JANNAH

10: DIARY

Nigeria, Kano state.
15th June, 2015.
5:35pm.

On Wednesday, two days after Jannah's chance meeting with sheikh in the school cafeteria, she was doing the warmups she usually did before starting a sketch when Abbiey knocked on her door and came in.

"I have a visitor, come and greet him."

Jannah immediately put her sketching stuff aside and wore a black veil over her puff sleeved dress.

The person she saw chatting casually with her father in the living room made her stop dead in her tracks, her brain making an abrupt screeching halt.

When her eyes met his golden ones behind those rimless glasses, she gasped and turned around.

"Jannah, where are you going? Come and greet him." Abbiey asked, a gentle smile on his face.

Her back to them, Jannah sucked in a deep breath into her lungs, bore herself before she slowly turned, avoiding sheikh's gaze.

"Good afternoon." Jannah said, almost inaudible as she settled down next to abbiey on the couch.

"Good afternoon." Sheikh nodded his head.

"This is my daughter Jannah." Abbiey introduced, "She schools in BUK."

He knows everything abbiey, he knows. Jannah screamed in her head.

"Mashaa Allah, that's really great. Her face looks a bit familiar though, i have been going to BUK lately for some work, i probably saw her there."

Abbiey nodded his head, "Perhaps."

Jannah stood up and disappeared into the kitchen, after a moment she came back holding a tray.

She dropped it right in front of Sheikh and glared at him so hard and he smiled, watched her retake her spot beside her father. "What do you study?"

"You know it!" Jannah said and immediately bit her tongue, realizing the stupid slip of tongue she just did.

Abbiey furrowed his brows as he turned to look at her, "He knows?"

Jannah quickly let out a nervous laugh, "I thought he knew... i mean i thought you told him earlier when you mentioned my school."

They both chuckled at that. Sheikh casually asked her some few questions and she answered with equal energy, although, she wished she had the power to know all the thoughts in his head, of course she knew they were wild and twisted. Ya Allah! The man himself was twisted, she just couldn't understand why he'd do such a crazy thing.

When he informed them that it was time for him to leave, Abbiey smiled and said, "Thank you so much for this visit, Let me walk you out please."

They both got to their feet and sauntered out.

Jannah was anxiously pacing the living room when Abbiey came back, that glint of smile still in his tired eyes.

"Abbiey, who is that man?" Jannah asked, as casually as she could sound.

"His mother loved my programs, poor man he lost her a couple of years back, he said I'm a great mentor and meeting me in person has always been one of his wishes. Looks like it's finally been fulfilled today." Abbiey chuckled, "He's a good man, mashaa Allah. Its really hard to find well off people like him. Who would go out of their way to meet a one-time anchor just because they admired them?"