If only.

Chapter Two.

THE first day Bilal Modibbo called me was on a Saturday. I was having a breakfast of cereal when my phone rang. It annoyed me that someone had ruined my beautiful morning because it felt so peaceful and in the moment. But I still got up to pick the call. Seeing that it was a number I wasn't familiar with, I hesitated picking up. Then I remembered the weird boy with a shy smile I had given my number to two weeks ago.

Two weeks!

Well whoever this caller is isn't relenting because as soon as the call ended, my phone rang again.

"Hello?" I said with a voice filled with annoyance.

"Hey there." And that was all he had said.

"Who is this?" I asked even though I had a feeling that it was him.

"Bilal. Is this Amatullah?"

"Yes." I replied not because I wanted to seem mysterious or anything, but because I genuinely didn't know what to say.

"How are you? It's been long," he said.

It's been exactly two weeks! Not that I was counting or anything!

"Yeah, it has been indeed," I replied.

I truthfully didn't know how he had continued talking to me that day. I was so awkward!

I didn't realize that Bilal and I have been speaking for exactly 47 minutes until Nabeela barged into my room asking me who I had been laughing with on the phone.

I quickly said my goodbye with the promise that I'll call him whenever I'm free.

It took nine days for me to call him back.

I had intended to make it two weeks but I just couldn't hold back. I knew I was in trouble then.

"You took your time to call me back. I was about to post some missing person flyers around Montreal." He said as soon as he picked up.

I laughed and told him that I was just so busy with school and preparations to go back home. Nigeria.

He was such an easy person to talk to and we spent the next few weeks talking through the day.

We talked when I was out shopping or in the gym or anywhere.

We talked like we had known each other for years and everything was perfect.

I finished my preparation and came back home and let me tell you, Bilal was there on the phone through everything.

My family knew about him. Almost everyone I know did. He quickly worked his sneaky charm to my brothers and they became so acquainted easily.

Before I knew it, I was head over heels for him. And I know that he loved me then too. Even for a moment, I'm sure he did.

He gets worried when he doesn't talk to me for long. And by long, I mean hours. He calls my brothers asking about me and I should have seen it as a red flag. The guy just wanted to know everything I was doing but the naïve me thought that it was romantic.

I started getting ready to go back to Canada but Covid happened. I had to defer my semester and stay back home. We talked through everything everyday. He told me he loved me and everything was alright. We were so in love.