THE IDOL'S GIRL

CHAPTER FIVE

I checked myself in the mirror in my room one last time, rotating as I did before I glossed my lips with my cherry flavored Fenty lip gloss and smacked my lips to get it all glossy and pouty. Then I sprayed my fruity vanilla Fenty perfume, yes I happened to be a loyal Fenty customer and most of the products agreed well with my sensitive skin. From their hair products to their make up and perfume. Satisfied with my overall look, I took my small handbag, checking that I had everything I needed for a night out and headed for the door.



My look....



My make up except the lips and hairstyle....

Since it was humid and warm in the evening, I decided to go with a black strapped top that showed a bit of my cleavage, not that it was much since I was a B cup unlike Ahlam who had double Ds.

I matched the top with a tight beige knee high skirt that not only showed my legs but also my curves which I thankfully was blessed with, accentuating my slim waist with a thin black leather belt. I decided to go with one of the three pairs of heels I owned tonight, a four inch black strapped heels which made me slightly taller from a five three to a five seven at best. I decided to pair the look with a black leather jacket because it was a bit breezy outside and a golden clutch bag.

I went for a all natural make up look, which happened to be the only make up style I could do. I had tried calling Ahlam multiple times to help me with my make up but she didn't pick up and sent me a text thirty minutes later that she was dealing with her daughter Zara so she couldn't help out. I understood that motherhood came first so I just did my own make up and styled my hair, choosing to style my waist length locs by laying my edges and putting all the locs over my right shoulder.

Despite it being a Friday , I managed to get an Uber which was already waiting for me when I walked out of my apartment complex.

I greeted our night guard, a Ugandan called Edwin, whom I had formed a close bond with during the time I had stayed there. At first, we had bonded over the fact that we came from the same region, with me being Kenyan and him Ugandan. But soon we became fast friends who talked about random stuff and even shared food with each other especially when his wife cooked some delicacies from home.

"Hey Edwin!" I said as I greeted him with a smile and wave.

"Hey Jazzy. Damn you look beautiful, going somewhere special tonight?" He asked his Ugandan accent thick.

"Thank you. Girls night out." I replied.

"Going to paint the town red huh?" He asked with a knowing smirk. He knew from the stories I told him how wild my nights out with Ahlam were.

"You know it." I said with a smirk and he chuckled.

"Well have a good night and stay safe." He said as he waved at me while I walked out of the building.

"Thank you and you too." I said and with the last wave at him, got into my Uber.

*********

The Uber drove into the suburban neighborhood where Ahlam and her family lived in. It was one of those luxurious gated communities and believe me when I say they were not only few in Dubai but also only affordable to the rich who preferred houses to apartments. Most of them were family homes.



The neighborhood...

Since the guards knew me, it was easy to get in. Ahlam's house was located at the very end of the neighborhood road. I managed to pursuade the uber driver to wait for us since getting a cab later would be a bit of a hustle and I didn't want to take the risk. Of course I had to promise to pay him for waiting. Which I knew Ahlam would cover.

Even though we mostly split the bill when we went out, she always insisted on paying the bulk of the bill with the excuse that she not only came from money but Amir, who also happened to not only come from money but also earned millions from his salary and gave her a significantly huge amount to spend on herself. She was my real life version of a rich Dubai housewife. And Amir always gave us extra for when we went out without him.

I rang the doorbell and a smiling disheveled looking Amir opened the door for me. From the messy make up on his face and the crown, I deduced that he was having a tea party session with Zara who loved playing tea party with her dad and dolls.

"Well hello there Anna." I said with a teasing chuckle, referring to the nickname I gave him the first time I saw his tea party make up four years ago. He narrowed his eyes at me in a mock glare at my greeting and expression.

"Don't even." He warned trying to be serious but his mask slipped as a smile replaced his face. He walked away back to the luxurious livingroom that had been turned into a playground, scattered with toys and I closed the door behind me before following him into the living room.



The living room...

When they got married seven years ago and bought this house, Ahlam had taken it upon herself to decor every single corner of the house with the best that money could offer. And she made sure to maintain every room spotlessly clean. Well as clean as it could get when you have a child. Their nanny and house manager, Salma, a forty year old Nigerian who had been with them since Zara was born, helped her around the house.

Ahlam is originally from Morocco. Her family were one of the wealthiest families in Morocco and were well respected in the business community in the entire continent of Africa. Her family were not exactly strict Muslims so they were allowed to go out, party and even drink. And they wore regular clothes, even ones showing skin except during the holy month of Ramadan. Being the last born of three siblings and also the only girl of the three, her life had been a bit sheltered. But when she went to university, she got enough exposure to enjoy her freedom but with limits.



Ahlam above...

She met Amir when we were in our second year of university. He happened to be her second brother Zahir's best friend and during one of his visits to our university, Amir tagged along with him. Theirs was a fast paced romance, with Amir declaring his interest a week after meeting Ahlam.

Amir comes from one of the largest multinational construction company in Asia, with branches in all seven continents of the world. He was also distantly related to the Qatari royal family on his mother's side. So he not only had money but influence. Currently he is the vice chairman of the UAE branch of their company.

His family was big, with him being the fifth born out of ten kids made up of seven brothers and three sisters who were all younger than him. His family was also slightly liberal so it wasn't hard for them to accept Ahlam and her them.

By extension, Amir and I also became close. He was like a big brother I didn't know I needed. Despite our playful banter and constant teasing, he was always there for me. I knew that as much as I could depend on Ahlam, I could depend on him anytime too and vice versa.



Amir above...

"What? I was merely pointing out how princess like you look." I teased feigning an innocent look that he obviously didn't buy.

"Aunt Jazzy!" Zara exclaimed excitedly as she jumped out of her tiny chair and came running towards me. I crouched down to her height and embraced her as she practically jumped on me, nearly making me fall on my ass but I managed to steady myself.



Zara above....

"Hey butterfly!" I said as I hugged and kissed her lovingly making her giggle.

Zara was a mix of both Ahlam and Amir looks wise. With wavy hair that she got from Ahlam, though Ahlam straighten hers most times and her green hazel doe eyes and chubby cheeks. And taking the skin complexion, cute dimples and height from her dad. She was pretty tall for girls her age, which she definitely didn't take from Ahlam who was almost the same height as me, actually I was an inch taller than her, with her being five two. And Amir was over six feet, standing at an impressive six foot two. His entire family, including his mum and sisters were tall, with the shortest being five eight.

Personality wise, she was extremely active with the only time she was ever calm was when she was sick or asleep. Her paternal grandparents said that was Amir's personality as he was always hyper as a kid. It was why I gave her the nickname butterfly. Because like one she was beautiful and ever flying.

Since I had always been a part of their lives for the past ten years, I have become family and vice versa. So it was only natural for me to be written and designated as her guardian whenever her parents were not around.

"My don't you look like a real life Arabian princess." I complemented her as I pulled back to look at her and she did a little twirl around to show me her cute outfit.

"I'm the Arabian Elsa." She said stating the obvious since anyone would have guessed it by looking at her costume Elsa princess outfit and crown. She was obsessed with Disney princesses and everyday was a different Disney character.

"And daddy is Anna?" I asked sending a teasing stare briefly at Amir who glared at me for teasing him as a huge smirk spread across my face.

"Obviously. We can't have Elsa without Anna can we?" She asked rolling her cute eyes sassily and I chuckled at how cute she looked. Her parents claimed that she learnt her sassiness from me since we spent a lot of time together. I mean I was almost always at their home, an average of five out of seven days of the week.

"Obviously." I said in the same tone and I watched as she went back to her chair while I stood up.

"Ahlam not ready yet?" I asked looking around.

"She's a little late. We had a Z crisis a little while ago." Amir replied and I nodded in understanding. A Z crisis was basically any crisis that involved Zara. It could be as small as a shower crisis where she was throwing a tantrum for being forced to shower instead of play, or a homework crisis to a huge crisis where she made a huge mess of things accidentally and intentionally. I had been present in almost all of them so I understood.

It was no secret that Zara got away with a lot. Even though Ahlam tried to be a bit strict not wanting her to be spoilt, Amir was always letting her get her way. And her entire family spoilt her senselessly which made her parents work to be a bit strict with her a bit hard.

I went to the luxurious kitchen that was spotlessly clean and got myself a glass of wine from one of the white wines in the kitchen cellar before going back to the livingroom.



their kitchen....

From the lack of Salma's presence in the house I figured out that she had gone out for her weekend off. She stayed in the pool house for most of the week then visited her son's family that was also in Dubai for the weekend. She only stayed behind when Ahlam and Amir were going out for the night.

"By the way congratulations. Ahlam told me about the good news." He said as I sat down on the couch.

"Thank you." I said as I sipped my wine slowly, savoring the sweet taste on my tongue.

"Unfortunately, I have some work I have to catch up on so I won't be coming out with you girls. So you guys are on your own for the night. But I'll be on call..." He began but I cut him off already knowing what he was about to say.

"In case we need you. I know. You are literally my emergency contact." I said rolling my eyes.

Just as I said this, I heard the sound of heeled footsteps as Ahlam came down the stairs ready and dressed for our night out. She looked absolutely beautiful and radiant as we all watched her walk towards us.

"Omg! We are so late. Joe's going to kill me." She said in a rushed rant as she looked through her bag as if checking she had everything but paused looking up to find us all looking at her.

"What?" She asked.

"You look absolutely beautiful." Amir said as he stood up and walked over to her, kissing her on the mouth in a passionate kiss.

"You look like an Arabian princess too mum." Zara complimented her making her blush.



Her look...

She was wearing a brownish tight dress, with a sweetheart design that showed off all her curves and cleavage. She paired the look off with designer brown sandal six inch heels, a black trench coat and small black leather bag. Her hair was gelled back in a wet look, the strands falling across her back to her lower back. Her make up was also natural, going with a pink nude glossy lipstick, a pair of dangling teardrop diamond earrings from Tiffany's.

"Really?" She asked as she looked down at her outfit

"Mmhm. So sexy and beautiful that I'm tempted not to allow you to go out because I know men will be crawling over you. " Amir said lowly but I heard him, making me smirk at how cute they looked all lovey dovey together.

Anybody that knew them knew that they were very pda. They were like the semi reserved version of Kourtney Kardashian and Travis Baker. But despite it all, Amir was never the overly jealous type. I mean if he had his way, Ahlam would probably wear less revealing clothes but he respected her choices and freedom. And I prayed that I got blessed with a man like him. So far I had not been lucky in that department. Apparently I was too much too handle.

"Well we should leave soon if we don't want to be even more late." I said cutting them off and I gulped down the remaining wine as I stood up and went to where they stood. I hugged Ahlam, complementing each other on how beautiful we both looked.

"You two enjoy yourselves. I've already called Tahir who will drive you guys to wherever you go after Joe's. " Amir said referring to their personal driver, as he took my glass from my hand and I thanked him.

After hugging Zara and Amir, saying goodbye, we left the house, our arms entangled with each other as we walked to our Uber.

"Let's get this party started." I said.

"I thought you'd never say that." Ahlam said with an excited smile on her face and after getting into the back seat we drove off to Joe's for the first stop of the night.

********

Joe's restaurant or Joe's as we called it was a cute medium restaurant that was located in the heart of the busy city. Owned by a cute couple Joe and Amelia who were both in their fifties, it was a Brazilian /Turkish barbeque restaurant that represented a mix of the cultures of both Joe who was Brazilian and Amelia who was Turkish. Although it wasn't what you would say a famous restaurant in the area, it was always packed with hungry guests who had discovered it both new ones who just happened to explore the area and come across it and the regulars, like us. But of late they had gained more popularity, even being featured in the hot spots restaurants in Dubai. They didn't advertise much and most advertising they got was from the word of mouth from those that had eaten there before.

We had discovered this hidden gem seven years ago while Ahlam was three months pregnant, after an exhausting morning of shopping around different malls in the city. She had been craving some shawarma so I had googled which restaurants in the area we were at the time offered Shawarma and Joe's popped up from the search. We were a bit reluctant at first to try it out, especially since Ahlam had been a choosy eater and could barely keep anything down but as soon as she got a whiff of the delicious aroma in the restaurant, her mind was made up.

We then became regulars, bringing Nigel and Amir along, eventually forming a close bond with Joe and Amelia. They treated us like their children and even went the extra mile to give us the take out delivery service which they didn't give. With business picking up, they had to expand and ended up buying the entire two storey building, extending the restaurant upstairs and adding a small balcony.



Joe's BBQ restaurant...

While in the car, Ahlam and I argued over who was to pay for the Uber ride with both of us insisting to pay. We decided to settle it the usual way we did, by playing rock paper scissors and I won much to her disappointment. After I had finished settling the bill we walked out of the car and into the restaurant, the host Barney, a cute Turkish man in his mid twenties briefly waving us in as he already knew us before tending to the other waiting patrons at the door waiting to be led inside and we waved back, smiling at him as we walked inside the hot restaurant, the sweet smell of barbeque meat hitting us.

Since we were regulars, we had our designated table that was always reserved for us for when we called them and told them we were coming through.

It was a small table of six that was located close to the kitchen in a little corner at the back of the restaurant. You would think that we would prefer to sit outside especially since it was summer and the restaurant was warm already but I guess we felt at home there. It was our little corner. And it didn't matter whether we were alone or all six of us, including Zara and Nigel.

As soon as we sat down, Joe walked over to our table and we stood up to greet him.

Joe was a tall handsome man with almond colored skin and salt and pepper hair and beard. He looked like an actor to be honest and him and Amelia made such a cute couple.



Joe above....



Amelia....

Joe always teased us and had the personality of a porcupine, prickly and feisty on the outside but an absolute softy on the inside. Amelia was his complete opposite with a soft and motherly personality and often scolded him for bullying us. They had one son, Junior who was twenty three and currently working as an architect in Thailand, for one of the branches of Amir's family construction company.

"Girls. I was just about to give away your table if you guys didn't get here in the next three minutes." Joe said in a thick Brazilian accent as he hugged each of us, kissing our cheeks.

"Please. You would never." I said with a smirk as we sat down.

"You girls think I joke but one of these days I will make my threat real." He said with narrowed eyes at us.

"You've said that for the last seven year Joe." Ahlam said with a chuckle

"Besides, do you think looking like this just happens in a snap of a finger like we have a fairy godmother?" I asked with a smirk and he rolled his eyes.

" You women. All the same." He said lowly and Ahlam and I chuckled.

"Careful. Or we'd have to snitch on you to Amelia." I threatened teasingly and he rolled his eyes again.

"You would think I'd be used to you girls by now. But here you are already giving me a migraine. Now what are you troublemakers up to tonight?" He asked.

"We are celebrating." I said with a proud smile.

"Yeah. Jazzy here got herself a great job." Ahlam added.

"Oi. Congratulations Jazzy. Finally. What job? Same as the last one?" He asked. He knew about my previous job and how it ended. He had been so angry at how my previous boss had been such an asshole and had even threatened to send him a poisoned meal. And he might have had Amelia not calmed him down. Just thinking about that day makes my heart swell with love for him and how fatherly he had been to me. A feeling I got whenever I was around my uncles and a nostalgic one when I remembered my dad.

"Yep. But this time, it not only pays well but also has so many great perks." I said keeping the news mysterious still.

"What perks?" Joe asked looking at both of us.

"I'm curious too. All she said was that it was better than she expected." Ahlam said shrugging.

I was suddenly scared at how they would take the news. Especially Ahlam. Especially with me traveling and potentially moving to Korea. I took a deep breath before I cleared my throat and replied.

"Well, I'm going to be a PR and communications manager for a famous Korean idol. And I'll have to travel with him everywhere he goes. I'll also have to move to South Korea at the end of the summer." I said and there was a long pause of silence between us. I watched their expressions, focusing on Ahlam who looked happy and sad at the same time.

"Omg! That's amazing! You have always wanted to travel and this is the perfect opportunity for you. And it doesn't hurt that you are being paid while at it." Ahlam said surprising me as she smiled at me happily and she took both of my hands in hers, her eyes getting teary as she looked at me. I felt my eyes stinging as tears threatened to fall. I didn't expect her to take it so well. And maybe she hadn't and was being brave with me. Only time will tell how she felt.

"Thank you A." I said smiling through my tears as I squeezed her hands.

"Is there no other job? One that won't make you move away from us? Or at least one based here. Or in Qatar at least." Joe complained and he looked genuinely sad and I felt bad. I took one of his hands in mine and squeezed it tightly.

"This is the best for me. It's a dream come true to be honest. I've always been a free bird and I'm excited where this new chapter of my life will take me." I said.

"Don't get me wrong, I'm happy for you. But I worry that you will grow thin and sickly without us taking care of you." He said and his genuine worry and care for me made me happy. He really had become like a dad to me.

"I promise to take care of myself." I promised with a smile.

"We need pictures everyday of the food and drinks you'll be eating. And updates of selfies so we can be sure you are keeping well. Oh Amelia will be devasted when she learns of this." He added.

"Promise." I said. And after keeping each other's gaze for a minute he was assured and let the topic go.

"Well, this calls for a celebration. For tonight we celebrate. But on Sunday we host a farewell party for you. Yes?" He said with a smile.

"

Of course. "Both Ahlam and I said at the same time then giggled.

"The food is on the house. And the bottle of wine too. Let me go get them for you now." He said as he left us and went to get our food.

"Are you sure you are okay with this? " I asked Ahlam once we were alone.

"I mean I am sad that my best friend is moving miles away but this is your journey. And I'd be selfish to keep you here. Like you said, you are a free bird. I'll be here to support you always." She said with a teary smile.

"And I'll always be here for you. Not always physically but we will talk every day and night." I said.

"Three calls every day or I won't let you leave." She countered with a smirk.

"Two." I said.

"Two and five selfies."

"Two and three selfies." I said

"Deal." She said proudly and then we burst out laughing.

"Now tell me all about this new job." She said just a waiter brought as the wine and two glasses.