THE TALK

The next morning Leylah woke up quite late and she had to rush to work without even having breakfast.

Her mother wanted to have a discussion with her but she had to let her go as Leylah was already late for work.

"Here take this,I made this especially for Leylah. you both can have it while you have your TALK today" Mrs Najma said to her son,making emphasis on the talk.

"Mum,you shouldn't have bothered,why did you go through the stress of making this?"

"Its no stress for me,besides I know Leylah would love them".Suraj smiled and thanked his mother for the snacks she made them. They were Leylah's favourite,his mum got up really early to make them.

Meanwhile,Mrs Karina was at home getting ready for the dinner with Ibraheem and his family.

Mrs fateema,Ibraheem's mother had called her earlier and asked to meet so they'll discuss the engagement party and eventually the wedding of their children.

Mrs Karina was shocked,she knew her daughter and Ibraheem were dating and they've been together for a few years now but Leylah never told her that they've gotten engaged and are even thinking about getting married.

She wanted to discuss it with Leylah but Leylah was in a hurry and she didn't want her to be late for work.

Later that day,Mrs Karina called Leylah on the phone and after calling her severally,Leylah finally picked up the call.

"Hey mum,am sorry I wasn't able to come to the phone earlier,I was attending to some patients",Leylah explained.

"Its fine my darling,but am mad at you Leylah. how could you?how could you do this to your own mother?" Mrs Karina complained.

"What's are you talking about mum,I don't understand. why are you sounding like this?"

"Why won't I sound like this?how can a daughter get engaged and be planning her wedding without telling her own mother?"

"Can you imagine how I felt when Ibraheem's mother called and was talking about the wedding and engagement party, and I was just here stuttering like a fool"

"My only daughter got engaged and I just got to know about it and even by an outsider".

" Am so sorry mum,please forgive me. your anger is justified. But I promise you that is not the case. I will never make such a big decision in my life without you knowing mum. you are my confidant, I've always told you about my plans and decisions and I always will",Leylah clarified.

"So what are you insinuating now, you are not engaged yet?,or about to?,how comes Mrs fateema is....." Mrs Karina asked confused.

"I don't know mum,am not sure. when I went to their house last time,ibraheem had asked me to pretend like am his fiancée and that we were already engaged. He said he just wanted to show his parents that he is able to find the woman he wants to get married to. he didn't like the fact that they keep fixing blind dates for him and forcing him to go on them. so he thought if we pretended to be engaged,they'll stop.

" I didn't have any problem with that and so I agreed. he is my boyfriend and he has often talked about us getting married but I told him I wasn't ready yet",Leylah further explained.

"Hmmm,so what now Leylah?.are you ready now?because we'll be having Ibraheem and his family over for dinner today. Mrs fateema suggested it and I agreed to it".

" woah! mum,I....I.....don't know. I'll need to speak with Ibraheem,this is so sudden. I didn't plan for this".

"You need to come home early today my darling. we need to talk about this before dinner"

"Alright mum,I'll make sure to be home early".

Leylah hung up the phone and immediately called Ibraheem,

"Hi my love",Ibraheem said smiling and standing up from his seat in his office. he went to the window and continued

"How is my beautiful girlfriend doing?".

"Am not fine,am worried and disturbed". Leylah replied honestly.

"what's wrong?did something happen?are you okay?how is Aunt?" Ibraheem asked worriedly. his smiling expression has now turned to a worried one.

Leylah's heart melted when she heard him worrying,she felt loved and lucky to have someone who still loves and cared about her this much.

"No babe,am fine and mum is fine too. Its about your mother", Leylah paused a little before she continued

"She planned this meeting to come see my mum today and talk about our engagement party and wedding plans. She said you all will be coming to my house today for dinner". Leylah took a deep breath and continued

"didn't you know about it?".

"Of course not baby. she just told me she would call your mum up today when I gave her the number and that was it. I wasn't aware of her plans". Ibraheem clarified.

"Oh!",Leylah exclaimed in a low voice,and after a few seconds added "I thought you knew".

"Hey,are you okay with it?Ibraheem asked her,his voice breaking a little.

Leylah was quiet and didn't reply.

"if you are not,I can just call my mum now and tell her to cancel her plans. I don't want to rush you into it. I'll follow your pace Leylah. I'll wait until you are ready", Ibraheem said.

Leylah was still quiet for a while before she finally spoke,

"Its okay my darling,its fine. Though am not ready but I cannot disappoint and stress your mum. she already made plans and my mum has already started making preparations for dinner".

" So I think we should just get ready and go for this dinner date our mother's have set for us all", Leylah said laughing, trying to lighten the mood and hide her true emotion.

"Really Leylah?am so glad you see it that way,thank you my love. You just don't know how lucky I am to have you in my life. I will always....." he was still speaking on the phone with Leylah when he started hearing voices in the background.

"....the patient just got in not long ago and we are not quiet sure of what to do seeing his condition"

"Just a second" Leylah said

"My darling I'll call you later or I'll just see you at my house later. I need to get to work now"

"Alright babe,I'll see you at your house tonight. be careful while you work okay?I love you" ibraheem said and blew her a kiss through the phone.

Leylah had to go check up on one of her patients who she discharged just yesterday and now he has been brought back to the hospital.

He seem to be in a critical state,Leylah didn't leave the patient side until she had made sure he was out of danger and stable by then it was past lunch time.

She and Suraj had planned to meet during lunch but she got very busy. Her stomach rumbled,she was very hungry, She didn't get to eat breakfast because she woke up late. and now she wasn't sure if she would have the chance to eat lunch.

She went to look for Suraj in his office but couldn't find him, a nurse told her that he was at the Operation theater

Leylah sighed and returned to her office,when she checked the time,it was almost 5pm in the evening and she had promised her mum that she would go home early.

she quickly checked up on a few of her patients and told the nurse at her department to inform Suraj that she had to leave early if he comes out of the OT and asks of her.

Leylah arrived home and the first thing her mother did was to sit her down and have a serious talk with her.

"So tell me Leylah,I have to know so I'll know how to respond to Ibraheem's parents when they arrive here later".

"Are you sure you are ready and really want to get married to ibraheem,I mean do you love him that much?".Mrs Karina asked her daughter.

" uhmm,mum,I uhmmn.....you see....we've been together for a few years now and I have come to love him mum,or i thought i loved him" ' but not as much as I love Suraj she wanted to add.

"What do you mean", her mother asked

"Everything was going fine with our relationship but ever since i came back home,my feelings started changing and now am not even sure of my love for him".

" i know am not making sense now but that's the truth,i want to take sometime to figure out my feelings for him first and then we can talk about marriage". Leylah said.

Although she didn't sound convincing, her mother said nothing and just continued to look at her daughter and thought about what she just said.

Time went by quickly and Ibraheem and his family arrived at dinner. They brought so many gifts for both Leylah and Mrs Karina. Mrs Karina in turn treated them to a very sumptuous meal.

After dinner,they talked for a really long while.Before Mr mustapha ibraheem's dad started talking about how he doesn't like the fact that Leylah was engaged to their son but isn't wearing any ring on her finger.

"That's my fault dad,I didn't really get Leylah a ring" Ibraheem defended.

"that's nonsense,I mean who proposes without a ring?" Mrs fateema said

"Our son obviously,you will have to fix that soon enough" Mr Mustaphaa answered.

"You are very lucky that Leylah is a very nice girl,if not she wouldn't have accepted to marry you" Mrs fateema continued,

"By the way Mrs Karina or sorry Karina" she corrected herself. Mrs fateema has asked Mrs Karina to drop all the formalities and call her by her name since they'll soon be families and so Mrs Karina too asked her to call her by her name.

"I have made plans for their engagement party to be this weekend, after that we'll start the plans for their big day. But that will be you and Leyla's decision" Mrs fateema said smiling from teeth to teeth.

"Yeah,if it were up to us,we would have the engagement party this weekend and their wedding next week because we can't wait to have such a well mannered and sweet girl in our family".

"you raised her well Karina,am very sure your husband will be proud of you both wherever he is now" Mr Mustaphaa said sincerely.

"Thank you both for your kind words and for loving my daughter. I do not have much to say but I think we should take our time and let the children decide when they'll want to settle down".

"They've been together for years now and have come to understand each other better. So I suggest the children should decide on the date of their wedding and then we'll guide them through it" Mrs Karina said.

"Yes,I agree with you on that" Mr Mustaphaa said

"Yes that very thoughtful of you Karina. I see where Leylah gets her intelligence and smartness from",Mrs fateema said.

Leylah and ibraheem just sat there quietly and smiling sheepishly. It wasn't until around 10pm that they finished talking about future plans for the couple and decided to leave since it was already getting late that was when Ibraheem and Leylah felt relieved.

Leylah and Ibraheem excused their self first and went outside to talk.

"Thanks baby for having us. we really had a great time and the meal was marvelous". Ibraheem said as he held Leyla's hand in his.

"Its not me you should be thanking,its my mum. she made everything,I just helped set the table" Leylah stated honestly,smiling

"But still,this night wouldn't have been possible,if you didn't allow it".

" yeah,and about that Ibraheem,we need to talk. maybe tomorrow,if you aren't so busy at the firm. what do you think?"Leylah asked.

"Sure,you know I'll always make time for you no matter how busy I get" Ibraheem replied as he kissed her knuckles,he kissed her on the forehead and then leaned closer to give her a kiss on the lips but Leylah backed away a little to avoid his lips.

Ibraheem scrunched his nose and looked at Leylah worriedly,he asked, "does my breath stink?"

Leylah laughed at his ridiculous question, "of course not ibraheem"

"Then why have you been avoiding my kisses. I mean for days now,anytime I try to kiss you,you always act as if I have a mouth odour or something" ibraheem asked.

"No babe,its not that. I.....I .....just"

"You just what baby" Ibraheem cut her short

Leylah didn't want them arguing on such trivial matter and let their parents know about it. so even though she didn't want to, she stood on her tip toes and kissed ibraheem on the lips.

She kissed him for only two seconds and when she was about to withdraw,Ibraheem held her nape in his big hand and took control of this kiss.

It was a gentle but passionate kiss. Ibraheem has missed her kisses so much and he kissed her as if he wanted to swallow her up. He didn't stop until Leylah had to start panting and pretending she was out of breath that he let her go.

Suraj had performed two surgeries that day,the chief was also busy in another surgery. the other top surgeons in the department weren't available,so Suraj and the chief had a hard day moving from one surgery to the other.

When Suraj finally finished,it was already 8pm in the evening,he was very exhausted and hungry. He prayed first,then went to check if Leylah was still around but was told she had to leave early.

He asked if anything happened that Leylah had to leave early. the nurse just told him that all she knew was that Leylah was looking okay when she left. He thanked the nurse and left immediately to go have dinner and after that,he went home.

He was driving home when he remembered the snack his mother made to give to Leylah. He hit the brakes instantly and hesitated for a while before turning his car around and headed back to the hospital.

"I guess I now have a valid excuse to go see her by this time", he grinned to himself.

When he arrived at Leylah's house,he retrieve the box of snacks from the back seat and was just about getting out of the car when he was greeted by an unexpected view.

He saw Leylah talking,smiling and holding hands with a man,he didn't quite realise who the man was until after starring at him for a while. He recognised him to be Ibraheem Omar Mustaphaa,Leylah so called fiancé.

" what is he doing here at this hour and with Leylah?"Suraj shouted to himself.

Suraj did nothing but he seemed to be struggling with something,his jaw was so tightly clenched that you could see the little muscles knotting just below his ears and his knuckles showed white where his grip has tightened on the box of snacks.

He quickly released the box when he noticed that and placed it on the passenger's seat. But when he looked up again at the sight in front of him,he shrieked.

He saw Leylah stand on her tip toes and kissed ibraheem passionately.

He felt as if a whole bucket of ice was poured on him. to say he was shocked wasn't far from the truth.

Suraj was totally and utterly shocked,he lowered his head,he couldn't bear to look at them anymore.

He didn't know how long it was but when he raised his head again he saw Mrs Karina,a man and two women coming out from Leylah's apartment.

They were all laughing,hugging and talking, it looked like a family meeting and he guessed they were Ibraheem's family.

He watched as Ibraheem and his family got into their cars and left.

Even though Leylah and her mum had already gotten into their house, and there was nobody at the spot where Leylah was standing earlier,he still kept his gaze there and stared at the spot.

He continued until he heard his phone ring,it was his mum calling. she must be worried since it was eleven o'clock already and he hasn't still come home.

He took a deep breath and looked at the spot again one last time before driving slowly home.

"Oh thank The Almighty,he has finally arrived. Suraj why exactly do you have cell phones?you never pick up your phone when you are called" Nabeela complained when she saw Suraj arrive home.

"Suraj where were you?I called severally but you weren't picking up. we got really worried" Mrs Najma asked.

"I was just around the neighborhood when I saw your calls,that's why I didn't answer", Suraj answered plainly.

Mrs Najma thought he probably stayed with Leylah talking that was why he was just arriving home now. she giggled and asked,

"so tell me dear,how did your talk go with Leylah?did you both settle your differences?am sure she enjoyed the snacks I made her right"Mrs Najma asked excitedly.

Suraj looked at his mother and couldn't hide his saddened expression,his beautiful black eyes were now red from crying and his heart broken. Yet again Leylah has broken his heart again.

'how did I allow her to do this to me for the second time?am such a big fool' He scolded himself.

"Mum if you must know,we didn't have any talk today in fact we didn't see each other today" Suraj said.

"Why?didn't you say you agreed to meet up today or did she not come to the hospital today?" Mrs Najma asked curiously making Nabeela who was typing away on her phone stop and paid attention to them.

"Your lovely Leylah didn't wait up for me so we could have that conversation because she had to run off to go be in the arms of her multi billionaire fiancé". Suraj exaggerated.

"Suraj what are you talking about?" Mrs Najma couldn't hide her confusion.

"I saw them at her house on my way home. you didn't possibly expect her to stand up her billionaire fiancé and his family when they came visiting for a nobody like me". Suraj sounded really hurt and hearing him speak like this Nabeela was furious and her hatred for Leylah increased.

"No brother,you are not a nobody,its just that good for nothing that ...."Nabeela was cut short by Suraj

"No Nabeela,I am, in the eyes of Leylah. Even after struggling so hard without her and became a refined doctor,she still doesn't see me worthy because she never did before". Suraj said his voice breaking and tears welling up in his eyes.

His mum was really sad seeing her son like this,her heart broke when she saw the tears in her son's eyes. she could clearly remember the last time her son cried,it was because of Leylah and after so many years he was crying again and yet again it was because of Leylah.

"That's not true brother. its a shame that she doesn't appreciate a kind and loving man like you. All she cares about is riches and not a sincere man like you, who really loves her even after hurting you in the past".

"Suraj you should accept the fact that Leylah is just a chauvinistic bitch,heartless and an opportunist who..." Nabeela was cut short yet again by Suraj's glaring eyes. she knew better than to continue.

Suraj didn't wait any longer as he didn't want his mum seeing her grown up son crying in front of her eyes. He went straight to his room and left his mum standing in utter confusion at the turn out of event, and Nabeela who was fuming in anger.

The night was quite a long,miserable and depressing one for Suraj.