The day after

Good morning" Leo heard a voice greeted softly in front of him. The voice sounded familiar and yet not really familiar. Out of curiosity, he glanced up from the brief he was reading on his Ipad, to find Tola climbing up the stairs, and almost in front of him.

Leo was was surprised.

'Was she the one that said good morning?...' He wondered to himself in confusion. 'That's certainly not her voice!... Tola's voice that I've heard so many times over was always an octave higher than what a normal human being should have... And why would she even tell me good morning?...

The few times that she's ever spoken to me was to scream or say something against me... So why's she telling me good morning all of a sudden?... Maybe she wasn't talking to me... Maybe she was talking to the person behind me?' Leo conversed within himself and glanced back to see if there was someone else walking down the stairs behind him that Tola might just be talking to.

Nobody was coming down behind him, which means that Tola actually greeted him for the first time in many months.

'What a surprise! She's started to greet me now cos grandpa just made me the head of the family! Leo thought to himself in amusement. He wanted to laugh out loud at her so bad, but that would be petty. So he just nodded to her greeting instead.

Tola smiled when she saw that Leo didn't ignore her greeting like she thought he would... 'At least he nodded in response to my greetings.' She thought happily and her smile grew wider

"Please don't forget about the job you promised," She said sweetly, anybody seeing her for the first time would think she has always been a sweet girl and the job she reminded him now was her idea.

'What an opportunist!' Leo thought with disgust and only nodded to her again because he had no words for people like her who are all about the only thing they could get from you and wouldn't think twice to stab you in the back as soon as they've gotten what they wanted.

"Have a nice day at work then." Tola finally said before she continued up the stairs.

"Big bro, please don't tell me you fell for that fake sweetness?" Titi asked as she handed him a stainless steel travel mug that she had already filled with coffee.

"She's irrelevant..." Leo answered in dismissals before smiling at Titi. "Thanks for the coffee cutie. Always miss it whenever you're at school." He said, lightly pinching Titi on her cheek.

"You're welcome... " Titi replied and encircled her arm around her brother's waist while they both walked towards the door.

"Speaking of school... I was wondering if you could drop me off at school this morning. I left my car and took a cab home yesterday because of the traffic..."

"Yeah, no problem. If you're ready then let's go. I have an early morning meeting that I can't afford to be late for..."

Inside the car, while Leo was on the phone with his assistant concerning the brief he got from Yusuf Jakande, the new intern that they placed inside the Human Resources Department. Titi was glancing through a notebook she prepared ahead of the day's class.

"Big bro, can I ask a favor?" She asked immediately she saw Leo was done talking on the phone.

"Yeah, sure..."

"I know you make the decision in the family now... And for peace to reign, I was just wondering if you could allow mom to still be in charge of running the domestic aspect of the family? Emma might not be able to do it anyway cos of school and stuff and...

"I never had any intention of taking it away from mom alright, rest assured mommy's baby."

"Really?..." Titi sighed with relief. "Thank you... I was worried before... Managing the house is the only thing she knows how to do and I was afraid you might take that away from her cos of the way she has been allowing Tola and Fola to manipulate her against you... Wait, is that not Emma?" Titi suddenly diverted from discussing their mother, looking wide-eyed out the car window

"Where?..." Leo asked, looking towards where Titi indicated. "What's going on over there?" He asked no one in particular and his eyes also widen in surprise when he saw his future wife parked by the roadside, and in a heated argument with another car owner

***

Abby was sick! Her head felt like it was being drilled into by a jackhammer because of the intensity of the headache she was feeling. She was also very dehydrated as she couldn't keep anything down and kept throwing up everything she puts in her mouth.

'Hangover should be termed hell on earth!' She thought to herself as she leaned over a dumpster and threw up the content of her stomach, which was now mainly bile, for the third time that morning.

The dumpster stinks and made her gaged and retched some more but she had no choice, it's better than throwing up inside Emma's car or on the street, right?

This was all her fault! She shouldn't have allowed Emma and Omolade to persuade her into drinking that last bottle of wine with them after she was done talking to her boyfriend. How could she think she would be able to tolerate as much alcohol as the sisters?

Now she felt so miserable and weak. All she wanted was to be able to close her eyes and sleep because she wasn't able to all through the night, she was just restlessly tossing and turning on the bed.

Emma who didn't look like she drank even a drop of alcohol was the one driving both of them back to school. She felt sorry for Abby and would have insisted she slept in but Tunde, Abby's boyfriend insisted on coming to pick her up when he learned she was hangover sick

And For the third time that morning, Abby signaled for Emma to stop the car because she was having the urge to throw up again. This time Emma had to pull up into a deserted street. Abby quickly got out as soon as the car stopped, immediately making a beeline to the nearest gutter, retching and throwing up in it.

When Abby was done and Emma was backing out of the street, her car was suddenly collided in from behind. Even though the impact shocked them both, when they got out of the car to check how extensive the damages to the cars were, they found out it was just a minor fender bender. All she had was a busted rear light while the other driver had a bent bumper.

The driver of the other car who still sat inside his car fuming and looking at them angrily finally decided to get out of his car when people started gathering, and he immediately began shouting, breathing fire and brimstone.

He wouldn't listen to any of their explanation, not even when they said they would be responsible for the cost of repairs, he just kept on shouting, attracting more unnecessary attention to the scene of the accident.

It was exactly when Emma decided to reply and match him words for words that she heard the voice she wouldn't have prayed to hear at that particular time...

"What's going on here!?" Leo asked behind her, his voice freezing her in place.

'What the fuck is he doing here?' Emma thought to herself as her heart started beating wildly out of excitement. 'Why did he have to pass this particular road today of all days that I'm acting uncultured? Now, what am I going to say to him?' She panicked wondered to herself

She has wondered about this question for hours after Mama Silver informed her they would be getting married to each other. What would she say to him when they finally meet?... Now that he was standing right behind her, she still found herself wondering about that same question

After counting from number one to three in her mind, she took a deep breath, plastered a bright smile on her face, and decided to take it as it comes...

"Oh hi, baby!..." Emma said immediately she turned around. She closed the small gap between them and hugged his arm close to herself.

'Oh hi, baby!?... Really!?... But why are you this crazy Emma!?' Emma thought to herself, appalled by what just slipped out of her mouth.

Leo's jaw nearly dropped wide open by what he heard her say and how she was hugging his arms like they were a loving couple when he knew all she probably really wanted to do was to strangle him back in revenge.

'This girl is crazily amazing!' Leo thought in amusement when he remembered she called him grandma the first time they met. How she could smile brightly and call him baby when he knew for a fact that she hates his guts baffles him. It's good to know she has not lost her craziness