Beyond Desire

2-This is the part where I introduce myself to y'all.

JALILAH'S POV

"You are kidding right?" Mahir's poker-faced expression made it difficult for me to figure out whether he was quipping or not.

Then he turned to Hajiya mama and belabored the same question without even bothering to give attention to my reaction. "She's kidding right?"

For some reason, I felt the need to notify one of them before taking a quick trip to the restaurant to have a moment with that anonymous someone. So fast forward, I had picked out every item on her list and was seated in my car, face-timing Mahir before I zoomed off. But as my luck would have it, two of the only three senses of reasoning in my life were together so of course they were going to lecture sense into the rational part of my brain.

"It's not even some off-the-radar spot, no sane person can pull any tricky act there" I lamented, shoving a spoonful of salad into my mouth.

"Right?" Mahir nodded like he genuinely comprehended the point I just made. But then went ahead and uttered what typical Mahir would say. "But an insane person will. Right?" 

"Hajiya, aren't you going to say something?" She had been silent the whole time, assumably just playing the usual Candy Crush on her mobile but I was sure she had been listening in on our Chatter. Since Mahir isn't being helpful, I might as well hear what she had to say.

"By all means, go ahead and get yourself kidnapped. I am sure your father will be thrilled to hear about this" She doesn't even take her eyes away from her phone.

"You know what..." I dropped the salad bowl and picked up my phone from the dashboard. "I will just come home"

"No, you just have fun, I will go ahead and prepare your funeral speech" That was Mahir, and he hung up before I could even come up with a reply. Not that I could come up with one smart response anyway. I wasn't that good with the sarcasm thing like they were.

I hit the ignition and was about to steer out of the parking lot when my phone rang. "What!" I exclaimed after picking up as I had already glanced at the caller ID.

"Allah ya bamu hakuri (may Allah grant us patience) and a good private investigator to track you down"

"Fuck you Mahir" I plopped the phone on the passenger's seat beside me and set out on the trip back home.

On getting home, I was welcomed by a vast amount of cars scattered around the premises. Knowing they probably belonged to my father's associates, I decided to sneak in through the back door instead.

The last thing I wanted was to fake a smile while greeting an endless list of humans and acting welcoming when in reality I didn't care about them. In my defense, neither do they. So sidestepping the whole encounter is of benefit to everyone.

I waltzed into Mahir's room which was the closest to the back entrance.

"Please tell me you did not give him our address" Those were the first words that evaded his lips as he stared away from his system to face me.

"What? I am not that silly" I frowned, balling my eyes at him.

"Well, at least you ratify the fact that you are silly, just not that silly. So come sit beside me and enlighten me, how many red flags did you ignore?" He jolted up from the bed.

With an inscrutable face, I muttered. "I have no intentions whatsoever, of dating him"

Guess who didn't believe me?

"Oh come on, I am sure your mom will love him. Did you get his name, number, and background check?"

Mahir.

"I am going to my room, I can't endure being in your presence, I might end up throwing up" Dramatically, I sauntered out of his room and aimed for the stairs.

"Like you did in fourth grade when you were entrusted to act Cinderella?" He wailed after me.

"I hate you" I muttered under my breath and clambered the stairs straight to my own space.

By now, you might be wondering who is even older between myself and Mahir. Well, this is the part where I introduce myself to y'all.

I am a twenty three years old stay at home daughter of General Mai who had been recently assigned as a minister of defense. I am highly spirited but due to my father's work ethic, I had been forcefully impeded from engaging in certain activities, especially ones that involve the populace which had led me to build a social media audience instead. Together with my younger brother, whose name shall not be mentioned, we live here in Maitama, Abuja. But originally as my mother said, we are from Zamfara. We never set foot there though, due to security motives. I am an advocate for peace and justice and I never fail to pass that point across any time the need arises for that, hence what brought about my influencing journey on Instagram.

My brother though is the exact opposite of me when it comes to lifestyle. You wouldn't even know Major Mai has a son unless you read a profound biography of his. Yes, that's how private the idiot is.

I had barely made it up the stairs and was roaming the hallway when he, whose name shall not be mentioned, attacked me again.

"Can you not let me breathe sterile air for a minute"

"What the heck did you do? I told you not to tag me in your nonsense!" He bemoaned following me into my room and making himself comfortable on my beanbag.

"Come in and feel right at home" I eyed his shoes. He knew how much I loathe having footwear all over my carpet.

"Untag me out of this bullshit. I do not desire to be a part of it"

"Stop fretting, not like someone is going to get access to your profile, it's private" I rolled my eyes at his overly dramatic nature.

I had tagged him in a baby picture of him I found in the library last night and he was just seeing that now.

"Uh uh," His voice pulled me out of the trance-like state and I raised the question "Why?"

"When was the last time you checked your Instagram?" He inquired, still staring wide-eyed at his phone.

"A few hours ago, why?" I inched toward him to have a glimpse.

He hauled his phone away, "you are not going to like this"

*************

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