WHO ARE YOU?

Mr omar mustapha,ibraheem's father haven't met Leylah before nor has she,they've just talked on phone once.

when he wanted his son to come back home because they missed him but ibraheem refused and ignored their calls.

until one day when ibraheem came to visit her in her apartment,he was sleeping when his phone started ringing and kept on ringing for a long time.

leylah saw that it was his parents calling him and she thought maybe something must have happened for them to be calling for this number of times,she picked the call and at the same time tapped Ibraheem ,trying to wake him up when she heard the man's voice,

"Ibraheem,do you even really care about us?do you know how much your mum has been worried since you stopped picking our calls?have you st...." he didn't finish what he was saying because he got interrupted by Leylah.

"Mmmm,sorry sir but ibraheem is sleeping now and I.....I....answered the phone because I thought it was urgent seeing as you've called a lot now" leylah said feeling a little out of place.

"I'll just wake him up now,so you..." She was cut short before she could finish what she wanted to say.

"No don't wake him,he won't want to talk to us anyway,he has been ignoring our calls for some time now. You must be his fiancée right?he has told us a lot about you" the man asked,smiling.

leylah felt her face turn red.

'fiancée?' she looked at Ibraheem who was sleeping peacefully on her couch,

"no sir,I am just....."

leylah went to say but again was interrupted by the man,

"you don't need to feel shy about it,we know everything. Ibraheem talks about you a lot. He even told us about you wanting to do your residency here and am very sure he'll have no choice but to come back home with you then".

"I've talked to a friend of mine in a well reputable hospital,it is very difficult to get in there but he has agreed to let you do your residency there. you'll have to be interviewed next week Monday before you can start and if you want you can continue to work there for as long as you please and I promise you will love it there"the man said excitedly.

'What!so soon ,she was thinking she'll have to start having to do that when she returns to Nigeria in the next 5 months. Then this happens?

'am i dreaming or what'leylah thought to herself.

she was so surprised and could hardly say a word when the man started to talk again

"so I would like it if you don't disappoint me and make it to the interview next week. And do not say a word about this call to ibraheem, just tell him you got a call from the hospital telling you about the interview" the man concluded.

leylah was thankful,she ran out of words to show how grateful she was. Even though she knew he didn't just do it for her but for also his son,so their son will come back home as soon as possible.

After thanking the man and assuring him that she'll not disappoint him,she called her mum and told her about the good news.

When ibraheem finally woke up and she told him about the news,he wasn't quite happy with it because,leylah was the reason why he stayed comfortably in California but if she was to go back home,what will he be doing there alone without the love of his life.he didn't want to go back home just yet but he had no choice.

Leylah and ibraheem talked for a while on the phone and he told her about sending Mr marwan to bring her bags but seeing as it has started to rain heavily already,she asked for it to be brought the next day as she didn't want to stress the man.

ibraheem insisted but leylah begged him not to and so he agreed.leylah heard her mum call for her and she told him she had to go and they said their good byes.

As soon as leylah ended the call she searched for some some clean cloths in her bag that she left at home for seven years now.

she knew her mum must have washed them for her because they looked just as she left them, even better.

she quickly picked a denim jeans and a turtled neck shirt wore them and went down stairs. she met her mum almost half way the staircase,she joined her and they went to have lunch.

the mother and daughter duo had a lot catching up to do. They talked till mid night before her mum decided to retire to bed,leylah also was feeling quite sleepy as she didn't sleep a wink even when her mum thought she was sleeping in her room.

The two said their good nights and her mum walked her to her room to see her daughter get into bed before she left for her own room to sleep.

Leylah was Mrs Karina's only daughter, she lost her husband leylah's father when leylah was only 7years old.

Mr maleek leylah's father was an engineer who was very successful,he had so many landed properperties in Lagos and Abuja.he was known to be one of the richest engineers during his time and he and his family lived a life of luxury. Leylah being the only child lived the life of a princess.

Until one day when Mr maleek was diagnosed with cancer,he didn't konw sooner until it had gotten to the third stage of cancer.

They spent a lot of money on his health,going through chemotherapy, radiotherapy, physiotherapy,surgery and a lot of tests.

When there was no money coming in anymore since he was not working,the money he had started diminishing and as time went by they started selling his landed property to pay for his hospital bills just to ensure that he got the best treatment and recover fast.

But as God will have it,Mr maleek wasn't one to live for long. After selling all his landed properties and almost exhausting all the money in his account for his treatment, Mr maleek died.

His wife mourned him for long and when leylah who was still a child understood that her dad was gone and will never return,she cried her eyes out for several days.

Things changed drastically for them,even with the jewelry business that Mrs Karina had,she still couldn't keep up to their standard of living when her husband was alive.

Two years later, Mrs Karina decided that It'll be better for them to relocate and move to a suitable place where they will be able to keep up with the standard of living there.

They lived in lekki phase 2 when Mr maleek was still alive and leylah attended one of the best schools there.

But now they had to relocate to Victoria island. it was a good place too with nice security and the apartment in the estate they bought was good. It couldn't compare to their former house though,but it was okay.

Mrs Karina sold their previous house and added the money to her business so she would be able to give her daughter the best life she deserved and so she wouldn't miss much about the luxurious life she had lived two years ago.

Leylah rolled in her bed,her eyes were red and heavy but she still couldn't bring her self to sleep, her head was starting to hurt from the lack of sleep.

After turning and tossing for quite some time,she stood up and went to her wardrobe in her room she looked a while before she took out a small box from inside and opened it. a smile appeared on her face as it looked just the way she left it before.

Bringing it with her to her bed,she searched inside for a while until she took out a book. the book was where she wrote some email address and some of her contacts for some few reasons known to her.

She flipped a few pages then suddenly her eyes rested on a name,

"SURAJ" she whispered to herself.

she used her thumb to touch the name and as if just realising something,she picked up her phone dialing the number with the name suraj.

All the while,she didn't think through what she was doing until when she heard a voice come from the other side of the phone.

she didn't know the call was already connected until she heard that familiar voice,one she has yearned to hear for so long, 'oh!how much she missed this voice' she thought to herself.

"Hello"

"Whose this please?" Came suraj's voice again when he didn't hear any response,he said starting to get a bit annoyed.

"If you called, you should at least say something"he said again and yet no reply from the other end of the line

"I do not have time for this so am going to hang up" he said getting frustrated and just as he finished saying those words he heard a small tiny feminine voice say

"Its me"

He was shocked,his breath hitched,he knew she's come back but he didn't think she would call him just few hours after their encounter,he didn't need to hear more as he could already tell it was her,Leylah.

Both of them were quite for a while and after some time,she spoke again",h.....how have you been suraj",

"its been a while,how long has it been already?"she said as if asking and then she answered herself smiling,"seven years".

"its been so long I saw you,you've really done well for yourself seeing as you are now a doctor and working in that hospital,I must say I am proud"she said laughing briefly before she continued but this time her voice sounded more serious.

"you've ch.....changed a lot though,for a while I thought.....I thought you didn't recognise me or should I say you didn't seem to recognise me earli..."

"Am sorry but who did you say you were again?" Suraj interrupted. His voice sounded cold and void of any emotion.

Leylah was quite perplexed when she heard this but quickly masked her disappointment and replied.

"its me.....Leylah" she said pouting her lips as if he could see her.

"Sorry miss ehrrr.....Leylah,right?am very busy right now and I do not have time to listen to unknown callers on the phone. Find someone else next time,because this person here is a very busy man" and immediately hung up the phone not giving leylah the opportunity to say as much as a word.

for the third time that day,leylah was left flabbergasted by him. Unable to comprehend what just happened and what she've just heard,hot tears started streaming out of her eyes.

'did he really not recognise me?'

'have I changed that much,that he even forgot my voice too?'

'Or maybe its because he hasn't forgiven me yet that's why he is just pretending not to remember me'

'that must be it'. Leylah thought.

Using one hand to wipe her tears,she put back the box in her wardrobe and went to lie on her bed,

'I've really hurt him for him to behave like this', Leylah thought again

Suraj who was a sweet person and no matter how many times she offended him when they were younger,he always forgave her without question but this time,it was different.

She started reminiscing about the times when they were still together and how good it felt.