Within these walls

Chapter 18

"I hope this new job doesn't require you moving?"

"And if it does?" I asked, pausing my fork halfway to my mouth.

"I hope it doesn't. I mean we just got into a relationship long-distance will take a toll on it," he added.

"You sound very selfish sha, because you know how much this job means to me. I can't believe you want me to put what we have before it," I ate my food and turned my head sideways.

"Subhanallah, how did you even arrive at this conclusion? You more than anyone knows that I support your dreams and will always want you to win. I just wanted to know if you will be around or not and as hard as long-distance is, I am down to doing it because I want to be with you," he concluded.

I just continued eating without saying a word. That was our first misunderstanding and I didn't expect it to happen this early, to be honest. Maybe I shouldn't have jumped on what he said and assume that he doesn't want me to succeed but I just can't help it.

One of my toxic traits is always fighting over the silliest things. In trying to find a balance between not being disrespected as a woman and creating boundaries, I have used fighting as a coping mechanism.

"Are you done?" he asked, after a while.

"Yes," I gave a simple reply.

So, the thing is I am feeling guilty of accusing him but then again, I still think he should have worded his statement better. Therefore, for now, I am not apologizing.

AbdulJalal paid the bill and we left the restaurant, there goes our date that started well. The ride to my house was quiet.

"Why are you mad at me?" he asked.

"I am not mad at you," I mumbled.

"Well, why aren't you talking to me then?" he inquired further.

"I just don't feel like talking. Besides, you are also not talking to me," I shrugged.Instead of keeping the conversation going, this man turned on the radio. I guess two can play this ignoring game, I mused. I bade him and uptight farewell and went inside when he dropped me.

It has been two days since our little fight with AbdulJalal and we are officially not talking. I mean we talk, the occasional good morning and have a nice day text happens every day, but I haven't heard his voice In the last few days and I miss him.

I know I should reach out because I was the one at fault, but my stubborn self has refused to. Today is the third day, I came down from my high horses and decided to be the bigger person and call him. This man didn't pick, I shouldn't have called him.I packed my bags after that unsuccessful call and head out of the office for home. There he was outside my office speaking to AK, laughing with all his teeth. I guess someone didn't miss me, I mused in my mind.

I intended to walk away like the child that I am sometimes. But I didn't want AK guessing anything, so, I put up my best smile and went to them.

"Madam is here, let me go before she starts throwing a tantrum that I am taking away your time," teased AK. He went ahead to bid AbdulJalal goodbye and walked away.

"Hi stranger," he said with that nonsense smile that gets to me.

"Hi yourself," I said absently.

"See I am not here to fight you, I am here for peace. I brought cake sef as a peace offering. Are you down to talk?"

I opened his driver's seat, sat down and looked at him without saying a word.

"Why are you ignoring me? What did I do?"

"I am not even sure I know," I sighed.

"So, is this how you work? You misunderstand my words and instead of asking for clarification you get mad. Then you extend it to ghosting me for days, just because you feel like it? Is this something I should expect in the future?"

"See AbdulJalal, you just dropped the bomb of not wanting to do long distance on me and it freaked me out. Even though the job is here and I won't be moving out, I felt like if a better job comes up in the future, you will force me to choose between being with you and my dreams. That made me panic about the kind of person you might be and I went crazy on you." I explained.

"Well, I am sorry but that wasn't my intention. Salima you are good at what you do and even if you are not, every human should have a fair playing ground of chasing their dream. I will be a monster to hold you back and if you ever have to move, I hope we can find a middle ground to work around something."

"Alright, all is forgiven," I said and reached for the cake box on his passenger seat.

"Woah, not so fast, you owe me an apology for going silent on me in the last two days ma'am," he said and snatched the box from me.

"Okay, I am sorry for ignoring you," I rolled my eyes.

"That is not how to apologize sha but because I am a kind man that loves you, I will accept your apology. Quick question though, if I didn't show up today, how long would have your silence last?"

"Well, I called you earlier, I was also tired of it and I wanted to reach out and squash the beef, but you didn't pick up." I shrugged.

"Women, all this wahala for no reason," he said with a laugh.

"What was that?" I asked with my mouth half full with the cupcake.

"Nothing," he shrugged.