You guys😂

Your comments are just entertaining 😂. The amount of violence you're ready to engage in is actually entertaining 😂

So, I would allow the notifications to pile up, then I'll go ahead and have fun in the comment section. You guys are amazing 😅

Thank you very much for your support. I will forever be grateful and I promise, there's no single one of you I am not grateful for.

Thank you for making my book livelier. I really appreciate your efforts.

Thank you ❤️

Janan banged Iman's car door rather loudly, startling him. He had been buried in his thoughts that he hadn't even noticed his father standing on the porch. On looking up to see his father, Iman reversed his car out of the house and headed back to Bash's place. He had had enough drama for a day. Another one would really make him loose it. Besides he and Bash had alot to discuss. They weren't opportune to talk about the big elephant in the room because of Janan's presence. He had dropped Bash home before heading home with the intention of sleeping really well. That plan flew out of the window the moment he had seen his mother fuming.

"What brings you here today?" Janan called out as she catwalked towards him with an evident frown. Junaid sighed softly, shifted to the side so she could open up the house for both of them.

"Good Evening to you too Janan" he had stated with a smile, which she did not return. He watched the retreating posterior of Iman's car. His child would never respect him obviously, he could not even stop to exchange pleasantries with him.

Janan was standing inside with her hands akimbo, waiting for Junaid to enter. He had been carried away by Iman's car that he had forgotten she was still by the door waiting for him to come inside. She cleared her throat loudly snapping him out of his short term trance. He apologized softly before coming inside. She secured the door behind him, she removed her veil from her head.

"Why are you here alone? Doesn't your therapist follow you everywhere you go" Janan had stated absentmindedly, sounding like a jealous brat. Junaid smiled a little and moved towards her, making her take a step backwards. He brought out an envelope from his pocket and she peered at it with keen interest.

"Jay, I brought this" he said handing it to her. She collected the envelope staring at it skeptically. She recognized that only invitations look like this. Her heart gave a thud, and she opened the envelope trying really hard not to shake. Her heart had already hinted her the contents of that envelope.

Written boldly was his name and that of the therapist, inviting people to their wedding fatiha and then a small reception after the wedding fatiha. The paper fell from her hands before she could stop it. She looked down immediately, and tried picking it up. But her veil fell and she scrambled to pick them up but her bag slipped from her hands and the contents spilled. Tears brimmed her eyes and it became hard for her to see the contents.

Junaid watched as she picked up the things helplessly, when they kept falling from her hand, she remained on the floor and soon her body started raking as cries escaped her mouth. She clasped her hand on her mouth, but it didn't stop the crying. Junaid knelt on the floor with her, started picking up everything, carefully placing them in her bag which she cried. When he was done, he remained on the floor watching her.

"Jay, if you tell me not to do it. I promise I will cancel it right away" he had whispered. She heard him but she could not bring herself to reply. She could not bring her self to be the reason for another woman's unhappiness. It's obvious the therapist fancies him so much. It would break her if he ends things with her. "Jay, please don't let me do this. I will die" he whispered and she cried more. They remained seated on the floor as he awaited her reply.

Meanwhile, Maryam stared at her grandmother stunned beyond words. She opened her mouth multiple times but nothing would come out of it. She felt anger surge through her veins, pushing it's way to get tongue but she bit her tongue and continued to stare at her grandmother as she explained things to Maryam.

What Maryam understood was she's a weakling, a wimp and a pushover. For some unknown reason, every one seemed to want to tell her how to live her life. It's like everyone has a say in her life, except her. Whatever Maryam wanted was never by pure will, it was either shoved on her or recommended for her. It was like they all felt it was necessary to have a say in her life. It was like they needed to chip in how she lives her life.

"You haven't said anything" her grandmother stated staring at Maryam, who wanted to do nothing but scream. She picked up her hand bag from the chair, and headed to her room. She wanted to sleep this stressful day away and wake up to find that it has been a big gigantic dream. "Are you going to walk out on me? I just saved you!" Her grandmother added.

Maryam went rigid from that statement, she dropped the hand bag and turned to the woman who had no idea what she had done has dishevel Maryam's heart. She had went ahead to take a step in Maryam's life which she was never ready for.

"Why did you not ask me?" She asked her grandmother who was puzzled at the statement.

"Ask you what?"

"You should have asked if I was being forced into the arranged marriage. You should have asked me before you sent Khalid the transport fare to come here. You should have asked if I had found a solution to my mother's sudden decision. What exactly did you think he could do? What exactly did you think he could change? Does Khalid have the power to stand up to Mommy? She defied your will, what exactly did you think Khalid would be able to do? You should have allowed me handle this one, I have never ever came to you to find help over this arrangement. I did ask you one thing which you haven't been able to find a solution for! I did not ask you to do this Mama" she whisper yelled not wanting to wake either her grandfather or Khalid.

Her grandmother blinked multiple times, wondering where she had gone wrong. To her, bringing Khalid to show how much affection they share for each other so her mother would drop the arranged marriage was the best option. Her husband did advice against it, but she was so sure it would solve the problem. Even if it did not, seeing the boy had traveled all the way from Zaria might touch her daughter's heart.

"You're not making any sense Maryam"

Maryam wiped her cheeks ignoring her grandmother's aloofness, she entered her room, turned the key to secure the door before plopping down her bed tiredly. The phone started vibrating signifying a call. On seeing Iman's name, she waited for it to ring and when it ended, she switched her phone to flight mode forgetting he needed an explanation for what he had had to experience.
Maryam had no idea how and when she had slept off. The adhaan from a mosque very close to her house had woken her up. She sat on her bed tiredly, as events from yesterday played itself in her head. She groaned tiredly before standing up.

Noorie's outburst had been the most shocking thing in yesterday's episode. After Khalid dragged her away from Iman, she directed him into the house so she could pick up her things. He had said something about her grandmother and she wanted to help herself with an understanding. As such, she knew going to her would clarify why and how Khalid was in Abuja.

On coming out, Noorie had attacked her with insults verbally. The truth is, Maryam wasn't at all bothered about Noorie's behavior. Infact, she was bothered about Khalid's presence more. Nothing Noorie had said actually registered well in her head. Not until mommy slapped her. Everything went still for some seconds and then Noorie moved swiftly coming to stand intimidatingly infront of Maryam. Maryam was never scared of Noorie so she remained in the spot staring at her sister.

"If I cannot have Iman, neither you nor I will have him. Bear that in your mind!" She seethed before brushing against Maryam with her shoulder, leaving her perplexed beyond words.

Mommy yelled her name a couple of times, but Noorie did not even spare mommy a glance, infact they only heard the door close rather loudly. Mommy didn't spare Khalid a glance through all this, she had called Baba Direba and had asked him to take Maryam to her mother. The other relatives dispersed since the show is over. Before the break of dawn, everyone would have heard about how Noorie got slapped and how.ahe had accused Maryam of being a witch.

"What is wrong with your sister. She told me she's your immediate, what she did was disrespectful, shouldn't some one teach her a lesson" Khalid had stated on their way to Apo where her grandmother lives.

Maryam could not help but roll her eyes at his statement. This wasn't even the time to have that conversation. When she got to Grandma, she thanked Baba Direba who was happy to help. Khalid and Grandma greeted each other in such a familiar manner it bothered Maryam. She even asked how his journey was and only then did Maryam connected the dots!
Grandma had brought Khalid all the way from Zaria, for what purpose exactly?

When Khalid showered and changed, after Grandma showed him to the guest room, they ate and watched TV before he announced he was retiring early because he had started the journey a bit late. Maryam could not find sleep even though she wanted to, infact she needed to understand why her Grandmother had decided to bring Khalid here.

It turned out to be the most absurd reason, seeing she had never ever complained about not liking Iman. Okay, she ran away once but after that day, she had never ever said anything to her grandmother.

Maryam prayed subh and she made sure she outlined all her worries to God before she concluded the prayer. She offloaded the hijab from her head, folding it like she's used to. She further folded the prayer mat before plopping down her bed with a huff. He phone laid beside the pillow.

Maryam unlocked it, and swiped up clicking the airplane mode off. After few seconds, her phone started vibrating nonstop. With each vibration, a message from Iman dropped. She waited for the messages to deliver themselves to her. As she clicked on the message icon, her phone started ringing with Iman's named displayed on the surface. Maryam picked up.

"Maryam" Iman drawled making her stomach twist and turn. "Maryam, I've been so worried. I could not sleep a wink. How could you do that to me" he added. His voice sounded hoarse and mostly tired. He sounded pitiful and sad. Maryam felt sadness coarse her whole body. "Turn on your data, you need to see what you did to me" he had stated again ending the call.

Maryam obediently turned on her data, her phone started vibrating indicating Iman calling her on video call. She quickly picked up the hijab she had folded and slid it on. Her night attire is a bit provocative for someone she wasn't married to.

On clicking the answer button, Iman's extremely tired face appeared on her screen. He was wearing a black jallabiya and he was seated on the prayer mat indicating he had just prayed. He had evident bags under his eyes, she knew he wasn't faking it.

"Good morning" she had greeted softly and he had frowned.

"What's good about the morning. I have a serious headache and I have to go back to work by 12pm........"

"You could not even greet me" she stated pouting and even though Iman knew he was tired as hell, a grin crept up his face. He had missed her and he was so happy she sounded the same. He had been so scared the guy who he is so sure is the potential Zaria guy had brainwashed her and that she wasn't going to like him again.

"Good morning, your Royal Highness" he had said and Maryam giggled. When she was done, she noticed he wasn't smiling. He was just staring. Both of them knew they had to talk, but starting the conversation on this call might take forever to conclude. It's already morning and both of them need to sit down in a quiet environment and talk about this.

"I....."

"I......" They started in unison, but got interrupted by a knock on Maryam's door. They kept mute, waiting for the knock to go away, but it persisted.

"Go ahead and........."

"Maryama are you awake? You have to wake up and pray" Khalid's voice called out from behind the door interrupting and making Iman cringe. He stared at Maryam who was conflicted. She knew if she spoke up, Khalid would know she was awake, who was she kidding? The lights were on, ofcourse he knows she's awake.

"Give me a minute" she yelled out, but was staring at Iman who nodded and with that she ended the call, leaving a very worried Iman.

Khalid stood by her door grinning ear to ear. He had informed her that he had slept so well. Maryam stared at him as he spoke and addressed issues relating to her family as if he knew half of the things going on. With just his incessant morning bickering, Maryam had disliked him a little bit.

Soon breakfast was prepared by her. It was chips and egg. Khalid sat on a stool in the kitchen telling her all about how stressful his course is. He did not move an inch from that position, not until it was time to eat, where he stretched his hands to collect the plate, and once again she disliked him a little bit.

With Khalid here, Maryam could not go back to school, and she could not blatantly ask him when he was leaving without sounding rude. So, she put up with him for the whole afternoon and by evening the story took a different turn.

Mommy arrived at exactly 5pm, she did not look very happy. Ever since the incident with Grandpa, mommy had not visited. Her parents were happy she came. They offered her food which she declined politely. She sat quiet for quite a long time watching TV with her parents. When Khalid came back from looking around the neighborhood, he was quite surprised to see Mommy. Khalid had squatted, greeting her like any responsible child would.

Mommy had answered neutrally, with no expression that would give away what she was thinking. She stared at Khalid for some time making Maryam wonder exactly what she was thinking. The next question she had asked shocked Maryam to her core. She had not expected that question from her mother.

"Do you really love my daughter?" Mommy had asked and Khalid had nodded, answering affirmatively. Everyone wondered where mommy was going with the conversation but no one asked. "When do you plan on marrying her?" Mommy had asked again. This time Maryam could only guess where the conversation was headed. She was holding

"As soon as I am done with my NYSC, which is in less than three years by Allah's grace" Khalid replied and Maryam's mother nodded.

"Well, I will await your arrival. Do tell your family to come ask for Maryam's hand in marriage as I have accepted you for her" Mommy had stated and the cup of water in Maryam's hand slip. It crashed on the floor and it's content spilled staining the once spotless white floor.

Mommy did not look up at Maryam when she quickly slid her handbag into her pits and hurried out of the house. Maryam did not wait to clean up the mess she's made, she had ran out tracing her mother's step.

"Mommy stop" Maryam called out seeing her mother was about to get into the car. Her mother refused, so Maryam ran and held on to the car door.

"Maryam, leave the door" her mother called out, prying Maryam's hand off the door but Maryam held on.

"I don't understand, why would you accept Khalid for me?" She had asked curiously, seeing her mother was avoiding her gaze. Her mother left the door and came down slowly.

"Noorie said she met Iman first, so it's only proper to allow her have him" her mother had said meeting Maryam's gaze. Maryam waited for her mother to burst into laughter, to tell her she was joking but her mother did none of those. Infact she had on a very serious expression.

"What does that even mean?" Maryam screamed loudly making her grandparents and Khalid scramble out of the house on hot heels.

"Don't you dare yell at me young lady I am your mother" her mother reprimanded, standing upright, ready to discipline Maryam for her insolence. But Maryam shocked her when she burst out into an extremely humourless laughter. Her eyes were hard and any sane person would know she was angry.

But the thing is Maryam never gets angry!

Jumm'at Mubaraq
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So i have a serious urge of shipping this book off to okada books now!
How many of you are willing to go over there to continue this book?
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