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[B]

“It’s simple, you’ll name her with any name of your choice, we will love it nevertheless.” Could he ever find someone that would love him as Sulaiman did?

He stood up because he had to get back to his work, “I don’t think it’s too early to thank you, Man. It’s not like I have friends, I would’ve said you’re my best friend. But out of all my cousins, I kind of like you the most.” Instead of a handshake, he patted his shoulder and he could see the grin that was painted on Sulaiman’s cheeks.

“Just say you love me, idiot. I promise I won't tell Ilham that you do.”

Yazeed threw his head back and laughed, for a moment, he thought about Jalilah and wondered how she would have acted if she had seen him now. The way he was laughing freely and talking as if he wasn’t the Yazeed she wanted so bad to see him smile. “I don’t do men, thanks for the offer though!” He practically sprinted out of the office because he knew the comeback would forever not be sweet on him, it had never been.

He walked into the office with a hint of a smile on his lips, he loved the way Sulaiman was able to calm him down whatever the situation was. And no matter how worse he thought the situation was, whenever he spoke with him, he felt relieved and felt he could do that.

She looked up at him and there was this cool smile playing on her lips, “You look happy, perks of having a rich dad.”

He smiled and shook his head before he sat on his chair and looked at her, “What made you thought of that? I’m from Sulaiman’s office, nothing related to the CEO.”

She dramatically rolled her eyes and nodded, “Nothing related with the CEO, this is the CEO’s son acting as if the CEO wasn't that big of a deal. And about the HR, when is his wife giving birth, she's such a nice woman.”

“We just spoke about it, he said in a week or two, Insha Allah.” He informed and she nodded her head.

“I wish her a quick delivery. I will be invited to the naming ceremony, right? I'm so bored of staying in my apartment whenever I’m not at work. I don’t know anywhere or anyone in Abuja.” She made a whiny face and Yazeed held his chuckle.

“You didn't know anywhere in Abuja or you choose not to? You can just search it up on google and the google map will take you everywhere you want.” He didn’t know what had gotten into him with speaking this way with her. Wasn’t he supposed to act like she wasn’t there so he could keep her sake?

“You always make me tired at work, I can’t find time to explore the city. And on weekends, well, I guess I'm so lazy to do that. I take care of myself and my apartment and watch some movies.”

“What kind of movies do you watch? And no, I'm not the one making you tired, you exhaust yourself with your craziness.”

“And now he's saying I'm crazy,” she made a sad face but answered him nonetheless. “I watch Korean dramas like I have nothing else to watch but them.”

“There's this new movie coming out, not a promise, if I feel like it, I can take you to watch it. Watching those Korean dramas is sickening, too much unrealistic fantasies.” He scrunched up his face and when he looked away from her, that was when he realized what he had done. He told her he was going to take her out for a movie!

“Oh my amazing god! Please make it a promise, and for the naming ceremony, don’t make it seem as if I forget. If you don’t invite me, I’ll haunt you in your dreams.” She grinned widely and he nodded his head with a soft smile. He wanted this to stop, he wanted to stop himself before he could be able to stop her. But with each minute he spent with Jalilah, she kept making it so hard for him to act up.

They kept working, and when it was time for zuhr prayer, he stood up and stared at her. How she looked so immersed in her work with her brows brought up in concentration as she flipped through the papers and tapped her keyboard. “Let’s go to the mosque.”

She looked up at him then back to her laptop with a sly smile on her lips, “I think I'll just warm the food before you’re back.” What did that mean? He was about to ask her why she wasn’t going to pray when it clicked into his brain. From the way, she wasn’t looking at his face and she had her eyes fixed on the screen even though he was sure she wasn’t working, she seemed shy.

“Okay, I'll be back then,” he said and walked out of the office.

Jalilah followed his retreating back and when he disappeared from her sight, she heaved a sighed and began fanning herself with her hand. She had never been this embarrassed her whole life. Like she had planned on how to answer him when he asked her this but she had never thought it could be this embarrassing. She didn't miss the way his eyes flicked when it registered into his brain what she meant when she said that.

A call came through and she slid the answer button without looking at the caller’s ID. “Hey, is everything fine? You aren’t out for prayer.”

Oh, that was Wafiyya. She thought it was Farha so she could start rambling on here about the current situation, but it turned out she wasn’t the one. “Oh, yeah, Wafiyya, I'm on my period and I have some work to finish, I would have come down to see your face.”

She giggled and Jalilah could imagine how she was shaking her head, “It’s not like you miss me, it has been less than 24hrs when we last met. I'll see you maybe tomorrow? Could you stop by at my office?”

“Oh, yes, that will be great!” They spoke for a few seconds before they ended the call and Jalilah stood up to the microwave. She loved the way they had found a corner and positioned the microwave there. That’s where she kept the basket and they had a mini kitchen there.

She crouched down and brought out the disposable plates she used in warming their food and served before she put everything into the microwave and gave it time. She was bored with what to do, and she knew even if she was to call Farha, they won’t be done with the phone call before Yazeed came back. She figured out she would be able to dance for a bit and would have her eyes fixed on the way to know if he was coming back.

She played the soft piano on her phone and wrapped her veil loosely around her head. She began dancing with such grace that she felt as if she was walking on cloud nine, everything felt better with ballet. She moved around the office in ways she had never thought she could. She knew there were reasons for her flexibility today, one was because she was so happy with no doubt, and she couldn't imagine how happy she would be when they went out for that movie. Second, she felt like she truly lived, everything couldn't be better for her.

From where he stood, Yazeed watched as she moved perfectly around the office in such a way she made it so hard for him to look away. He didn’t know when he stood rooted in his spot. He was glad that the corridor leading to his office was always quiet and no one could see her except him. She kept dancing, moving around and smiling happily that he didn’t know when he wrapped his hands over his chest and with a smile on his lips, he kept staring at her.

For a brisk moment, he watched as something took off her mind and she quickly went to her phone, turned what he guessed what the tune she danced for before she moved to their kitchen. As she fondly called the corner, it had always been ‘This kitchen of ours looks so messy today, should I take a day off to clean it, Boss?’

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