He looked up from his desk, and Ihsan could swear she was a speck of purple/blue in his eyes. She felt a tight grip in her chest, and had to muster the courage to lift up her left leg before she entered the office.
Dr. Aashif motioned for her to sit on one of the two chairs facing his desk. She gulped down a lump and sat down silently, fixing her eyes on the embroidery of her abaya.
"Miss Zainab Ibrahim Karaye, why were you late to my class?" He said, not lifting up his eyes from the screen of his laptop. He looked dazzling in his navy blue suit that suited his fair skin and matched the purple/blue color of his eyes. There was a Rolex wristwatch fixed lavishly on his left hand and the well sculptures of his fingers were adorned with well-manicured nails.
Ihsan felt she could stare at those fingers for all the time she would be in his office.
His voice brought her back from her imaginary world; she looked at him and saw the scowl on his face. "I'm sorry, Sir. I was late to the bus stop." She stuttered again. Ihsan didn't know what got into her with stuttering while she's with this man.
"I asked you a question back in your class, I figured you were nervous that's why I didn't press and asked you to meet me here. So, what's the meaning of stoichiometry?"
Not this, Ihsan thought. He called her to his office so he could ensnare her and have her answer his question? She looked at him and her eye turned into slits. "Sir..." she began and let her words trailed off.
"I don't expect you to tell me you don't know the meaning of stoichiometry, Zainab. That was the first thing I taught in my first class." First class. He said first class, and she wasn't here until the fourth week, that means she wasn't in his first class.
Her eyes lifted up in joy, and she straightened herself from her slumped posture. "Sir, I wasn't there in your first lecture. Alhamdulillah!" She didn't know when she had uttered that Alhamdulilah, and she was sure the happiness in her voice was palpable.
He stifled a smile and squeezed his face, and she summoned the remaining senses in her. She looked at him with her innocent eyes and smile. Yes, that sophisticated smile that had the capability of sweeping men off their feet.
Dr. Aashif closed his eyes and rubbed the space between his eyes. He looked at her again and he was back into the Dr. Aashif student knew.
"Zainab, have anyone told you the questions I ask in the class are part of my assessment? And I ask every student before the semester ends? You can't tell me you don't know the meaning of stoichiometry. You're a Nigerian, from which state are you and what secondary school have you attended? You can't just not know stoichiometry."
Ihsan's eyes bulged out, how can someone be this cruel? Had she told him she wasn't here in his first lecture? She wasn't much of a talker, but she bet this man here wanted nothing but to know the roots she came from, and here was the rambling part of Zainab Ibrahim Karaye.
"My name is Zainab Ibrahim Karaye, and I'm a Nigerian as you said. I was born and raised in Lagos state. I attended Lagoon secondary school, Lagos. I wasn't able to be in your first lecture because my father wouldn't allow me to come here because of some things I'd like to keep personal. But trust me, Sir that was never my intention, to miss your first lecture. And you can't make this part of my assessment, Sir; I came here in the fourth week. Consider me please. Wait, let me tell you the truth, the only chemistry term I know of its definition is distillation, that's because Uncle Tunde made sure he beat me even though no one was allowed to do that. The truth is, I hate everything that has to do with chemistry, I didn't know there would be chemistry in this radiography too; I wouldn't have agreed to it."
She rambled in one breathe and closed her face with her palm, exhaling an exasperated breath.
When she looked up, his eyes were fixed on her that she became tensed wether she had said something wrong. He took off his eyes from her face, and Ihsan luckily saw a smile stretching on his face. That was epic!
He wanted to chuckle, she could see how he was struggling so hard not to burst it out but he couldn't, so he did. He chuckled. Dr. Aashif chuckled because of her.
She had numerously heard their course mates talking about him, and how the hall would turn into a graveyard the moment he stepped his legs into the hall. Nobody dared to talk. But today, he chuckled because of her.
She wasn't more baffled until she heard his voice, mixed with laughter and amusement, it sounded juicy, more than thousands drinks, ice creams or any smoothie she had ever tasted. Man, she can ditch Ummu's smoothie for his voice!
"You have to see your face when you were talking! How you hate chemistry couldn't be hidden from your face. I can't believe I'm laughing, it's been long I did this." There was longing in his voice, and a slight tone of pain Ihsan was sure he didn't know when it escaped from his lips.
"So...you aren't going to use it as my assessment right? I made you laugh, I owe you something at least."
"Yeah, sure. You owe me lunch, Zainab. Let's move out." He was still smiling, and Ihsan couldn't point out where she said something so hilarious it would make the grumpy Dr. Aashif laugh this much.
She watched as he picked up his wallet and phone and walked towards the door. He turned and saw how she was rooted in the chair, flashing him a puzzled look. "Let's go. Or are you not in?"
Ihsan stood up and smiled lopsidedly. "If this means I'm free from stoichoimetry, then I'm in."
"Oh, Zainab! It's not stoichoimetry. It's stoichiometry." And he laughed.
•
They were waiting for their orders, and Ihsan had her eyes fixed on her phone. She was supposed to be playing her obsession of candy crush, but she was so nervous to properly lift a finger.
"You're not even playing the game. Drop the phone let's talk." She heard his voice beside her, and before she could turn to where she heard the voice, he was already back into his seat.
"What are we going to talk about, Sir? How you'll ask me another question instead of stoichiometry?" She asked, and her eyes instantly lifted. "That sounded good right?"
He smiled and folded his hands over the table between them, "First, when having lunch with someone, all formalities are to be exonerated. Second, you should call me Aashif the moment I step out of the class. And we're talking about you, and yes; it sounded good."
This was the first time he had spoken for long; Ihsan looked at him and placed back her phone into her bag. "All formalities are to be exonerated? What should I refer to you as then? And calling you Aashif would be hard, but I'll see what I can do. Talking about me? Start calling me Ihsan then. I tend to be more free with people that call me that."
"You can take me as your lunch partner, deal? Yes, I can't be your lunch partner and have you calling me as Sir! It'd suck. Oh, Ihsan? That's a nice name."
"Lunch partner it is. Our orders are here, I'm famished." She didn't wait for him to start eating before she dived into her plate.
She was halfway into her plate when she looked up and had him weirdly looking at her. She stopped eating and looked at him with an inquisitive expression on her face
"Not to probe for your personal life; have you ever been on a date?"
Ihsan dropped her spoon on her plate and palmed her face. She took the glass of water beside her and gulped it down, "I acted weird right? The truth is, I've never been on a date. And whenever I complained to Daada about not having a date, he would take me out later. And you don't expect me to be all girly around Daada. Ya Rabb! What have I done?"
Aashif chuckled and handed her back her spoon before he spoke. "It's not bad, I promise. It's just that you're expected to wait for your date partner to start eating together."
"I'll have to call Daada and tell him I've finally got someone that'll teach me how to act on a date. You'll teach me right."
"Yes I will, no stoichiometry, I promise." And they laughed at the same time.