Chapter 76: Group Hug

"Then try it and see, even Na'im wouldn't be able to save you from my bullet." She looked at him and he dared her with just his eyes. But what she did next wasn't something Hafiz had thought she would do. She lifted her feet and slowly lifted her body to his height until her face was labelled with his and she gave him a quick kiss on the lips. She didn't even give him a chance to recover from that when she quickly pulled her body away and looked at him, flustered from what she had just done.
But she held a stoic expression on her face even though, he knew that internally, she was trembling with what he was feeling too, at the moment. "See? I told you I can do it. Now, shoot me if you can, Soldier."
Hafiz was just staring at her as if he couldn't believe what she had just done to him. "No, you didn't do that, Princess."
She chuckled and walked towards the room, "Yes, I did. And I pray they're doing something else now, maybe I can try and emulate it on you too." He walked behind her, his heart picking up the pace he wanted his body to move with.
"What do you mean?! Subhallah, Saima, you can't be this mischievous, and here I was, thinking that you're one innocent princess." She chuckled when she turned to look at him, glad that they both didn't let awkwardness seeped into the ambiance because of what that had just happened between them.
"Has it occurred to you that you've never called my name? It sounds so good on your lips, between." She turned the doorknob before he was able to tell her that she had to knock first, that was the mistake he made. She slightly gasped and turned to him, "Where's the car key?" She asked and he handed it wordlessly to her.
She threw it on the sofa with her eyes closed, "Yarima, when you're done, you can drive yourselves back to Shehuri. We're leaving." She quickly closed the door for them with her cheeks that were flushed and began to walk away.
Hafiz laughed, even though he didn't know what she had seen in the room, but it seemed pretty huge to make her look this cherry on the cheeks. He ran behind her to catch up with her pace, "Hold on, Princess. You've given him the car keys, how are we going to go back home?"
She didn't look at him when she said, "Let's enter adaidaita sahu, I've never rode on one and have always wanted to know how it feels in there. Should we?" She asked with a blushed smile and he nodded his head before he began walking by her side.
They were silent until they got out of the hospital and he was trying to hail the tricycle for them when he turned and saw the way she was squinting her eyes under the harsh sun of Maiduguri and he smiled. "A princess shouldn't be seen this way," he began and got her attention. When she looked right into his eyes, he said the one thing he had been dying to, "I thought you were going to emulate whatever it is they're doing? Why is it that you seem flustered? I thought you're the same age as her?"
"I'm done talking to you!" She screamed while she moved away and Hafiz stared at her retreating back before he laughed and ran to keep up with the pace she moved. Dear lord, he shouldn't be feeling what he was feeling for this princess.
...
Na'im was flushed when he saw that Mammi was already in his chamber by the time they had arrived and he silently prayed that Hafiz and whoever it was that came to the hospital to pick them up, yet, ended leaving the key for them hadn't told her a thing. She stared at Maryam and smiled at her before she offered her hand for a shake. "Welcome back home, Maryam." She said and Maryam tentatively gave her her hand and they lightly shook before she quickly pulled away.
"Mammi, where's Saima?" He asked casually as he sat on one of the sofa's and Maryam didn't know what to do until he motioned for her to sit.
"That's what I was about to ask you. I kept waiting for her to bring this food here but I couldn't find her and she's not picking any of my calls." Mammi said, sitting down with a sigh adorning her lips that showed she was a bit worried, even though she clearly knew that Saima would never be lost in the palace. It was just that she had to make sure she wasn't hurt or anything.
There was a knock, just someone running lightly and the other person walking so fast to keep up as they rushed into the living room, Saima was already panting for breath but she held an excited look on her face. "Ohh," she said, her smile shortened, "I was hoping we will come here before y'all. Guess I was so carried away." She mentioned and went to Mammi that was flashing her a motherly look that was a bit harsh, but then she couldn't stay angry at her.
"Mammi, I just tried the tricycle once in my life and guess what? It was damn fun that I had him take a different route to shehuri! I was soo excited, should we do it again?" She turned her last question to Hafiz that was staring at how excited she still looked even though she was no longer in the tricycle. But it was a good thing to see, how she had giggled and kept pulling her head out of it, so excited that the driver had to ask, with a laughing tone if she had come from somewhere that she had never rode in one. Just that she looked so expensive for him to say a village.
"Hafiz, you let the princess rode adaidaita sahu? If Alan Gubro hears about this..." Na'im began with a teasing smile and one look at him, Hafiz knew that wasn't what he was smiling for. They hadn't gotten the chance to speak about him and Saima together with Na'im and he would be sure that he was forever busy for that talk.
"My apologies, Captain. But you needed the car more, so we gave it to you." He slightly turned to Maryam that had already turned pink. They had heard when they first came in but not the second time Saima walked in. Just that Na'im had seen the car key and there was a short note sent to him by Hafiz, which emanated they were there and left.
"Apology accepted, Lieutenant." He chuckled at the hardened expression Hafiz was trying so hard to pull and stood up, "We could use some privacy. Are you just leaving or you'll be staying here for a while?"
Under the same roof with Saima and who had now practically become her mother and they were looking at him with almost the same expression? There was no way he could do that. "Let's speak for a moment and I'll be leaving now." After he had offered his excuse to Mammi, he turned and they walked to the corridor.
"So, how is it going with that investigation?" Na'im immediately asked when they were out of earshot. He didn't want Maryam to know anything about the rescue team that were being sent to her sister, he just had to make sure first that her sister was brought back to Maiduguri before he could say a word to her.
"We were able to know that they were related to Big Boss and practically, the girls are being sent to him. But as you know, we have to get a concrete proof before an order to catch Big Boss would be issued. But things are being easier now that Captain Bolori isn't at the barrack anymore, in no time, we will know the exact location of the girls and the higher ups will know what to do next."
Na'im nodded his head at him and gave him a quick, side and manly hug before he softly smiled at him, "I haven't gotten the chance to thank you all this while. Thank you for all that you did and best, saving my wife when I was unable to do so."
Hafiz smiled and gave him a quick pat on the shoulder, "But you were the one that saved her at the end. I just knew we're not enough so I had to call you even though you just woke up that day." Na'im could only smile, the terror and panic he had felt that day was so bad that he thought he was going to have an heart attack while begging Alan Gubro to let him leave and he said he would just follow him at last.
"I should leave then, get ready to come back to the barrack on Monday. It's a lot of paperworks without you there." He was about to leave after he had collected the key from Na'im when he spoke again.
"Are you sure there's no one you'd want to speak to before leaving? I can always help, Lieutenant. You've helped me a lot to owe me a few favors."
Hafiz turned and shook his head, trying so hard to keep a straight face. "I don't know what you mean, Captain."
He watched until he got into his car and smiled at him, a friendly, yet teasing smile. "I doubt if you don't, Lieutenant."
He walked back to the chamber and when he met the three women already eating the food without him even though Maryam seemed relaxed, she still looked spooked until he got into the room and she relaxed at every corner of her body, which was a good thing. To know that she still needed him to feel completely safe even with the people she could easily touch. He joined them, wordlessly and Mammi waited until they all were done with the meal before she looked up at the both of them and Na'im had suspected that she had something to speak to them when she stayed longer than usual in his chamber.
"Alan Gubro said Maryam should stay in my chamber for the time being, at least until we're able to throw the marital walima for the two of you." They shared a look with Maryam that quickly ducked her head down and Na'im fixed his eyes on Mammi, wondering what game the man was playing.
"Mammi, I don't understand. Why can't she stay in my chamber? I mean..." He caught himself and flushed under the look she had just thrown at him. "Didn't he say that she could continue being my wife? What's with the game of going to live with you?" She shook her head, but there was a loving smile on her lips.
"We're going to make it known to the world that you're married, Na'im. It can't be a secret marriage anymore, so you'd be able to show her off anywhere without thinking that someone might see her or not even believe you when you say she's your wife. We'll make it in a way that suggested only immediate family members had attended the nikkah and by the time the people we've invited for the luncheon arrived, it will be like she has already been brought to the palace and they will just see her in my chamber, satisfied."
He stubbornly shook his head, "I understand your point, Mammi. But all that could be done even if she's still living in my chamber, can't she? Or maybe to that apartment over yonder, right?" He just wanted her to be close enough. He didn't want to be seen running off to Ya Girema's chamber at any given chance when everyone knew that his wife was there.
Mammi stood up as she shook her head before she threw a pillow at him, which he immediately caught. "We have to make sure she's ready and beautified all over. Na'im, your wife is leaving and that's all." She pulled over her veil and stared at Saima that was trying so hard to keep herself from laughing at the expression on Na'im's face.