Throughout the event, Ihsan had been looking ober people's shoulders so she could be able to take a glimpse of Dr. Aashif, he told her yesterday night that he would be here, then what happened? She heaved a breathe and sipped in her cocktail, watching as other students were having fun in the garden, which was were the after party of the festival was taking place.
She crossed her finger and laughed, reminiscing how she danced so well to a Hausa song back inside the hall. She had never thought she could even sway her head to a tune of a hausa song, but seeing Nigerians awaken her spirits and it reminded her of the Hausa culture within.
Sadeeq had gone to his friends, and she was sitting there all in herself, having no one to talk with. Qamar had ditched her and left earlier even before the festival was over, something about having cramps and being nauseous. Ihsan had laughed and teased her, she couldn't wait to see the day Qamar would hold her baby in her hands, she bet it'd be the happiest day of Qamar's life.
She heard a voice behind her, and when she turned; she was left awed of the attire he wore. She knew from his looks and the way he acted, he was surely Arabian, but this wasn't how she imagined him to be-he's something different. Dr. Aashif was dressed in a sparkly white thobe with a ghutra and egal that screamed nothing but royalty.
"Can I sit down?" He asked, and even the smile he flashed her afterwards was royalty.
Ihsan nodded her head absentmindedly and he sat down opposite her, she couldn't speak, rather she fixed her eyes on him and waited for him to talk. He smiled and collected water from a waiter passing by.
"My name is Aashif bin Salman bin Hamad bin Isa Al khalifa, I'm a prince in Bahrain. But that should be exonerated, I'm just Dr. Aashif to Zainab Ibrahim Karaye." He knew she needed to know, because he looked like raw royalty.
She cleared her throat and gulped down her cocktail and looked at him again, she nodded without being able to speak again. "You look beautiful, Ihsan. A dinner tonight?" He didn't know what got into him, but she had swayed him off his feet, blue had never looked more beautiful. She reminded him of someone, someone he would forever hold dear to his heart, he smiled and took off that thought.
"Umm...Yes prince. I'd have to ask my brother first." She was suddenly nervous, what had gotten into her head? Here she was chatting with a noble prince in Bahrain, she had suddenly got a stricken obsession for the country. She wanted to be there.
Dr. Aashif scrunched up his face and gulped down his water, "What's with the official name, Ihsan? You asked me to call you Ihsan and now you're calling me prince because I disclosed ny identity to you? Truly, I dislike this."
She palmed her face and it was back, the old Ihsan that wasn't awe stricken was back. She looked at him and her smile widen, "Aashif! How did that happen? Subhanallah, how can you be a prince and hide this identity of yours? I'm truly surprised sir!"
He chuckled and lounged forward so they're more closer on the table. "Ihsan, no one around here knows who I am, they all know me as Dr. Aashif and I enjoy that more than being a prince. So, a dinner date?"
She checked the time on her phone and smiled, it was just 7:59pm. "Yes sure, it'd be my pleasure to get out on a dinner date with a Bahraini prince. I'll just give a call to my brother, so he can leave without waiting for me."
She picked her call and ignored the the glare Dr. Aashif sent her way because she called him a prince, and she suddenly felt the urge to be calling him that. How she wished she could see him sitting on the throne and passing orders to the servants of his kingdom. Ouch! That pained.
"Hello, Sadeeq. I'll have dinner with a friend, you can leave without waiting for me." She ended the call because she won't even hear him when he spoke, it was quite obstreperous where he was.
"Shall we leave, Ihsan?" The prince asked and stood up, straightening his ghutra and egal.
"Yes prince." She smiled at him and put her phone into her bag, and they walked out of the table. They kept waiting side by side without voicing out a single word.
She watched as he unlocked his car, a black sleek and mouth watering 2018 Ferrari 812 Superfast. She walked over and sat in the passenger's seat while Dr. Aashif sat in the drivers seat.
It was quite, before Ihsan voiced out a word to put a knife on the throat of that eerily silence which was killing her. She was being more and more baffled by this man sitting beside her, luxuriously driving this Ferrari. He surely looked rich, but royalty was nothing she thought of.
"So...prince, how did you managed as a prince; leave Bahrain and come to Qatar only to teach in a university. Like, do they allow royalty to roam around us like that? Us, like the normal people? Wait, not me. I'm not even Arab to start with."
He didn't answered her until they arrived at Nobu Doha, a Japanese restaurant situated at diplomatic st in doha. He looked into her eyes while they were about to enter the restaurant, which beauty had already taken her soul into a tour, it was so beautiful not to agape mouth for.
"For told you that every royalty wants to be a part? And a Nigerian isn't counted as humans or what? In fact, I'm looking for a Nigerian lady to marry; it might be you. Who knows?" And then he disappeared into the restaurant, leaving her mouth agape that the beauty and sophistication of the place no more appealed her eyes. Even his words spoke royalty.
She carried her jellyfish legs into the restaurant and found him already seated at the far end of the building. She thought she was beaten with the beauty of the place, not until she got inside and found it so hard not to look up to the ceiling and whatever decoration they used. If Daada would see her now, he would surely smack her head and push her out of the restaurant and that would call to a trip to Japan, so she could see thousand of this restaurant she's in. How she so much missed Daada.
'Yar Kauye' he would've said if he was here with here. She maintained herself and sat down opposite Dr. Aashif, smiling widely at him, acting as if she hadn't heard the last part of what he said outside, just some minutes ago.
"Check the menu and order what you'd like to eat." He said and started going through the menu placed before him. Ihsan checked hers and they both placed their order, while waiting; Ihsan found herself intensely staring at his hands that were placed on the table.
He noticed and asked "Do I have something on my hands?" He asked, flaring up his hands and scrutinizing them.
She chuckled as innocent as she could ever be, and shook her head, "No, I was just wondering wether you really have blood in there? Are you sure it's not yoghurt or some sort of milk circulating in your veins? Arabs and their beauty."
Just then, the waiters arrived with their order but that didn't stopped Dr. Aashif from laughing so hard Ihsan thought he couldn't stop. The first time she had seen him laughed, not just a chuckle, but a hearty laugh.
"Ihsan, you're beautiful. Much more beautiful and dazzling than thousand of Arab girls. And yes, we have blood in there too, we're not special please." He motioned for her to start eating and they ate in silence.
Desserts were brought, and what caught Ihsan's attention was the tray they placed the cup of their drinks on. It was filled with crushed ice that she felt she can die if she hadn't chew it raw.
"Aashif, can I have this ice please? Pleaseee." She made a puppy face, her guilty conscious taking over herself, she had even forgotten that he didn't know she couldn't take something cold, not even a raw crushed ice.
"Can she have it please?" The way she talked touched a locked place in his heart and he couldn't help but ask the waiter, whom smiled and said 'Sure.'
He brought another cup and filled it with the ice before he handed it to Ihsan with a spoon. She took in the first bite and looked up to Dr. Aashif that was staring at her with an affectionate smile and said "For the love of ice, I love you too."