Sabeeha watched as two days had passed and there was still nothing done or waiting to be done about this and forty eight hours from now, nothing could stop her from getting married to Idi. Or from being married to Idi already. She sighed, had already given up trying to talk to Anas about it. She had just decided that she'd have to live with this. Maybe, this was all part of the fate written for her and she had no other choice but to accept it whether she liked it or not.

She was in the kitchen, past midnight, as she thought about how she would have to get to accept this. No matter how much she tried to talk her mind into telling herself that this was the best and it was unavoidable, she still couldn't get it to sit right with her. She couldn't even imagine herself being married to Idi, not after what he had done to her.

There was a soft knock on the window and when she turned, she found Anas staring at her with a very serious expression on his face. She waved lightly at him, and turned her eyes away from him. She had cried an ocean of tears that her eyes no longer cooperated whenever she felt so sad. She had now resorted to taking huge breaths that had little to no help to her burning heart.

Anas silently walked into the kitchen and sat on his usual chair on the kitchen island. She stared up at him and smiled. This might even be the last time she'd have to sit with him in the kitchen and have those late night chats with him. Because somehow, she had figured out even the life she thought wasn't so good for her now, would get worse once she got married to Idi.

"I've missed sitting like this with you and eating junks," Anas whispered and Sabeeha chuckled softly at how their thoughts interceded.

"I was just thinking of the same thing. Funny how you thought the same as well." She smiled sadly and fixed her eyes on him for a moment. "What is it? It's like you've lost weight and there are bags under your eyes. Have you been getting less sleep, Anas?" She said thoughtfully and he looked right back into her eyes before he softly smiled.

"Says the person that looks worse than I do. What have you been up to? I'm sorry I couldn't get to talk to you for the last two days, will you forgive me?" She pouted her lips instantly and turned away. If she could be truthful, the silence and somehow avoidance she had gotten from Anas was what made thing worse for her.

"Come on, Addah, I'm so sorry." That was it for her, and damn him for knowing her so well. "Your little bro is so sorry, please forgive me." She didn't know when she chuckled and he stared at her with amusement filling his eyes.

"Oh come on, it feels good having you call me that. From now on, I'd never answer if you call me Beeha. Or when you're feeling disrespectful towards your elders, you're always like, Sabeeha! I sometimes want to punch you, honestly." She made a face that made him laugh and she smiled as well. She knew they were simply having these baseless conversations, avoiding the one and only that mattered.

"Addah, you want me to be calling you that?" He asked with a serious face even though there was joke laced on his tone.

"Yes, as it should be. I have a son that's ten years old. And also, I'm ten years older than you are. You really shouldn't even have the guts to be calling my name, don't you think?" She chuckled at how he rolled his eyes at that and looked away.

She was going to miss Anas. Because she hadn't forgotten how Hajia had warned her about their closeness with him and how if she wanted to live in peace, now that things were more complicated, she'd have to avoid him at all cost.

"I'll start calling you Addah then, but under one condition, and if you don't agree, you'd be the one to start calling me Hamma, what do you say?" She loved this. It had been long since she had her heart feeling such way. A light conversation that was solely filled with banter? She only had those with Anas, all her life.

"How can I call you Hamma? Anas, I'm the one that's ten years older than you, not the other way round." She rolled her eyes at him but he was damn serious about it.

"I wonder when you'd stop having so much emphasis on being ten years older than I am. Beeha, age is just a number, don't you think?" She shook her head almost immediately. And he knew, age mattered to her so much.

"At some point, I believe. It's just a number that has little to no significance. Just like our friendship, it's a number in our friendship. We make very good friends that I'd have to miss you so much when I get married to Idi because I believe..." She didn't know when her inner thoughts slipped through her words and she saw the way his expression immediately changed.

"And who told you that you're going to get married to him? Didn't you trust me when I told you that you'd never get married to him, Beeha?" She smiled painfully at him before she nodded her head.

"I trusted you, Anas, I still do. But you see, There are things that are simply out of our control in life and no matter how bad we try to change them to what we want them to be, they don't. And we have no choice but to accept them as they come to us at the very end. So, why not accept it from the beginning and not have your hopes raised up for nothing?"

He shifted his chair and brought her closer to her, Sabeeha wondered what was going through his mind. "And what makes you think that you're going to be baselessly hopeful about not getting married to him? Be hopeful, in fact, have it in mind that you're not going to marry him and let it be a known thought to you. A constant. Just like how you know with absolute certainty that Waleed is your son, right? Let it be that way."

She threw her head back and laughed. And even though it was mirthless, it felt good to have the sound coming out of her chest. "And how is that going to happen? What will happen to me afterwards. How are you going to convince me that Hajia and Alhaji will agree and not get me married to him when they've..."

He gently cut her off and inserted the words she'd never imagined hearing, even in her wildest dreams. "Because I'm going to marry you, Sabeeha."

She stared at him for a minute, waiting for him to either smile or laugh like he always did whenever he made such remarks, but she had never seen such seriousness on Anas's face and today, she was the one that laughed. "You must've gone crazy, right? Don't tell me you've started doing drugs, Anas, because I'll whip your ass if that happens."

He chuckled and immediately sobered up back to his usual serious expression. "I'm not joking. And that's actually what I came here to discuss with you about. I want you to marry me, Sabeeha."

Lord, this was getting serious. Once was fine. But twice? With that expression that seemed so earnest for her not to believe his sincerity that she could openly see in his eyes? What sort of...Ya Allah!

She quickly got to her feet. "I appreciate you trying to console me, Anas. But this isn't a joke that should be shared between us. Get back to your chamber, I'm going to my room, good night."

She was about to maneuver her way beside him and walk out of the kitchen when he held her wrist and gently pushed her back on the chair. And even after he had her seated, he still didn't let go of her wrist. Instead, he entwined their hands and stared deeply into her eyes. She felt the way her nerves spiked at the touch. Yes, this wasn't the first time she had touched Anas, in fact, she had been touching Anas for the whole twenty three years of his life.

And she didn't know what was the meaning of the reaction her body slightly gave when he entwined their hands. Because this was the millionth, if not billionth time they held hands and she had felt absolutely nothing. But she felt as if this time, it had a different meaning to him.

"What are you doing? Let go of my hand." She tried to pull her hand away from his but he held it so tight that she wondered...when had he gotten so strong?

"Beeha, you need to listen to me. And in as much as I want your approval over this, I still would proceed without it because I have a very valid and strong reason to do so, which I'd never be able to disclose to you. So, please, allow me to marry you so I can be able to protect you for the rest of my life."

"What rubbish are you talking about, Anas? Marry me? For real? Have you forgotten who you are speaking with? Or are you practicing your words on me so they could sound perfect when you're telling them to the girl they originally are for? For heavens sake, what's wrong with you?"

He chuckled deeply and shook his head, he must've probably expected much or even worse from her. "Sabeeha, I'm serious and there isn't any girl out there that'd ever get to hear these words from me. I mean them. And even though your acceptance may mean the world to me, I'd still marry you without your acceptance."

Sabeeha sighed out of exasperation as she palmed her face with her free hand. What was going on with her life? Her heart was racing so wildly that she didn't even know what else she'd do. Her life was slowly turning into one of the most unexpected movies she'd ever thought of in her life.

"Anas, can you see what you're talking about? It's never going to happen. I know that you've only resorted to this because you've thought of a way to get me out of Idi's marriage and still couldn't find any, and I really appreciate it. But please, stop talking like this, lest someone hears and I get myself in a deeper trouble than the one I'm into."

This time, he covered her hand with both his hands and squeezed it softly. "Beeha, I mean it from he deepest core of my heart. And it's not because I'm trying to get you out of Idi's marriage, infact, that's only like a fuel that urged me to do it on time. I would've done it a year later or two. I want to get married to you because I want to, because it's something that's in the top on the list of my wishes and I'd love to fulfill it before I die."

"Anas..." She shook her head and suddenly got lost of words. "I don't even know what to say. But you can't destroy your life for me. I know you're doing this for our relationship and I appreciate you in my life. But this is too much of a sacrifice. You can't destroy your life on my wake, Anas, I won't even allow you to do it."

He chuckled bitterly and sighed for the umpteenth time since when she started talking. "And who told you getting married to you will destroy my life? How is that something destructive?"

"I'll make a list for you if you want, but I'll shorten it. One, I'm ten years older than you are. Two, I have a ten years old son. Three, you're simply a twenty three years old guy that have your entire life ahead of you and I'd rather be killed than have to see you destroy your future. Four, it's every man's choice to get married to a woman around his age, most prefer a woman much younger than them, someone you'd grow up together with, Anas.

"Get yourself a beautiful young lady, maybe someone Meeral's age or even younger than her. And even though I've gotten married twice, I've never gotten to know what getting married for love feels like. How living with someone you love and for that same person to love you back feels. But you're too young and if I may add, privileged and have luck by your side your entire life to get into a loveless marriage. Not that I'm even thinking of accepting it.

"You deserve all the good things in life, Anas. You're a good person. And you'd make an even greater husband and father later on. You can't deprive yourself of a beautiful life just because you want to help me. I promise you, I'd be fine even after getting married to Idi, it's not going to be the end of the world for me. But for one thing I'm sure of is that you deserve to get married for love, I heard that it's one of the most beautiful things on earth."

"And who told you that the marriage I'm proposing to you for now isn't for love? You may or may not believe this, but I love you, Beeha. I know that this isn't the first time I've told you that I love you, and we've always left it under the brother-sister category kind of love. But my love for you isn't just that, though I love you under that category as well. But it's much stronger.

"I love you, Sabeeha. And the kind of love a man has for a woman he deem fit to be his beloved. The kind of love shared between lovers, couple and every other romantic relationship in the world. And yes, you're worth even more than just my love, I could already see you undermining your worth."

Her entire body system had stopped moving over his confession and she simply stared at him. And now, when she tired to get her hand away from his, he didn't hold it back, he let her take her hand away. And slowly, Sabeeha got to her feet, she was tongue tied and it was now that if not a million, then a thousand things were getting back in her mind and making sense. But she wasn't going to take it to heart. She'd just have to imagine that he was saying that to convince her so she could accept.

But love? Lol no. She had long ago convinced herself that she wasn't someone that love was written for, and she had made peace with that painful realization long ago.

She looked into his eyes with one of the most painful expressions. "Anas, I appreciate all that you've done for me in life. For making me laugh when I thought it would take forever for me to hear that sound. For making things so much easier for me and simply being there for me. For being my friend as well, I wouldn't have asked it the other way. But for this, I can't. It's ridiculous hearing you say it and trust me, I don't and can't even believe a word you've uttered. I'd get married to Idi come Friday. Goodnight."

Anas stared at her retreating back until she walked out of the kitchen and he didn't stop staring until she was entirely out of his sight. He felt as though his heart was being painfully squeezed by some type of merciless hands. The pain was too much for him to bear and his eyes were already getting clouded by his tears.

But he had already promised himself that he wasn't going to cry. She was having it much harder than him and if he cried at this time, then he wouldn't even be able to think of the perfect solution for this. He was going to solve everything now and maybe cry later. When everything was solved. When he was going to cry, tears of joy.

He staggered to his feet and walked back to their chamber. He knew that he had prepared himself for this, but why was it as if his heart was being shredded in pieces? Why did he feel so much pain that it was even so hard for his lungs to breathe in air for him. It was even harder to walk, but he knew he had to get back to his room and convey all that happened to Zaid.

He met Zaid sprawled between the papers he had been working on since morning. Sometimes he even forgot that Zaid was in Adamawa for a business trip and he needed to focus on what he came over for. And instead of him to book a hotel where he could live stress-free, he chose to have himself meddled into his mess and Anas would forever be grateful to him. Because he couldn't have stayed sane these past two days without him by his side.

Zaid instantly looked up at him and slightly pushed his laptop away. He pointed at the bed for Anas and sat down. "Got rejected?" He asked, even though it was all over his face. But Anas still nodded his head at him.

"I thought you've prepared yourself for that, Anas, right? It's not time to be sulking over it, it's going to pain, for sure. But I'm sure she'd never say anything hurtful intentionally." Anas could simply look at him before he closed his eyes. Maybe if he wasn't seeing that much light, he might feel slightly better. Maybe it wouldn't hurt as much.

"Now, it's time for plan B, we both knew this wouldn't work, after all." Zaid said, with finality laced on his tone. And Anas admired the way Zaid handled things with so much efficiency and strength. That's why even though he felt that it wasn't so serious of him, but he felt relieved when he had Zaid promise that he'd take care and protect Beeha for him, because he knew he would, and that's forever.