COMING HOME

it was a beautiful morning in the lovely city of California. The streets were almost empty with the rain storm threatening.

leylah watched from the window in her apartment as the trees wiggle and soon droplets of rain started pouring.

leylah was a fair,average height and beautiful young lady of 24 years,She is a neurologist and a fashion fanatic.

Its been 7years since she left Nigeria and came here to California to acquire her degree on neurology and fashion business like she's always dreamt of.

Leylah was lost in her thoughts just thinking about

home,Nigeria,her mum and a certain somebody.

'how is he now?what could he be doing now? does he perhaps still hates me?'

'oh!God,how do I face him when I eventually see him?what would I say?'

'gosh!this is too much'leylah thought to herself still watching the rain that has started pouring heavily now through the window.

she was still in her thoughts when her phone started ringing indicating she has a call,it was her boyfriend,ibraheem calling.

Ibraheem Omar Mustapha was a young lawyer of 27 years,he was very tall,fair and handsome. he has the body of an athlete,he looks like all those rich young billionaire CEO in movies.

he comes from a very wealthy and influential family,he is the typical example of class and panache.

Leylah picked up the call and answered, "hey what's up?"

"how is my baby girl doing today" came ibraheem's charming voice.

"am fine" leylah replied.

"you don't sound fine to me,tell me what's wrong my love?" ibraheem said but this time sounding a bit worried.

"Am fine,truly,am just tired and I haven't slept much,I guess that's why"leylah said trying to sound okay.

Ibraheem was quiet for a while before he spoke again,

" I know why you are feeling this way leylah,you are just anxious and can't wait to get back home after all these years,and that brings me to the reason why I called."

"our flight has been delayed and is fixed to 3pm today because of the weather".

" oh!alright,I've already finished packing.I think I'll just rest a little now,see if I can have a nap before the time"leylah said.

Her eyes were red and heavy from not haven't slept well for a few days now.

it was true that she couldn't wait to get back to Nigeria, to see her mum and hug her and tell her how much she's missed her.

But there was another thing that made her anxious or rather worried. she didn't know how she'll face that 'person'.

'will he hug me happily and tell me how much he has missed me or will he just welcome me with a smile or what if,just what if he hasn't forgiven me yet?'leylah went on with her 'what ifs' in her head as Ibraheem was going on and on about how she needs to rest before their flight since it was going to be a long one on the phone.

"try to get some sleep babe,I'll just get a few things and then head over to your place before the time of the flight,okay" ibraheem said.

"Alright,I'll try to get some sleep now. Take care on your way here alright"

"I will my darling girlfriend,sleep tight,bye".he blew her a kiss through the phone and then hung up.

leylah didn't know if she'll be able to get some sleep but seeing as she had about 4-5hours before the flight,she decided to force herself to sleep.

After tossing and turning for close to two hours,she finally fell asleep.

About 1:30pm later in the day,ibraheem arrived at her apartment. since the airport wasn't that far from where leylah stayed,he decided to let her have enough time to rest before he came.

Entering leylah's apartment with the key leylah gave him,he saw her sleeping soundly on the couch. her face buried on the pillow,one hand on the pillow and the other was left dangling. her legs were folded on one another as she slept peacefully.

Ibraheem was amused seeing her sleep like that.

" she must have been really tired for her to be sleeping like this",he thought to himself as he crouched close to her to have a better view of this face he has come to love seeing all the time.

usually,leylah doesn't sleep unless she is on her bed with her duvet,and she always have her blindfold on because she says that,the lights or brightness are a hindrance to her sleep. so be it day or night she always uses a blindfold when sleeping.

Ibraheem was still admiring her sleeping self when his face fell on her phone which lit up because of an incoming notification,and he saw that it was already 2:24pm,"oh my! what am I doing?" he said to himself and quickly nudged leylah gently until he saw her slowly opening her eyes for a second before she started closing them back again.

"I would have loved to see you continue sleeping but if you don't get up now,we might miss our flight,as we just have not more than 30mins to get to the airport my love"ibraheem said.

immediately he said that,Leylah bolted up from the couch which earned her a laugh from Ibraheem.

" why didn't you wake me up earlier?when did you arrive here?oh God!for how long have I been sleeping?she said as she grabbed her phone to check the time and playfully hit ibraheem on his shoulder and lightly pushed him out of her way so she could get up.

"I arrived here at 1:30pm and I couldn't stop staring at your beautiful sleeping self that's was why",he said smiling wildly at her now because he knew he would get an earful now from her.

" you are so so so.....gosh! I don't even know what to say to you now"Leylah said as she headed to the bathroom.

before entering the bathroom,she spoke again,"I'll just go get ready babe and then we'll leave okay".

Ibraheem nodded his head and started picking up her bags to take them to the car, "okay love I'll just take your bags to the car but make sure you don't take too long".

He said dragging the bags and he heard leylah shout from the bathroom," okay my darling",and he smiled again.

After a while,they arrived at the airport just 12 minutes earlier,they quickly boarded the plane and off they went to Nigeria.

In the flight,Leylah slept briefly and then woke up as her mind was too busy thinking about 'that person'.

Ibraheem noticed her distress but he thought she was just too anxious to get back home.

After a some hours,they arrived at Murtala Muhammad airport in Lagos.

Ibraheem's family driver Mr Marwan,was already waiting for them.

He greeted the couple and helped them put their bags in the car as they went to sit in the car.

ibraheem noticed Leylah's expression and how she was in a daze since they got off the plane,he was starting to get worried and so he asked her,"babe what's wrong? is something bothering you?tell me what it is my love,you know I don't like to see you like this"he said as he brought her face to look at his.

"I....its nothing babe,am fine honestly,sorry for making you worry. am just overwhelmed with the feeling of being back in Nigeria,after seven years now"Leylah said smiling warmly at him not wanting to make him worry anymore.

Just then,Mr marwan,the driver entered the car,Ibraheem gave him leylah's house address and asked him to take them there first.And then turned to Leylah,held her face and was about to ask her if she was sure that everything is fine when his phone started ringing.

it was a call from his mother,

"excuse me babe,let me take this" and with that he swiped on the answer option on the phone but before he could speak,he heard his mother in an unsettling voice,"my son, where are you?"the woman said,making Ibraheem worry.

"mum,what's wrong?am just leaving the airport now with Mr marwan.you don't sound okay,tell me mum,what happened?"Ibraheem sounded worried which made Leylah worry too.

" son,its your dad,he just got a heart attack and we are on our way to the hospital. Ibraheem am so scared,its been a while since he has had this attack"his mum said,her voice breaking.

"its okay mum,don't worry,dad is a strong man,he will be just fine. I'll just head over to the hospital now,but promised me you won't worry too much. I'll there soon alright mum",Ibraheem encouraged his mum to stay strong and with that he hung up the phone.

" Mr marwan stop the car,I need to get a taxi to go to the hospital right now. take her home and then come back to meet me at our family hospital". he turned to Leylah and before he could say a word,she beat him to it.

"let's go to the hospital to see your dad together,and after we've seen that he's fine and alright,then I can go home. sir please take us to the hospital" Leylah said.

The man nodded his head and started the car again heading straight to the hospital.

Leylah held ibraheem's hands in her small ones and tried to comfort him like he did with his mother few seconds ago, "don't worry babe,your dad will be alright InshaAllah".she got a slight smile from him.

when they got to the hospital, the couple immediately got out of the car and went straight inside.The hospital was ibraheem's family hospital so he just went straight to the to his father's VIP room which was on the third floor of the hospital building.

Ibraheem walked quickly to get to the elevator with Leylah following him from behind,her heels sounding loudly on the tiled floor.

Because she couldn't keep up with the pace,she didn't see Ibraheem move away from someone,when they came to the corner were the elevator was,she crashed right into the person and she alomost fell on the floor because of the impact.

she saw numerous paper flying and finally scattering on the floor. she moved from her crouching position and dusted her body as if a dog's fur were on her body,she closed her eyes to contain the anger she was feeling now and as soon as she opened them,she spat out the words,

" what the hell is wrong with you?are you blind or something,that you didn't s....see....,the words got stuck in her mouth when she saw the person she crashed into.

'

'its him,goodness! how is he here? what is he doing here!!' she screamed in her mind.