Chapter 28 18: B

Mujaheed placed back the glasses on her face and she looked at him with a hurtful expression. "Don t forget all that I've told you, I won t take it lightly when you do any of these to me again, Mujaheed." She stomped out of the room when he was about to apologize to her. He had never thought that taking off her glass would hurt her as much as he saw it did now. He watched her retreating back as she walked out of the room and Mujaheed was sure if he followed her to the living room, nothing could stop them from fighting. Because he knew if she started venting out on him he might try to calm himself down before everything got out of his control and something terrible would happen. He walked to the bathroom to take his bathe, and after that, he would sleep, by then he was sure she had calmed down a bit. Fareeda sat on one of the sofas and cried her eyes out. She dialed Adam s number but there was no response and that hurt her a lot. Maybe he wasn t around, or he was at a joint and since he knew she wouldn t always be together with him now, he had to do the right to do whatever he wanted, right? She felt hurt and that made her cried further. She knew she was being a baby for crying about this, but then how would anyone understand what she was feeling if they weren't in her shoes? She was in the midst of getting married to a gateman, she didn t let that worried her because she knew she would have to find a way out for herself and get out of this painful marriage. But he couldn t add more to what she had been enduring for years, for what reason? She had to think of the best way to get out of this bondage away from this man that thought himself as though he were a king. She cleared her tears and kept dialing Adam s number but he didn t pick. She called Nana and there was no response either. What did the two people she held meaningful in her life meant? They couldn t even be there for her when she needed them the most? And she had never felt bad for not having a friend like she did today, if she had one, maybe that friend would have given her a way out of this marriage. She hissed silently and thought for a moment, all this happened because of Alhaji and she swore on her life to make him regret. ? She refused to look or talk to him no matter how much he tried, and when he knew that it would only be a waste of time if he kept pushing, he let her alone like she wanted even though she hadn t voiced it out to him. He watched as she went to the kitchen before he left the house and he smiled. He knew she was hungry but her ego will never let her ask him to either cook or get something for her to eat. He stayed out with the police men and after Isha and seeing that it was getting late and she might ve not been successful in making something for herself, Mujaheed walked back into the chamber and he found her in the kitchen. He had to cook for her, he knew. But before he was able to do that, he realized that she was on phone while she cooked. Or rather, she intended to burn the whole house. "Adam, check the details well for me, should I add two cubes or one and a half, I'm afraid that it would be too much and I don t like much salt." He felt something passed out before him. From the way she stood in front of the cooking gas and she spoke with a whiny tone, taking the cubes into her hand. "No, are you sure the woman said two cubes? Turn the volume for me, please. I don t trust you, I'd have to hear it for myself. How can I add two cubes of Maggi into two noodles together with the noddle spices? I think it will be too much." He understood, she called Adam to play a video of how to cook noodles for her, she couldn t ask him or just play the video herself? Mujaheed was rooted to his spot when her laughter brought him out of his reverie, "What? There s no way I will cook for you when we get married, get that into your skull. I can t have our whole house burnt, maybe our innocent baby will be affected too." She seemed happy, excited even. Mujaheed felt so angry that he was sure if Adam was standing before him right now, nothing could stop him from punching him to death. "Fareeda!" He spoke through gritted teeth and she immediately turned to look at him. "Adam, I'll call you when I'm done. If it doesn t go well, I'll call you to bring something for me to eat, you know my favorites." With his bloodshot eyes, Mujaheed watched as she smiled as though the man she was smiling for would see her and she nodded her head not knowing what Adam had said to her. All that struck him as though a thunder strike was when she said, "Alright, babe, I will. Take care of yourself for me, okay? I love you." She ended the call and turned her eyes back to the cooking gas. Mujaheed knew for a few more minutes, he wouldn t be able to control himself as he stomped further into the kitchen and held her arm. He forcefully turned her to face him, "What do you think you ve just done, Fareeda?!" He thundered and she shrugged his hand off hers before she glared at him. "What did it look like I did? I had a phone call with a man I love, nothing else. Now, if you ll excuse me." She wasn t able to close her eyes when he thundered. "Fareeda! I dare you to make me more furious than I am, right now. Have you gone insane? How could a married woman be having a phone call with someone that isn t her husband while she spoke the way you did? And even told him you loved him? What the hell is wrong with you?" Fareeda smiled calmly, she had been waiting for this. And from the looks of things, she would be the calm one today. She wrapped her hands over her chest as she turned to look at him after she had turned the gas off, she wasn t hungry anymore. "If not him, who do you think deserves those words from him? He s the only one I love, didn t I tell you? You have to get used to things like this, because I'm the kind that make sure I display my love for my beloved, and no one dares stop me. And you re busy talking about a husband, who s he? Will you please get out of my sight?!" He lifted his hands up to slap her but stopped himself, she chuckled and pointed at the fist he had curled instead. "What do you think you d have done? Wait, if not for Alhaji that got me married to you, do you think you d ever have a chance to have a conversation with someone like me? Look Mujaheed, let me get this straight with you, you re nothing but a gateman and that should stick to your head! Don't you dare think of yourself as someone you aren t and will never be! Adam is the one I love and will spend the rest of my life with." She furiously rolled her eyes at him and stomped out of the kitchen beside him, out of the chamber in a whole. Mujaheed stared at her through the window as she picked her phone and dialed the number he was certain was that of Adam while she headed to the hut. She might ve told him whatever she wanted and felt she had gone out scot free, but there was no way he could let her be in touch with that idiot she had as a boyfriend, no way. And even for what she just said, he would never let go of her, he would never divorce her. He stayed in the kitchen for a few minutes to calm himself down before he walked out of the chamber and when he went to the hut, she was smiling warmly while she played with her feet. "I ve told this to you, Adam, you re the only one I love. Wait, what about the house you sent to me? Is it the one..." Mujaheed forcefully took the phone away from her and she sharply turned to look at him. "Look, I know you know what a married woman stands for, right? I dare you to have a call with my wife again, you d know what it means to mess with someone s wife. Don t you ever call her again." "Mujaheed! What do you think you re doing?! Who the hell do you think you are?! She thundered and when his bloodshot eyes turned to look at her, Fareeda didn t know how she had lost her voice. Because from what she had seen in his eyes, it wasn t just a man angry over his wife for having a phone call with another man. There was more to what she had seen. ... Mujaheed placed the phone down and stared directly into her eyes, "I m sure you know what being married stands for, and the intensity of the sin you ve just committed in Islam. I don t want to have a fight with you over this, but as your husband, also as ordered by Allah, we should do all it takes to keep our families away from the hell fire and that s what I'll do. Don t you ever call this man again. If you think he s the one you re going to spend the rest of your life with, wait until you re not my wife anymore, which will be the day either of us die." She scoffed and threw her head back, amazed and angered at the audacity of this man. She wondered how he managed to speak with such courage and authority that even if you didn t want to listen to him, you d have to. "And who do you think you re to order me around? I've told you countless times, Mujaheed. You aren t the man I love, I mean..." She let her words trailed off as she pointed at him then placed her hands on akimbo, "How could I love you? Both you and I know that it s nearly impossible for me to love you, right? I've told you this before, and you betrayed my trust by not doing what promised to do. And now I'm hooked here with you, you re in no position to tell me what I should do and not. But you have an option, divorce me, and all this wouldn t bother you anymore."