LAYLA

My emotions are all over the place, I feel anxious, nervous, scared and confused amongst all, the bad energy that's emitting from me was clouding my head and I couldn't think straight, i have this strong urge to throw up, my mind wasn't settled at all and I'm sure everyone around me noticed because they kept giving me that pitiful look, you're probably wondering the reason for me being in this state so let me tell you the story of my life. I'm Layla,a 21 year old graduate from ABU Zaria,I studied international relations and i'm presently working with foreign affairs.I live in Jabi,Abuja and my parents are pretty wealthy,i would say they are average though, but the upper average,I attended a private school since kindergarten so I didn't want to attend a private university.I attended El-Amin Abuja for my nursery and primary and El-Amin Minna for my secondary education.  The reason why I feel really bad right now is because my suitor and his family are coming over today, they should have arrived 40 minutes ago but they haven't showed up or called to say why they are running late, I've been ready for any hour now, all the meals are ready, I'm fully dressed and my makeup is fixed but they haven't showed up. Just as my mind was reeling with bad thoughts someone knocked on my room door and I sprang up to see who it was. When I opened the door it's my elder brother, Abba.  "Layla they are here,you can chill now, mummy said she will call you so you should keep your phone close to yourself, they need to talk first"Abba said,  relief washed through me and I took a deep breath and exhaled. "Why are they late" i asked, "Well they apologized and said it was traffic and damn, you look good baby girl, i saw the guy, I think you will like this one"he said, "You think so, well I trust your taste, i just can't wait to get downstairs to meet them, you think they will like me"I replied looking as worried as I felt. Abba smiled"I would marry you if you weren't my sister, i mean any cold blooded male will want you to be his, baby girl" Just as I was going to reply, my phone started ringing and I rushed to answer it "hello mummy, can I come down now"I said "Yes, tell Abba to escort you down, okay? "mama said "Okay ma, be there in a minute"I turned to Abba. "You are escorting me downstairs bro"I took a very deep breath and closed my eyes, then exhaled slowly and planted a very big smile on my face. "Let's go, it's about time"he said as he placed my small hands into his large one's and guided me downstairs.  When we got down everybody in the sitting room, both my parents and he's were seated, their eyes trained on us, with smiles on their faces, i wasn't looking down like a shy bride, I was smiling at all of them and we stopped when we got to where my parents were seated, i greeted his parents and sat in between my parent, Abba left, both our parents were quietly conversing but I wasn't paying attention, then i looked at my so called suitor, his expression was blank, but his eyes were trained on me, he was definitely good looking, strong jawlines, high cheekbones, aristocratic nose, full brows and thick lashes that fanned his cheekbones, a neatly and well shaped beards covered his jawline, an amused smile appears on his face and I look away because he just caught me checking him out, I didn't feel embarrassed though, i mean our parents are trying to arrange a marriage between us so what does he expect. To say he's good looking is an understatement,he was hot, he looked really fit like he spends most of his time in the gym, he was wearing a blue kaftan, and damn,he looks good in it. Mind you,there was no sizzling attraction,no jolt of hot want that rushed through my veins or anything even remotely like that, but, i could let myself appreciate how good looking he was. My dad cleared his throat and I knew he was going to start talking. "Layla, this is Mr and Mrs Garba, you haven't met them before but they are very good friends of mine, this is their son, Nabeel, we all talked for some time before you came down and concluded you kids will go out a day after tomorrow and spend some time with eachother, get to know yourselves and see if this wedding can be arranged, at the end of the day you can come and tell us what the both of you decided on so that we can move to the next level" my dad said "Ok sir, we will set a time to meet up and see how it goes then" I replied looking at Nabeel expectantly. He just nodded, licked his lower lip and said"I will pick you up by 10 if that's ok, i mean" "Yeah that's ok, i will be ready by then, In Shaa Allah" "Why don't you exchange phone numbers and talk about where you guys will visit on Friday, to be prepared"Mrs Garba spoke up. "Ok ma, we will do that before you leave" I said smiling.  "You are beautiful darling, c'mon, come sit beside me"she said. "Of course"I replied standing up to sit beside her.  We started talking, she's really nice and she looks really young to be Nabeel's mom, I would think they were siblings if I met them before now, she talked about a lot of things, about work, she complimented me and asked who did my makeup up and I told her I did it myself, we talked for like ten minutes and I gathered that she was really nice, i looked up and saw Nabeel staring at me and I offered a small smile before directing my attention back to his mum, my dad was also making small talks with Nabeel before his dad announced that they were leaving, we all stood up and me and my parents escorted them outside, me and Nabeel were trailing at the back. "Soo... You gonna give me your number? "I said looking at him. He smiled, "I like you, not shy at all, we are going to be good friends then"he said I laughed lightly,"I'm anything but shy, crazy, talkative, funny but damn,being shy isn't one of my attributes,so give me your phone, your parents are getting into the car, call me later" I dialled my number and saved it then returned his phone"see you on Friday" "Alright, bye"he walked to his car and got into the driver's seat and the only thing I could think of as they drove out of the compound is why a full grown man that's this handsome would want an arranged.