Chapter 20

A few days went by and it was finally Wednesday, I was to resume work today. It was wierd but I felt nervous resuming work.

Maybe it was because, I had something to lose this time around. Knotting my tie and slipping on my dark blue blazer, I grabbed my bag and made my way out of the chalet to my car.

I got in and drove to work. The car was not bad, I parked at the car lot and walked into the building.

A few people stared while others ignored me as I headed to my work station. Setting my bag on the work table.

"Welcome back!!!" Amaka cheered walking in with a cup of coffee in her hands.

"Thank you" I replied smiling as she offered me the cup.

"So what did I miss?" I asked leaning against the wall.

"Nothing much, except Abdul's transfer to the Lagos branch" she said casually making me choke on my coffee.

"He got transferred?" I asked coughing, trying to expel the liquid.

"Yeah, he kept badgering Mr Adebayo so he got angry and had him transferred to Lagos and his suspension got extended to a whole month" she explained laughing.

Yikes. I would hate to be him.

I chuckled shaking my head before powering on my system.

"Oh that reminds me, Seun needs your help with something. He'll be over in an hour or two."

"Okay. Thanks for the coffee." I smiled. She smiled back leaving.

I waited for the system to finish booting before I got to work entering the Client's information on the system and making sure the figures corresponded.

Seun came in a few hours later and we worked on it. His phone kept on buzzing but he ignored it.

"You wanna get that?" I asked.

"It's nothing. Probably alerts from my sister's school. They send them all the freaking time." He said rolling her eyes.

"What school is that?" I asked curious.

"Golden Oaks Academy" he answered. "Where is that?"

"Asokoro" He replied.

I nodded filing away the information for later before pushing the thoughts to the back of my head, grabbing a pen and going over the document.

*******************

I parked my car in front of the school. The name of the school engraved in gold.

Golden Oaks Academy.

The building reminded me of an English boarding school, in a way it reminded me of my school and I couldn't help but smile.

Good memories.

I walked into the school, dodging running children in their grey and white uniforms. I had called the school earlier and they had given me an appointment. A woman in a suit approached me.

"Mr. Abubakar Abdullahi?" She asked.

"Yes. You must be Ada" I answered recognizing her voice.

"Yes sir, how are you?"

"Good. You have a very beautiful school"

She smiled "we try our best. Should we start the tour now?"

"Yes please"

She took me round the school, showing me the classes, the extracurricular classes and the facilities. I was deeply impressed and felt giddy. I couldn't wait for Yasmin to start schooling here. She was going to love it.

"We believe in teaching them while they are still young which is why we offer several languages at this stage. She can choose from a wide array of languages."

Yup, she was definitely going to love it here, I could already imagine her speaking in another language, the thought making my grin widen.

The tour ended at her station and she gave me the admission form.

"How much is it?" I asked.

"Oh no. We don't charge for that."

"That's... " I trailed off

"The Founder believes you can't put a price on education so she tries to reduce the money parents will have to spend on their children's education." She explained

I nodded in approval wishing more schools had that mentality.

"Thabk you Ada. Do you think it will be possible to bring my daughter for another tour?" I asked.

"No problem. It will be my pleasure. When would you like the tour to take place?" She inquired.

"How about this Friday?" I suggested.

"Excellent sir. We will be expecting you" she replied.

I thanked her once again and left the school building back to my car. I sighed happy with the progress I was making. I drove home, kept my bag in the chalet before making my way to the main house when a maid told me they were at the garden.

I made my way to the garden, Hajiya was seated on a wicker chair while Yasmin sat on the grass playing with the flower bush.

She looked up as I approached them before running into my arms. I caught her, throwing her into the air and catching her, her laughter infectious.

I kissed her forehead as she wrapped her arms around my neck hugging me.

"Good afternoon Hajiya" I greeted.

"Good afternoon Abba."

I let Yasmin down and she went back to the flower bush while I sat on a wicker chair opposite Hajiya.

"How was work?" She asked.

"Alhamdulillah, Hajiya I found a school for Yasmin" I replied. She looked surprised but impressed.

"That's amazing Abba, What school is it?" She asked.

"Golden Oaks Academy." I answered.

"Isn't that the school a few streets away?" She asked. I nodded and she smiled.

"It's a really good school. Your aunt was talking about the school a couple of months ago. I'm sure Yasmin will love it there."

"I'll fill the form later and take it back to them tomorrow."

Hajiya nodded in understanding. I left them and went back to the Chalet. I decided to get some rest before Maghrib not before texting Najma and Khalifa about Yasmin's school enrolment.

I went through the admission forms and filled it in, my phone ringing just as I had finished.

Najma Calling

"Hello" I said answering the call.

"I just saw your text. I can't believe she's starting school!!! What's the name of the school? What type of curriculum do they run? Are they..."

"Woah there Najma." I cut in laughing.

"Sorry. I'm just so excited she's starting school." She gushed.

"Same here. I'm a bundle of nerves actually. I got a tour of the school. Golden Oaks Academy.  It's amazing" I explained.

"That's great Abba." She replied. We talked for a while before ending the call. I put the forms into my bag, deciding to rest for a while before Maghrib.

**********************

I walked into the compound after Maghrib, heading to the Chalet. I noticed the lights were on and I frowned moving slowly.

What the...

The door was slightly ajar, I walked in cautiously, hearing sounds coming from the tv.

Abba, just get this over with.

Taking a deep breath, I picked the polo stick about to swing it when Khalifa came into view.

"Shit!!! Dude!! I almost killed you" I cried out dropping the stick.

"As if you could" He snorted walking past me to the fridge.

"I saw your text" He said grabbing a bottle of water. "Baby Yasmeen is starting school"

"Yeah" I grinned.

"Golden Oaks Academy, nice school" he uttered leaning against the fridge.

"So... you sold your car."

"Yeah, you want to check it out?" I asked.

"Sure." He replied. I led the way when I felt something hit my head.

What the...

I turned to see the bottle lying on the ground, Khalifa glaring at me.

"What was that for?" I demanded.

"That was for selling your car and not telling me."

I rolled my eyes at his immaturity and walked out. We stopped at the car.

"Not bad... I can't believe you sold the other car" he muttered.

"I needed the money" I replied.

"Yasmin?" He asked

"Yeah" I nodded.

"She's really worth all this?"

"She's worth more than this." I whispered back leaning against the car.

"I set a trust fund for her. You're the second person to know about this."

He nodded before letting out a laugh.

"What's so funny?" I asked.

"I've been trying to understand, to make sense of why Yasmin affects you the way she does. It's crazy man."

"I can't explain it Khalifa, she's... she just reminds me of me when I was younger. I just feel the need to keep her safe and sheltered. I don't know if that makes sense." I replied.

"It doesn't but I understand and in all honesty, I'm proud of you Abba. Now let's go see baby Yasmin, I'm sure she misses her favourite person. " he said walking towards the main house.

"Well... apart from her Abba anyway" he called out making me smile.

I was her Abba.

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Yaaay!!! So Yasmin is starting school!!! I am so happy!!!

Thank God Abdul was transferred to the Lagos branch 😂😂

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