Mrs Ahmed Shehu

27 (Part III)

SURAIYA

My bracelet gets stuck as I approach the mirror of my room. Well, for now it's still my room. It's one of the things that'll change but like Ahmed said, we'll take it one step at a time.

It's almost time for Maghrib. It's also almost time for the dinner the others are holding in our favour. If I tell you I'm not grateful and excited, I'll be lying through my teeth. Today's been all shades of crazy; getting married, coming back home, getting accepted into the Shehu family (this was the best thing), staying in the living room with Ahmed, the conversations we had, the laughs and kisses and then the last minute honeymoon that has (unbelievably) come together. I wouldn't want today to happen any other way though. It's perfect this way.

I'm still struggling with my bracelet when there's a knock on the door. Ahmed's voice reaches my ears almost immediately after. "Suraiya? Can I come in?"

Ce stupide bracelet! "Yeah, you can."

The door opens but I don't turn in that direction. Ahmed starts talking. "I was thinking we should delay a bit and pray Maghrib before..."

With one last tug, the bracelet gets unstuck and I let out a relieved breath before snapping the hook in place. When it clicks in my head that Ahmed's no longer talking, I raise my head and my reflection tells me exactly why he's stopped. Oh...Eh bien, ce n'etait pas cense arriver (well, this wasn't supposed to happen).

While I'm fully covered from my neck down to my feet, my hair's open. It's funny how my bracelet getting stuck made me forget all about it. I wanted it to be the last thing I focused on before we had to leave so I left it loosened; the curls I inherited from my paternal grandmother falling way past my shoulders. Ahmed's never seen my hair before and I didn't think I would show it to him today but here we are.

Ahmed's expression is a stunned one. Willing my heart to be calm, I turn around and face him. His eyes widen even further. I put my hands behind me. "Hi."

"Hi..." He slowly recomposes himself. "This is a very nice sight to walk into."

"It wasn't planned, trust me. I totally forgot my hair was open when I told you to come in."

He steps in fully and the door shuts behind him. I swear the room feels smaller. Ahmed smiles and slowly makes his way over. "It's fine...That's a lot of hair, Suraiya."

I laugh, nodding. "It is. I got it from my grandma." I got every other feature from her too. "She's late now though."

"May Allah have mercy on her soul."

He's right in front of me now and it takes a lot of courage to not look away from his face bashfully. I've seen shy sides of myself today and it's just amazing. "Ameen."

His eyes don't leave mine. "God, you're beautiful."

Pour l'amour de Dieu! (For goodness sake!) My cheeks are burning. "Thank you. You're not that bad too."

He laughs lowly and it's deep! "Thank you, I guess." He slowly takes me in from head to toe and I'm this close to closing the space between us and kissing him. "I don't think I've seen this dress before."

"I got it before I had to leave for Niamey. I thought it'd be nice for this dinner so I got it out of my box...Is it okay?"

His eyes come back to mine and he nods. "It's more than okay, Suraiya. It's perfect and I don't think it'll look better on anyone else."

So this is how compliments from the one you love feel like. I'm so going to keep asking him how I look each time I dress up. It feels really, really good. My cheeks are still burning. "Ahmed...Merci."