Chapter 11

I woke up a little on the late side, savouring the fact that I could sleep in and not worry about work.

Damn who thought I would ever say that?

Saturdays were usually pretty slow in Hajiya's place, only the helps seemed to be moving around.

I got dressed in my sportswear, inserting my galaxy buds and grabbing my phone. I headed for the gate. Stretching a little before I took off for a run.

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By the time I was back, I was drenched. I was never a gym person, preferring to either go for a jog or a run.

I made my way to the chalet, tossing the buds and the phone on the bed before heading to the bathroom. I had a shower and tossed my sportswear into the washing machine.

I watched it beep, signifying it was about to start. I got dressed and walked to the main house. I could hear Hajiya's voice coming from the dining room.

"Good morning Hajiya" I greeted. She smiled in reply and returned to her call. The maid brought me a cup of coffee and I almost cried out knowing it was going to taste horrible.

What I wouldn't do for a cup of coffee from wherever Amaka got her coffee from. I should ask her.

I made a mental note to ask her on Monday. I took a deep breath and raised the mug to my lips.

Here goes nothing

I took a sip and winced a bit. It wasn't as bad as the last cup they made for me but it wasn't that good either.

I sighed, pushing the cup away. I'll go get coffee, I couldn't survive on shitty coffee.

And what money are you going to use?

I rolled my eyes before realising I still had money from this deadbeat job.

I brought out my phone and dialled my bank's short code. I requested for my balance and the reply was instant.

N150,000.20

I felt the air leave my lungs as I stared at the amount.

What the flipping fuck?

How was I going to survive on 150k?

I felt my vision blur and I had no idea if it was because I wanted to cry or the lack of oxygen in my lungs.

I was fucked

"Atine, please wake Yasmin up. She can go back to sleep after breakfast."

Yasmin... shit

I had totally forgotten about her. 150 thousand Naira.

Fuuuuuuuck

I groaned out loud.

"Abba are you okay?" Hajiya asked.

No!!!

"Y...yeah." I replied forcing a smile. Atine brought in a half asleep Yasmin, her Princess Sofia pyjamas rumpled from sleep. I almost forgot my financial crisis before it came crashing back down.

Oh shit.

She made her way to Hajiya and climbed up to her lap. Hajiya chuckled at her actions before asking her what she wanted for breakfast.

"Coco cups" she mumbled, I frowned wondering what cereal that was.

Atine brought back a bowl, a pitcher of milk and Coco Pops.

Ohhhh... that's what she meant.

She perked up at the sight and allowed Hajiya to make her a bowl. Soon she was happily digging into the cereal, seated on Hajiya's lap.

The sight made me smile and I pushed all the worries to the back of my mind. Deciding to concentrate on the sight in front of me and the food.

I spent the rest of the morning doing nothing. Yasmin had accompanied Hajiya out so I went back to the chalet. I only left to pray Zuhr and Asr.

A cry made me jolt up from sleep, confused, I made my way out and saw Yasmin standing there with tears in her eyes. The gardener kneeling and whispering to her. I walked over immediately.

"What's going on here?" I asked frowning.

"I... I didn't notice her and her ice cream fell" he explained gesturing to the ice cream on the floor.

I glared at him before turning my gaze to Yasmin who had tears rolling down her cheeks. The front of her dress was soiled with ice cream and bits and pieces of waffle cone.

"Next time watch where you go" I said and dismissed him. "Come on, let's get you cleaned up" I whispered to her. She sniffled letting me hold her hand. We walked into the house through the kitchen and I handed her over to Atine.

"Please clean and dress her up"

With that I headed back to the chalet and got dressed. I grabbed my car keys and my wallet before walking back to the main house.

A few minutes later, Atine brought her over to me. She was dressed in a dark blue overalls with a white inner shirt and the most adorable sandals I had ever seen.

"Ready to get some ice cream?" I asked.

"Uh-huh" she nodded smiling, I smiled back at her and took out my phone, tapping on the snapchat app.

I took a quick picture of her, sending it to Najma with the caption *Ice cream run* I held her hand and we walked to my car. Buckling her in, I got in and pressed on the ignition button.

I drove down to Wuse 2, I had seen their advertisement on Instagram and the place looked promising.

Cafe Nosta was located in a complex on Atakampe street, I parked and got out of the car before helping her out of the car. Her hand in mine, we walked to the entrance.

"Good evening sir" he greeted opening the door. I murmured a greeting back and walk in. The place was sparsely occupied, I smiled as the scent of coffee wafted over.

Heaven

"Good day sir. How can I help you?" The attendant asked as we approached the ice cream section. I lifted Yasmin up and she giggled at the action.

"What flavours do you want Yas?"

She looked around before pointing to the white and blue icecream that had sprinkles in it.

"The Birthday cake ice cream" the attendant asked. Yasmin nodded.

"To go or are you taking it here?" She asked.

"We'll have it here." I said and moved to the other section.

"I'll have a..." I looked up at the board which listed the types of coffee they offered.

"I'll have a cappuccino and a slice of classic cheesecake." I ordered, Yasmin rested her head on my shoulder.

"Do you want some cake Yas?" I asked. "Mmm...no" she replied making me chuckle at her tone.

I paid for everything and we sat at the outdoor area. One of the waiters brought everything to us a few minutes later. Yasmin immediately digging into her icecream.

I took a sip of my coffee and hummed at the taste, the cheesecake went perfectly with it. We sat in comfortable silence, Yasmin casually swinging her legs.

"Abba?!" I raised my head to see Stacey. My heart immediately leapt into my mouth.

Shit

"Yeah?"

Keep calm Abba

She sighed sitting next to me. Her lips in a pout as she stared at me.

"You just walked out on me the other day and you didn't bother to call" she whined. I rolled my eyes at her.

"I was busy" I replied.

"Too busy for me?" She asked moving closer to me.

"What do you want Stacey?"

Just leave, please

She opened her mouth to reply when she frowned, turning her attention to Yasmin.

"Who's this cutie?" She asked smiling at her, I could detect the tone in her voice.

"Yasmin, my cousin" I replied.

Lies

She turned to me before looking back at her, a calculating gleam in her eyes.

"That's wierd" she laughed.

"What's wierd?" I asked eyes narrowing.

"She doesn't have that Barde look to her..." she trailed off laughing. "Don't mind me Abba." She laughed again.

I was beginning to find her laugh irritating at this point.

"Anyway, there's this event coming up and I kno..." I tuned her out, my eyes drifting to Yasmin who had an ice cream moustache. I smiled and took a serviette. Yasmin furrowed her eyebrows in confusion as I leaned over and gently dabbed the napkin over the top of her lips, wiping the moustache away.

"Are you even listening to me?!" Stacey snapped. I turned to her.

"Nope" I answered taking another bite of my cheese cake before turning back to Yasmin.

"Cake?" I asked lifting a piece to her lips. She opened her mouth and took a bite of the cake. Her eyes widened at the taste and she swallowed before taking a bigger bite of the piece. I let out a laugh at her actions.

A hiss and footsteps storming away alerted me of Stacey's departure.

Better

I continued feeding Yasmin bits and pieces of the cake until we were all done. There was a trash bin close to us so I trashed it all before we walked to my car. I buckled her in and got in. The drive back home was in silence, I turned to her and noticed she was dozing off.

By the time we arrived at home, she was asleep. I gently scooped her into my arms and walked into the house with her. She stirred, her eyes fluttering open.

"Hey" I whispered setting her down on the couch. She rubbed her eyes looking around before flopping back on the couch and looking at the ceiling.

I decided to go get Atine or Hajiya to stay with her but she sat up.

"Puzzle" she said pointing to the jigsaw Najma had bought her.

"You want to complete it?" I asked, she nodded and got down from the couch. We walked over to the corner and sat down.

"Do you want to finish Cinderella or Belle?"

She stared hard at the puzzle and I could almost see the gears moving in her head.

"Cinderella" she said picking a blue jigsaw piece. We worked together, well I followed her lead, passing her the blue jigsaw pieces and watching as she fit them together helping her where she seemed confused.

The call to prayer made me look up, we were finally done with the puzzle.

"Good job Yasmin" I cheered raising my palm in the air for a high 5. She laughed hitting my palm with hers.

I spied Atine and asked her to take Yasmin to Hajiya. I decided to pray in the chalet, by the time I was done, it was time for dinner. I joined them at the dinner table, listening to Yasmin tell Hajiya all about the day we had.

After dinner, I prayed and decided to head back to the chalet for an early night.

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Hello everyone!!!

How are you all doing?

So Abba saw his account balance and like the spoilt brat he was he had to be dramatic 🤦🏽‍♀️

What do you guys think about Stacey? Let me know in the comments.

As usual, do comment, vote and share.

Stay safe❤

P.S the picture in the media is of Nosta Cafe and credit goes to my über talented friend Habiba Yerima who took the picture.