23rd feb, 2019.

Same old, same old.

Wake up, take a shower, brush, dress up and go to school.

Except it wasn't school, but it was school.

The day had been given off for every student of Nile university as they matriculated their set of 2017 and 2018 students that Saturday. Exactly 7 days since Maryam's incident, and 5 days since Sudais had yet again packed his ass back to Lagos.

Laila was too arrogant to ask why he'd be moving to Abuja when he casually mentioned it just before he left.

She didn't want him to.

He was a peace wrecker.

It'd been 6 weeks after their...marriage? Cause they definitely didn't have a wedding, right? 6 weeks and Laila could say everything was going great. Them ignoring each other included.

And well, that was it. She caked her signature light makeup and jumped into a black and white boubou, light jewelry before picking a similar veil out.

She lagged around until midday when she was sure the students would be out with their families, she got the driver to drive her and Maya who had been back for over 2 weeks to her school, look for who they came for and in their case, her nephew, El-amin, who was named after her father by her older brother, Umar.

She found her family which was just her siblings; Raihan, Muslim, Modibbo, her nephew, his mum, and siblings, and Maya's older sister seated around with small chops on display.

Again, same old, same old. Greetings, a few hugs, excluding Muslim and Modibbo who refused- not that she offered them anyway and they were chatting and playing games.

Just in time, Laila noticed a familiar family on the opposite side of the green scenery, similarly under a canopy with someone's eyes catching hers.

Laila concluded she was going to turn around acting as if she was searching for something and never admit to seeing the person until the person smiled widely and sprinted up, then started to rush over.

Well, there goes her little plan flying out the window.

Truth be told, it wasn't like she didn't know the person would be there. She had just hoped to avoid her em...new family.

A smile grew on her face as she ignored all signs of the girl wanting to hug her with a wide smile. The girl didn't get the memo, she squeezed Laila in a tight hug with Laila's awkward laughs being directed at Maya's raised brow.

When she pulled, the matriculating student crouched to greet the family.

When she was done, Laila cleared her throat and clasped her fingers. "Guys, this is Mima, my husband's youngest sister." She then turned to Mima, "Mima, this is Maya, my sister, and best friend," and continued until she had introduced everyone.

Excitedly, Mima suggested, "Can we merge our darduma's? We're all family, now right? Should we do that?"

Wallahi Raihan had a big mouth, and so did Muslim who had been eyeing Mima since she had made her way over to them as they agreed in sync. "Totally. Let's merge it."

Laila shared a suspicious look with Maya, then the best friends turned to Muslim who shrugged.

Well, that was how the Sunusi's found themselves merging with the Mammans.

When everyone had concluded they were stuffed, the families began taking pictures.

When Laila mentioned she had expected to see the family there, who she hadn't expected to see showed up.

Acting all ok with everything.

Muri, who she had met along with Mima for the first time in Sudais' family house during the first week they had returned was the only person she felt similar to in her new family.

Nothing major, just their skin color. Turns out, the humble guy was also the only dark-skinned child of Baba Alhaji and Laila was somehow surprised to hear nothing about the family mentioning it every now and then when some of them didn't miss an opportunity to point out hers.

The hypocrites.

Anyways, he, Tahir-nice guy too and thou whose name was not to be mentioned, who she had no idea was in town were all up in the family getting acquainted.

Tahir crossed to Laila as he cast his head down concerning Maya. He then turned and did the same to Laila before his humor comments just like the first time he met her when he and Mima had brought Mima's crypto crash issue to her, "Ina yini Goggo Laila."

Laila's went agape as she slanted forward to look at her self head to toe-well toe to the chest before rising with a small smile to Instead play his game. "Lafiya lau bappah Tahir."

"Wai!" He exclaimed, lifting his hand to touch his chest. "I am not that old mana."

Laila nodded her head, her smile growing bigger. "Neither am i old."

"But that's what your nieces and nephews call you." He pointed at her matriculating nephew who was talking to Sudais. Unfortunately, her eyes met that of his and he gave her a wink. What the hell was he winking for?

Deciding he wasn't going to be the reason this humor-filled conversation ended, she ignored him and returned her amusement to Tahir. "And that's what your nieces or nephews will call you too," then added in case he already had them. "Or they call you already."

He shook his head as he watched Sudais walk over, clad in a similar casual attire with his arm hanging around Mima's shoulder who said something and they burst out laughing.

It baffled Laila how he was ready to beat the kid to oblivion just a week ago and was laughing with her now. But that was what siblings' relationship was made up of.

"I was just telling your wife not to call me Bappah Tahir, i am not that old."

Laila smiled, a smile she had never given Sudais but was giving it free to his friend as she avoided him. "And I'm telling you, Bappah Tahir i am also not that old."

The rest laughed and when it died down, Laila was not going to let the thick tension around them go on so she cleared her throat and grabbed Maya's hand. "Um-i don't think you two have met," She glanced at Maya who tucked her lips into her mouth, dragging the skin between her nose and lips with a mischievous twinkle in her eyes. Laila hissed as she motioned between the 2, "Sudais, Maya. Maya, Sudais."

"Her husband," Sudais added, beaming with a nod at the girl that was a bit taller than Mima.

The girl beamed and nodded, "Her best friend and sister," She proceeded to add after she had slanted forward in a whisper-which the 5 of them all heard sound and clear, "You're as clean-cut as she said you were."

Laila and Sudais went agape, Sudais in wonder and amusement, while Laila's was in horror. She was quick to defend herself, almost punching Maya as she pushed her glasses further up the bridge of her nose with a furious index. Why was the girl suddenly cracking jokes when she talked shit about all the men in Laila's life on their last outing? "Yawshe na fadi hakan? Ke fa munafuka ce, kina jin tsoron Allah, wallahi."

Maya, Sudais, Tahir, and Mima all burst into fits of laughter. Maya and Sudais, she could understand. Mima and Tahir however...She whipped her pointed look to the man and girl who had brought leaned in to eavesdrop. When they noticed Laila's glare, Tahir was quick to glance at Mima before he stretched a finger at the grass, suddenly looking interested in it. "This grass is handsome, Mima."

Mima nodded examining the grass. "I know right? I wondered who engineered it."

Mima slanted her eye up from her bent figure to still find Laila and Sudais glaring at them. She cast them down and met Tahir's raised brow before she gave him a tight nod.

"Let's go ask for the engineer's name, i want it for my fiancé," Tahir concluded, nodding before he and Mima scurried off.

With a pointed look, she crossed her arms over her chest to face Sudais and ignore her stupid best friend who was rocking side to side as she hypocritically whispered a song. "I'm leaving with Maya and won't be back until after Isha."

His brows furrowed as he shifted to mirror by crossings his arms over his chest. "Is that seeking permission i am sniffing off of you," he then leaned over her so Maya wouldn't hear them, "Glad to see you're realizing your heaven lies beneath my feet."

Laila reflexly stomped her feet as her arms dropped hard and she grumbled. "I could care less if you give me permission or not."

He moved back, enjoying how easy it was to piss her off. "Then i permit you to go, Kid." Then he bopped the tip of her nose.

Laila took a deep breath before grumbling. "Don't touch my nose. And. I. Am. Not. A. Kid."

He hummed, then gestured at her thighs. "Keep stomping your feet then, kid." All trace of lark disappeared from his tone, "Why would you be coming home after isha? You're a girl...and married. To me."

She glared at him, at his nose and mouth since she didn't want to act like a teenager whose crush finally noticed her by looking into his eyes and getting wobbly.

She gave no reply.

The woman might not agree, but they were more alike than she thought. She was stubborn as steel. So was he.

He redirected the question to Maya, "Would you be so nice to tell me why Sadiya would be staying till 8 at your place?"

Maya was pulled out of her mock singing concert as her eyes widened to indicate she didn't get him. He raised a brow and she gave a short awkward laugh. "Oh-oh. It's in our family house. Muslim and Modibbo are taking off for school by 7, we're going to see them off."

"Oh, ok. Allah kai su lafiya."

Despite wanting to go on with her verbalism strike, she synced with her best friend. "Amen."

He clapped, "Ooookayy...i have somewhere to be. You need me to get you anything?"

Again, she was going to be her sulky self but decided against it. "Apples," she wrapped her arm around Maya's to lead them before she cautioned, "The green ones. You'll return it if you buy me the red ones." He was her husband and was charged with the responsibility of feeding her right? Then he better do it right.

Back at their family house when Laila had taken a shower to find Maya seated Indian style on the bed, she couldn't help it. "So...you don't hate Sudais on my behalf?"

Maya's breath paused at the suddenness of the question. Laila might look tough on the outside, but Maya knew otherwise. As such, she paused the video on her phone and raised her head to the girl in a towel. "I do, but," she shrugged. "I don't. You're already married, Laila. You should go ahead and see where it goes. He doesn't seem like an asshole to you, or in general, and has a nice sense of humor. And I believe you guys can make it work...hopefully."

Laila couldn't help it, she had to chuckle. "Ha! Ya think?"

Pouting, Maya nodded. "I do. Does he hit you?"

Laila instinctively shook her head.

"Does he insult you?"

Laila shook her head. Ish-

"Then At least, or i hope, he won't turn out to be a total waste like that Nurain. Or wallahi we will make his life a living hell."

Laila's mood responsively soured up as she paused from sitting down to glare at Maya. "He wasn't a total waste."

Maya shook her head, her lips pushed forward and upwards in disgust. "Yes, he was. You're still defending him? He was an asshole. Messed up everything."

Laila sighed as she took a seat and released her hair from the bonnet. Maya had never liked Nurain and never missed an opportunity to show it. Laila on the other hand, despite being angry at him-ish, still felt the need to defend him. Only she was allowed to be that angry at him.

In a soft voice, she argued. "You say it as if everyone is not a jerk sometimes. He is human."

Maya's face flushed into a hot color as she lowered her brows, dropped her phone, and continuously slapped her right hand into the palm of her left. "Stop making excuses for that animal." Then thrashed her arms in anger as she bared her teeth. "Ni na yadda da maganar Daddy. Be barki ke daya ba. That kohl he used to put and say it was for his stupid eye problem was not a medication, he was jazzing you! In fact, you need ruqiyyah wallahi."

Corners of Laila's lips fell in self-pity. Her glossy eyes swiped everywhere in the room but Maya.

She felt so stupid for not listening to anyone. Stupid for not falling moderately like Shakespeare said-as if you could measure an ounce or 2 and name it as, 'how much i feel for this person.' So stupid because everything comes down to the fact that this was her fault. All her fault.

Now, where were all the scientists? Did she have to die before they invented a time machine like those in movies?

She'd sell everything to buy it just so she could reverse and do things differently. Ruin her life differently, with different ideas. Not love. Stupid, stupid love.

Stupid world.

Stupid Laila.

Stupid girl. With stupid dreams.

"I'm so stupid," she whispered, shaking her head as she hung her head low and looked at the blurry floor over her glossy eyes, "I'm so stupid for you, Nurain. So stupid, Maya," Head shaking, she chuckled humorlessly. "I never thought I'd say this out loud but...Daddy was right. Mami...and you, and everyone and every red flag i ignored...loo-look," she gestured at her old room, "Look where my stubbornness brought me. Here...Exactly where I've feared my whole life. In a marriage like that of my parents," She glanced at Maya whose demeanor had slumped from rage to pity as she stared at her. Laila chuckled, "Look at you...looking at me thinking I'm so stupid but pitying me..."

"No-no-no-no. Laila no." Maya shook her hands, not wanting them to go down that road.

Laila hummed, trying hard to swallow the bile gathered in her throat but failing. Her whole system felt tired. She was tired. Everywhere hurt. Her chest constricted as her heartbeat surged. "I should've died in that accident. It should've be-been...me. It—"

"Don't."

"Better. I-i...I deserved it. I should've-"

"Stop saying that. Me haka?"

"It's true!" Laila's pink eyes and sticky face whipped to Maya. Her tone fell. "I wouldn't be here if-if i had just..."

"Babies..." Maya cooed, taking calculated steps until she wrapped her arms around the victim's head and pulled her into her tummy.

***

Sunday, 24th feb 2019

Have you ever woken up and the first thing your heart does is go into a state of tachycardia? Heart rate running faster than 100 beats per minute? Gasping for air but not breathing? Eyes popped out of their sockets? A palm over your chest to try and calm your heart down but it wasn't working? The other hand covering your mouth? No? Okay. But, that was Laila the next morning. Or night as she looked at the window to find no sunlight from the sides of the curtains.

Slowly, afraid the startling sound would come back if she moved, it took her over a minute to lean onto the side and switch the dim light button from her side of the bed.

Not that she cared, but, her heart beat impossibly increased as she looked over to the empty side of the bed.

Where the hell was the man?

Was he the one who woke her up with that sound? Or did he also hear the sound and rush out to see if there was any problem?

You know what they say about curiosity killing the cat? Laila was the cat here doing what was going to get her killed as she grabbed her phone for its flashlight, wore her flip-flops, grabbed her night robe, and tiptoed to the bathroom.

He wasn't there, and neither was he in the closet. Or the 2 other rooms.

She tiptoed into the kitchen and grabbed the first knife she found as she carefully went through the study, the diner, then the living room just in time for her to hear the mahogany front door slam. She hid behind the curtain and waited until the intruder was halfway into the room before she clicked the lights on and raised her knife high and ready to strike.

Laila let out a startled cry, releasing the knife to jerk back when the intruder whizzed to her so fast, that they could knock her out in a second.

"Sudais!"

"Sadiya!"

He had the same wide eyes and raging heartbeat as hers by the time they both yelped out.

Laila let her eyes travel down his V-neck tank and sweatpants until her attention caught a weapon in his hand. A short gun.

Her hand pointed at the weapon and he followed it before he chuckled. "I wake everyone up for subh salat with a gunshot. It's my form of sadaqatul jariyah."

Stumbling upon her words, it took her a few before she wheezed something sensible. "B-but. You-i-no. You didn't do it when you were here last week, why all of a sudden?"

He squinted his slight drowsy eyes. "Um...that's cause I was living in Lagos. Now that I've moved most of my stuff to Abuja, I'm not putting an end to my form of Sadaqatuh-jariyah."

Laila almost yelled and believe her when she said, she hardly spoke in the morning because she always woke up angry. "Sadaqatul jariyah? How is this sadaqatul jariyah? You gave me a heart attack."

He clicked his tongue, "And you're still standing."

Laila grumbled gibberish as she palmed her face, and exhaled before throwing her head to stare up. "God. How did i end up here?"

"Here?" Sudais' pointed at the floor, then motioned to his back, grinning. "Oh, we're here because your 'i promise to stand by you' e don sit down."

Laila stared at Sudais in disbelief, her eyes dropping as she realized she was standing on 2 hours of sleep. She'd spent most of her night reading.

She exhaled loudly as she twisted to his right, her drowsy eyes falling on the beaded hallway curtain.

She was done.

No way was she going to wake up and start listening to this.

She stomped her feet, heading back and left the shotgunned man stupidly following her with amusement lighting up his eyes.

Another Sunday to bitch about how much she hated the day after Sunday, the first day of the weekdays, and Monday by arranging her bag, catching up on series with the guilt of not reading biting her in the ass but she had mastered the ignoring game, and finally revising what she could while preparing for another excruciating week.

Kai! Why did she even choose to study Medicine and Surgery?

She could've studied sand or bikes or food or something less time-consuming, self-esteem cracking, mentally draining, physically soring, and endurance testing. Something less brutal and less strenuous. Less physically, mentally, and socially tasking.

When she gave it a big thought, sometimes it's not even worth it. She had lost course mates just after writing exams. She had seen her seniors lose coursemates after induction. She had seen people withdraw, drop out or repeat.

Also, when she thought deeper. There was a bright side to it. The bright side was that everything in medical school adds up to make you a really strong, resilient, committed, and dedicated doctor...if you survive that is. The even brighter side to Laila though was that Dr. coming right before her name and the fact that medical school doesn't last forever. You graduate. You become someone.. You put your hard work, knowledge, and dedication to work and watch with a smile as it works.

Of course, they'd be bad days. She wasn't a doctor yet but she had watched people brought in really gruesome conditions. Some made it, some didn't. Some hurt. Some hurt even deeper. Some even planted themselves in her dreams. But well...this lady called life.

Sometimes, in her scrubs and white coat, she'd raise her shoulders as she for the first time looked into the mirror and didn't trace any imperfection on her body or face. All of them didn't matter. She'd hype herself, "Doctor Laila. Doctor Halimatu's Sadiya Amin Sunusi!" Then she'd scream at the thought of being induced.

Laila hadn't made her mind up on what she wanted to post for her residency. Was it internal medicine? Obstetrics/gynecology? Urology? General surgery? Pathology? Orthopedic surgery? Or was it anesthesiology? She hadn't even decided. If she did live, she had over a year to decide.

But, all that mattered was GETTING THAT DR. BEFORE THE HALIMA.

DR. HALIMA.

Okay, that aside. Back to watching with the nagging academic guilt telling her, Laila, read!

But, she'd push it aside.

It was past noon and she rolled to her neatly made side of the bed from Sudais', which she thrashed on just to annoy him because she had noticed he hated untidiness and slashed the drawer of her nightstand to get her earpiece. She retrieved the cord as she swiped her MacBook only for something to hit her.

She rushed up, dropping the cod and the device as her hands and eyes rummaged through the drawer. Her breath accelerated as she unconsciously started to bite the insides of her cheeks to restrain herself from accusing every human in the house-which was just Sudais and a maid- down to the rats, cockroaches, insects, objects and devices for stealing her stuff.

In frustration, as she didn't sight it, she moved to the second drawer to get the same result. She broke the first drawer and then tipped every content of it on the floor. Her purse, over 5 cases of her extra glasses, painkillers, sleeping aids, lots of candy, journals, chasbih, and lipgloss all came apart but nothing she was searching for showed up.

No.

Who? No one had been in her room, how the hell was it missing? How the hell did it develop legs and-

Oh.

Laila's eyes widened, her breath hitching. Then, her expression deformed to anger, eyes narrowing at nothing as she kicked the pile of stuff she had tipped off and ventured through doors until she was at the study.

"Did you take a pink candy from my nightstand?"

Nonchalantly, he threw her a glare before returning to the four screens all lighted up in black and green in front of him. "I took some candy but I don't know if it's pink."

Her arms flew and dropped in frustration as she yelled. "Why didn't you ask me?"

He scoffed, focusing his gaze completely on the desktop screens, and calmly stated. "You have a lot of them."

"I don't care!" She hit her fist into her palm as she stomped further, gritting. "Did. you. take. the. pink. Candy. or. not?"

He shrugged, and with an emotionless voice, responded. "I don't know. Why are you even obsessed with just one candy? You have many."

Laila's palm hit her forehead as her glossy eyes closed. "Ughh!" She stomped her feet, knowing the last thing she had of Umal was gone. And the stupid, ignorant man in a t-shirt and knickers was the cause of it. Voice tight, she added. "I hate you."

He turned around and kissed the air in her direction. "That's mutual, kiddo."

"I. Am. Not. A. Kid. Stop calling me KIDDO!"

He blew out a breath, shaking his head. "Then stop acting like it. I took a stupid candy, you have lots of them. You can also always buy a new one. Grow up!"

Laila's furious shaky hands rolled into fists with her teeth clenching hard and her icy glare not wavering from Sudais. He gave her a bored look, eyes dropping and lips set into a stiff line.

She gave up glaring, he wasn't bulging and was only fueling her more. She was scared she'd do something that'd get her thrown in jail. To avoid that, she turned her firm legs around. When she was almost out, he yelped, then announced. "Oh, by the way. My parents are in town, we're going to go see them," She turned to say something smart and he beat her to it, "And before you say something along the line of, 'Why?' I can list a thousand reasons but the only one that matters is cause i said so."

There was no way her chest could be heaving up and down that hard and she wouldn't go into cardiac arrest. She grind the edges of her teeth against each other to prevent herself from saying something to worsen the scene but oh well, it was Laila, and she failed miserably. She took fast strides toward him until she was standing a few feet away from him, "You're so arrogant, you know that?"

He nodded, lips pursed forward and eyes on the tiled floors. "Yeah. But then, you have issues," he pointed a finger at his chest, "I have issues. And, until we all agree, we-"

"Yeah." She cut him, sensing he was either going to say something she didn't like or something to get into her pants-also something she didn't like- as she crossed her arms over her chest, "Where are they?"

His nose wrinkled, his bushy eyes brows furrowing and his eyes squinting up. "You and i are going there together."

She rose an index, shaking it, her voice oddly calm although it was hard holding back. "There is... no you and i. I just need you to tell me their location and I'll meet you there."

His eyes widened as he pulled his head back, the sides of his lips slanting forward in amusement. "Oh...you need me?"

She shook her head, dropping her still fisted arms to the side and resisting the urge to trash it in frustration, "No! I don't need you. I want-no. I don't want you!" She went still to find the right words and clenched her teeth and fists tighter so she wouldn't bash his pretty head into the screens. "You have to be the one to give me the location. But, i am not-"

"Oh..." He sneered, letting out a small laugh as he turned the swivel chair completely to her. "I am the one?"

Laila had had enough. She managed her most icy glare as she slanted her upper body until she was aligned with his seated figure. "You are not the one. You will never be the one. Now, give me a location and I'll find you there."

His arm stretched out, "They are literally in the first mansion you see when you come into this estate and you know that."

Laila's glare dropped as she managed to pull off the most genuine-mock smile, "Yeah. So, you stay and wait for me in front of the house then we can go in."

He hummed, pushing his lower lip out as he pretended to think. Then shrugged and sarcastically added, "I guess that's public enough to show them how happily married we are."

She laughed a small fake one, tilting her head to the side, "And private enough to prevent everyone from knowing what a god damn jerk you are." His smile sagged and that made her smile genuinely, it felt good to. "Time?"

"In. An. Hour," He gritted.

"Make it 30. I have somewhere to be."

His frown deepened, his cheeks squeezing. "Where are you going to?"

"A match."

His eyes shot to the right side of the ceiling in thought. He then shrugged. "Long as you're back by 6," Then brought his smile back. "And be a dear and leave that nasty attitude of yours at home."

She nodded, dropping her act and turning neutral. "Keep your dirty hands and words to yourself, then we won't have a problem."

"Sadiya..." he started, picking the same dirty hand of his to place on her bare upper arm. "We will always have a problem." Then topped it off with a smile before recoiling back to his screens.