This chapter is dedicated to fatymayna ! Lots of love darling ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

•

Orphaned at the early age of three, Najah was raised by her maternal grandparents. Her parents had passed away in a car crash.

Although she didn't feel the warmth of her parents, her grandparents did everything they could to fill the void in her heart. Although they couldn't give her all the love and attention she craved for, they provided her with all the material things she wanted.

At the age of thirteen, her grandfather passed away. Her grandmother's weak heart couldn't take it, resulting to her passing a month later.

Despite being taken in by her paternal uncle, Anas—the only person who was compassionate among her father's siblings—loneliness became Najah's companion. His wife, Aiza had three children with him; Emad being the eldest and the same age as her, then a set of twins, Hasan and Husain. Aiza was nice to Najah only when her husband Anas was around. In his absence, Najah was not more than a pariah. Her cousins weren't close to her either, probably because they had been brainwashed by their mother.

At fifteen, to Najah's delight, she was sent off to a boarding school to complete her studies.

After her SSCE and UTME, she gained admission into the university of Maiduguri, where she graduated with a second class lower division in business administration.

Her life changed when she met a middle-aged woman at a shopping mall and helped her take the goods she bought to her car. Hajiya Hauwa instantly took a liking of Najah and offered to be friends with her. She would hang out with Najah and sometimes, invite her over to her mansion and introduce Najah to her son.

On a fateful day, Hajiya Hauwa made her intention of wanting Najah for her only son known to her. Although Najah already saw it coming, she was taken by surprise. She didn't expect everything to move so fast, but at the same time, she was glad because she was attracted to him and he seemed like a responsible person.

It had always been Najah's dream to own a family-a family that consists of a husband and kids. She wanted to experience the feeling of loving and being loved in return, so when the opportunity presented itself to her, she grabbed it.

•

Najah's hand traced meaningless patterns from Jameel's forehead, down his lips; her fingers lingering on the soft flesh. He looked so peaceful, sleeping...so handsome.

Najah couldn't help but wonder why he was always distant. She wanted to know why he was distressed. She wanted to be able to help him overcome whatever anxiety he was dealing with. As his wife, she wanted to become his confidant. It hurt her to see him in so much misery.

"Why did you leave me?" Jameel unconsciously muttered. "JaFrah..."

A lone tear slipped out of Najah's eye. She took her hand off his face, and before she could move away from him, he grabbed her hand, making her fall on him.

Najah took in a sudden breath.

Jameel's eyes opened and in a split second, he pushed her off him.

Najah hit her elbow on the nightstand and winced in pain.

"I'm sorry," Jameel apologized. "I didn't mean to push you. Are you hurt?"

"My hand," she replied, holding her elbow, which was hurting badly.

Jameel rushed to the bedside drawer and brought out a balm.

"It's fine," she mumbled. "I have an ointment. I will apply it later."

"Please let me," he beseeched, moving closer to her.

Najah stayed still as her husband held her arm and gently applied the soothing oil on her elbow.

"I'm sorry," Jameel apologized again; his head lowered.

"Who is JaFrah?" The question emerged from Najah's mouth before she could stop it.

Jameel furrowed his brows and his grip around her arm loosened.

"You mentioned her a while ago." Najah continued. "Is she...is she the lady you were supposed to marry?"

"You will feel better in a few minutes." He said, ignoring her question, then stood up to leave.

"Jameel..." Najah's voice trailed. "How did she die?"

"I want to avoid talking about it."

Najah stood in front of him; her gaze fixated in his. "I just want to be able to lift some burdens off your shoulders. I know you've been going through a lot since her death, but you don't have to keep suffering alone. I'm here for you, Jameel-not as a wife, but as a friend. You are welcome to share your pains with me. You don't have to hold back on anything. Nothing at all. Remember, I'm your friend and not your wife." She held his hand and made him sit on the edge of the bed, then she sat beside him. "All I'm asking of you is to trust me. Please."

"I didn't believe in love until Afrah walked into my life," he began.

"I wasn't the type to dream, but I slowly found myself dreaming of a future for us. In my head, everything was already planned out-our dream home, kids, vacations...so many things. Afrah was the air I breathed. I couldn't imagine my life without her in it." His eyes glistened as he spoke. "I never thought I'd be able to go on without her. I loved her with everything in me. I still do. I will never be able to love anyone else. My Afrah left me without even saying goodbye."

Afrah swallowed; tears welling up in her eyes. Although she was the one who told him not to hold back any information, listening to him talk about another woman with so much love in his eyes broke her heart. All hopes that he would love her someday crumbled. "How did she.. Die?"

"Hajiya must have told you already. Her parents didn't want me for her because I belong to a different ethnicity. They are Nupe people. Majority of them don't allow their daughters to get married to people from other tribes. They believed I'm not good enough for their daughter. We took a covenant never to get married to anyone else. She asked me to stay away for some time, during which she'd convince her parents to allow us to be together, and I did. Despite how Impossible it seemed, I stayed away for a month and when I returned, I got the shocking news of her death. It took me a week to believe it. I was disheartened…broken. I didn't talk much anymore. I became more reserved than I used to be, distancing myself from everyone around me, including my mother.

"I preferred to isolate myself in my room and ponder over my life. My dreams were shattered. I lost interest in everything I used to like. I felt hopeless. I became miserable. I thought nothing mattered to me anymore until Hajiya fell sick. I was so scared of losing her, for she was the only one I had left in the world. The only reason I fought to go on every day."

Najah widened her eyes in an attempt to fight back tears. "Is that the reason you couldn't say no to her, when she asked you to marry me?"

He nodded. "I still feel horrible for breaking the promise I made to Afrah, but for as long as I live, I will never forgive myself. I will live with this guilt forever."

"Afrah must be a lovely lady." Najah smiled. "The way your eyes lit up when you talked about the memories you shared says it all."

"The loveliest," Jameel returned the smile. "No one can be like her."

•

Najah closed her bedroom door behind her and reclined against it.

Her eyes were filled with unshed tears of sadness. She wanted a family of her own, but with Jameel, she was afraid she was never going to get that. Her conversation with him made it crystal clear.

"I know what to do." She mumbled to herself.

In the evening, Najah made tuwon shinkafa and miyan taushe—Hajiya Hauwa's favorite food.

"Masha Allah, you're such a good cook, Najah," Hajiya praised. "It's been a long time since I had good food."

Najah smiled, gratified. Before her marriage to Jameel, she had enrolled herself in a cooking school, where she learned how to make different Nigerian and foreign delicacies.

"No wonder you hardly visit me anymore. Najah's food has been keeping you away from me." Hajiya Hauwa joked.

"Najah is an excellent cook, no doubts about that, but your food remains my number one." Said Jameel.

"You don't have to flatter me." Hajiya Hauwa scoffed. "Najah is a better cook than me."

Jameel shrugged. "I don't think so."

"But I do."

Listening to mother and son argue, Najah smiled. Hajiya Hauwa had become the mother she never knew-the mother she wished to have. She treated her with so much love and respect than Najah expected. With her mother-in-law around, Najah didn't have to worry about anything. In a short span of time, they had created a strong bond.

Najah finished eating and took the used plates to the sink.

Just when she was about to start washing, she felt Jameel's presence behind her, as he dropped his plates in the sink.

"Your hand must still be hurting. Let me wash the plates." Jameel offered.

"I can manage," she replied without turning to look at him.

"Okay...I'll help you rinse," he took one of the plates she had washed, but before he could put it in the water, she snatched it from him with so much force that the plate fell and shattered over the tiled floor.

"I told you to leave it!" Najah sighed. "See what you've caused now."

"I—"

"What happened he—" Hajiya Hauwa gasped at the sight of a broken piece of the plate stuck in her son's leg and blood gushing out from the cut. "You're bleeding, Jameel."

At the sight, Najah's breath hitched in her throat.

"It was an accident," Jameel replied, walking towards the exit of the kitchen. "I will just go to the room and wash off the blood."

"Let me," Najah excused herself. "Check up on him."

She made sure to mop the traces of blood on the floor before heading to his room which had temporarily become hers due to the presence of Hajiya Hauwa.

Jameel had already washed off the blood and covered the cut with a band aid when Najah walked in.

She wanted so badly to ask him how his foot was,, but she refrained herself and went to lie on the side of her bed instead.

"Najah," Jameel called in a subdued voice. "Are you alright?"

She snubbed him.

"Na-"

"Please, I'm feeling sleepy."

There was silence for a few seconds before Jameel broke it. "Goodnight."

Again, Najah chose to ignore him.

•

Najah's attitude towards Jameel worsened when Hajiya Hauwa left. All the things she used to do for him, she stopped. She no longer talked to him and whenever he would attempt to start a conversation with her, she would turn a deaf ear.

Jameel returned from work to Najah breaking the colognes in his bedroom.

Stunned, he stood at the entrance of the room.

"You're back!" Najah faked enthusiasm. "Sorry for the mess, I didn't know you'd return early today."

"What's this madness about?"

"Madness?" Najah chuckled humorlessly. "This isn't madness! Madness is living with someone you don't share a relationship with. Someone who wants someone else in your place. That is what madness is."

"So this is about the conversation we had the other day?" He asked. "If you knew you wouldn't be able to take it, why did you ask me about her? I only opened up to as a friend. Instead of you to understand me like I expected, you changed. Is this how a friend is supposed to behave? I'm disappointed."

"I'm sorry." Tears welled up in Najah's eyes. "I'm sorry if my actions have hurt you in any way. When you told me about the covenant you took with Afrah and how you're still living with the guilt of not keeping it, I felt bad. I felt equally guilty. I may not know Afrah, but what I'm sure of is that you still love her a lot even in death. I don't want to get in the way of that love, that's why I've been trying everything in my power to provoke you into divorcing me. Maybe you'd find peace then. I don't want you to keep punishing yourself over this. It hurts me anytime I see you in pain."

"I knew it." Jameel walked into the room and towards a crying Najah. "I knew you were putting up a charade when I walked in on you breaking my stuff. Though I have only known you for a year, I know you'd never act like that even when provoked. You aren't that kind of person. You're too courteous. And about what you said earlier, you're wrong. We may not share a marital relationship, but we do have a relationship-that of friendship. I have lost my love, I don't want to lose my friend."

•

Assalamualaikum/hello!

Matters of the heart indeed 😩

Question of the day
Do you believe there are good mothers in law?

Najah is really one of a kind. Who else likes her? I personally like her relationship with Jameel 😁

Do you see Jameel falling in love for the second time? 🧐🚶🚶

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