₦airaland Forum

Baffles me also, for a while now topics from here haven't graced the front page, its too bad. I hope the mods responsible take note before this place becomes a shell of what it used to be.

noble4d:
noble is here

hi noble

fhunn:
Pls!!! Don't hurt eve oh even though she was mankind's downfall
Like to see mofe and eve tie the knots and ezinne(+ daughter) having tremendous financial backup from mofe, plleeassse

hmmmmm
.......thinking......

Kaymania:
Chop and clean mouth.

Kingphilip, thanks

chop and clean mouth abi? Shebi we will see this Saturday, till then!

Amiablejudy, thanks much girl

babysmart, thanks, baby is doing great.

right guys, till Wednesday ( hopefully) ....

and Una comment o, so I will know how d story is doing, its too bad I don't have time to reply but I see the comments and they keep me going, thanks guys.

Present Day

Mofe was back in his hotel suite, taking a shower after a long talk with his cousin, the multiple jets in the stall were working at full speed but still wasn’t enough to take away the tension he felt, tension laced with a growing anger. Anger at the thought that he could have fathered a child ten years back and was none the aware of it.

He’d gotten over the shock from his findings of that afternoon,and had been mulling over the event. His talk with Eric had helped somewhat, it had helped him think deeply about it all and he had now come to some sort of conclusion on what he had to do.

Initially, he’d planned on not seeing Ezinne anymore but he couldn’t leave now, not when he was almost certain the little girl was his. The realization was still knee weakening, that he had a child all these years and had not known about it. The more he thought about it, the more aggravated he became.

If and when he confirmed from Ezinne that the girl was his, she was going to feel the full brunt of his wrath. They’d had a huge fight all those years ago but keeping the knowledge of his child away from him, that was just another level of callousness and she would pay for her actions, dearly.

Turning off the water, he grabbed a towel and began drying off when he heard the video call alert buzzing on his PC.

Tying the towel about his waist loosely he stepped out, wondering for an instant who it could be since he’d left strict messages with his assistant, that he was not to be disturbed by anything short of the world coming to an end on this trip. He was confident in his Vice president acting for him, handling and making decisions on his behalf so he was sure the call wouldn’t be work related.

“Sh’it!” He exclaimed, suddenly recalling he’d not called or left a message for Eve all day. Muttering a slight curse, he rushed to the PC and truly, it was her. Since he’d been back for a week now, he’d called every day at 3.pm, which was 7.00 am her time but today it had escaped his mind. It had been about the time he’d left Ezinne’s place, when he’d been so shaken.

“Hi Evie.” He answered the call.

Her concerned face came up on the screen, she was in her office, at work.

He felt really bad forgetting to call her like he had. She worried easily “Babe, you ok? Been calling for the past thirty minutes….” She started then paused, seeing him shirtless with tiny droplets of water on his skin, she pieced it together. “Oh….guess you were in the shower, you didn’t call all morning…did something happen?”

“Yeah … I,” he started, feeling like such an a’ss “ummm, something came up and I got carried away, I’m so..sorry?”

“Babe! You never ever forget to call. What came up? A work thing?” A frown marring her lovely features. Her auburn hair was pulled back in a tight ponytail giving her a severe look, her work hair according to her. She said it made her look and feel fierce. He preferred it down and flowing, framing her face and making her even more pretty.

“Errr… Yeah, but its kinda resolved now…I’m really sorry for not calling babe, I know how you worry,”

“It’s just…. I thought you were in trouble, like you got mugged or something.” She smiled as he laughed at her hyperactive imagination. Trust Eve to conjure up the worst case scenario.

“Its not funny babe, you know you have to be careful, being in that place, its been a while you’ve been there.”She admonished.

“Eve, I’m very fine, it’s my country, my place, remember? I know how to move around besides I have a personal bodyguard, you should see him, he’d give Cena a run for his money.”

Eve grunted, “one guy security detail? Babe, in that place you should have at least three marine trained guards with you all the time.”

He smiled, goodness only knew what she’d read in the papers “Evie, it’s not as bad as you think, you should come see it sometime instead of believing what you read in the papers,”

She raised a brow questioningly, pointing a finger at him and giving a mega watt smile instantly brightening her features. “Are you inviting me over? You know for you, I wouldn’t mind going into the lion’s den … Whenever you want me over, just say the word and like you did, I’ll dump all my work on the associates and hop on the next available flight.”

Mofe threw back his head in laughter, she was so funny but also dead serious, his ride or die chick, she would be there in a heartbeat if he asked but he didn’t need her here now, not when he had so much to sort out.

“I know babe, it’s one of the reasons I’m crazy about you.” He said honestly.

“Awww babe, you know I love you too, so much” she glanced at her wristwatch then, the diamond encrusted cartier one he’d given he last christmas “I’ve run out of time MJ, lunch break is almost over and I’ve got quite a number of depositions I need to go through. Have you gotten anymore information on finding her?”

He hesitated for a second, not quite expecting the sudden question “I …er, no leads still, Eve…. Still working on it.”

She sighed “right babe, I miss you so….much, ”

He nodded, understanding “I miss you too, Eve.”

“Wish I was there with you, you look so yummy shirtless like that. It’s so lonely here,” she pouted her lips like a kid making him chuckle

“It’s just for a while, I’ll make it up to you somehow, I promise.”

She smiled “I will hold you to that promise, babe. You owe me hugely.”

“I do settle my debts, don’t I?”

“You do, still… I miss you a lot, how long do you think it will be till you can find her.”

“I’m not sure, Eve,” he didn’t like this line of questioning because he hated lying to her but at the moment, he didn’t know what to tell her. How could he break the news that he suspected he had a ten year old kid.

“And when you find out, what then happens?”

“Geez, could you quit cross examining me, Eve?” He asked frustrated, needing to get off this unpleasant chat they were having, he didn’t want to bury himself in more lies just to protect her.

“MJ, I’m not….I just want to know what’s going on since you won’t ever tell me if I do not ask…”

“I don’t tell you because I’m trying to protect you.”

She gasped “I don’t need protection, I need to know what’s happening, I can handle it.”

He shook his head “You worry too much, Eve and I don’t want to give you any reason at all to worry.” He said quietly holding her blue eyes steady. She was upset now and he felt bad all over again.



“MJ, I can handle whatever, I know I’ve got porcelain skin but I’m no china doll, okay? I won’t break, just….please don’t loop me out. You just have to trust me Mofe,”

He sighed, she only called his name in dire circumstances, it still sounded funny hearing her pronounce it but he wasn’t in the mood to laugh. He was tempted, really tempted to spill but held back on it.

“Babe, MJ, ” she continued. “Is there anything you want me to know?”


She was very perceptive and even now, he was sure she could tell he was keeping things away from her, she called the feeling, her lawyer instincts.

He wouldn’t tell her anything yet, he couldn’t, not until he was truly sure what he was going to say.

A ragged sigh escaped him ” Evie, there’s nothing to say at the moment.” He was looking up at her and for a moment, thought he saw disappointment cross her eyes.

“Alright then, babe. I’ve got to get to work.”

She was trying to hide it but she was upset with him, he knew her quite well. She kept her eyes averted from him, probably because she didn’t want him seeing any emotion she was going through, he felt like an even greater a’ss now for upsetting her this way.

“Evie…Baby,” he called her gently and she looked up “I love, you. You know that right? Whatever happens, you are the one I love, okay?”



She sighed, finally looking up at him

“I’ll try to keep that in mind.” She replied quietly.

“Do.” He urged.

“MJ, I have to go now, work beckons.” She said trying a light smile which didn’t quite reach her eyes.

He wished he could assure her some more, he wished he could tell her everything, he just wanted to ease her mind. Knowing Eve and her extreme thought processes, she was probably thinking he was getting back together with Ezinne but that could never happen! Not in a gazillion light years to come, not even if they still had that weird electric pull of years back.

His heart was with Eve now and nothing would change that.

All he could do for now, was watch as she went offline knowing she needed the truth and that was the only reassurance she needed but he couldn’t do that yet. Not until he got some answers from the horse’s mouth.

******

Congrats guys, especially AudreyTimms!

Present Day

Mofe was at his cousin's house in Gwarimpa. He'd gone there immediately after his meeting with the president. Thankfully, it had gone well and no one had noticed his unsettledness. All he'd kept seeing all through the meeting were an oval face with almond shaped brown eyes, she was beautiful and now, after going over it over and over again, he was pretty sure she was his daughter.

That was why he was here, he needed someone to talk to.

"You did what?" Eric yelled in surprise.

They were at the mini bar in a corner of Eric's large living room, sitting on the bar, the both of them having a drink. Mofe was having a scotch, hoping the strong liquor would calm his nerves.

"I went to see her, Eric, I had to."

"You didn't have to do anything, MJ! Why in the world would you even do that? What you had ended years ago, you have both moved on long since so why?" Eric asked not understanding his actions.

He wasn't sure how to explain it to his cousin, that he hadn't really moved on. Eric didn't know about the dreams and how she still haunted his thoughts after all these years. He had kept it from his closest friend because right from the start Eric had never supported their relationship.

"I had to see her, Ric, I can't explain it but I had to!"

Eric watched him, as if trying to read him, he probably saw something because he began to shake his head.

"What? Why are you shaking your head like that?" Mofe asked eyeing him warily.

Eric took a careful sip of his drink, swirling the contents of the glass thoughtfully, before setting it back down on the top "You've still got it bad for her, haven't you?"

Mofe let out a resigned sigh, he decided on being a little truthful "I wouldn't go as far as that, but we didn't leave on the best of terms and...I just had to clear it all... For myself to be truly set free of her, for me to move on truly and begin something new and pure with Evie, I felt I had to do this."

"So this was the real reason you came back, wasn't it." Eric asked knowingly and Mofe replied with a guilty shuffle of his shoulders. "I knew it, I knew something else brought you down here. I had a feeling you weren't being truthful when you said you were coming to oversee the project for the government. That project is small fish compared to what your company handles in other countries and you don't personally oversee them. I knew something was definitely up, I just couldn't place it."

"Trust me, I have backed out and left it for Jared Lawson to handle. I almost jeopardised a meeting with the president this afternoon. It will be best this way."

Eric looked thoughtful once again "So you are leaving the country soon then?"

"Actually.... I'm not."

Eric's thoughtful expression became concerned "You have other business to handle?"

"Matter of factly, I do." Mofe said knowing his cousin wasn't going to like what was coming.

"Okay... You got some other business opportunities here or what?"

"Actually.... My business with Ezinne isn't exactly concluded." He started carefully, focusing on his glass of whisky rather than his cousin's face which he was sure wouldn't be pleasing to look at, at the moment.

"What the....!" Eric exclaimed pushing off from the bar counter "MJ, for goodness sakes what business do you have with your ex of over ten years back? MJ! Are you for real here? You have a great wonderful thing going on, a great life filled with so much possibilities the average person can only dream about, a great girlfriend, why go back to lick your vomit?"

"Hey! Hey!" Mofe turned to face his cousin now, he and Ezinne's affair might be done but he certainly wasn't going to accept Eric insulting her. She might after all be mother to his child.

"Ezinne is no vomit, we might not have worked out but I will not accept you referring to her, whether directly or indirectly, as such." He told his cousin crisply.

Eric was visibly not happy with him and Mofe didn't blame him but he had to do what he had to do. He had to know the truth, had he fathered that little girl?

"So what is this business you have with her? You can't help but have one more romp in the sack before leaving the country?"

"Oh please, give me a break, Eric," Mofe said exasperated " you think I came back to Nigeria for sex? Shouldn't you know me better?"

"Then please enlighten me on your 'business' with your ex" Eric said, doing air quotes with his fingers when he said 'business'.

Mofe sighed, now turning to look his friend in the face "Okay, let me start from the top. Eric, I have never really gotten over what happened between Ezine and myself. You know how it ended, very dramatic, painful and all that...I still feel guilty, I feel .... I feel.... I'm not sure but I'm just not settled. Since that day we had that fight, that night when I left the country abruptly, heartbroken and in pain, I haven't been myself.

Maybe if I had given it at least two days to think about it, we might have made up but I left in a hurry, hoping she would reach out to me and when she didn't, I became angry, resentful. I resented her for a long time Eric, I never told you but that anger and resentment at not being good enough, were my driving force. I purposed to myself that I would rise above all limitations, I would make it big, bigger than anything anyone ever expected and so I buried myself into my work..... I guess it all paid off." he sighed thinking about it all, the world was at his feet now but it still wasn't enough, he continued.

"I had relationships but nothing ever stuck, until I met Eve four years back," he smiled at the thought of her, she'd been ready to make huge sacrifices just to be with him, she put him first all the time and he loved her for it. She really was in love with him, not for his money but for who he was. "Meeting Evie made me decide it was time to move on from all that resentment but funny thing was, I didn't know how to live without it. I had kept her for so long in my mind that I just couldn't get her out.

"Believe me, I've tried Eric, but I keep having these dreams. Dreams about our past, the fight, some dreams are even of things that never happened. I'm just.... I'm tired of it all, I need to move on, I just want to move on Eric."

Eric who had been listening quietly all along, finally spoke "Is Eve aware of all this?"

Mofe nodded " She is,"

" And what's her take on it?"

Mofe sighed, a slight smile at the edge of his mouth "You know Eve, she always has my best interests at heart, she wants me to figure it all out." He said with a shrug "and that's what I wanted to do, see Ezinne, figure it out and get back on with my life" he said recalling the events that had happened that afternoon "but as you well know, life doesn't play fair."

"What do you mean?" Eric's frown resumed its position.

" Ezinne is blind now," he told his friend taking a swig of his drink as if needing it to calm himself. Seeing her blind like that today had cut him deep, she'd seemed able to cope but it still wasn't okay.

"She's ...." Eric was having a difficult time processing this information so Mofe helped him along.

"She's lost her vision!"

"What? How?"

"My thoughts exactly but that's not even the most alarming part, Eric. She has a daughter... A daughter who's at least ten years old, looking at her."



"She got married just a few months after you left, so it should add up......"

Mofe shook his head in disagreement "Nope, I saw her Eric, she is beautiful..." He smiled recalling the dark skinned girl with the eyes " she's dark skinned and Eric," he looked at his cousin, " she has my eyes!"

******



Ezinne wasn't sure what to believe any more. Since the departure of that reporter, she'd been jittery, apprehensive and worst of all, scared. She was scared that Mofe was back and was posing as a reporter. Why he would do that, she had no idea, had he found out about Azora? Had he come here just to see what she was up to and how he could take his daughter from her?

Ezinne stopped her pacing, reached out a hand to find the dinning chair she was sure was close by, her fingers touched it but it wasn't where it should be, Azora must have moved it. Holding it firmly, she sat down.

He had said his name was Moji but his voice had been so like Mofe's, She would know it in a crowd, even with it's accent, she could still swear by it or could two people's voices be so alike, was that possible?

Also how could one explain that fleeting spark she'd felt at the touch of his hand? It had only ever happened with Mofe, right from the first time they'd touched, only he, had ever sent sparks flying through her system.

Or could her mind and body be playing tricks on her? After all she'd recently been questioning her decision eleven years back to keep Azora's birth a secret from Mofe and his family. She'd been so angry with him back then that she hadn't considered what she would do in future when her daughter came of age and deserved to know who her real father was.

Zora was a few months over ten years now and in a few years would become a teenager. Ezinne knew she couldn't hold back this news from her for much longer. She currently believed her father had died in a car crash when she'd been three years old, same crash which had left Ezinne blind, but that wasn't true. She'd been too young to remember but Ekene had been nothing of a father to her. Not in blood and neither in kind.

She sighed, what to do?

"Ezinne, are you okay?" Rachel, her friend whom she shared house with had returned from work. She'd been so deep in thought that she hadn't heard her come in, she wished she had worn her glasses, her eyes would easily give her away, and Rachel would figure she was troubled.

Ezinne turned to her and managed a smile, "I'm fine Rachel, how was your day?"

She heard her set her bags down, her footsteps began approaching her "Don't lie to me, I saw the look on your face. You're broke, aren't you? The centre is broke, isn't it" She sat down beside her "What is your incompetent boyfriend-business manager doing, he's supposed to be making money for you, not mismanaging it. I thought you received a donation from a company just a few months back, what happened to the money?"

Ezinne sighed as Rachel went on and on, she'd never liked Emeka, who managed the centres funds and whom she was also in a relationship with.

"This is why I think its a bad idea for you to mix business with pleasure like this. It gives him the right to mismanage your money and you cant do anything about it. When my mother was alive, the centre always had enough funds. Now what is different? Why are we now broke as hell?"

Ezinne sighed "you're not helping matters by nagging about it." she said quietly.

Rachel paused for a second as she'd been about to continue "Okay, I'm sorry. I just can't stand seeing you troubled this way. Cheer up, okay? I bought ingredients to make your favourite dish, Ofe Nsala, you'll love it."

Finally a smile appeared on her face, everything around her could be chaotic but she could count on Rachel to be there. She didn't know how she would have gotten along without her.

Rachels mother, Theresa who was late now, had started the rehab centre. She'd also been visually impaired and since Rachel had grown up with her, she was used to living and assisting blind people. She co owned the centre along with Ezinne but ran a small business so she couldn't be involved in the day to day running of the place. Ezinne was in charge of that, she was thankful for Rachel's presence, she kept her going many times when she wanted to break down.

"Where's Azora?"

"She's next door, at Titi's place."

"Okay," She got up "It wouldn't do for her to see you like this."

"I'm fine now since my favourite meal is coming up." Ezinne joked getting a chuckle out of her friend.

"You had better!" She said, her footsteps retreating.

Ezinne sighed, she wasn't sure what to do about this Mofe issue but as she couldn't be absolutely sure it was Mofe, she would just have to be watchful. If indeed it was a reporter doing a feature on the centre she didnt want to jeopardise her chances of getting the recognition the place badly needed. He'd said he would be coming the next day, she would just have to wait and see how it all went.

********

Hi guys, sorry I have been mega busy, sorry bout taking so long and starving you guys. Here's chapter 3, its quite long and should make up for my absence.

I won't be able to reply your wonderful comments for now but be assured I'm reading them and it warms my heart, thank you all sooooo much.

Now lets get on with the story, shall we?

BTW, Posting will occur Mondays, wednesdays and fridays from now on, thank you. (pls dont crucify me if I dont keep to it )

Hameenat94, thanks and welcome ...nabsprada, how in the world could I forget you? Oya, am doing 50 push ups just to appease you... Saw what u did on the NYSC thread, thanks dear.

Heyyyy, guys, I woulda replied everyone in person o, had it not been for these three shilren am chasing about!

Thanks guys, thanks so much, y'all are making me feel soooo good about my return... Its official, I have the bestest of readers here on NL.

I will try to keep your insatiable appetites fed as often as I can, thanks.
izyluv (Ezinne, wow coincidence), sexysapphire, kingphillip, charijee(u're new here, welcommen), jennimma,LordNicVuitton(I remember u), diamonddamsel(u too), welcome newbie ritajovie, fameG, titigold(I still owe u those books, sowie), tecno4life(that's my main site o), vonn (lets shoki together na).

larrysun(English major sir, please have mercy with the grammar) Audreytimms, abeg forgive and forget and temitopedaniel, thanks for dropping by. Not forgetting D9ty7, dnt mind jeffereyjames jare, he doesn't know what's up.

alright everyone following, thanks much, we'll have fun for real, pls forgive me if I ommitted your name, I have to go and find my shilren, that's why, thanks much guys, I appreciate, we haven't even begun!!

Kingphillip , thanks for doing the needful.

Chapter 02

Eleven Years Ago

Mofe looked around the exam hall, the students were nervous. This was a four credit load paper and the lecturer was a mean one, known for setting the toughest questions. This was the second semester of the final year, no one could afford to fail this one, it would mean a definite extra year aside from bringing down one’s aggregate scores.

For Mofe, it wasn’t a problem as it would be a piece of cake for him, he knew. Computer Algorithm was nothing to him, he could comfortably create algorithms of his own and write pretty good code. It was why he’d been nicknamed Bill Gates; he was great with math calculations and software programming. When he wasn’t washing or doing some other menial job for a living, he could be found behind his laptop, headphone in his ears, fingers flying rapidly over the keyboard, coding.

“Bill Gates, I dey your back o!” He turned back to see Ray, a course mate, he smiled nodding at him.

Paul another of his course mates seated to the left of him, spoke up ” I dey your side o!”

“No wahala!” he replied them, knowing it was all a joke, the three of them were the best academically in the department. They tried to outdo him but Mofe had kept ahead of them, he would be leaving with first class honours, that was a definite.

“Alright,” The lecturer spoke up as the papers had been passed around to everyone “exams began at 8.30 and will end at 10.30 am. Turn your question papers over and start.”

Forty minutes to the end, he was done and just going over his work again when he looked up to see her walk in. He wasn’t the only one who had noticed her late entrance but was the only one who cared enough to gasp in shock.

Zinny, the general’s daughter was an hour and twenty minutes late to a final paper. It was just barely forty minutes left, she would never finish in time.

“why are you just arriving?” The lecturer asked angrily.

” Emm… Sir, I…wasnt feeling too….”

” Save it!” he said curtly, cutting her off mid sentence, he handed her the papers “unserious! You will fail!”

She took the papers and made her way to an empty seat two seats to his left, just after Paul’s. She really didn’t look well and ten minutes after, he could see she hadn’t been able to put anything much on paper.

He felt sorry for her and wanted to help but wasn’t sure how because he didn’t want to get caught. He had to be smart about it. Just then Paul got up to leave and he saw an opportunity as his seat was now vacant.

Soon as the lecturer was distracted and wasn’t looking, he took over Paul’s vacated seat, moving fast and as inconspicuous as possible.

She turned to him curiously, a frown between her perfectly arched eyebrows, obviously wondering what he was up to, or that he’d probably lost his mind.

He nodded at her paper and showed her his in a gesture that he wanted them to exchange sheets. Her eyes widened as she understood and its expression changed. She glared at him unbelievingly, her light brown eyes seeming to if he’d suddenly gone crazy.

‘Yeah,’ he sure as hell had ‘he was crazy about her.’

“just do it!” he ordered in a whisper and that seemed to get to her, jumping forward, they instantly they switched papers.

He began scribbling quickly, as fast as he could over her sparsely answered sheet, managing to keep his writing legible while she was going over his paper, he wasn’t sure if she was really going through it or if it was just pretend. He wrote until the lecturer said ‘pens up’. Then they exchanged papers back as they filed in a line to submit, she muttered a small ‘thank you’, not able to meet his eyes. He guessed she was embarrassed at him, the paid help writing her paper for her.

He’d smiled, if only she knew it had been his greatest pleasure, he didn’t mind being of help to her anytime, the things he’d do for a crush.

********

Present Day

“I’m sorry sir, for the wait.” The secretary’s voice brought him back from where he’d drifted to again as he’d been waiting for the past thirty minutes. “She’ll be done soon with the class she’s teaching. We’re quite short staffed and there’s no one else to take the class.”

“It’s okay.” He muttered but it wasn’t, he had a meeting in an hour and it wasn’t just any meeting. It was a meeting at the villa, with Mr. President, to give an update on how far his people were on the security project.

He couldn’t back out of it now that would be utterly disrespectful. After today, he’d let Jared, who was the director of the regional office, handle all important meetings. He would be back in the states soon anyway, now that he’d finally found her, he wouldn’t be here for much longer.

“So what exactly do you do here?” he asked curious.

The secretary looked up from the desktop computer she’d been working on, she was a young lady, probably mid twenties but there was an all knowingness in her eyes, or was it an effect caused by the nerdy glasses she wore?

“This is a centre for people who are visually impaired; we teach people to cope with their loss of vision.” She replied.

He nodded still trying to understand what Ezinne could be doing here as a teacher, she’d never struck him as the humanitarian type before. She wasn’t a bad person but Mofe couldn’t see her as a normal teacher, much less one in a school for the blind.

“and….. Ezinne is a teacher here?” He had to ask.

“She’s the proprietress here actually; she started this place six years back.” She replied before fixing him with a curious look of her own “and you sir, what did you say your name was again?”

Mofe frowned briefly trying to recall the name he’d given her earlier “ Errr…. Moji Stevens”

“Okay, and you’re a ….” Her eyes regarded him, in a quite disbelieving manner, as if suspicious of him, as he seemed so interested in her boss with all his questioning.

Mofe cleared his throat, his fake profile hadn’t gone this far, he had to come up with a lie quickly “I’m a writer,” he said as believably as he could.

“ Really?” she raised a brow as she seemed to eye him up and down, he could give a thousand dollars to know what was going on in that receptionist mind of hers, she then narrowed her eyes “as in a journalist?”

He nodded, going along with it and then heard her mutter something under her breath, he wasn’t sure but it sounded like “When did journalists begin to drive Ranges?”

“What paper?” She asked

“Freelance,” he replied quickly.

“ Oh?” She nodded and then an unexpected smile of sudden realization came up on her face, lighting up it’s features “ So I guess you’re here to write about our little school?”

It was time for Mofe’s eyes to grow wide with shock but before he could clear her of her quick assumption, she continued. “Wow, that would be great, we need the publicity like badly! “

‘Whoa!’ was the first word that dropped into Mofe’s mind.

She wasn’t done “You see, we depend on charity and hand downs, but funds have always been tight and it seems to be getting worse lately. Mrs. Ezinne has had to let go of some staff and take the classes herself, she will never admit it but I know the centre is broke. A feature about the centre would surely do us lots of good, when will we be appearing in the papers? I would surely get a copy.”

Mofe’s stared, quite at a loss for a reply, this lie had gone somewhat too far “I…umm….I…,” His phone chose the moment to buzz, “excuse me,” He told her thanking God for the diversion, even if it was just a text message from Jared asking where the hell he was. Replying it,he told him he was running late but he would surely be there before the meeting began.

He looked up at the receptionist who was now looking at the entrance to the office, He followed her gaze and it fell on her. It was Ezinne walking briskly toward the office, assisted by a walking cane.

She looked like she hadn’t aged a day in all the ten years they had been apart, tall and still very light skinned, her long hair falling to her shoulders and her curves hidden by the caftan she wore her lovely light brown eyes hidden behind dark lensed glasses but there was something to her walk.

He couldn’t place it at first, maybe because he didn’t want to believe it but as he stared at her come in, the way she swept the cane in small left to right motions, as if checking to see if there were any obstacles in her path. He cringed slightly and a shiver went through him. He didn’t need to be a brain surgeon to piece it together, it made sense now why she was here, she had lost her sight. The shock of the realization left him stunned for a while and he could only stare at her speechless. When and how had it happened, was what he needed to know.

“Hi Miss Ezinne,” the receptionist was beaming, probably from the news she’d made up for herself that they would be featured in the papers. “Mr. Moji Stevens has been waiting to see you for a while, he’s a journalist and he wants to do a feature on the centre, in the papers.”

Ezinne’s brows shot up “Really?” She turned to him, and he wondered how she could tell where he was seated, she must have honed in other perceptive abilities when she’d lost her sight. “Hello Mr. Moji, welcome to our centre,” She extended a hand to him.

He got up from the seat, accepting her hand, which was warm and suddenly he felt that familiar tinge of so long ago. It travelled from his fingers touching hers, and made it’s way through to his entire body. She felt it too, he could tell because she caught her breath and even though he couldn’t see her eyes, he saw her brows raise and then crease. He was quite surprised himself, he’d thought all feelings for her had been dead and buried, so why that familiar tingling, almost electric feeling just after touching her hand?

If he spoke now, he suspected she might know who he really was but he had to say something, it was odd enough that they were standing, staring at each other this way.

“It’s my pleasure being here really,” he feigned a slight American drawl, hoping to throw her off his scent, he didn’t miss the sudden stiffness of her body, she suspected. “I’ve heard some good things about the place and decided to come see for myself.”

“You said your name is…. Mr. Mo…fe?” she asked lightly, barely above a whisper, her stance rigid and still staring up at him through those dark lens.

He didn’t need a genius to know she suspected he wasn’t who he said he was.

“Moji Stevens,” the receptionist supplied before Mofe could speak up, stunned for a second as he felt like he’d been caught in his own web of lies.

“It’s Moji, madam.” He asserted but she still wasn’t sure, he could see. He had to leave, the whole thing had blown out of proportion. He’d meant to surprise her but hadn’t considered that she’d gone through some tragic incidence of her own. How could he gloat in her face now? It would be heartless, he would leave and never return. She had suffered enough as it was and he felt like such a jerk. Thinking of himself all the time, assuming she was still having it good, failing to consider life may have switched sides on her.

“I’m really sorry, ma’am but I have to leave now. I will be back tomorrow however to conduct an interview, if its okay with you?”

“You have to leave?” the secretary said not bothering to mask the disappointment in her voice and features.

“Yes, I’ve got another pressing engagement somewhere which I’m running late for.”

Zinny still stood there, staring, he would hurriedly have given away a million dollars if someone could tell him what was going through her mind.

“Alright then,” the receptionist sighed “We’ll be expecting you. Good thing anyway, I’ll have time to make my hair for the photo shoot.”

“Alright Mrs. Ezinne, I’ll be seeing you tomorrow?” he asked hoping to get a response to make sure she was alright because she had been staring and saying nothing for almost an eternity now.

“Hey mom!”

They all turned turned to acknowledge the presence of a girl, he was sure she wasn’t more than nine or ten years. She was in school uniform so he guessed she’d just returned from school. Dark skinned, her hair was made in corn rows, an oval face with almond shaped eyes which were very familiar to him.

Ezinne finally got herself back “Hi dear,” she gestured at her daughter to come to her, taking her eyes off him finally “how was school?”

“Good afternoon, Sir.” The young girl greeted quietly as she walked to her mother “Good afternoon, Aunt Maureen.”

It was Mofe’s turn to stiffen up in shock to learn that Zinny had a daughter, what the hell? This new found knowledge on top of everything else he’d just found out, was just too much for him to take in, he had to leave that place, right that minute.

“Alright,” he croaked his voice breaking up, not sure if it was from the shock “I’ll be seeing y’all tomorrow then?”

He didn’t wait for a reply, high tailing it out of there but not before seeing how possessively Zinny had held her daughter to herself. He should never have gone there without doing a thorough research on her but he’d been so eager to when he had finally found her contact address. He’d come grossly unprepared and now he had more questions than answers, the most pressing of which was, could he be the father to Ezinne’s daughter?

***********

Jeffereyjames, Cheriepet, boldndbeautiful, Una welcome o, thanks for patronizing the ministry. Because of this wonderful patronage, I am posting chapter 2 now now!

JeffreyJamez:
O se!!!!!!......

*runs with speed to front row *

lol, I trust you JJ, you never carry last.

TrishaP:
U still owe me.

**Fold hands akinbo**

lol, yes my oga, am working on it, un akimbo your hands abeg.

.

Eleven Years Ago
“This damn heat,” Mofe muttered to himself rapping on the large gate in front of him. Where was this Aliyu, the security guard? He wondered. It was quite unlike him not to open the gate immediately, was he at the back of the house? He hoped not, if indeed he was then goodness only knew when Aliyu would hear his knocks and he couldn’t take anymore of the sun’s scorching heat. He was dark enough already, he wasn’t looking get anymore darker and so he knocked louder.

The general’s compound was a large one, and he would have returned later but Sunny, the general’s driver had been clear that his oga needed his uniforms ASAP and he was on an errand and couldn’t pick it up from the dry cleaners. Mofe, who had been washing cars at another house in the estate, had to hurriedly finished with the car, picked up the uniforms from the cleaners offices in the estate, before heading to the general’s house, which was just next door to where he stayed.

He looked at the bell to the main house longingly, in all the time he’d acted as errand boy and general handyman for the general’s house, he’d never had to ring the bell. Aliyu was usually at his duty post beside the gate. The bell was meant to be rung by important house guests while his types were meant to take the back door and not be seen or heard but it might just be his last resort, he thought deciding on knocking the huge brass gates one last time. This time making it so loud, he had to wince at the noise himself, if Aliyu didn’t hear that then it would have to be the bell.

“Hey, who’s that?” he heard a female snap from the other side, probably one of the numerous maids in the house. Those ones carried some pretty heavy chips on their shoulders, they were always nasty, saucy and quite rude. He preferred ignoring them most of the time. They looked down on him as a lowly help, he often wondered what made them believe they were any higher than he was. They probably didn’t know he was a final year student in the university and most likely the over all best graduating student for that year.

” Do you want to bring down the gate?” She continued rudely as he heard her quick footsteps approach the gate.

Mofe, who was feeling quite scorched, having been running around in the sun all afternoon wasn’t in the mood for attitude today so he yelled back in pidgin ” Abeg come open gate jare! I no get una time today. Whether if you open gate since I for dey knock like that.”

There was a sudden pause in her step, and Mofe began to think maybe he wasn’t talking to a maid after all. Could it….. Could it be her?

“Who are you?” She asked, her voice wary, suspicious of him and Mofe knew who it was. He wished he could take back his words but too late. The lady at the gate was the general’s only daughter and his course mate Zinny, as she was popularly called at school.

“It’s Mofe,” he replied not sure if she was familiar with his name. She knew him since she had seen him around countless times but since they had never been introduced, he doubted she knew his name and so he added ” I brought the general’s uniforms.”

He didn’t hear her say anything else, instead she unlocked the gates and pulled it open.

He was greeted by the sight of her and a very beautiful sight she was. Fair creamy complexion, as if almost translucent, tall, slender but curvy stature, her long dark hair was let down and grazed her shoulders, the slight breeze blowing it softly.

Her light brown eyes regarded him in a not too friendly manner, he guessed she was still smarting at how he’d replied her.

Well what was done was done, she’d been quite rude herself so she’d deserved what she’d gotten. He’d known her for four years but had never exchanged words with her even as they saw each other quite often in school as they were in the same department.

They ignored each other at school and it would have been okay with him if not been madly crushing on her for those four long years, crushing so bad he gave her sideways glances in class so as not to be caught staring at her directly. He’d tried getting over it but the feelings had stubbornly refused to leave and had wedged itself deep into his heart. He was such a wimp, like a teenager, infatuated with someone who didn’t even know he existed. Well… she did know but just didn’t care.

Once in a while he listened in on her and her friends when they gathered to gist in the gazebo in the back of her house. He occupied the boys’ quarters in the compound next door, and heard all they talked about quite clearly. His cousin Eric who was aware of his crush had advised him to get over it since it would lead nowhere, she moved in very different circles from his.

Ignoring the sudden racing of his heart beat as they regarded themselves for a few seconds, he said in a measured voice, expertly hiding any trace of feeling.

“These are for the general.” He handed the military uniforms over on the hangers, but she shook her head looking at him like he’d lost his mind.
“

I’m on my way out.” She replied and as if on cue, a car pulled up to a stop behind him, it’s driver honked twice, Mofe turned to acknowledge the BMW X5 SUV, one of the many automobiles he recognized as her boyfriend’s.
“

Aliyu is at the back, go give it to him or drop it with one of the maids in the kitchen.” She said walking past him and onto the car, not even bothering with the gate, guess she expected him to lock it behind her, after all he was nothing but one of the paid helps around.
********
Present Day
“Sir, are you okay? We’re at the address.”
The driver’s voice brought Mofe Johnson back to the present. She’d been on his mind again as usual, eleven years after and she still plagued him, haunted his thoughts.

“Yeah, I’m good Gabriel, so this is the place?” Mofe asked looking at the large compound that seemed to be a rehabilitation centre for the visually impaired. He read the sign which hung over the gates.

For the life of him, he couldn’t fathom what she’d be doing here, the place wasn’t much and was a bit run down, far from where he expected a society girl like her would ever work.

It had taken quite a lot tracking her down as none of his old friends from the university had her information, she’d just seemed to drop off the earth after her wedding to her on again off again boyfriend ten years back. It had been a huge occasion, he’d been told. He certainly hadn’t missed not being there.
He told himself he didn’t care that she’d finally gotten married the ‘right’ one, the one whom her father had picked out for her.

So what exactly was he doing here if he didn’t care? Why had he been hell bent on finding her since he’d stepped foot back in the country some months back? He told himself he just wanted to gloat in her face, he wanted to show her he’d become everything thing her father had said he wouldn’t. He’d climbed so far up the ladder that he rubbed shoulders with presidents and top members of the society, here in Nigeria and abroad.

He wasn’t that broke guy who had washed clothes and cars and done every available job to see him through school. He was now Mofe Johnson, CEO of Tech-bits group, one of the cutting edge software, securities and technology companies in the world.

He’d not needed to be in the country for the present project his company was working on for the federal government, he had people who could handle it but his longing to see her again had become even more intense the past few months while he’d been in the United States. He wasn’t sure why but it had gotten so bad he’d suddenly packed a bag, lumped the news on his fiancee and hopped on his private jet back to Nigeria. He recalled his promise to himself all those years ago never to return, the country had held heartbreak, loss and sadness for him but here he was and right now he was going to see her again. He was going to see her after eleven long years.

Not that it would matter much anyway, he had a beautiful woman waiting for him back in California. Eve had been perplexed at the suddenness of him leaving to his country; he’d lied at first that he needed to see the project through himself but it hadn’t gone down easily with her. She was so smart; she had put two and two together and had then asked quietly.
” Is this about ‘her’?” she knew about the dreams that kept plaguing him, how he could drift off for a while thinking about ‘her’ and how after two years, he couldn’t fully commit to their relationship by agreeing a wedding date. There wasn’t ever a right time for him and there might never be. Not until he gave himself some sort of closure.

He’d had to come clean, he’d let her know he needed to put an end to thoughts of her. He loved Eve but something was holding him back from committing to her and it wasn’t fair to her. He loved her but thoughts of his past kept coming back to him, thoughts of her. He needed to properly bury the past and then do the right thing by his fiancee. She deserved his full attention and wasn’t to be shared with some other lady who hadn’t thought he’d been good enough for her.

Eve was a senior partner in a top law firm and headed the California branch of their offices. She had moved there for him. Two years ago when their relationship had begun getting serious, she’d made the decision. Mofe knew she still missed New York where the head office of the law firm was based. New York was exciting while LA was quite laid back, but wherever he was, was where she wanted to be, her exact words. He wouldn’t let her down, she was willing to give up a lot for him, when he got back they would fix a date, he promised.

Whatever psychological hold Zinny had on him would be broken that afternoon. He was gonna put their unfinished business to rest, so she could stop haunting his thoughts and dreams, then get the hell out of this country and back to his patiently waiting Evie.

Still, this was the last place he expected to see the general’s daughter, at a rehab centre for blind people. A thoughtful frown creased his eyebrows as he wondered quietly again what she could be doing in a place like this.

Well, the sooner he got out of the car, the sooner he’d get some answers. Opening the back seat door, he stepped out of the black Range Rover SUV, the dusty ground instantly marring his impeccably shined Italian shoes. Ignoring it, he made his way over to the room he assumed was the reception.

*******

Hi guys, it's been quite a while but Repogirl is back, or is she? lol, we'll just have to hold on a while and see about that.

Okay, so I decided on posting a new story which I've been trying to work on without success, I believe with the collective help of Nairalanders kicking my butt and harrassing me all over the place for updates, we will get it finished one way or another and make it another hit like false pretenses was.

So, please read, enjoy, comment and spread the ministry to others, Thainks .

Woow, hello D9ty7, imagine my surprise that my over stretched story that refused to end played a vital role in inspiring you to write. Thank you for that, d9ty7, that in itself is a huge boost for me. Thank you, thank you very much, I over appreciate it .

Mj45:
Pls help, I saw only "false pretense" on ur . PJ reply pls. Didn't see "the one who waits".

hi mj45, you can read that here http://www.nairawriters.com/2014/10/15/finding-happiness-1/

the title has been changed to finding happiness. I have just one chapter up but I should be posting another soon.

SexySapphire:
Yaaaaaay!!! Good to av u back repogirl. Been anticipating ur comeback since forever. How is the baby doing? I went with speed to the provided link hoping to read the one who awaits cos I was one of those that requested for it back then buh my hope was dashed when I found nothing. I'm hoping that u're just about to post the story or so. Keeping my fingers crossed. God bless u.

I'm good dear, thanks much.
I do have a couple stories up there, pls follow this link http://www.nairawriters.com/

Hi ya guys, how y'all been? It sure has been a loooooong while. Well I kinda went off the writing rail road but I'm back now! Yay! And I have even more good news.
A few of you-actually, quite a lot of you have asked me for where to read my first story on NL 'one who awaits' and I have replied that it was pulled off for publishing purposes. Well, guess what?

Its back! Yes, back! I decided to put it up once again for your reading pleasure, isn't that some great news?

Yeah? So pls go on over to this link and you'll see my stories along with that of some of your favorite NL writers. You'll be thrilled, I promise you, check us out at http://www.nairawriters.com/category/best-of-repogirl/

One who awaits is now finding happiness, please read and enjoy and don't forget to drop your comments. See y'all there!

especially you TrishaP! , I expect you to be the first one there.