Thorns and Roses

3

  Dartmouth,Devon, England. 10:00am

"I am Captain A Nurrain from the Nigerian Navy." Ahmed Nurrain introduced himself, sliding his hands into that of the Mayor of Dartmouth.
With a smile on both their faces; Ahmed Nurrain and the council members sat down.

"So Captain Nurrain, have you seen the reports?"

"Yes I have; you see, I am here for a course and that is not a part of my job. I can only help deduce the report." He explained.

"We can pay you for that. I promise we won't take much of your time, just a few weeks and we are done." The mayor urged.

"How much and how long are we talking about?" Nurrain said after a few seconds of silence.

"Three weeks and you name the amount."

A smile found its way to Nurrain's face. A typical white man, he thought.

"Okay, I shall send you a mail and printed files. Till then."

"Thank you Major A Nurrain. We appreciate you."

They shook hands Nurrain excused himself.

With his hands holding a file of the reports; Nurrain walked into his car. Work here has been pretty hectic albeit calm. Every first three days of a week is chaos; him driving to and fro. From the Royal Navy Command and staff  college to University of Plymouth to do a few researches.

He unlocked the car and slide in relieving his hands from the bunch of papers. Just then a call from Maleeka came through. He smiled, a deep one from the depths of his heart.

"Hola my love."

"Heyy." She replied, her voice a bit coarse, a sign that she woke up not too long ago.

"How are you feeling?"

"Better. I had a deep sleep; woke up to your calls."

He could sense the off vibes coming from her voice. He wants to ask her why she is in a foul mood, to tell her it's Qadr and then say a few words he told her yesterday but he couldn't bring himself to.

He solemnly believe in letting people process their emotions and learning how to deal with it. Especially in times like this.

"Do you want some space to curl back into your duvet?" He lifted his hands to check the time. Given that Nigeria is one hour ahead of England.

"It's still 11:15am; a few hours before zuhr." He added.

"I will do just that. We will talk."

"I love you."

"I love you more baby girl."

With a silent sigh, he dropped the call and drove off.

                                 *********

Abuja, Nigeria

The beautiful rays of the sun flashed through the windows; showcasing the different shades of the curtain.
It's morning and Maleeka is still contemplating on seeing the therapist. She is fine, she silently thought to herself. It was just an emotional moment for her and she is better now.

"Ensure to go to the therapist" a message notification popped on her screen, it was Dr Zahida.  She rolled her eyes and folded the praying mat. She should give a try, hopefully she gets good results from today.

Her bath usually takes less than 30minutes given the nature of her work but today, she let the warmth of the water reach every crevice of her bone.

Afterwards, she dressed up in a comfortable two piece she bought from a vendor on the gram, sprayed a calm scented perfume and tried calling her husband. After two tries, she left a message reading "I am heading out for my first therapy session. Take care, I love you soo much and have a nice day."