40

"I expected you to have left..." She was saying as we stepped out of the ward, her expression deadpan and serious. Nathan had fallen asleep some minutes ago.

"Well, I couldn't leave him with him."

"That's not meant to be your burden. That's why the nurses are here."

"Ah, the nurses..." Yeah, like the one who had wanted to be fucked so badly.

"Anyway, you can take your leave now." She said and turned to leave.

"I didn't expect you to still keep the animosity from our break-up until this time..." I couldn't hide my feelings anymore.

She stopped walking.

"You are mistaken if you think so."

"I am not."

"Wait, did you expect me to run into your arms, and thank you for showing up in my life again...and through my son?" She frowned and then scoffed.

"That was the least I expected..."

"What then did you expect? This is the highest form of geniality you should expect."

"I think you didn't consider our past before you accepted the proposal I presented to Laynat."

"Yes, and that's because I believe business is very distinct from personal life." She crossed her arms in defense.

"I see...or you believed you could hide behind the curtain forever, and I would never come to know you."

"Point of order, I wasn't hiding. I only chose to be unknown, and it's not exactly because of what people like you have against me."

I nodded. Great!

"Now that I know and the world knows...how would it feel if I could ask?"

"You may not ask... I believe we are done here." She turned on her heel.

"I'll be visiting Nathan on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays..."

"What do you mean?" She looked quite shocked. I expected that.

"Those three days I mentioned will be the days I'll visit Nathan from now on. Note it."

"Are you out of your mind? You must be joking?" She glared.

"No, I'm not. In fact, I'm dead serious."

"I see...well, I do not agree, and I never will..." She grimaced.

"I'm not asking for your consent..."

"Damn, you need it, don't you know?" She chuckled. "Before you continue being an asshole, I advise you to stop and reconsider..."

"I'd rather continue."

She stared at me for a while and clicked her tongue.

"I wouldn't want us to involve the police, all right? So just stay back." She warned. Just like I anticipated.

"Okay. But I cannot guarantee that you won't see me on Tuesday." I said and walked away, a wicked smile creeped up on my face. I had succeeded in being an asshole.

Layla

He must be out of his mind. Definitely, out of his mind. For a second, I couldn't feel myself. It was possible I bit myself and I didn't feel the pain either.

He was getting on my nerves and I was unable to promise it would end on a good note. I rubbed my head impatiently.

What was I to do about him?

About him and Nathan?

Why was my son so attached to my ex-boyfriend?

For goodness's sake! My ex-boyfriend, of all people! It was something unexplainable to me.

Should I leave the city?

Return to Africa?

I was so disturbed. I didn't want to start another war between me and Leo. For about a decade, I had forgotten about him until he showed up out of the blue and even then, I was still not bothered about him until Nathan decided to stick to him like a tick.

My phone blipped. I made some soup, Hannah's text message read, will you be back before five?

"Yes." I returned.

She was most probably coming over to see Nathan. She had been at the hospital yesterday, but she had had to go home because she had started to feel very nauseous and kind of allergic to the hospital smell.

I thought perhaps I should discuss Leo and Nathan with her, she might have a solution for me because I was beginning to get frustrated.

I didn't know why my life always seemed to take a wrong turn when all things looked fine.

Perhaps nothing was fine, to begin with, but I could manage it, I could keep up with it. I wanted to live a life fresh with people and memories. The kind with which I would hardly think I had lived before or known some people before now.

Children, I knew, were malleable, so I still wanted to hope that, with the help of Hannah and Sofia, Nathan would forget about Leo, for good.