Loving Him

Chapter 1

The sound of her phone ringing woke Sophie up from bed. Groaning and cussing silently she picked up the phone without checking who it was. "What!" she yelled into the phone.

"Good morning to you too. Is that the newest way of speaking to elders now?" the voice on the other side of the phone replied.

Sighing, she curled back into bed with the sheets wrapped around her still, "Mum! It's not even five am yet. It's hardly morning."

"And how would you know? You obviously haven't gotten out of bed yet."

"My alarm is set for five, mum. So please tell me you have a very good reason for disrupting my beauty sleep this morning."

The phone became silent awhile.

"Mum?"

"Well... I just wanted to hear my baby's voice. That's not bad now, is it?"

"Mummy!"

"And also to know how your job search is going."

"Mum... If I had found a job, you would have been the first to know now," Sophia whined.

"I know, I know," her mother sighed "We just really need the money, you know."

Sophie nodded even though her mum couldn't see her. "I understand, mummy and I promise you that I'm working on it. There will be good news soon, mum. Okay?"

"Okay, my dear. I'm really sorry for pressuring you like this."

"Seriously, mum. If not me, who else?"
Sophie could feel her mum smile through the phone "O se oko mi" (Thank you, my dear)

"Yes, mummy."

"I'll let you be now, ehn. I also have to prepare to go to the market now."

"Okay ma. Great sales today."

"Amen oo. O daabo Omotilewa mi." (Goodbye, my child)

"Bye, mum," Sophie replied then ended the call. Sighing, she fell back into bed.

* * *
"So she called you at four am to ask you that?"

Sophie shrugged,"Yeah, well..."

"We just finished service not even up to two months now, haba. She should cut you some slack," Ama argued.

Sophie frowned, "And you're talking as if you don't know the situation of things at home."

Sophie and Amarachi 'Ama' had met in secondary school and had been best friends since then. They'd attended the same university and had only got separated when they got posted to different states for their youth service - Sophie had been posted to Kaduna while Ama had been posted to Lagos. Despite the clear differences between the both of them, Sophie being reserved and a little introverted as opposed to Ama's extroverted self, their friendship surprisingly worked.

After their youth service, they'd both decided to stay in Lagos and had rented a room self contained apartment together. Their room wasn't very spacious; it just barely housed both their beds which were arranged perpendicularly against each other, a vanity table, a built in wardrobe and a TV stand. The bathroom and kitchen were so tiny they both couldn't squeeze in comfortably at the same time.

While Ama, who had studied Interior designing had plans of setting up her own business, Sophie who had studied nursing was left looking for a job.

The 'situation of things at home' was that after Sophie's dad had died when she was twelve, her mum had been left to take care of her and her younger sister who had been eight at the time. The gratuity they had received after their dad died had helped in seeing Sophie through secondary school and also pay for her admission into the university. Her mum who sold foodstuffs in the market had also managed to see her through university and also see her younger sister, Kemisola Hope through secondary school.