This is going to be in third person
Take paracetamol before reading oo, me too as I dey write the money and everything was touching my head, may Allah bless us with money like this, more than this sef, pray for us please right now, both in this dunya and akhira ameen
Call my name oo, say this author, Tohm, ameen
His feet took him to the source of light-the dining, where she sat with her back to him, she had cards in her hand, shuffling them like her life depended on it, but that wasn't what intrigued him, it was the fact that it was almost two am in the morning, but she sat there, playing cards? And that too alone
"It's late, what are you still doing awake?" Since the little incident at her graduation two weeks ago, they hadn't talked, but wasn't that how they were? She looked scared, placing a hand on her chest, she closed her eyes momentarily, she gave him a once over, dressed simply in a shortsleeved Moroccan thobe "I can't sleep" she looked at him, the orange chandelier light giving his olive tan skin a beautiful glow, she turned and continued shuffling the cards, she wasn't playing them, she was just shuffling
"Insomnia?" He asked pulling a seat, he couldn't sleep too, she scoffed "in a hundred years insomnia couldn't catch me" she joked, he smiled a bit "I sleep a lot, too much... it's just today" she relaxed still shuffling, he noticed her tensed shoulders "can I have that?" He pointed at the cards, she looked as though contemplating to give him, then stretched her hand to him, he assessed the cards
"They're question cards" he said realizing, she nodded, shuffling another set of Whot cards, he noticed the two other stacks of cards placed at the side "you're just shuffling?" He asked, she nodded, she settled for gestures "why?" It was ridiculous to him
"It takes my mind off the voices" she was still shuffling, he wanted to ask what voices but decided it would be better to carry on a civil conversation "why not something more calming, like Quran?"
"You think I've not tried? It stops working a few minutes in, I zone out or the voices get louder than the Quran" he yet again wanted to ask what voices
He looked as she pushed the card in her hand away and picked another stack "for how long have you been doing this?" He asked, looking through the cards in his possession "almost seven years" she clearly didn't understand his question "it's two am" he indirectly wanted an answer to his earlier question, her eyes widened for a second
"You're joking" she stopped shuffling, he brought out his phone showing her the time, her eyes looked at the lock screen first, a picture of Maya smiling widely, she sat on the floor looking up at him with a big grin, making her cheeks a bit chubby, Maya wasn't chubby nor slim, the picture poured out the emotions in it, pure, unadulterated love
1:52am it was in Arabic, though she couldn't speak fluently, but she could read fluently
"How long have you been here?" He asked putting the phone back "almost three hours, I came down eleven-ten" he nodded, they both kept quiet, he picked up a card then smiled, he turned the card and showed her, she leaned in to see, then smiled " I'd say everyday" she answered the question on the card "really?!" He had a small smile as he asked "mine would probably be the time you cussed out my entirety when I went to pick you up" she laughed, she did that everyday in her head, it was a routine now to cuss him every time she saw him, she half expected it to be when they had the little argument about her going out, that should've been his worst memory with her
He pushed the cards to the middle, a quiet suggestion they played the game, she picked up the card "one thing you would eat everyday, every meal" she had a smile, he thought for a while "Pasta with any type of seafood" she crinkled her nose at the mention of seafood "couscous" the thought of it alone brought a smile to her face "couscous?" He had a look of disagreement "don't tell me you don't like couscous?!" He smiled at her her surprise "not my choice of food" he shook his head "it's also a type of pasta" she said in a duh tone
