A Promise to Aabidah (#1 Natives series) #ProjectNigeria

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Twelve

          "SO WHAT DID YOU TELL him?" Fatiha Hassan, one of the four girls seated around a round table asked. The gray jersey scarf she'd fashioned into a hijab pressed tightly under her jutted chin, her heart shaped face devoid of any makeup.

The questionee sighed and watched the ice in her yoghurt slowly melt as she swirled her straw round it. "I told him I got a call. Family emergency." Aabidah replied.

"And he took it?"

She nodded. "Even gave me the rest of the day off."

"He's dumb like ever," another lady, slimmer than the first with striking, eye-catching features tutted as she pushed her wire-rimmed glasses further up her straight nose.

"Just Ahmed! Hahaha! Smooth." Basmah shrieked and doubled over in laughter, attracting a few stares from the handful of customers in the small eatery they were at.

The small eatery joint still looked the same. Aabidah had noticed the minute she'd stepped into the cool four walls of the snacks joint she and the girls had frequented during their time in secondary school that the place had barely changed. Its cozy atmosphere, round tables with comfy seats, the owner's hospitality, and the aroma of sweet and spicy food; it had been one of their secret hangout. Their favorite hangout, after Aabidah's room that is.

"What a piece of work! I can't believe he's still trying to get you, Abs. Doesn't that guy ever know when to quit?" Basmah being the tallest of the girls asked irritably as she stretched her jean cladded legs for more comfort.

Aabidah was not in the best of moods. Having had to relate what had happened with her manager twice, she felt like her brain was close to having a meltdown.

Worse, she could not even explain how utterly humiliating it was for her to find out that the fat senior who had always been chasing her in the name of love during her teen years was in fact her manager.

The girls obviously remembered and seemed to be finding it funny. Aabidah didn't.

She had looked forward to having lunch with her friends but Sheriff Ahmed's bizarre confession had dampened her mood. At least he had been smart enough to give her the rest of the day off, she conceded with a sigh.

Her circle of closest friends consisted of three girls; Fatiha Hassan, Nooriya Adams Madaki, and the one she was most closest to, Basmah Hussayn.

Aabidah hadn't realized how much she had missed the girls until they gathered like old times for the impromptu lunch.

Their reunion had been long over due. With Basmah and Fatiha out of town it couldn't be helped. Nooriya and Fatiha who were furthering their education were already planning on going back to school. Aabidah felt her heart ache at the thought of how little time they had together.

For now. You're here forever now. A voice whispered in the back of her mind, soothing her a bit.

"Do you guys remember when senior Sheriff would buy her snacks and wait for her during lunch breaks?" Basmah quipped, slurping on her drink.

Fatiha's eyes widened and glossed over with mirth. She nodded with a laugh. "I do! He always made sure to get the biggest piece of fish rolls for her. Do you remember the Eid present he got her too?"

Basmah shook her head. "I don't. All I can remember these days are physics terms and the days my coven of aunties would be coming so I can run from the house." She shuddered at the thought. "Those women never give up, I tell you."

Aabidah chuckled into her cup at her friend. She knew Basmah's aunties, they were not the nicest and being the only child from her mother and father they never stopped pressuring her about the terms 'marriage', 'children', and 'old age'.