Love And Revenge✔️

Six

Rumy sank deeper into the couch, trying to focus on the TV, though her mind drifted occasionally to Fuad. Lately, they'd been running into each other a lot—at first, she had let him believe it was all coincidence. To him, maybe it was. To her, most of it had been carefully planned.

She was seated in the living room with Sarah, Maryam, and Jabir. They were watching TV and chatting quietly. Baba would be coming to Kaduna again tomorrow, and Rumy's thoughts flickered between that and her next move with Fuad.

"Let's watch Frankenstein," Sarah suggested, her voice bright.

"First of all, we've watched it already, and secondly, Jabir is only into action movies," Rumy replied, rolling her eyes.

"Okay. But all we've been doing is watch episode after episode of Blacklist. Not to mention he's rewatched the series three times already. I'm tired," Sarah complained.

"Then watch it on your laptop—or go to one of the five other living rooms in this house, or any of the twelve bedrooms. They all have TVs and decoders," Jabir said coldly, not looking up from his phone.

Rumy stood, annoyed. "Why do you always have to treat her that way?" she asked, glancing at him in disbelief.

"She's annoying, very spoilt, and dumb," he said simply, still typing.

"How are you two friends?" she asked, incredulous.

"Because I'm also spoilt and dumb," she replied sarcastically. Jabir finally looked up, a dumbfounded expression on his face.

"I didn't mean it that way. You're different," he said quickly.

"We're best friends, so that definitely means we're the same, don't you agree?" she teased.

"Don't misinterpret my words, alright?"

"Then don't insult her," she said, turning back to the TV.

"But you two aren't the same. She's intolerable," he muttered.

"If you remember clearly, intolerance is what got me into this situation," she shot back, eyes still on the screen.

"But I'm not him," he said.

"But you shouldn't be him for her either," she countered, smirking.

Jabir paused for a moment, then asked, "So... what's your next move?"

"You'll see, soon enough," she said mysteriously, enjoying his brief moment of uncertainty.

"Well... can I change the channel?" Maryam's voice broke through, and both of them turned to look at her, realizing she had been quietly observing the whole time.

"Go ahead," Jabir said, stepping aside, and Rumy allowed herself a small, satisfied smile.

•

Fuad was growing impatient. He couldn't sit for a single minute without thinking about her. He had told himself that once Rumaisa forgave him, he could move on with Hadiza and finally put the past behind him. But no—she had forgiven him, yet she still crowded his thoughts relentlessly.

What if she never forgives me?
Why should that bother me?
Why am I letting it bother me?
And why the hell am I still thinking about it now?

He knew the truth: he was lying to himself. His feelings weren't gone—not yet, at least.

He sank into the couch in his quarters, trying to push the thoughts away. A knock on the door pulled him from his reverie. He slowly got up and opened it.

"What?" he asked, trying to sound curt.

"Well, I was worried," Fatima said.

"Why?"