Mrs Mahmud, Mrs Mas'ood

24

Aisha did a double take. "Hauwa?!"

Hauwa, who had returned with Mahmud to the table his parents occupied, smiled at the older woman. "Assalam Alaykum."

Muhammad was as surprised as his wife. He looked from Hauwa to his son. Mahmud had a small smile on his face as he explained. "I ran into her outside. She's a friend of the bride. They work together in Ekpoma."

Aisha recovered quickly. "What a crazy coincidence." She pulled out the chair beside her. "Hauwa, please sit down. Were you going somewhere? If you were, please do not let us keep you back."

Hauwa shook her head and sat. "No I wasn't. I was actually going to help Kaycee fix her dress when I ran into Mahmud. I'm sure Afe has helped her with it so it's alright."

"We actually spoke about you yesterday." Muhammad told her. "I'm so surprised to be seeing you here.

Mahmud, who sat beside Hauwa, panicked while Hauwa blinked, surprised at the piece of information. "You did?"

Muhammad nodded. "Yes, we did. Mahmud was saying that it had been hard to reach you. It's funny how we're seeing you in person now."

She missed the relieved breath Mahmud let out. Her laugh was light. "I am so sorry. It's been a crazy period for me to be very honest. There has been so much going on and I've left the messages to pile up. I hope you've been fine."

Aisha nodded. "Yes, Alhamdulillah. How have you been? How's everyone? Are your parents here?"

Hauwa shook her head. "They're in Makurdi. There's a wedding of a family friend so they couldn't miss it. I've been fine too. Everyone's fine."

"And work?"

Hauwa kept the smile on her face. "Stressful as always but also fine. We're on a short break so we're trying to make the most of it."

Aisha smiled back at her. "Totally understandable. It's nice to see you again, Hauwa. It's been long."

Hauwa nodded. "It has really been long. I've been a bad person for not reaching out. I'm so sorry."

"You have a reason." Muhammad told her. "So there is no need to apologize."

Before they could say anything else, food was brought to their table. Hauwa stopped them from putting any food in front of her and when she caught the worried expressions on the faces of the Muhammads, she spoke.

"We ate not too long ago at Khadija's house. I'm not so hungry."

Mahmud asked the question on the tip of his parents' tongue. "Are you sure?"

She nodded. "I am."

Kaycee joined them soon enough with her plate of pounded yam and egusi soup. She smiled widely at Aisha and Muhammad and introduced herself the same way she had done to Mahmud. They were smitten immediately. Hauwa watched them with a small smile on her face.

She still found it hard to believe Mahmud was sitting right beside her. When they were outside, she had taken a good look at him. His hair had been trimmed short but it was still full and longer than that of so many other men. His eyes were still as dark as she remembered and he looked fairer – something she suspected had to do with the sky blue babanriga he wore. It fit him perfectly well.

She found it funny how his presence turned her emotions to mush and made her aware of every single thing happening around them. It was nice but also a bit scary as it had been a while.

As they – Aisha, Muhammad and Kaycee – spoke and Mahmud ate, Hauwa unlocked her phone and decided to get started on replying her pending messages. It took her attention off everything and it didn't take too long to get to Mahmud's. She felt a stab of guilt when she saw that they dated back to the end of November.