ZAFIRA

Chapter Nine

It was a Saturday morning. Zubayr was already in the living room watching a movie.

"To get his mind off yesterday's drama I guess..."
Zafira said turning to Aliya.

"I don't know."
Aliya shrugged.

"I have to do this. I have to apologize."
Zafira told Aliya.

"Goodluck Best friend. I'll be right behind you."
Aliya said.

Zafira stepped forward only for Zubayr to speak first.

"I'm sorry for the way I acted last night. I really didn't mean to. I've been trying to leave that computer and that phase of my life in England. I guess what they say is true. You can't run away from your problems. You have to face them."
Zubayr said contritely.

Zafira was astounded. A smile formed on Aliya's lip as she hugged her brother.

"Why didn't you say a word about it? I'm your sister, you could have shared it with me?"
Aliya asked feeling left out by her brother.

" So it's like they say;
A man's ego takes a hit when a woman tries to lend a hand."
Aliya added batting an eyelid.

"I didn't want to talk about it so I decided to keep it to myself... I thought I could handle it."
Zubayr said regretfully.

"A problem shared is a problem half solved. Zafira was right when she felt you were acting so unfriendly & reserved. So there was something wrong after all!"
Aliya said staring pitifully at her brother.

"I'm sorry. I really am, for being so uptight and vile these past few days."
Zubayr said apologetically.

"It's okay. I'm glad my brother's back. I missed you."
Aliya said giving him a hug.

"I'm sorry I meddled. I didn't really like the way you shouted at Alee the other day and I just found you so strange."
Zafira said.

"Thank you for helping me lift this of my chest! I really am sorry for the way I've been acting."
Zubayr said with a smile on his face.

Zafira saw his smile for the first time, it was the cutest smile she'd seen in years.

"But the file was a Trojan horse.
A malware and the antivirus software had long expired."
Zafira added.

"What! A tro... What?"
Zubayr exclaimed in shock.

"But James, my colleague assured me he had updated it. I trusted him to an extent so I didn't bother checking. I was so busy with work I totally forgot about it."
Zubayr said trying to recall.

"Yes it could be sent to a computer. It's a program apparently innocent, but carrys a string of codes instructing the computer to carry out a specific damaging instruction at some later time."
Zafira said assuringly.

"James Okafor! Now I'm starting to get the whole picture."
Zubayr said.

"Could he have installed it?"
Zafira asked curiously.

"Could he? No why would he do that?"
Zubayr asked himself.

"But we got along fine. No! No! No! James couldn't have..."
He added.

"I'll just ask my security friend to mail me the CCTV footage from that day, before the meeting."
Zubayr said curiously. Now he wanted to know more than ever what really happened.

After making a phone call, Zubayr logged into his e-mail account and just then he received a mail. It was a the CCTV footage he had asked for. James could clearly be seen tampering with Zubayr's computer.

"What a snake!"
Zubayr exclaimed in disgust.

"This is the height of cruelty and selfishness. Damn!"
Aliya said banging the table.

"And envy! He was probably intimidated by how good Zubayr is. Jerk!"
Zafira added.

"At least I know I did my best. My trust in him he betrayed."
Zubayr said with a sigh of relief.

"Thanks once again Zafira. I'll forever be grateful."
He added with a big smile on his face.

Aliya was thankful and proud of her friend. She couldn't ask for a better best friend. Zafira had sloved Zubayr's problem and they all learnt a lesson.

"There's a limit to how much you can trust a person."

"I'll see to it that he's punished for this when I return to England. I sure will."
Zubayr said assuringly.

Zubayr was genuinely happy and relieved. He smiled as Aliya embraced Zafira out of joy. Zafira was glad she helped and succeeded in putting a smile on Zubayr's face.