Deceptive Glitters ✅

Chapter 45: Drive

I'm spoiling you people fa

Layla picked the sketchbook Khadijah handed her, she was laughing at something Kamla said. She loved how carefree she looked because she couldn’t remember when last she heard her laugh like that, the real Khadijah laugh.

With laughter still in her eyes, she turned to Layla who had suddenly gone silent, “Is everything alright?” Layla nodded, “So, do you like it?” she nodded again, Khadijah wanted to say something but she left it.

“Let me get more jellybeans from the kitchen, do you want anything?” Kamla sensing the shift in the air asked already at the door.

“Coke.” Layla said while Khadijah only shook her head, Kamla nodded and left closing the door behind her.

“Okay now, what is wrong?” Khadijah took the sketchbook Layla left on her lap and kept it on the table, her undivided attention on her friend.

“Nothing much, I’m just thinking.”

“Thinking doesn’t make people frown Layla, tell me.” She urged.

“Nothing really, I’m just happy you’re okay.” Khadijah kept quiet for a moment, she looked at Layla again and nodded.

“You know we have to talk though, after the wedding maybe.” Layla nodded understanding what she meant. They kept talking about the upcoming wedding, Layla’s dress and Waleedah’s own.

At some point Kamla returned with a plate of samosa and Layla’s coke, she helped by pitching ideas for Layla’s gown, said person wanted a gown ‘that’ll make the world talk’, her exact words, because according to her, she is Waleedah’s favorite sister and the most awesome Aliero, also her words.

Her phone rang making her keep the samosa in her hand, she wiped her hands with a serviette before picking.

She listened to what the person on the other side before saying alright and hanging up.

“It’s hamma Fahad, he said he’ll be late because he has an emergency meeting but he’ll still come if he finishes early.”  Khadijah nodded saying it was no problem.

It has been a week and some days since Layla returned from Abuja, she’d begged Fahad and succeeded into taking her directly to Khadijah’s house in unguwan rimi, he didn’t need much persuasion seeing how worried she was. It wasn’t that hard to convince his sister’s to go with their father’s head of security, they adored their brother enough to do as he said without batting an eyelash but if he chose to bribe them, then they couldn’t tell him no now could they?

Layla had run inside the house forgetting about his existence, he had to call and remind her he was still outside. He waited for twenty minutes or more, he couldn’t be sure, before he saw her walking with Khadijah towards the car, he’d gotten down and enquired about her health, she waved it off with a small shrug, saying Layla was just being overdramatic and she was fine.

From then, they would go out every day after he was done with work, she couldn’t tell who brought forth the idea or how it started but it just happened and she liked it, it was a form of therapy for all of them, she didn’t know how but she’d seen a sense of calm she hadn’t seen in her cousin for a long time and she was happy that at least even if she couldn’t solve his problems, she was helping him be himself again.

What made her the most happy had to be how Khadijah was laughing more and basically being her old self.

“Earth to Layla,” Khadijah snapped her fingers before Layla’s eyes, she smiled at her turning on the plush chair.