THE ENCOUNTER

She was still looking at him shocked and unable to move when Ibraheem came to the scene, "my love are you hurt?let me see,are you okay?" he checked if she was hurt anywhere.

she looked at him and nodded as she couldn't get herself to utter a word after who she just saw.

"Are you sure?" Ibraheem asked again and she nodded her head again.

seing as his girlfriend wasn't hurt,he turned to the man whom Leylah crashed into was now on the floor picking the papers and gathering them in his file.He joined him on the floor in picking the papers,

"Am so sorry Doc,we were in a hurry and didn't see you coming" he apologised to the doctor who only gave him a nod,stood up and left with the file in his hand.

Ibraheem held leylah's hand in his and they got into the elevator which took them to the third floor where his father's room was.

when they got to the door, Leylah felt her legs weaken and she started to sweat profusely.she didn't want Ibraheem's parents to see her like that for the first time,so she asked him to go in without her and that she'll be waiting outside for him if he needs her.

Ibraheem didn't argue much about it and gave her a warm smile before he let go of her hand and pushed open the door to his father's room.

Immediately the door was closed,Leylah found a seat and sat on it. 'what just happened?',she just saw that 'person'.

'he has changed much since I saw him. he is more handsome, looks matured and even taller now. his beards has grown and his perfectly chiseled jaw is even more evident now. and he is now a doctor,what was I expecting, its been 7 long years'. Leylah thought smiling to herself.

she too has graduated now and come back to Nigeria for her residency,because she didn't want to be away from her mother anymore.

she didn't know how much time has gone by when she heard the sound of Ibraheem's father's door crack open and behold! he appeared in front of her again, Suraj Al-kaseem standing majestically and looking more handsome than she remembered him to be.

She unconsciously stood up still staring at the man in front of her with her big black eyes.

Suraj too stood there both of them staring at each other,lost in each others eyes.

After a few seconds suraj broke the gaze and as if he hasn't been standing there awhile ago staring at her,he looked ahead of him and started walking majestically.

leylah's legs developed a mind of their own and moved a few steps towards suraj,only for Suraj to walk pass her as if she wasn't just standing in front of him.

Leylah was shocked,unable to move from the position that she was. she stood like that for a couple of minutes until her legs couldn't carry her anymore,she staggered backwards and slide on the chair behind her.

she couldn't bring herself to understand what just happened. 'Did he not recognise? he did see me right? Then why didn't he talk to me? or was it because he just simply couldn't recognise me?' Leylah kept looking for reasons why Suraj would ignore her after seeing her.

Not wanting to stay there any longer as she was starting to feel suffocated. She felt like crying but she couldn't do that here with so many people around,she picked up her bag and left the hospital.

She totally forgot about Mr marwan who was waiting in the car with her bags,she hailed a taxi and got in.

Giving him her home address, she slumped into the back seat and continued thinking about what just happened at the hospital.

She was brought out of her thoughts when the driver announced their arrival at her house,she paid the driver and got out of the car.

Leylah looked at her home now,one that she left seven years ago. Not much has changed about it,it was still the same as she left it only that the gate of the estate was changed and the flowers in the garden were much now than she remembered.

She opened the door to the house which wasn't locked to her surprise,then she shouted, "Salamun Alaikum"[peace be unto you].

there was no response,she closed the door and called out " Mum"

"mum,am back,where are yo...."before she completed what she was saying,she saw her mother run out of the kitchen,her expression was that of surprise at first but replaced with joy.

Leylah ran to her mother and engulfed her in a tight hug.

They've missed each other so much,even though they talk to each other frequently on the phone but it was a different feeling to be in each others presence after such a long time.

" my darling,oh!how I've missed you,you didn't say you were coming back today".

"Oh! dear,look how slim you've become,even though I used to remind you to eat well and take good care of yourself every time".

" come,come my baby,tell me what you want to eat so I'll go make it quickly,am sure you must be hungry".Mrs Karina pulled her daughter from their hug and brought her to sit on the sofa.

"Mum,I've missed you so so much. I've missed your scolding and even the way you treat me like a baby",Leylah said and they both laughed and hugged each other again.

" Leylah,where are your bags?"Mrs karina asked her daughter when she noticed that her daughter didn't bring any luggage.

Leylah has totally forgot about her bags at the hospital until now. she decided that she'll go get them later.

"its with Ibraheem,we were together when he got a call that his dad was taken to the hospital,so we went to the hospital", Leylah explained.

" Goodness!I pray its nothing serious. how is his father now?"Mrs Karina asked again.

"i don't know mum,i didn't wait to check but am sure he'll be fine.I just couldn't wait to see my darling mother,so I hurried back home forgetting about everything". Leylah said .

It was true that she wanted to come see her mum but her reason for hurrying back home was different.

Mrs Karina brought some water for her daughter and asked again, "should I go make your favorite fries for you?I also made some tamarind drink that you like,its in the fridge,should I get it for you?"the woman asked excitedly.

" No mum,not now. I'll eat everything you made for me later but right now I need to rest mum,am so tired. I haven't had a good sleep for days now" she said hugging her mum again and heaved a sigh of relieve, she felt much better now in her mum's embrace.

"I'll go take a shower and rest a little and when I wake up,we are going to eat my favorite together okay my sweet,sweet mum",she smiled at mum,stood up and started heading to her room. As if remembering something,she turned back and asked,her voice curious, "Mum hope my room is....."her mum answered her question before she could complete it.

" of course my darling,I had it cleaned up for you when you told me you'll be coming home this week",her mum answered and leylah smiled.

"go ahead my dear,go rest now. I'll just go get everything ready and wake you up before lunch time",Mrs Karina said walking Leylah to her room.

" Alright mum",Leylah replied as she got into her room. Immediately she saw her mum shut the door and realised she was now alone in the room,she broke down in tears on her bed.

Letting all her pain out, she used her pillow to muffle her cries so her mum won't hear her crying and get worried.

She couldn't say for how long she had cried,but when she finally couldn't cry anymore,she got up from her

bed and went into the bathroom. She looked at her self in the mirror and saw that her eyes were red and swollen from all the crying she did,she looked a mess,so she decided to take a bath.

After coming out of the bathroom,she realised her bags weren't here and that was when the thought of Ibraheem came to her mind.

fishing her cell phone from her bag,she saw a couple of missed calls and messages from Ibraheem.

"Where are you babe"

"call me,am worried"

"Leylah please pick up your phone am worried sick here"

There were still other messages but she didn't wait to read them and quickly called him up. As soon as the call got connected,Ibraheem answered, "babe,what happened?why did you just leave without telling me and you didn't even ask Mr marwan to take you. I was worried when I couldn't find you and you weren't picking any of my calls until I called your mum and she told me you were home already and even sleeping",Ibraheem complained.

" Am so sorry babe,I....I was just so tired and felt dizzy sitting there all alone,so I decided to just go home and rest. Plus I couldn't wait to see my mum. I forgot about Mr marwan and as usual my phone was on silent in my bag,so I couldn't hear you calling",Leylah explained.

"its fine love,your mum told me. so how do you feel now? did you rest well?" he inquired.

"yes,I did. coming back home,seeing me mum, I feel so much better now"

"oh! I almost forgot,how is your dad?is he okay now?,she asked worry evident in her voice.

"he is fine now .The old man stopped taking his medications for weeks just purely out of leisure and when his heart couldn't take the neglect anymore,it had to rebel" Ibraheem said jokingly relieving Leylah off her worry.

"But now that am back home,I'll see to it that he never misses his medication InshaAllah[God's willing] and you know the most funniest part?" he paused a little and then continued,

"As soon as he saw me,he started asking of you,he said he wanted to see you and that was when I noticed you weren't there and I started looking for you too".

" the man didn't want to stay in the hospital and since he couldn't meet you he pestered me to get him discharged and take him back home. it hadn't been long since we arrived home,I was just talking to the nurse when I saw your call"

"am so glad he is better now and my apologies for not waiting to greet him. I promise to come see him as soon as I can", Leylah assured him.