Deceptive Glitters ✅

11. JD and a Barkindo host

"I'm already so tired" Layla groaned.

"You didn't do anything today and besides you just woke up" Khadijah pointed out.

"But I'm still tired" she made show of falling backwards.

The two arrived in Abuja hours before and decided to rest before the wedding hassle started. Since the other Aliero's weren't coming until Friday when the fatiha would take place, they had the whole house to themselves.

Unlike the three buildings of the Aliero house in Kaduna, the one in Abuja was a single three storey which was very much bigger and more beautiful than the other.

The last floor was for Tafida Aliero and his wives, the others were for the children and the men in their quarters, he wasn't keen on having grown men and younger women in the same place.

For the Aliero men, the moment they turned thirteen they moved to the quarters, he said they needed privacy to do guy stuff and the girls needed theirs too. Layla's room was on the second floor much to her dismay, she felt it was too far from the kitchen even though there were smaller kitchens on each floor, knowing her well, her father made sure to have a kitchenette in her side of the house but according to her, the main kitchen hit differently.

She hated exercise and to her climbing the stairs was. The elevator was built to go directly to the last floor, since when Jameela, her half sister who was claustrophobic got stuck when they were playing hide and seek, they were in their early teens and had gone there for school break, she'd thought the elevator would be a good hiding spot because no one would think of it, unfortunately for her they had a black out and she got stuck, they found her unconscious hours later, they disabled the elevator and changed the settings from then on.

"How about we go out for the night?" Layla asked with enthusiasm.

"Weren't you just complaining about being tired?"

"I'm fine now and I need fresh air, please" she made puppy dog eyes, Khadijah rolled her eyes, she knew she wouldn't give up until she succumbed.

She gave it a thought, she could say yes and they would leave or to waste time and Layla would pester her until she agreed, she sighed in defeat, there went Her plan of resting with a good book.

"Yes, I'll call the driver" she was already out of the room before Khadijah could talk or change her mind, she had wanted to order an uber but Khadijah was unpredictable, a slight delay would make her change her mind.

"I don't know why you had to make us leave the house" Khadijah complained for the hundredth time most probably.

"Because it's fun" Layla jumped in her seat, she was giddy.

"Where are we going?" it was five in the evening.

"To my uncle's place, maybe we can get something to chow down on our way back" she nodded at her own suggestion.

"Why do I have to come along?" Khadijah asked after a minute of silence.

"Why won't you come along?" she knew it was Layla's way of avoiding any more questions she didn't want to answer so she remained quiet for the rest of the ride.

The drive from the Aliero house in maitama to her uncle's in asokoro was short, with the meander traffic it took less than fifteen minutes.

Khadijah gaped at the building in front of her when they parked the car, it could easily pass as a castle and she wasn't exaggerating, it didn't look like a normal mansion or a castle but it sure looked like a place where royalty lived.

"Your uncle is a king?" Layla let out a hearty laugh, her friend was funny.

"What! No he's not, this family has a thing for houses, with architects everywhere and all" she was right, Tafida Aliero was a known architect and his first son followed in his footsteps.