TALES OF THE HEART (EDITING)

chapter 18

Abuja

Aidah's POV

It's been two days since we returned to Abuja from Maiduguri. Only Mairam, Abdallah, Ayman, and I came back, along with Ya Ummi. Yassine, Sultana, and Khalifa are still in Maiduguri. The house feels unusually quiet, with everyone in their rooms minding their own business. Ammi is coming back from Maiduguri tomorrow, inshallah.

I'll be leaving for Florida in four days, inshallah. I'm feeling so bored and don't know what to do since Mairam has already finished packing, so it's pretty quiet around here. Yesterday, I took Sayyid out for a birthday dinner date, and we had such a great time! He was being so romantic, cheeky, and cheesy—it was really sweet!

Feeling bored, I decided to pay my sister Mairam a visit. We talked for a while, catching up on things. Afterward, I left her room and headed back to mine, still feeling restless. So, I decided to go out. I called Sayyid and asked if he was free, and he said yes. I mentioned that I was bored, and he replied that he'd come to pick me up in less than an hour.

I stripped off my clothes, wrapped a towel around myself, and headed into the bathroom for a shower. After ten minutes, I came out, dried myself, and applied my body cream. I checked my closet and pulled out a pair of blue denim jeans and a blue off-shoulder blouse from Zara. I picked a matching blue veil with peach stripes to complete the look.

I combed my hair and styled it into a low bun. After spritzing on some Dolce and Gabbana perfume, I grabbed my wallet and phone and headed downstairs to wait for Sayyid.

After ten minutes, Sayyid called to say he was outside. Just then, I saw Ayman coming down the stairs. "Where are you going?" he asked.

"Out."

He shrugged and muttered, "Okay, bye."

I stepped out to the parking lot and saw Sayyid leaning against his black Mercedes. Out of his four cars, he definitely loves his Mercedes the most. The others include a Jaguar XF, a BMW Series 7, and an Audi A6. Clearly, the guy is obsessed with cars!

He was wearing black jeans and a navy blue long-sleeve button-up shirt, topped off with a navy blue NY baseball cap.

"Hey," I said as I reached him where he was standing.

"Hey, beautiful," he smiled, opening the passenger door for me. After I got in, he went to his side and hopped in as well. We zoomed out of my compound, excitement buzzing in the air.

''Where are we going?'' I asked him.

"Somewhere," he replied, his gaze fixed on the busy streets.

"Somewhere, where?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.

"You know, you ask a lot of questions," he said, looking at me with a smirk playing on his lips.

I scoffed. "Oh really?"

He nodded. "Yeah, really."

"Have you met yourself? Seriously, I've never met anyone who could ask more questions than you, Sayyid!"

"Of course I've met me. The incredibly hot, sexy, dashing me," he said with a wink and a smirk.

I rolled my eyes playfully. "You're so full of yourself!"

We fell quiet for a while before I spoke again. "Seriously, Sayyid, where are we going?"

"Don't worry, you'll see. We'll be there soon," he said, taking a turn. From what I could tell, we were in Maitama, but I had no idea where we were headed.

We stopped at the gate of an apartment complex called "MR Grove." It sounded familiar—this was the flats that Sayyid designed. He had mentioned before that it was his first and favorite project.