FORBIDDEN LOVE

Chapter 5

Leila went to her room thinking about what her father had said

"is there a way he could know what was going on ?But no how could he know ,it is impossible,oh my God did he put a spy on me ,but what for ."

She got her towel and went to take a shower where she then started thinking about James .

"What does he think of me ,does he hate me,does he think am a public nuisance?oh no I made a fool out of myself."

She started thinking about Ella "Yes she is my best friend,but look how much mess she has put me in ,she has embarrassed me all around town ,she has instilled indiscipline in me ,but wait ...she is my best friend ,she is almost a sister now ,she has been there for me through all the highs and lows ."

After bathing she went back to her room to put on but as she was wearing her dress she started thinking about her family,her uncles and aunties.

"What will become of me ,what if I am taken by an abusive boring old man ,as long as he has love for the culture ,I will have to stay with him ,ooh I will be so doomed ,well ,at least they let me choose for my self ,I will have to find the perfect fit ,but from where ?."

She came out of her room and went to the kitchen sink where she started washing some utensils she found on there .

Her mother Sarah noticed that her daughter was lost in thought so she came near her ,massaged her shoulders and said .

"You should have eaten first my girl ,"

"No mother I am not hungry ,I will eat later ."Leila replied

"Okay my daughter,but don't be so worried everything will be fine ,remember that the right man will always come at the right time."her mother said

"Okay mother ,hope the uncles will wait for the right time too ."Leila reluctantly replied

"Haha ,that was a good one my daughter,your uncles will have to understand,remember your father and I will be here to protect you ."Sarah said assuring her daughter as she walked out of the house.

When Leila was done with the utensils,she picked up some books and went on the house Verandah to read .She spent the rest of the evening there looking through the books only that she wasn't reading at all ,she was mysteriously thinking about James !"

The next morning,the wether was pretty chill and some mist covered the sky ,she woke up very early ,after showering and praying she went to the kitchen to prepare breakfast.

Everyone else was woken up by her loud steps in the living room ,they will astonished when they saw she had made pancakes already.

"Good morning everyone,"she greeted them with a smile

"What has inspired you to wake up this early today?" Adu asked in astonishment

"I have woken up early because I have to go the library but today I want to have breakfast with you before I go ."she happily replied .

The family sat down and had their breakfast,she even had time to wash the utensils before she could leave.

She waved to them and went to catch the motorcycle.

At the library,she found that James was still cleaning,she was the first one there ,how could she be this early.

She felt embarrassed at first due to what had happened the previous day but James gestured to her to come in with a smile as if nothing had happened.

She walked in and calmly asked "can I give you a hand ."

"Ooh beautiful tall girls know how to clean?"

James said handing over the broom to her .

"I am really sorry for what happened yesterday."Leila said shying away from his stare.

"It is okay ,by the way ,I am not the type of a person who pins other people's mistakes on someone else."James said with a smirk

"Thank you ,I hope you can forgive her too ."Leila said starting to dust off the chairs

"Oh I wasn't even mad at her ,I have seen it all ."James replied sweeping around.

"Oh that is good ."Leila said trying to face him.

Sudden silence then filled the room,you could hear a pin drop as the two were cleaning and dusting the different corners of the library,Leila also helped James to sort the books on the shelves and to draw lines in the students' registration book .

Minutes later students started coming in the library one by one ,James looked at Leila as she handled over the ruler back to him .

"Thank you so much ,your actions really mean a lot to me ."he said leaning towards the desk and then he continued

"At first I thought you were another callous student,but you are not ,!"

Leila blushed as she said "I am sorry for how I treated you the other day."

"Come on I know you were under peer influence."James said with a smirk

"I am sorry ."Leila continued to apologize

"By the way ,you character is so exceptional,at first I thought I had seen it all ,but now I realize I haven't seen anything, nothing Og this nature perhaps."he said as if in a whisper.

Leila shook her head and went to get a seat in the corner,she saw James attending to the other students and when they were all settled she stood up and went to his desk .

" Can I have the constitution please,"she said to him

"No you can borrow a copy and read it for some few minutes,few hours perhaps."James tried to c***k a joke .

Leila saw what he did there but she didn't laugh ,she just smiled at him as she handed him her id .

The next few hours were of reflection rather than reading ,when James announced that the library will be closed in twenty minutes ,Leila panicked she knew she hadn't read enough and needed more time to finish,so she got a plan.

She went to James' desk and asked for some more minutes perhaps an hour to finish reading.

"I am sorry it is the policy of the library that I must close it at exactly 2:00 pm ."James said to her

Leila extended towards him and whispered "can I take the book with me please,I will bring it tomorrow."

"Ooh I am sorry ,I don't come to work tomorrow,it is a Saturday,you know we stay closed for the weekends don't you ?."James said as he looked into her eyes ,he could see that she is worried,so he decided to be kind to her .

"How about this ,you take the book with you ,you give me your contact,we shall meet tomorrow at Papa's spot and you will hand over the book to me from there ."he suggested

"Can it work for you ,or your tall friend will have a problem with it ."he continued before Leila could answer him.

"Actually sir ,it works for me ,thank you so much ."Leila said writing down her contact on a piece of paper .

"I will leave now ,can I have my id ."she asked

"No ,you will get it when I get the book ,it is the policy ."

"Don't worry ,for it is safe with me ."James continued to assure Leila.

Leila got her bag and went out thinking to herself what she was going to tell Ella ,she suddenly had a plan to call her .

"Hello Ella tomorrow we are not going to meet ,because my parents know that the library will be closed ,I don't have anything to tell them."

"Okay girl ,then I will take my new guy to the spot ."

"No ,no that is our spot you are not allowed to take there any other man ."Leila argued before her plan could get ruined .

"Aah ..okay I will see where to take him ,but I wanted there ."

"Promise that you won't take any one there tomorrow."Leila said stammering

"No I won't ,why are you behaving suspicious though ."

"Nothing,I just don't want people to find out about our hide out ."

Leila got off the phone and got home by a motorcycle,she knew she also had to get a plan to leave home the next day .

She greeted her father and brother as she passed by them .

"Did you study anything valuable today ?"her brother Abi asked .

"Yes ,I sure did ."she said as she disappeared from their sight .

She went to her room and prayed then she came to the kitchen to look for something to eat .

"Come here my daughter,"her mother Sarah called out .

She went and greeted her as they spent the entire evening conversing as Sarah told Leila some stories about women from the past !

Leila told her how much she would hate herself if she was in that era .

As the day went by ,her father and brother joined them and they had a family conversation about marriage and culture till it was time for supper.

The next day ,Leila woke up not knowing what to say to her parents so that she could get out of the house ,she thought to involve her brother but she was interrupted by a phone call .

She picked it up and called out .

"Hello .!"

"Hello ,am I speaking to madam Leila ?"a voice on the other side of the call said .

"Yes ,you are ,who am I speaking to ,may I know you ."

"I am James ,the librarian from Oxford library."the person said

"Ooh Mr James ,I will be there in the evening if God wills ."

"But am already at the spot waiting for you ,I may leave quite earlier ,"

"Okay ,let me call you back."Leila said hanging up .

She went out of her room to find her brother and father sitting in the living room,she greeted them ,she wanted to tell her father but figured he will ask a lot of questions so she decided to choose another way .

She went back to her room and dialed James' number .

"Hello ,Mr James ,I am going to give the book to my motorcycle guy ,I am sure he will deliver it to you ."she said as soon as he picked up the call .

"Ooh then I will have to give you your id on Monday,I can't just give it to a random motorcycle guy ."

"You can give it to him ,I trust him ."

"But I don't trust him ."

"But I have to get it today ,I have exams on Monday!"Leila pleaded

"Then you should come for it yourself,I think."James said .

Leila pleaded with James but he insisted that if something were to happen or if the id was to get lost ,he would be in great trouble so it would be better if she handed it to Leila herself.

Leila soon went to her father ,she told her that she had a discussion to attend at a friend's place and it will take her like one hour only .she said it was just scheduled abruptly since exams were on Monday .

"I will be back by noon ,I hope ."she said to him

Her father let her get out of the house and he encouraged her to study hard and make the family proud.

"You know you are our only hope ."her father Adu said

"Yes I will sir ,I will not let any of you down."She assured him .

"Look at her all grown up ,"Abi said gesturing to his father to look at his sister.

"Yes that is a woman."they both said together and laughed.

Leila put on her clothes and got her backpack ,she put a few books to make it look like she was going to study ,she went out of the house thinking about wether she did the right thing or she could have just said the truth .

"I don't know what is wrong with me borrowing a book out of the library,but then meeting the librarian at a hide out isn't that acceptable."

As soon as she reached the place she spotted James sitting at Ella's favorite table,she went to him and said good morning,pulled out the boom from her back up and said "thank you sir can I please have my id now .?"

James looked at her and then calmly said "why are you in such a hurry ,sit here ,first order something for breakfast,it is all on me ."

"No I want to go home ,"Leila hesitated

"Are you sure ."

"Yes ,I am very sure ."

"Are you sure ,like really really really sure ,"James asked staring deep into her soul.

Then smiled at her and continued.

"Sit here ,a small slice of pizza won't hurt ."

"Okay ,just one slice of pizza ."Leila said sitting down

"Just one slice ?" James asked

"Yes ,I have to go ."Leila replied shying away from his stare .

Leila called out to the waiter who was nearby so that she can place her order .As soon as she was pre occupied with the waiter,James turned his face and looked at a strange man who was sitting at a table in the extreme end , he pointed a finger at him as the man gave him a mocking smirk .

James smirked at the man back as the man started laughing at him before he could pretend like he is on his phone .

James turned his face to Leila and said ;

"To be honest I never knew that I will meet a university student so sweet and kind like you ."

Leila looked at him confused and said "what ?"

"I mean you are so beautiful,so humble ,yet so intelligent!" James extending towards her .

"I will take it only as a compliment."said Leila

"Your man must be very lucky."James continued

"Which man ?"Leila asked

"You mean there is no one to whom this very demure Hajjat belongs !"

"No ,I belong to my self,my parents perhaps."

"Then ,you never know,someone may want to own you ."

"Some one like who ?"

"Some one who sent me to tell ask you to give them a chance maybe ."

"Who might have sent you to me ?"

"Aaah. I don't know, my heart sent me ."

"Your heart ,sent you to me ?"

"Yes ,it feels like it can't pump blood without you ."

"Hasn't your heart been pumping blood before you met me ?"

"Well,it can't anymore!"

The conversation left Leila confused,she knew she already had a strange feeling towards James but it can't be love it was just the feeling of guilt .But no he teased this man at first now to start loving him.

"What would you want for dessert?"James asked Leila

"Nothing, am good ,"Leila replied

"Don't fear ,everything will be on me ."James assured her.