Mrs Ahmed Shehu

12

AHMED

October, 2022

I ended up spending the rest of September away from home because word got out that I was back to work and no client was willing to wait to be fit into my schedule. They simply forced their way into it.

I hated most of it but this is the life I signed up for so I had no choice than to suck most of it up and deal with everything professionally. That doesn't mean I didn't turn away some people. It's one thing to force your way into my schedule and it's another thing for you to be rudely entitled to services you don't deserve. It never fails to irritate me.

Then there is the fact that I thought about Suraiya way more than I should have. It's not like it's my fault. She was all the kids talked about each time I spoke with them over the phone. They were always excited to do so, to the extent that I got a little jealous. I'm never admitting that to anyone.

She did a lot of them with them. They visited the Dantatas a lot and had a lot of fun during the naming ceremony of Yazan and Yarah. They had pyjama parties and movie nights every weekend without fail. They had pool races (Adeelah called Suraiya a fish and although I couldn't see her during that phone call, I heard her – Suraiya's – laughter clearly). They cooked together too and the kids did painfully well in describing the dishes in detail. Oh, let's not forget the drives they went on, the places they visited, the Qur'an recitation sessions they had where she went through what they had learned in Islamiyya with them, and the paintings they did together. Paintings they said I'd see only when I got home. She was there for them at school too.

The bullies in Nurudeen's class were suspended for a week and the teacher was queried. It's a lesser punishment than I wanted for her but the Principal explained it'll be hard to get a replacement quickly and we don't want to shake the balance of the kids. I understand what he was saying but I didn't like it. I couldn't do much about it though so I let it go and Suraiya told me Nurudeen was fine. No one was troubling him anymore, the teacher apologized and he had made new friends.

Each time she crosses my mind, I wonder what it's like to be friends with Suraiya. There's still a lot I don't know about her, the same way there's a lot she doesn't know about me too. I was the one who said we wouldn't be best friends and we wouldn't be strangers but how would it be to have her as a really close friend? It should be nice. I'm willing to argue it out with anyone.

I also wonder what it'll take to be her friend. Will she find it weird if I said I wanted to be friends with her after telling her that we won't have a close relationship back in May? We've been bordering on friendship in the past months but we've never really put it out there that we're friends now. But we are friends, right? We talk more than we used to and we work around the kids' schedule just fine. We cook together too...We are friends. Right?

"Mr Shehu?"

I snap out of my head and face the airline manager who smiles politely at me. "We're ready to start boarding."

I smile back, just as politely as he does. "Alright. Thank you."

"You're welcome...This way, sir."

I get a window seat to myself and it's overly comfortable; the exact thing I needed because I'm really tired. A hostess walks over. "Are you comfortable, Mr Shehu?"

"I am."

"Please let us know if you need anything."

"I will. Thank you."

"You're welcome."

As she walks away, I find myself considering Baba's suggestion. He said it's high time I get a private plane for long flights. My current plane is for intra-continental flights, the same way his is. Maybe I should get a bigger one. However, this airline has been really nice and it's going to be hard to pull away.