WORKING TOGETHER

Everyone sat in their seats just looking at her with curious eyes.

Leylah hasn't met the director before,so she couldn't say who he was amongst all the people in the room so she thought to introduce her self.

she only just mentioned her name when she saw a man in his late 50's stand up and spoke,

"welcome doctor maleek,I am doctor Abbas isah Adam,the director of this hospital". the man introduced himself.

" Sorry for the inconvenience,I couldn't afford to postpone this meeting that's why I asked you to come here",he said again smiling and motioning for her,

"come,come over here,have a seat it will be nice if you at least contributed to the discussion"

The man made her sit on a chair he has reserved for her.he has asked for the seat to be left empty since the beginning of the meeting.

Leylah sat elegantly as the meeting went on,she didn't notice a certain somebody who was on the other side of the room,staring at her.

After a few hours,the meeting finally ended.

The director started introducing her to some of the doctors. Some greeted her with a lot of enthusiasm but others just casually introduced their self and left.

She was glad few of the doctors there liked her already and they were even chit chatting with her until she heard the director who was standing beside her called out to someone,

"doctor Al-kaseem,please come over here. come meet our 'California doctor',she specialised in your department so i figured you'll be the best person to guide her"

when Leylah heard this,she turned to see who it was and she froze as soon as she saw him, 'suraj' she said in her head.

Suraj took few long strides to where the director was standing,he didn't mind putting up a smile on his face as he looked at Leylah with his cold emotionless eyes and said,

"Doctor suraj Al-kaseem,from the neurological department,welcome"he said simply. Waiting for leylah to shake his hands that he brought out but she didn't she just stood there looking at him, dumbfounded.

Seeing as she was not going to take his hand to shake,suraj brought down his hand. And as soon as he did that he heard her say "doctor leylah maleek,I hope we get along well in the future".

Not waiting for anymore awkward moment,she looked at the director and asked if they could get on with the interview now that the meeting was over.

The director took it that Leylah was trying to excuse her self from suraj,probably because she doesn't like him. so he obliged her request and said as he left with leylah following behind him, "i will see you later doc. Al-kaseem",and he exited the conference room with leylah.

The director was a close friend of Mr Omar mustapha,Ibraheem's father,who has made quite an investment in the hospital.

And so when Mr Omar told him about Leylah,he assured him that leylah will be accepted into the hospital,even when he knew she just started her mandatory service programme.

He even asked for Leylah to be given special treatment.

The director brought Leylah to a room,where a few residents,faculty and staff were already waiting.

They asked leylah a few relevant questions,which leylah answered quite to their satisfaction.

He asked her a few questions too and told leylah a few things she needed to know about the hospital and asked her to start work the next day. Since he has already gotten leylah's letter of recommendation,personal statement and other relevant documents earlier.

Leylah thanked the director and was about to leave when the man asked her a question all of a sudden,

"you don't seem to like doc. Al-kaseem,may I ask why?". he asked smiling.

leylah was surprised that he noticed what happened earlier,she felt embarrassed.

"No director,its nothing of the sort,I promise". that was all she could say and then she quickly excused herself and left the director in the room who still had an amused look on his face.

She got to the reception,where ibraheem was seated casually,having most if not all the females around there staring and looking at him in awe and admiration.

He was talking on the phone with someone,although his voice wasn't loud but his charming voice and looks, caught the attention of so many.

Leylah wasn't surprised at the scene because it wasn't the first time this was happening. ibraheem was just too elegant to not catch the attention of so many people.

She strode to where he was seated and took a seat beside him waiting for him to finish talking on the phone. On seeing Leylah's arrival,ibraheem said a few more words and then hung up the phone.

He looked at leylah and asked,"how did my fiancée's interview go,hope it went well my love?"his voice a little bit loud. He did it purposely for the ladies who were throwing glances at him earlier to know that he has a beautiful woman already in his life.

He leaned closer and kissed leylah on the cheek making leylah blush at his behaviour. And of course all the ladies who were staring idly at him,got the message and soon they disappeared out of his sight leaving only the two receptionist who stood at their post now rummaging furiously through some files.

He barely held the laughter that was threatening to break out after seeing the receptionists behaviour. he turned to look at leylah who hit his chest lightly and was about to scold him when he said,

"what was I supposed to do,they wouldn't stop hovering over me and so I had to let them know that i already have the love of my life,here with me",he explained as if he were a child.

Leylah just smiled at him,she wasn't bothered that he called her his fiancée,she just wasn't comfortable with the PDA.

She suddenly wondered if,just what if, 'he' saw this. As the thought crossed her mind,she quickly looked around to see if suraj was anywhere close but he wasn't. She couldn't say how greatful she was as she heaved a sigh of relieve.

She told ibraheem about her interview which wasn't really as she has feared. she was still talking when ibraheem got a message on his phone,after reading it he turned to leylah and said,

"let me drop you home,I need to go to the firm. You know its my first day of work there and even if am the boss's son,I still have to make a first impression".he said.

leylah agreed and they stood up to leave,ibraheem placed his hand on the small of her back and led the way.

When ibraheem dropped leylah at home,he couldn't go inside as he was in a hurry,he quickly pulled leylah in for a quick kiss on the lips but leylah didn't seem to want to kiss him as she avoided his lips.

Ibraheem was quite surprised as he tried again but the same thing happened. And before he could ask why,leylah told him that this wasn't the States that he could just kiss her publicly, and her mum could come out any moment.

Ibraheem didn't see any problem with what she had just said but he respected her decision and just gave her a kiss on the forehead. He saw her go inside before he got into his car and accelerated to the law firm.

His father was a managing partner in one of the most prestigious and popular law firm in Lagos. And now that his father wasn't that well to run it properly,he wanted his son to take over.

But ibraheem didn't want to,he didn't want to just inherit his father's hard work. he wanted to build his own law firm someday and be known to be a great attorney like his father. but now since his father wasn't well enough to come to work,he had to take over till when his dad recovers and was able to come to work.

Leylah didn't know why but ever since she saw suraj again,she found it odd any time ibraheem tries to hug or kiss her. she feels as if she is doing something wrong,something wrong to suraj.

earlier when she avoided ibraheem's kisses she knew it didn't seem right but she couldn't help it.

when she got home,she told her mum about the interview and that she'll be starting work the next day. Mrs Karina was very happy for her daughter and she told leylah to invite ibraheem over for dinner so she could thank him again. since it was because he told his father about leylah that was why leylah was able to get to do her residency in such a reputable hospital,easily.

leylah told her mum that ibraheem was busy at the law firm and don't think he will have the time today,maybe sometime when he is less busy.

Mrs Karina agreed and was on her way to the kitchen to get leylah a glass of water when leylah suddenly called out, "mum",

she didn't know how to go about what she was about to say but she just thought to let her mum know,

"do you know that.....uhmmm....that s....suraj,Mrs najma's son works in the same hospital"? She stuttered.

Her mum knew since the morning when she told her the name of the hospital. she knew it was the same hospital suraj was at,but she didn't want to create unnecessary worries for her daughter. she knew that somewhere in her daughter's heart,she still feels something for suraj but since she told her she was in a relationship with ibraheem,she didn't want to complicate issues for them.

" No my darling,am not aware. he did mention the hospital where he worked but I can't remember the name".

Mrs Karina saw the look her daughter was giving her, 'why would he tell her about where he is working after they broke up and she left him?'.So her mother explained

"he often comes here to check up on me when you were away,he helped me run some errands too".

" its a pity the way things turned out between you two. although he was not in good terms with you,he still treats me as sweetly as he used to before" Mrs Karina said.

Leylah was speechless,she just sat there listening to her mum,

'how can he still be so good to my mum after everything that happened?'.

Leylah didn't linger more on the issue,her mum had always loved suraj like a son she never had,and suraj too respected her mum so much. so she wasn't too surprised, she just thought he would hate her mum along with her when everything happened, but she was wrong yet again about him.

The next day,ibraheem offered to come take leylah to the hospital but leylah didn't want to trouble or stress him as she knew he had a lot of work to be done at the law firm. So she told him not to worry that she'll take her mum's car and would be just fine.

Leylah left very early for work as she wanted to make a good first impression as ibraheem always like to emphasize on a person's first impression.

she couldn't eat break fast as she didn't like eating too early in the morning,she said goodbye to her mum and left for the hospital but she got caught up in traffic and arrived at the hospital late.

As soon as she got to the hospital,she was taken to the chief of the neurologist department. The man was in his early 40's,short and had quite a temper,when she and the nurse who showed her to his office arrived he was scolding a female intern seriously,which got leylah a little scared.

When the man was done with his scolding,he sent the intern out and stared intently at leylah making her uncomfortable. leylah quickly said "good morning" to the man and stood awaiting her judgement.

The man didn't say a word for a long time which made leylah more apprehensive,

"If you are done sight seeing,you might as well leave my office right now,I have work to do" the man finally spoke.

Leylah was dumbfounded for a while before she struggled to say something, "I.....uhmmm....you....he..see,"she stuttered,the man was now looking at leylah with amusement in his eyes.

leylah cleared her throat,composed herself and spoke again,

"ahemm!I am doctor leylah malik,the new doctor from California. I got transfered here for my residency and the director asked me to come meet you as I will be working in your department",leylah spoke, a bit scared of the man but she didn't show it. She just looked at the man and put up her usual smiling face.

"Oh is that so?" Came the man's short but sharp response,before leylah could say a word he stood up abruptly picking up his lab coat,he said,"follow me,we have an emergency". Leylah blinked for a second before she started to follow the man who was walking hastily to the emergency room now.

leylah hasn't had the chance to change into the hospital scrub or even wear a coat. She wore a black high way straight skirt with a touch of red florals on it,a red turled neck top and a black heel. her hair was wrapped beautifully in a red turban.

She had thought she would be shown to her office when she will first arrive this morning like the director had told her and then maybe later she might willingly go check on some patients but NO!she was so wrong about it.

when they arrived at the ER,she saw that they were already waiting for the chief and as soon as he arrived the man got to work,with just a resident and two interns assisting him. All eyes were on leylah now as she was the only one in the room not dressed appropriately and just standing there looking like an alien.

"Are you going to come help out here or would you rather stand there sight seeing?". The man's voice rang through the room as he addressed leylah not for once moving his eyes from what he was doing.

Leylah quickly dropped her bag in a nearby stand and moved forward to see what she could help with. going to stand close to a resident,who was fixing a couple of injections to inject the patient with.

she was about to help him out when someone came in through the door.

" am so sorry am late chief,the surgery took longer than we..."his eyes fell on leylah and then he continued "expected,I'll take it from here chief". suraj said. He was still wearing his scrub,a face mask,a clog-like leather theatre shoes. putting on some hand glove he went ahead to inspect the patient.

"The patient fell down from a roof top and the fall seem to have affected his spinal cord. he couldn't move his body and his head much,when he was brought to the ER few minutes ago"the doctor who was close to leylah spoke.

Suraj just nodded his head and instructed the doctor to inject the patient before having the intern there take some blood sample from the patient. As if wanting to make fun of leylah,he said while checking if the man broke any bones around his back he asked casually,to nobody in particular,

"And why is the rookie not wearing her coat or even gloves,does she not know the etiquette of the hospital?",he asked taking a gauze from the nurse he went back to work.

"She got here late and I couldn't just let it slide without giving her a work to do. I didn't notice she didn't wear a glove when we came in" doc.Abba the chief said now eyeing leylah as if feeling disappointed at her.

Taking the cue, leylah quickly wore some gloves and put on a face mask as that was the only thing she could wear now.

After a while suraj was done with checking up on the patient,he looked at the chief and said "done". the chief smiled at how impressive suraj was. that was why he took a liking to suraj and was one of the few person's he praised in the hospital.

" Good job,Al-kaseem,now every body should get to work. you go get the blood test done, and you make sure I get his X-ray report in the next 10minutes.you are in charge of watching him before his test result comes out and we'll know what to do about him. the chief ordered the resident and the interns in the room.

Seeing as she was the only one left and wasn't assigned a duty she looked at the chief and asked, "what should I be doing.....chief?" The man looked at her for a while and said,

"As much as I would want to see you doing something now,there isn't really much to do. Just go with doctor Al-kaseem here,he'll show you to your office and assign you your work" the Chief said.

Suraj who was walking beside him halted and turn to look at the him. he didn't want anything to do with leylah now or ever. he wouldn't mind taking his revenge on her for what she did but didn't like the feeling of working closely with her.

The chief had a few words with suraj before he left them standing in front if the emergency room. not waiting for a minute more after the chief left suraj walked out of the ER and headed to his office not as much saying a word to her. leylah knew she would have to follow suraj quietly without questions.

Instead of showing her to her office, he led her to his and when they got to his office,he went into his bathroom to wash his hands. when he came out,he saw leylah looking curiously from his office to him.

He took a seat and brought out a couple of files out, laid them on his desk and started to flip through them one after the other.

Leylah stood mesmerised at the man in front of her,he looked so dreamily handsome,his wavy black hair shone beautifully so were his beards. He must be taking good care of them because they looked full, black and shinny,his black eyes stood out as he looked at something which caught his attention in the files. Placing his long,slender fingers on the file he wrote something and when he raised up his head to say something,he saw Leylah looking at him dreamily,smiling to her self to only God knows what.