Labiba

Chapter 11

Chapter 11
Labiba's POV

A Cold War has been brewing between me and Salim since the day I was brought to his house, I'm well aware of it and so is he. The only difference is that Salim suddenly finds pleasure in pushing my buttons and I, on the other hand, try desperately to avoid him. He doesn't let me do that though.

The day I was brought in, I didn't pay attention to the environment or the type of house I would be living in for the next six months. After Salim prayed and placed a kiss on top of my head, I had allowed myself to cry once more and then never again. I had pulled out my phone and opened the Maps app to check the exact location I was brought to because I never discussed this with Salim. All I knew was that we were supposed to be in an estate, so imagine my shock when I saw the layout of the house in Maps and I realised that this was actually a single flat.

The house is large enough and beautiful, everything about it is modernised and I'm sure Salim spent a fortune on getting this house. There are four self contained bedrooms, two living rooms, a modern kitchen adjoined with a dining room and when I went out to see the premises of the house through the backdoor, I realised there's a garden and there are a few plants planted there. I recognised mint, rosemary and basil. I made a mental note to find out what the rest were and I did later that night.

Unlike me, Salim has obviously been living a dream since I came because he enjoyed torturing me and playing mind games with me. He hasn't gone out to work since the first Monday I was brought and we're now in our second week. I usually eat early to avoid staying with him while he's eating but still, whenever he's at home, he practically forces me to sit with him at the dining table as he eats his food or in the living room as he watches his favourite TV programmes. In the beginning, I was uncomfortable with this arrangement but eventually I got used to it. There was a day I refused to cook just so I wouldn't sit with him on the table but he went out and came back with take outs from God knows where and still made me sit with him.

During the first week, mummy sends us food twice every single day but Salim never looks at it because just like him, I prefer eating the food I cooked. I once coldly asked why he wouldn't eat the food sent from his family house and he told me it was not mummy that cooked it. I asked how he arrived at that conclusion and he told me that one of their relatives was sick and that mummy was always with them at the hospital so he was sure she wasn't the one cooking, it had to be the cook in their house then.

I sit in the living room, waiting for him to come out so that I'll ask him to go and bring Laila, I'm tired of staying all alone in the house.

I hear his voice faintly from the corridor "Yes, thank you." He's on the phone as he makes his way towards the two seater and sits beside me, placing his hand on my lace cladded thigh. I turn around to glare at him but his attention is not on me so I simply move my thigh away and he ignores that by putting his palm back on his thigh. He looks so calm as if this whole thing is perfectly normal. Men are so shameless. "I'll send you the details later." He pauses to listen to the other person. "Okay, bye."

"Can you please go and bring Laila?" I say to him. "I'm bored out of my mind, at least Idan tana nan I know I have a purpose and she will keep me busy."

"No." He says as he types away on his phone. I stand up to leave the living room when he continues. "Because we're travelling to Kano."

"You and Laila?" I'm very sure that's not what he means but I just want to get a reaction out of him. It worked, because he stops typing to stare at me.

"No, Labiba. You and I." He says simply.

"If it's supposed to be a honeymoon, you could do better than Kano."