didn't know when he smiled, put the phone back into his breast pocket and walked into the living room.

And behold, the dim light of the living room made it so hard to saw her face, but he was sure she was the one. It wasn't good that he hadn't seen her for quite some time now and now that he was seeing her, she was crying so hard that her shoulders shook. What happened to her? He hoped she wasn't crying because of what had happened between them. He moved to the sofa she was and it was evident she didn't even know he was there.

"What are you crying for?" He asked out of the blue moon and frightened to the core, Jalilah abruptly looked up at him and screamed.

"Oh my god! You scared me!" She quivered and moved away from him, to give him some space to sit down, he did.

"I just asked you, what are you crying for? Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you." He apologized and she nodded her head, clearing her tears away.

She sighed and figured out if she didn't tell him, she had no other way out. It was a blessing that he came and asked her, "My phone's screen got damaged at school, I took it to the repairs and they asked me to come back tomorrow. And now, I want to do some practice, it's just a few days to the competition if I don't practice I'm going to slacken behind. All my tunes are there, I have nothing to dance to."

"What kind of tunes do you use? I don't know how it works." He asked he didn't want to show her that he had known mostly everything about ballet now, but he wanted to act as ignorant as he could.

"They're mostly piano tunes, but now I don't know what I should do." Her shoulder shagged and she felt more tears down her cheeks. The awkwardness was still there, the coldness, the feeling of being away from each other for so long and then bouncing back as if it had never happened. She knew to him it meant nothing because if he wasn't ready for all this he wouldn't have walked upon her, but it came to her like a lightning thunderbolt, something she had never imagined.

"Can you dance if I play the piano for you?" For a moment, she just stared at him, because she wasn't sure if she had heard him right. He repeated his question and she stared at him before she reluctantly nodded her head.

"Will you?" She asked, and he softly chuckled.

"Of course, you're crying, and I know how much this means to you, Ballerina. Let's get to work then, but you have to tell me the kind of tune I should play for you." He knew she didn't have to stress herself to explain everything to him. He knew all the tunes, and each move she made to the tunes. He just knew that there was nothing more appealing to his eyes than a dancing Jalilah, she was a fire in all its shades and colour he had never thought of seeing.

"But, do you know how to?" She asked, still stupefied.

He chuckled and folded his hands across his chest, "Yes, I've once loved piano so much. Just like you, it was more of an obsession. There was a time we went to a vacation in the USA and I ordered a piano without telling anyone," he chuckled, "Who could I tell even? Anyways, I had the money and I didn't know how to use them. Because the only thing I had in abundance was money, never the love and care I wanted so bad. Alhaji only saw it after we were back home and it got delivered to me. He didn't mind that I loved playing the piano, there was even a day he came to my wing and found me playing at night, he sat there and just listened, smiling as if he wasn't that changed father of mine. From then, on some lucky, he would come over and just listen to me while I played it, but he had never said a word. But I know he liked it from his expression, so I got so much into it, perfecting my ways because I wanted him to accept me as his son, treat me like he used to."

He was silent, he didn't know why he was even telling her this. It was just a simple question, he should have told her, yes and she would have been dancing by now. He had never told anyone this, no one knew he had ever played the piano but Alhaji and her now, because then, even Sulaiman wasn't allowed into their house, Hajia made sure she felt loneliness to the core and he got accustomed to it. "What happened? You stopped playing?" She asked curiosity about clearing dancing in her eyes.

He shook his head, and realized if he had told her all that, why not tell her everything? "Hajia found out I wasn't as lonely as she wanted me to be, sometimes I felt like this woman wanted me to commit suicide because even if it's a food I showed my liking on, she'd make sure it's never cooked again in the house, even if she loved it so much. She ordered for the piano to be taken away, it was, and I haven't seen it ever again. We've never spoken with Alhaji about it even though he was there when she gave the orders. I became lonely again, I had no phone because she knew it might take my mind off the things bothering me. For a few months, I was being persisted, I tried ordering a guitar, because I felt that it will be easier to snuck with, but she later found out and I gave up completely."

"Wow! That's...too much. How can a woman be this cruel?" He shrugged his shoulders and stood up.

"I think I can still play though, because once in a while, after months, I play it." He said with a smile.

"Did you buy that?" She pointed at the piano Yazeed was slowly walking over to.

He shook his head and turned to look at her, "Alhaji gave me this house after I graduated from the university, I found this piano here. I don't know why he bought it for me, maybe to compensate me for my old piano. Not knowing I don't need it, I just wished he had spoken up for me then, but he didn't." He sadly smiled and sat on the bench.

"That's sad, Yazeed. I think you should start playing again, maybe at your leisure time, it will take your mind off things since you've been in love with it for long." She encouraged and watched as he switched the chandelier right above her head, she looked up and smiled before she turned her eyes at him.

"Yes, I think I will. But there's so much to think about now than just a piano. Can I start playing?" He asked, and she fixed her veil firmly on her head before she nervously nodded her head.

He had tapped on the first button when she shook her head, "This is the first time you're going to see my dance, I'm nervous."

He laughed if only she knew. "Come on, I'm sure it will be great. It's getting late, Jalilah, and you need to sleep to get up on time tomorrow."

She cleared her throat and motioned for him to start, which he did. He knew he had seen her danced for times he didn't care to count, but by Allah, this was the most exquisite of them all. She moved softly just like the way his fingers moved around the piano. It was as if they were reciting a poem with their body and not a voice was uttered. A poem so perfectly was written, with so much abundance in poetic devices that if it was dared written on a paper, Yazeed was sure nothing could stop it from burning the damn paper. He knew he had been searching for the right words she described the way Jalilah looked while she danced, but he had never found the right word, but he did now. She was a poem he was still yet to fathom. Art in such perfection that it was so hard to comprehend.

She wondered how he knew the right time to move fast and when to stop, he wished he could tell her all the times she had turned his heart on fire with her poetic moves. And right now as she shyly smiled, moving her body, twisting her chest in such a way not even enticement would do justice to it. Her legs that were moving ever so perfectly, that small jump before she moved down on the floor with so much confidence and she would move, run a bit and dance again. By Allah, this was the most amazing he had ever seen her dance, and to think he had seen her dance yesterday was still a miracle to him.

His hands moved ever so perfectly on the piano, and she was smiling at him, it got to the point that none of them had taken their eyes off the other, they were staring deep into each other's eyes while she danced, moved, swivelled her body in a way that it called out to the tunes of his piano. Yazeed knew he wouldn't just have a good sleep today, her dance today would haunt him until the last breath he would take in his life. How can someone move so perfectly, can there be a dancer as exquisite as her? Did she know she was this perfect? This enthralling to the point that she nearly suffocated him?

It went on like that, she kept dancing, moving, smiling that he sometimes wondered if she wasn't doing that on purpose, if she didn't know the kind of effect she had on him and she wanted to avenge on this. Yazeed felt tortured, but he as well wanted to be tortured for the rest of his life. Jalilah was a freaking poem breathed to life with the hyperbole of perfection. And right now, he couldn't believe that of all homes, he chose this woman to be his home, this perfect art that had her flaws all over her body but she still looked as though she were one of those flawless angels. He was glad Farha pointed it out for him, he was glad he knew she was his home. But right now, he wished he could go back to Abeokuta, there was something he needed to add to the answer he gave Farha. It didn't mean that he was in love, it simply meant that he had never known a woman could take his breath away just by simply existing, and when she danced the way Jalilah did, it was a seizure of the heart. His whole heart taken out of his chest for a minute before it was placed back into his chest.

He didn't realized she was done until she palmed her face with an anxious smile and looked up at him, "How was it, Yazeed? So bad, right?"

How could he begin to tell her? Even though he knew he had to be careful of his words, to choose them tenderly so as not to temper with one of the strings attached in making this wonderful creature, he couldn't hold everything to himself, it would be too much torture on him. He sat for a while before he smiled and walked to where she was, still standing below the chandelier as she fixed her eyes on him.

He clapped his hands a little and fondled her head, "It was amazing, too beautiful to be real. I can't believe I've been losing on this for all the months we've been here. You dance so perfectly as a poem breathed to life. I don't even know how to say it, it was amazing. I love it, you deserve a medal, anything to let you know that you're a goddess when it comes to ballet. You're an art moulded to perfection, Ballerina."

You're a goddess when it comes to ballet, someone should frame these words for her. She wanted to be seeing these words until her last breath. You dance so perfectly as a poem breathed to life. Who was this man, and how did he know the right way to her heart through his words? You're an art moulded to perfection, Ballerina. The moment she heard these words, she felt when her heart opened and the name 'Yazeed Adam Bunza' was craved perfectly, so tenderly with rose petals raining on it.