The Precious Figure

Chapter 19

"He said that I'm too short and my nose is flat...that our children won't be beautiful," Rofi'at said in a high-thin voice and we all yelled in disgust.

"Really? You mean he called off your marriage because of your looks?" Zuwayrah widened her eyes in shock and disbelief.

The room fell silent as we were all perplexed and flabbergasted. "You're surprised abi? Oyaa, hear my own. My own fiancé said that getting married will be a waste of genotype. Because we're both AA." Aisha said and we all burst into laughter.

"Na lie!" Zulaikha laughed in disbelief. "Hear my own. He said that I'm fake. That my hair, my eyes...everything is fake. The surprising thing is that he didn't return my texts or pick my calls. It was when we called for a family meeting that he said all these. The question is, didn't he see me before proposing?"

I cleared my throat and processed what to say. "He said he hates the hijab. Ejo, was his eyes blind when he approached me for the first time? Didn't he see me putting on the hijab?" I rolled my eyes and the ladies yelled in anger.

"Shey he thought that he'll be able to convince you to remove the hijab when he wins your heart? Men sha!" Mu'minah twitched her lips in rejection.

It was the 'Ladies' Night'organised by the Muslimahs' society and we all gathered in 'Aatiyah's room to hang out and discuss personal issues. She occupied a room in her uncle's house (who was also a lecturer in the university) and her room was wide enough to accommodate ten women.

Plates of biscuit, prawn crackers and groundnut was placed in front of us and our paper cups was filled with cold zobo drink.

"I didn't experience any of these oo. I met my husband when I was in my second year and we got married some few months after. We had our twins last year," Zaynab smiled and the ladies cheered in excitement.

"Same here oo. I met my olowo ori mi through my elder brother. He assured me that his friend is really nice...and he was right. We got married last month and I've found no fault in him. I know there's no perfect man, and we're also not perfect. But Allah has joined us to perfect each other," Sumayyah narrated.

"I agree with you, sister. One brother that I have boasted about spending the rest of life with called me one afternoon. I thought he wanted to introduce me to some of his relatives but guess what? He said that he cannot proceed with the wedding preparations because he had fallen out of love with me. Allah replaced him with someone better."

"'Alhamdulillah. Aatiyah, you nko?" Summayah pointed at her as she took a handful of groundnut from the plate.

"I've never been in a relationship. I haven't found the one yet... but I would, In Sha Allah, with Allah's guidance. I think all these balls down to istikharah...seeking Allah's guidance..."

"I need to go to the corridor," Raqibah whispered, showing me her phone.