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

Chapter Fifteen

This chapter is dedicated to Zaynab_bnt hope you all enjoy reading it. 😘*

Chapter Fifteen

                "PRETENDING? WHAT ARE YOU TALKING about?" Aabidah asked as she pushed gently away from the wall.

AbdulAzeez who still had his back turned to her slowly pivoted around. His eyes raked her face for a minute. He licked his lips and swallowed before he spoke up. "I always leave the house on purpose whenever you come around." He told her.

Aabidah leaned back on the wall as she listened to the stale news. She'd always known he had been intentionally avoiding her, so, why did it sink her heart further to hear him say it

She wet her lips and squared her shoulders, moving back again from the wall. Her tone was indifferent when she said, "I know, your mother always talked about how rude it was of you to leave a guest hanging." She scoffed. "It wasn't like I went there to see you or anything. I was only visiting." She paused and waited for him to say something but when he didn't, she shouldered her bag and climbed down the short steps. "If that's what you wanted to say, then it's fine. I'll go home now since I already have the day off. Thank you and goodbye."

Aabidah had just taken a few steps away from AbdulAzeez when he called out to her. She sniffed, then exhaled a huge amount of air before she turned to look at him. She forced her voice to be strong. "Yes?"

"I'll be working on repainting the bank starting this week," he told her.

She cocked a brow. "And?"

He exhaled heavily, then looked directly into her eyes. "And since we'll be seeing more of each other, I was hoping maybe we could meet and talk from time to time."

"Talk? About what?"

As if he was on the last bit of his courage, AbdulAzeez rubbed his hands down his face. He nodded and muttered an okay to himself, then to Aabidah said, "I'll be honest with you because I think that'll be the best thing to do in these sort of situation. No one knew things would happen the way they did but whatever is happening now is Allah's plan —"

Aabidah, in spite of her confusion, found herself snickering. "Are you trying to preach to me right now about qadr and sabr?" she asked him amused.

He shook his head, then stretched his hand towards her. "What I'm saying is I'm glad you're back and I want to try again."

—————

    "He said what?!" Basmah's shriek bounced off the walls of Aabidah's home, her eyes were lit with undiluted delight.

Startled by the banshee's cry, Aabidah pulled her ear pods from her ears aw her heart beat rapidly under her breast from the assault. She glared at her friend through the screen of her laptop.

"Ahh..." Basmah sighed wistfully. "I'm so happy right now."

"Is that why you want to burst my eardrums? Because you're happy?" Aabidah who had fixed back one of the ear pod cupped her chin in her hands as she grinned at her friend.

"Of course!" She replied, smiling slyly at Aabidah. "Mmm, you must be dying with joy right now."

As if she had been caught doing something she shouldn't have, Aabidah jerked back from the coffee table in her living room. "Says who?"

She had declined AbdulAzeez's offer to drive her back home after the conversation they'd had. It was still replaying in her head that she found herself unable to stop smiling.