Dried Ink

31

Pulling up in front of her department, Karima sighed deeply. If Anas were here, things would have been so much easier. But loosing him is what made her come to the department in the first place.

She needed time to heal, and school wasn't helping her.

She knocked on her level adviser's door and pulled it open gently only when she got the confirmation to come in.

"Good morning ma" she greeted bending slightly as a sign of respect.

Mrs. Hadiza looked at her with pity. Another reason she has to do this.

"Karima, how are you? Take a seat" Mrs. Hadiza directed.

"I'm fine Alhamdulillah ma'am. How is work?" she greeted.

"You guys are a handful but we're managing" she chuckled a little.
"What can I do for you?" she asked seeing as Karima didn't find what she said funny.

"I uh, I have been thinking of taking a break so I came to ask you the best way I could do it" Karima informed.

"Break? You have just one semester left, don't you think it'll be better if you just finished it and get it over with?" she asked.

"I have my personal reasons. Ones which you know and I've lost almost two months of this semester. I haven't even started my project" Karima explained.

"I'm really sorry about what happened" Mrs Hadiza said.

Karima nodded her head.

"You can only defer the session, and that defeats the high scores you got during your first semester" Mrs Hadiza said.

"How do I go about it? I'm fine with doing that. Thank you very much"

After explaining the process, Mrs Hadiza helped her out with the outline of the letter and tried to convince her against it one more time but Karima has made up her mind.
Everything was difficult for her.

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She honked at the gate and the gate man opened up. She found space to park next to Abdallah's car.

She had been living with Lara and Abdallah for the past two weeks since she deemed herself healthy enough to leave the house.

She made sure to knock on the door to the living room since she saw Abdallah's car parked outside.

Abdallah moved from Kano to Sokoto to be with his wife while she completes her school and she was shamelessly living with them.

She went to the dining room and took a glass of water before making her way to Lara's room.

The door to Lara's room was open and she was about to go in when she heard her name come up. She abruptly stopped in her tracks.

"Baby Karima would be back soon" Lara complained.

"I know that's why I came home extra early. I never get an alone time with you these days" he mirrored her voice while trying to get her to relax in his hold.

"Didn't you hear the gate?" she asked him.

"Could have been the neighbors. Please relax, you know I don't like being touchy-feely with you when she's here. I feel extremely guilty" Abdallah explained.

"That's exactly how I feel. I can't even be a loyal friend. I moved in with you instead of going back to the hostel with her" Lara began to cry.

Abdallah held her in place, he knew how much his wife and her friend loved each other. And he got along really well with Anas.
Sometimes, when he wants to get angry about the fact that he can't get his way with his wife freely, he puts himself in Karima's shoes and his mindset changes immediately.

"Shhhhh, babe don't cry please. She'll be fine, we'll be fine" he hugged her closer to himself.

Karima quickly ran back to the room she was staying with tears in her eyes. She had no idea this was what Lara and Abdallah felt.

She notices how Lara would sometimes not give Abdallah the attention he needed like staying up with her all night but Abdallah never complained.

She wiped her tears. In deed Lara is her friend and Abdallah was the best for her. New tears fell from her eyes as she imagined if all things would have turned out this way if Anas was still alive.

She cleaned up her tears when her phone rang.

K was displayed on the screen and she gingerly picked.

"Uncle Khalifa" she greeted.

"Hey love, I received your text. What's this about you differing the session?" He asked.

"I can't do this without him Uncle Khalifa. I still miss him so so much, I think about him everyday" Karima explained before bursting into tears.
She has been doing so much of that recently.

"KK, shhhhh, calm down. Stop crying, I'll help. It's going to be fine In Sha Allah. I have this doctor friend, I think you should see a professional" Uncle Khalifa advised.

"Like a therapist?" She sniffed

"Yes KK, he could help " Uncle Khalifa said.

"I don't know Uncle K" she said unsure.

"Please just think about it" He begged and she agreed.

"Do you want me to come get you?" He asked.

"No, not yet, I'd like to go to Abuja first" She told him.

"What? Why?" He asked.

"I need to go and clear out the house"

"Oh" Uncle Khalifa said silently.
"Should I come with?" He asked.

"No. It's totally fine. Thank you" she smiled.

"Whatever you need KK, I'm always here" he said and she nodded. Tears already welling up in her eyes.

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"Hey! I didn't hear you come in" Lara said peeking her head in the room before proceeding further into the room.

Karma raised turned completely to face her.
"I was having a slight headache so I just decided to rest a little first" Karima lied.

Lara was quick to place her palm on her friends forehead to see if she also has a fever.

She frowned a little.
"You don't have a fever. would you like some pain killers?" She asked.

Karima shook her head in negation.
"I'm fine. I just needed rest"

"Okay. Take a bath then come have lunch, we're waiting for you" Lara said leaving the room.
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"I'll be leaving on Sunday" Karima announced.

"Aren't you guys in the middle of the semester?" Abdallah asked quizzically.

"Yeah. I differed the session"

"what?" Lara asked dropping her fork aggressively.
"Why the fuck will you do that?" She screamed.

"Language, Lara" Karima scolded.

"That's beside the point, why the hell didn't you tell me?"

"Because I know you would act like this you idiot"

"Don't test me Karima Suleiman Galadima"

"It's a little too late for that Mrs Abdallah"

Lara's next words were stuck in her throat as she blushed like a new bride.

"Mrs Abdallah calm down lets hear her reason" Abdallah smirked at his wife.

"Not you too baby" Lara whined.

So guys, I've been having issues with my phone. Three phones spoilt within the span of two months, I'm still here though, still phoneless. But I'd try to update regularly.
Hope y'all are fine??????