Handsome Devil ✅

Epilogue

10 years later...

The hall was a gigantic building decorated in plain off white with light decorated from all corners. Balloons were decorated on the stage where a wooden stand stood at the center of the stage. Behind was a row of seaters in which dignitaries where seated. The commissioner of women affairs, permanent secretaries, government officials and the media were all flooding the stage.

The car was skillfully parked in one of the parking area and she could feel fear creeping slowly into her. It was as though she hasn't been in a progressive step of taming her insecurities. The car halted and she could swear her  palpitating heart would give her away. She looked sideways and there he sat being her source of inspiration as ever. He could read every of her mood she feared he would one day read her mind.

He smiled at her and everything didn't matter at that moment. He held her hand reassuring her as he always do. He was like an angel sent to see her and be by her side. Rearranging her wings so she soars higher.

Layla looked at him and she was glad she chose him for he was that one man that restored her faith in the whole gender. The man that made her feel there was enough good out in the world and she was ready to explore everything. The man that love her in a tenderly rhythm.

She remembered the moment she accepted to live with him as a spouse five years ago when they had successfully thrown Zayyad behind bar. It has been an emotionally draining time for her but he kept pushing. It was surprisingly amazing how he was rough with everyone else but not her.

He had waited for her to heal and love again. He took it upon himself to see that she get justice and was there during the long, boring court session.

"We're getting late baby." Alqasim held her hand and smiled at her.

They both alighted and he towered beside her as she walk to the stage that was awaiting her presence.

The audience stood up when Layla entered the hall in respect for the guest speaker. She wore a beige gown and had matched it with a black veil Alqasim had chosen for her. She walked elegantly with full aura of her presence. It had taken years of therapy with Dr Fahad before she could gain her sense of self worth. It had been a rigorous time for them both but she was thankful to Fahad for that. She aimed for the stand as her husband, Alqasim found a seat looking at his wife filled with so much adoration.

The gathering was an annual awareness on "The prevalence of rape and sexual harassment of teenagers in northern Nigeria; A case study on maid and hawkers". It was a session organized by a non governmental organization which was affiliated to the British government.

Layla has been passionate about the whole topic for it was personal to her. She had successfully finished her BSc in Mass communication from Bayero University Kano and was beginning to get an audience in the field of public speech.

The decision to talk on this sensitive topic had started as a mere thought then gradually she felt she could let the world know that rape wasn't the end and life could really move on after that.

She held the mic and for a split second, she saw herself in that small room when her series of agonies started.

The hall was filled with young girls who were mostly maid or hawkers and she could only imagine the work the organization had to put through to gather the number. They looked lost and confused and she could understand because she was once just like them and was struggling to make a meaning of her life.

"Assalamu Alaikum warahmatullah. My name is Layla Abdullahi. I'm 26 years old. I'm a mother and I'm a rape victim..." as she said this, she slowed down for her word to make an impact.