Chapter 54 : A Punch Of Anger

"Cut off the formalities and tell me what happened, please. I'm willing to help if there s anything."
"I have a friend in this palace that s from our village and recently, she went to visit our village even though in the past years people had ran away and that was even why I ended up here, but she told me they are coming back now and she has even seen my mother and brother there. I want to go and see them." She choked on her words, wondering how it was possible for her to leave Maryam here and she knew he wouldn t even allow her to step aside from Maryam even for a few hours a day.
"Even a day will do, please, Your Highness. I haven t seen them in five years now." Her tears came back as she thought about the possibility of their village being raided again and she would loose the possibility of seeing her family and if she wasn t lucky again, she might never see them forever.
Na im sighed and he looked up at Maryam that immediately nodded her head at him, "I ll arrange for a way that you ll be taken safely to the village. You can stay for two weeks to bond with them more. Will you want to leave today?" Bilkisu was just staring at him, but her tears intensified as she vehemently nodded her head, laughing amidst her tears.
"Thank you, Your Highness, thank you." She cried thankfully and they all smiled at her. It took her less than an hour before she got ready and Na im had his driver with one of his cars to take her to the village and he told her that the driver would be there in two weeks time to bring her back. He gave her a huge amount of money and she hugged Maryam warmly before they took off.
Maryam looked up at him after she couldn t see them with a sad smile, "I ll surely miss her," she confessed and he smiled at her as he wrapped his arm around her shoulders and guided her back into the apartment.
"Are you sure you will be fine here alone?" She nodded her head at him as she walked into the kitchen and he followed her. Maryam was so happy that he had finally keep up to his promise, she saw him everyday and that was everything she would ask for and more.
"Yes, this house isn t big like that one we left. I'll be fine, she has taught me how to cook, will you taste it?" She asked with a tentative smile and Na im pulled out the chair in the kitchen island before he nodded his head at her.
"It s getting to the seventh month of our marriage and I'm finally blessed to taste your cooking. Congratulations, Na im!" He dramatically patted his shoulder and Maryam couldn t stop the peal of laughter that escaped her lips and they ended up laughing together melodically.
"You re just being dramatic. If we were to count the days I've seen you in those months, they wouldn t count up to two months or even a full month, will they?" He was silent at that and she rolled her eyes playfully at him while she began to bring out the items she would need for the lunch she was going to prepare for them.
"I always get enchanted whenever you do that with your eyes, Mairam. It looks so beautiful that I want you to keep on doing it." She grinned at him.
"Are we planning a series of confessions? Because I have a list of things to confess about too."
"We might as well do that while you cook, to burn away time."
She set everything in the pot and came to sit beside him on the next chair, "You go first, Your Highness." She said with a lazy grin and Na im thought again, he loved it when she grinned at him that way.
"I love your eyes. At first, I always get unnerved looking into them but not anymore, they soothe me now. I love it when you call my name and get mushy when you call me Noory, what s the meaning, between?"
She looked at him and contemplated on whether to tell him the meaning of the name or not. But she thought about how they had agreed to make a confession. "It means my light and you sure are one in my life, Na im."
Na im giggled like a small boy and she threw her head back as she laughed. "And she calls my name again! Come on, isn t this girl lovely? And she happens to be my wife." The sound of their laughter would have been clearly heard by someone if he were to pass by the apartment.
"What again? I haven t even confessed and here you re turning all butter." She joked and he wondered where she heard the phrases she used for him. And then he remembered how much she loved to watch and judging from how smart she was, he knew it was bound to happen.
"Okay, confess then, I'd love to melt from your words." He said and they smiled at each other.
"You re so handsome, I bet you know that already. Your voice calms me down and I love it whenever you laugh. I don t know the meaning of Hoor but my heart gets all mushy whenever you call me that. I love the kind of comfort I get whenever I hug you and if you kiss my forehead? The feeling goes directly to my soul."
"I hate it when I miss you." They said in unison and instead of the laughter they both expected to do, their expressions were solemn as they stared at each other. Maryam was the first one to take her eyes off him because she was feeling things she shouldn't in her heart and she used her cooking as an excuse to get away from him.
While she stirred her meal, Na im smiled and once again, he felt that he had made the right decision. "What again? This will be your last chance to confess and I'm sure you ve got more things in your mind."
She used her thumb and lifted her chin in a thoughtful way before she grinned and nodded at him, "That thing, I finally figured out that maybe you re right, it isn t at all as bad or gross as I thought it was. Maybe a little, but I love it."
He was already standing by her side and she forced herself not to look up at him as she got flustered by her words. "What s the thing you re referring to?" He acted ignorant and she rolled her eyes with a whining expression.
"You know what I mean, Captain!" She whined and he shook his head. Maryam lifted her feet and planted a smooch on his lips, "There, that s what I mean."
"But this is called a smooch and I'm quite sure you were referring to a kiss. In case you ve forgotten how it feels, let me remind you, Hoor." She opened her mouth to argue but it got meshed with his and the butterflies in their stomach took flight as they moaned softly before he brought her closer to his body.
...
Na im didn t trust himself enough to ask her to sleep in his chamber, and when she was so adamant that she could sleep alone and nothing would happen, he wouldn't have been happier. Gladly, even though he thought about how she was able to sleep alone in that chamber, he left to his and Maryam was left behind in hers. It had been two days since Bilkisu left and he had always had breakfast, lunch and dinner in her apartment and even though they were really married, it felt like they were playing home and they both loved it.
He didn t come home for lunch today and Maryam thought maybe something happened in the barrack that made him stayed long and she didn t have a phone to call him and ask. She kept checking the time to see and it kept moving and he wasn't there. He didn't say anything about it when he was there for breakfast so she became a bit worried. But she knew he would come, she trust that he would.
It was time for Asr prayer and she knew that it would only take a few minutes before Teacher Aminu came, so, Maryam pushed all those thoughts away from her mind and got up to get ready. She was sitting on the vanity stool and her eyes caught the red lipstick she loved so much. She remembered the first time she had worn it and smiled. Even though they ended up fighting that day, she was still fond of the memories.
She applied it on her luscious lips and stared at herself through the mirror. She longer hated her eyes, she loved them like he tried so hard to make her to. She believed her eyes were beautiful like he had always proclaimed whenever he stared into her eyes longer than a minute. A small smile crept across her lips and she grinned at herself. She had missed him and she would want to see how he would react when he saw this red lipstick and how beautiful it had looked on her.
She always wore a hijab when she went to Teacher Aminu but today, Maryam felt like wearing a veil, so she did. He was late for almost an hour and she wondered if something was wrong with the whole of Maiduguri that people were always coming late. Nevertheless, she took the water and drink that Bilkisu used to take to him and sat at the far end of the table she had always sat down while he spent most of the evenings standing as he taught her.
But today, it seemed like he was tired because he sat on the same bench she did, even though a bit far away from where she was. She had never looked at him longer than a minute and Maryam knew if she were to see him somewhere apart from standing around her board, she might not be able to recognize him.
She could feel him staring at her and she slowly lifted her eyes to him, pulling her veil to cover herself fully and cursing herself for wearing a veil. She had completely forgotten about the lipstick she had worn and when she saw the look in his eyes as he fixed his eyes firmly on her lips, Maryam s heart lost a beat. She knew that look, it was the look Na im had mostly before he kissed her and it was safe to say she found that look amazing only if Na im had it on his face, this man frightened her.