Being Mrs Dantata

20

"I'll start with easy questions so you two can get really comfortable."

Amal adjusted the cards she held in her hands; cards that contained different questions. She had a smile on her face "Zayd looks a bit nervous. Hanan, you look ready to pass out."

Hanan laughed breathily. "It's that noticeable, huh?"

Amal nodded. "Yes, it is."

It was the night of Friday May 21st and they were at Nate Genius Films & Media which sat comfortably on Lusaka Street in Wuse Zone 6.

Amal had reached out to Nathaniel "Nate" Ogwuche, the man behind the company, days earlier. As they were old friends, he let her know he was hurt because she had not thought about calling him first. Nate fell in love with Zayd and Hanan's story and was more than happy to work with Amal to capture every single moment that led up to the wedding.

They scheduled the shoot for night hours because Friday was busy and Zayd had to leave for Lagos the next day to attend to a project that had been put on hold for unknown reasons. Hanan was fine with it and so were Nate and his team.

Coincidentally, Zayd and Hanan ended up wearing similar outfits. Zayd was in a black kaftan that was sewn to perfection while Hanan adorned a black chiffon dress that flowed down to her feet, a black sash around her waist and a baby blue veil wrapped around her head. Amal, on the other hand, wore a green dress and a complimenting cream veil.

The area of the studio they used for the interview had three chairs: a single tuxedo sofa for Amal who was the host and a black Lawson sofa with four cushions for Hana and Zayd so they sat on opposite ends. A coffee table with a flower vase, three bottles of water and three bottles of chilled drinks separated all of them.

Around them were lights and cameras, the recording and photography team capturing every single moment. Amal had told Nate – without letting Hanan and Zayd know – that if they got really amazing pictures, they could use it in place of a pre wedding photo shoot.

"How are you two feeling today?"

"I feel nervous like you said." Zayd replied, mindlessly toying with his cufflinks. "This is like the first activity of a life changing event so I am nervous. There are like a million butterflies in my stomach and I'm not sure I like them so much."

Amal kept smiling. "I'm sure you'll be relaxed by the end of the entire thing. How are you feeling today, Hanan?"

Hanan shrugged slightly. Her smile was shaky. "I'm just going to stick with Zayd's answer. I think I'm going to pass out."

"If this is how you two are acting now," Amal asked. "How is it going to be when you finally stand in front of the guests we'll have?!"

"We'll get there eventually, Amal." Zayd said in reply. "Let's move on."

"Let's talk about your outfits." Amal said. Her excitement slowly became evident. "If you tell me that you two did not plan it, I will beat someone."

Zayd and Hanan laughed in unison. It made Nate smile from where he sat behind one of the screens, headphones on his ears. Hanan spoke first.

"We really didn't plan it. We told you before." She looked at Zayd. "I chose the dress because it was a safe option. You should ask him why he chose this particular outfit."

"It was a safe option too." Zayd said to her and then faced Amal. "You know how I dress on Fridays, Amal. I didn't think coming here with a babanriga would have been appropriate so I decided to play safe."

"I think it would have been nice." Hanan said almost immediately and slightly adjusted her veil. "You look good in them."

Amal raised her question cards to cover her widening smile as she watched Zayd turn to look at Hanan once again to ask "You think so?"