By the time Leo was done examining her, it was already mid afternoon. Layla was feeling a bit nauseous, so she excused herself and went to the washroom.
As the door of the tiny room shut close, Leo turned to Zane and said with a teasing tone. " I heard you rejected the woman the president chose for you, and put Layla in her place."
"Words sure fly." Zane drawled lazily
"Of course it does." Leo wriggled his eyebrows playfully and cheekily smiled at him.
Zane clenched and unclenched his jaw. He didn't like Leo mischievous look at all, it smelt of mockery and trouble.
"Do you mind telling me the reason why?"
" There is no reason." He retorted with a huff, " I don't just want to be tied down with any woman all in the name of safeguarding my image. If I married a woman, I will have to act like a husband. She may even poke her nose in my business, get suspicious, get jealous, waste my money, make friend with the neighbours, want a child ...." The thought of all these made his throat tighten and he shook his head twice...." No way! it can never be me. Women are curious, demanding and troublesome." He finalized his point wearing a straight face.
For a brief second, Leo stared at him, pondering and then said. " But Layla Is also a woman."
"Not a woman, but a little girl."
Zane response made him scoffed. He picked up her medical chart and showed him. " She is already nineteen."
"And nineteen years is still a child." Zane looked at him defiantly.
Leo heaved a heavy sigh."And you are only twenty four, Zane." He reminded him in case he had forgotten.
Opening his mouth, Zane wanted to argue with him but Leo held his hand up, telling him to let him talk. Zane rolled his eyes but listened to him.
" I'm nine years older than you, and I know what I am saying. Layla is a beautiful girl, and also an attractive one. You can't tell me that she has never gotten you excited.....
Zane remained silent. He closed his eyes briefly as he remembered her hopeful eyes when he agreed to take her along with him, her curious look when she came to the city, and her annoying smile whenever he does something for her.
"You can't tell me that her body is not sexy enough to move you..."
"Okay! That's enough." He immediately shut him up, and Leo laughed heartily
" Keep your voice low, Your Layla is in the next room."He reminded, his eyes twinkling in mischief
Zane ignored him
"Alright! All that aside." Leo cleared his throat, getting serious. "Is there any other thing about her you need to tell me?"
Zane shifted his attention back to him
"....Like anything unusual about her? Think, I need it."
Frowning, he asked. "Is anything wrong with her?"
"Just a mild trauma." Leo replied.
"Oh!" He felt himself relax, " I guess it is as a result of her shitty memories."
"Are the memories that scary?"
Zane nodded. " Scary enough to give her long lasting traumas."
The room fell into silence, a comfortable one. And Zane broke it by saying. " But that doesn't stop her from smiling. She is always smiling, always jovial, and always positive." His voice was so calm Leo found himself smiling at him
"You care for her, Zane." He told him.
Before Zane could deny those words, Layla returned to the room looking relieved.
Leo let out a chuckle. "I guess it is time to leave, Zane."
"Sure." Zane nodded, but not before giving him a sharp glare. "Let's go, Layla." With that, he left the room and hurried to his car.
Leo stifled a laugh, not wanting to make the shy Layla nervous. " Bye dear girl," He waved, " And make sure you take care of your brother, okay?"
"Okay." She replied not knowing what else to say.
Leo nodded, fully satisfied with her response.
Giving him a warm smile, she ran out of the dispensary and joined Zane in his car sitting on the passenger seat. Zane stepped on the accelerator and sped down the highway heading to their home.
~~~~~~
In less than one hour, they arrived at the building. Zane parked his car in the garage and when they got down, he instructed Layla to wait for him that he needed to get something from the store nearby.
As he turned around and left, Layla leaned against the wall watching different cars and different people passing by when she noticed a stray dog hiding behind a low bush cleaning his paws.
'Oh my god, so cute!' She beamed with delight, and made a hasty decision to go and play with the fluffy animal.
Without thinking, she walked across the road. Her eyes, and thoughts were on the dog so she didn't notice the truck coming towards her at full speed.
"Watch out, girl." she heard a voice scream. Before she could comprehend what was happening, a hand held her in a firm grip and pulled her to a safe distance.
She panicked, her heart beating rapidly as she looked up at her saviour. It was a woman—A tall fair beautiful woman with a shoulder length black hair and high bone cheeks.
"Do you want to get yourself killed?" The woman half yelled at her.
" I'm sorry." She was trembling so hard, she thought she would stutter when she spoke. "I did not mean to do that, I did not mean to kill myself. I just wanted to play with that dog over there." She pointed towards the low bush and saw that the dog was no longer there. And that was when she burst into tears, crying hard and loud.
" Thank you for saving me, Ma. Thank you very much."
The woman eyes softened. " It's alright, dear." She patted her back gently to console her.
When Layla finally calmed down, she smiled and said, " I've never seen you here. What is your name?"
"Layla Kings, sister of Aiden McCall." She looked down and replied with what she had been taught, failing to see woman's eyes widening.
"You are Zane's sister?" The woman couldn't stop herself from asking.
Layla looked at her in surprise." You know Zane?"
The woman nodded and smiled. " Yes, I know him very well. Then she moved closer to Layla and whispered." Say hello to him for me."
"No..No." Layla refused, " Why don't you wait for a few minutes, he will be back soon. You should tell him that yourself."She said excitedly
The woman expression changed to a sad one. "No, I can't." She turned around to leave, hesitated for a moment, and then said. "I'm glad Zane chose you."
Layla furrowed her eyebrows in confusion. Before she could ask what those words meant, the woman had gone.
A shiver ran through her, and she just stood there by the road side dumbstruck.
"I thought I told you to wait in front of the building."
The sudden sound of Zane's voice startled her so bad that she jumped up. She shifted her gaze in that direction and saw he was walking towards her, a cigarette in between his fingers.
She gulped and quickly said, " I just met with a gentle woman."
He stopped walking and asked sternly. "Who?"
"I don't know her name, but she said she knows you."
Zane skin tingled and his heart raced.There was only one woman he had in mind. " How does she look?" He held his breath as he waited for the answer.
"Tall, beautiful, high cheek bones with rich black hair."
Of course she was the one. He looked towards the busy road and mumbled. "Master."
Tbc