Chapter 5 - PLAN C

OMNISCIENT

"You are back so early, may I ask why?" Nafisa looked at her daughter who was grinning from ear to ear.

"Mami, I promise I didn't insult or do anything to him. The man was so nice and gentle, he was the one that told me to come back inside so that you won't worry about me staying longer than necessary," She smiled when in fact, she wanted to decapitate her mouth for calling him nice and gentle when he was the complete opposite.

"Oh, I see. I hope he is the one for you. When is my son-in-law coming over for greetings?" Her mother was so happy which made Marwa's heart melt, she didn't want to ruin the moment.

"Pfft! That arrogant scumbag will never be the one for me," She muttered to herself.

"Did you say something?" She asked.

"Yes, I said I would talk to him about coming over for greetings," She responded, resisting the urge to yell and rant her heart out.

"I knew it, that stone heart of yours will surely be stolen one day," Hidayah said in a sing-song voice.

"I would like it if you stop talking with that hideous voice of yours," Marwa finally found a way of venting her anger, before they could process what she said, the said girl sprinted to her room.

*

"What happened?" Immediately Zafeer entered the living room in his chamber, he was steadied by three siblings of his who were worried sick.

Ranging from his bleeding forehead down to his red skin, they all took it in. He couldn't even walk straight because he was feeling dizzy, it was a miracle that he drove back to the palace safely. The arrogant man still refused the guards' offer to take him inside his chamber.

"It's his sun poisoning again, let me go and get his medicine," Turad, being the only doctor in the family, spoke and ran to Zafeer's room.

"What happened to you? Say something Zafeer," Junaid worriedly urged.

"My body is burning," He managed to talk, his body was in so much pain.

They led him to his room and laid him down on the bed. The room was gigantic, to say the least. It screamed royalty and opulence. It was painted in a deep shade of grey, a black and golden royal electronic king-sized bed sat at the far end of the room, a person must even climb a staircase to get to it.

At the other end of the room where Turad was frantically looking for Zafeer's pills, there were black and golden drawers, a golden royal console with a big oval-shaped mirror, three ottomans, and different shapes of throw pillows neatly arranged on the carpeted floor. The Persian rug was black and golden. There was also a sliding door walk-in closet where the prince's clothes and accessories are kept, that alone is a room on its own.

"Give him water, I can't seem to find his pills," Turad ran his hands through his hair frustratedly.

They did as he said, Zafeer gulped the water in a go, he didn't even hesitate. He kept panting, his eyes were almost closing before he saw Turad letting out a squeal as he came with the first aid kit and his pills.

"Here, take this before Ummi says I killed my brother," Turad let out a relieved sigh as the others laughed.

Zafeer took the Ibuprofen pills with water before Turad started dressing his wound. All thanks to Marwa, he was now injured for the second time in his life, the first time was when he was three years old.

"How long did you stay under the sun without a cover?" Sabreen asked.

"Maybe twenty minutes?" He muttered and they gasped.

"Why are you so stubborn for goodness sake? You know you are not allowed to be exposed to sunlight for more than ten minutes bro," Turad scolded.

"I was waiting for the supposed damsel in distress to come out," He replied sarcastically.

"Did she come out?" Junaid asked giddily, making Zafeer roll his eyes.

"Yeah, and all thanks to Sabreen, I got stoned like a damn thief," He ranted and they all looked at him in horror before bursting into fits of laughter.

"I really want to meet that girl you know, her fierceness is so fascinating. I am surprised that you didn't send someone to demolish their house or set it on fire," Junaid laughed.

"That is because I want to kill her by myself," He smirked.

"I am not with you on this one," Sabreen protested.

"Yes, Sabreen is right," Turad chirped.

"I didn't ask for your opinion, all of you. Dude, have you booked an appointment with the therapist in the name of  Murad Shakur?" Zafeer asked, he planned on keeping it low-key because if there was anything he loathed, it was attention and unnecessary fame.

It was a good thing that he had made up a name, he would use it to walk freely around Kano. The guy wasn't ready for the media just yet, especially now that he has to teach someone a lesson.

"Yes, just ask for Dr. Fiona, she is the best in that field. Why do you want to go there undercover and also as a regular patient?" Junaid was curious, it was very shocking that an arrogant person like Zafeer who wanted to keep a high profile all the time was willing to visit the hospital as a regular patient when any doctor of his choice could follow him to where he was. It is Prince Turad Ibn Harith Baghdad's hospital, after all.

"Because I want to check the efficiency of the people working under my brother. And Turad, you are not allowed to show any kind of familiarity towards me, okay?" He uttered sternly.

"I may not even see you," Turad rolled his eyes and laughed.

*

"Two plates of pineapple rice, a bucket of chicken nuggets, a bowl of ramen and two bottles of grape champagne for table fifty-four, Chef," Marwa came inside the kitchen all dressed up in her waitress attire, it was burgundy with black trouser and same colour of veil draped beautifully around her chubby face.

She had been working non-stop since she came which surprised her co-workers because Marwa was always the lazy type, but that day, she even covered for some of the waitresses who weren't around.

The whole reason behind that is to keep her mind occupied, she felt guilty after she stoned Zafeer the day before, she didn't want anyone to blame her for ending someone's life but it was a good thing that he wouldn't come back inside her life again, or so she thought. And yes, she rejected Fawzan yesterday night when he came, she told him that love wasn't for her.

"I'm on it," Chef Abraham, the head chef, talked and ordered the others to start arranging the trays.

The head chef is a nice middle-aged man, he is an advanced Nigerian chef who has visited many countries to learn different types of dishes. Marwa gives him that fatherly respect which is why he tries his best to guide her through, because of him, she has now learned many kinds of cuisines.

"Marwa!" A voice yelled, making Marwa smile instantly.

"Theresa, you scared me. What is it?" Marwa laughed.

Theresa is her colleague and also a good friend of hers. Even though Theresa works full time, she makes sure she is there for Marwa, every time. She even lends Marwa money if the girl is broke. Yes, she is that supportive.

"The boss is calling you. It seems to me like he got the hots for you girl," She whispered to Marwa's ear and gave her a cocky smirk.

"Shut it. He just wants me to bring some lunch for him," Marwa forced a smile.

"Don't forget that I know you Marwa, anyway, come back and tell me about that guy that annoyed you," Theresa laughed and pushed her friend.

"Vouch for me, table fifty-four, and I won't tell you anything, you fool," Marwa laughed before sprinting out of the kitchen.

She walked, or rather, matched to his office and lightly knocked on the door after rolling her eyes for the umpteenth time that day. She is already depressed as it is, but the man would just make her more depressed.

"You called for me, Sir," She talked and looked at the man who was busy typing something on his MacBook Pro, he closed the laptop and looked at her, his face lighting up instantly.

"Sorry for meddling with your work, but I want to talk to you about something important," Jamal Malik smiled and gestured for her to sit down to which she obliged.

"Go on, Sir," She talked, her face was etched in a deep frown.

"Let me go straight to the point, Marwa. It is very unlike me to follow someone to where they live, especially a female like you. The truth is that from the first moment Fawzan said his cousin wanted to work as a part-time waitress, he brought your file and I was deeply fascinated. The day I first set my eyes on you, my heart did a backflip because of your blinding beauty, I eventually fell in love with everything you do, even the way your dreamy coffee-brown eyes widen when you are surprised, I won't lie, I sometimes look at your activities through the CCTV camera because everything you do is interesting. Marwa, I know this may sound foreign to your ears but I lo--"

"Ouch!" Marwa winced in pain.

"What happened to you, Marwa?" Jamal worriedly asked and rushed to her side.

Marwa started letting the tears flow freely like a river, she fell to the floor with a thud and clutched to her stomach.

"My stomach! I am in pain," She wailed sorrowfully.

"Should we go to the hospi--" He was about to quickly lay his hands on her when she pulled back and cried.

"I can go by myself, Sir. My pills are at home," She dragged her body backwards, her eyes were red.

"Do you need a drive back home?" He asked, truly concerned.

"No, trekking makes me feel better. Thank you, Sir," She used the wall as her support and stood up.

"Okay, please be safe. I will call your mom and ask about you later," He said, she just gave him a curt nod and exited the office.

She went to the locker room and changed her clothes before going out of the restaurant through the backdoor, feeling a little bad that she didn't say goodbye to the chef and Theresa. When she was a little far from the restaurant and was sure no one could see her from there, she wiped her tears and started laughing uncontrollably.

"Stupid man! He is even lucky that I work in his restaurant to get money and free food, if not, I would have beaten the crap out of him. And yet, he still calls himself Hamma's friend, mstw!" She hissed and went back home after insulting Jamal's whole generation.

Leave it to Marwa to ruin a person's most priceless moment if that person is getting on her nerves. She pulled the rusty metal door and entered the house, letting her nose sniff the new scent.

"As far as I am concerned, no one in this house has this type of perfume with such a heavenly scent. Do we have a visitor?" She asked no one in particular just as she heard voices coming from the living room.

Marwa was about to start eavesdropping when her mother called her name, making her groan in annoyance. She just escaped the clutches of a man, only for her to be caught up in another man's clutches.

"Marwa, you have a visitor, thank goodness you are here. He was just about to leave because I told him you were at work," Nafisa smiled wider than necessary which was weird.

"I told Mami we have been seeing each other for quite a while now, but it's such a pain that you didn't tell her anything about us," Zafeer smirked defiantly.

Marwa was enraged, she thought she got rid of him forever but she was completely wrong because the guy was still alive and healthy, sitting confidently in front of her with a plaster on his forehead. It felt good to know that she was his detriment but a greater part of her wanted to cut off his head and grill it for dinner.

"What are you doing here and why are you calling her Mami when I did not give you the right to do so?" She seethed, invisible steam oozing out of her ears.

"Why are you rude to such a nice gentleman like Murad? You even stoned him yesterday and you lied to me that he said he had nothing to do with you anymore," Nafisa winked at the said guy who smiled widely.

"Mami, even you! I can't believe you are supporting a stranger over your daughter," The girl jabbered.

"Keep quiet and be nice to your guest. Go and get him the yogo-fura I prepared yesterday, it is in the freezer," Nafisa said sternly.

Marwa glared daggers at the guy who was smiling widely, he looked so carefree and full of life, she almost started admiring his handsome features but the stubborn side of her concluded that he was ugly and of course, she agreed.

"Aren't you going to listen to Mami?" He uttered with a triumphant smirk.

"Of course, I will listen, she is my mother, after all," She babbled and aggressively matched to the kitchen. She then opened the fridge and brought out the said fura, internally cursing Zafeer for taking away the thing that she had been wanting to get her hands on since the day before.

"I know exactly how to deal with persistent men like you, Murad," She smirked evilly and poured three handfuls of salt in the fura instead of sugar then happily made her way back to the parlour.

"Take Mami's special, dear Murad," She gave him one of her rarest smiles that seemed to affect his way of thinking for some moments before he finally zoomed back to reality.

She sat down beside her mother and looked at Zafeer who raised the small metallic ladle to his lips and took a sip, he almost vomited because of how salty it was.

"It is tasty, right, Murad?" Marwa smiled at him.

"I should have known that the girl is worse than a devil," He mentally complained and smiled widely.

"This is heavenly," He took yet another sip to irk her the more, both of them were getting on each other's nerves. Marwa was annoyed that he was smiling instead of spurting the fura and Zafeer regretted the fact that he didn't politely reject the fura when Nafisa told Marwa to bring it to him.

"Let me leave you guys now," Nafisa smiled fondly at Zafeer before sauntering out of the living room, he spurted out the fura almost immediately.

"What were you thinking Murad? That you will come to my house and dare to turn my mother against me, you must be crazy you jerk. A fool like you deserves something salty," She ranted.

"Just shut up, you almost killed me yesterday and you couldn't even apologize because you are a selfish brat, so different from Mami," He rolled his eyes.

"Apologize to you? Wake up Murad, this is the first time you have ever seen my mother and now you are saying that I am different from her, seriously?" She sneered.

"It might be the first time I have seen her but I still know that you two are different. She is kind and caring, unlike you, the total opposite," He spoke, Zafeer never thought he had this side of him, the side where he talks back and acts like a grumpy kid throwing a tantrum, it was like being with Marwa made him discover so many interesting parts of him and he loves that.

"With his big head and tallness like a stick," She insulted him in Hausa, thinking he couldn't speak because he neither looks like a Nigerian nor does he speak the native language. He rarely spoke Hausa even when talking to the guards or maids, it was either Arabic or English.

"Start looking at yourself before you insult somebody, short person," He threw his head back and laughed when he looked at a flabbergasted Marwa.

"Sorry to burst your bubble, but I can speak fluently," He laughed heartily.

Marwa was embarrassed, the way he spoke so fluently had her wanting to hear more but she won't admit it. It was the first time in her life that she found herself yearning for something from a guy, she even thought something must be wrong with her.

"Leave now!" She glared daggers at him and pointed at the door.

"Okay, Ma'am. I will leave, tell Mami that I will visit again," He smirked.

"You are not invited, just get out," She deadpanned, he raised his hands in surrender, too elated to think that someone was bossing him around.

"See you later, Marwa," He winked and left, making a mental note to bless Turad with something because he was the brain behind the plan for Zafeer to seek permission from Marwa's mother.

That day, he discovered the truth that would change everyone's life for the better and some, for the worse, not that he cared. Thankfully, he came back to Nigeria at the perfect time.