swankmee:
.......... Nyc work well done mattkent... Though have been a ghost reader quietly following ur update.......... Can't wait to read d rest of d story....... Nyc work and.... Get well soon

Tnx a lot.

ammy4id:
Hummm am Aminat, I must say I fall on love wt ur story, love it so much n i pray may God increase ur knowledge. And get well soon.

Tnx a bunch Aminat

Five years later, present time. It was late in the evening, the night of the gala screening of the ‘who is she’ movie. There wasn’t a mammoth of crowd at the Curzon Mayfair cinema. It wasn’t as though it was a blockbuster movie or anything. But there were a reasonable number of crowds, mostly Nigerians and others who were a fan of the novel and were excited to see the characters on screen. Walking into the cinema were Vanessa and Kross, Jennifer and Eze and Sarah and Jojo.

In the opening seconds of the movie, a tear formed in Vanessa’s eyes when ‘In memory of Sadiq Animashaun’ displayed on the large 11 metres screen. The movie started with a young man throwing a stone at his neighbor’s window and minutes later his neighbor window opened revealing a lady with a model body. She signaled him to come over and he climbed out through his window, held the tree and landed in her room.

Till the movie ended, Vanessa’s eyes were wet. It was like watching her whole life. Sadiq got every detail of her, her good side and her worst side. He paid a lot of attention to her…..no he was obsessed with her. With being with her and around her and had observed everything about her. But she, she wasn’t as attentive to him like he was. And it’s such a pity that now that he was gone, now that he was no more was when she realized this.

“I want you to have this” Mustafa’s mother said to him.

He collected the blue diary from her and flipped it open. It contained written words.

“Thank you, but what am I suppose to do with it?” he flipped through it and noticed the language was neither English nor any language he knew.

“I just want you to keep it.” she said to him.

After a four years degree course overseas, his father decided to make him a managing director in one of his company in Kano state. They were worried that he hasn’t still recovered his memory, so the doctor advised them to take him closer to the environment where he was found and just maybe he would regain his memory bit by bit. And Alhaji Ibrahim thought making him in charge of his company over there in Kano would help him in getting close to his past and help him remember who he was.

Moreover it was perfect for Alhaji Ibrahim because after their daughter almost got killed five years ago, they decided to leave the memory behind by relocating to Abuja a year later. This wasn’t a convenient move because it affected his schedule, he would have to be travelling to Kano weekly to check on his company from time to time and it was hectic. But with Mustafa there, managing the company that would reduce the stress.


“Hey little sis.” Mustafa messaged his sister; Raheemah via whatsapp.

“Hey bro. What’s up?” replied Raheemah.

“Guess what? Dad just made me an M.D in one of his company in Kano. I am on my way to Kano now.”

“Wow! I envy you.” she texted back.

“Says the girl having the time of her life in U.K.”

She sent the smiley with its tongue out and added. “You said you were going to tell dad that you want to visit me for a week and then you would extend the week to months but you chickened out.” At the end of the text she sent three angry smiley.

“I know. But dad had a lot expectation from me and I didn’t want to disappoint him or make him angry.” He replied back.

“You are a big chicken.” She mocked.

“fowl” he retaliated.

“Kid” she continued.

“Giant”

“Hmmm..i take that back. I am the kid.” she texted.

“You’re not a kid. You are a baby.” he texted back.

“You are a giant monster.”

“You are a very big mighty giant baby.” he typed.

“lol…I just screen shot this conversation.” she typed.

“lol…me too” typed Mustafa.

“You know…some men are crazy.”

“Some women make some men crazy!” replied back Mustafa.

Hours later he got to Kano. The house was still in good shape, thanks to the gardeners and cleaners. The next morning, which was Sunday, after having breakfast and going through some documents which his father had given him, he pulled out the blue diary from his bag. There was something about it. He realized that he could read the language and understood it...he didn’t know why and how but he just was able to read it.

It started with a narration of a young man visiting Kano for the first time and meeting a family friend at the airport who picked him up. The writer thought the young man was cool and his English wasn’t bad at all. There were descriptions of the road from the airport to the house and the address of the house was there.

And so he kept reading, flipping through pages, reading the writer’s emotions and thought and getting stuck to his world, loving the experience the writer was exposed to. At a point he would smile at some funny incidents and another point fall instantly in love with the people the writer described. For a moment he wondered if this was just fiction or a true incident. He wondered why his mum gave it to him, and who owned it.

The following day he arrived at his father’s company. The secretary was a Yoruba lady with a rather not too good looking spectacle. She rushed to collect his brief case from him and led the way to his office.

“These are the list of the employees and their roles sir.” She handed a paper to him.

“Tell them I would be having a meeting with them in the conference room….” he checked his wristwatch. “In an hour’s time.”

“Okay sir.” She replied and made to go.

“What are these?” Mustafa asked, pointing towards the desk.

“They are letters for your dad.” she replied.

“In that case make the meeting in three hours. I have to go through every single one of the letters.”

“Okay sir.”

There were about sixty of them. Most of which weren’t so important, which was probably why his dad had not seen the need to go through them. But a particular one caught his attention. It was the address on it that had his attention. It was same address that he saw in that diary. He opened the letter and went through it. At the end was Alhaji Najib. The man had indicated that this was his eleventh letter, and judging from his words, all he wants was just a little favor, a little push so as to get foreign buyers.

This was going to be his first project. He dialed the number on the letter and Alhaji Najib picked up. He told him who he was and if he could come over so they could discuss business. Mustafa could tell that the man was at first stunned and couldn’t believe it. Alhaji Najib had been trying for years, almost ten years to see his father, but he couldn’t. So this was like some miracle to him because he had given up and decided not to write any more letters to him.

Hours later Alhaji came. They talked for hours and the next step was for Alhaji Najib to show Mustafa his farm before they enter into any agreement.

“Tell them the meeting has been moved to tomorrow.” he informed his secretary as he departed with Alhaji Najib.

They first went to Alhaji Najib’s house. Mustafa could tell that it was the address on the dairy. The description of the house matched the one on the diary. For a moment he could have sworn that he was here before, but he knew he has never been here before. Maybe it was what he read from the diary that had made it feel so surreal.

Moments later the man exited with a lady carrying a bag for him. She was dark skinned and those eyes, they were something! She was beautiful! As soon as she put the bag in the car, she disappeared into the house and all the while her gaze dodging that of Mustafa. The lady matched the description of the girl with the charming eyes that he read in the diary. There were two ladies the writer talked about. This girl with the charming eyes and another one, another one that was light skinned.

They left for Alhaji Najib’s farm which was at the outskirt of Kano. It was a big farm for sure, boasting of rice, maize and lots of cows. They wore black boots and took a tour round the farm. Mustafa was indeed impressed. It was exactly as Alhaji Najib had described and he knew the prospect of such farm produce being exported to India.

The following day Alhaji Najib came to his office and they signed an agreement.

“Please I insist you visit me so we can thank you. My wife would want to thank you too.” said Alhaji Najib.

Later that evening Mustafa drove to Alhaji Najib’s house to honor his invite.

Alhaji Najib narrated to him how long he had been trying to meet his dad without success. How his son; Kazim who was presently working in Kaduna had been delivering the letters to his father house and company.

“This is one of my daughters; Humaira.” Said Alhaji Najib signaling at Humaira.

She greeted Mustafa.

“She just completed her national youth service.” Added Alhaji Najib.

“That’s good. Have you started working yet?” he asked her.

“No.” she nodded.

“You know the situation with the country.” Shipped in Alhaji Najib.

“She should come by my office tomorrow with her C.V.” he said. Then directed his gaze at her. “You should come. I will be laying off some employees tomorrow and I would need new hands on deck.”

There was a smile on their faces.

“Thank you sir.” Said Humaira.

“Mo gode.” Anty thanked him.

When Mustafa was ready to leave and was heading towards the exit door, Humaira parents nudged her, informing her to walk Mustafa to his car.

“Dont you know who that is?” Alhaji Najib asked Humaira after Mustafa had left.

“No. Who Is he?” she asked.

“That’s Alhaji Ibrahim’s son. The business tycoon.” He informed.

“Has he agreed to assist you?” asked Humaira.

“Of course. That’s why we invited him to thank him.”

“He is a real gentleman.” observed Humaira.

“And you too look good together." Anty jumped in and Humaira blushed and left embarrassed.

There was something about him. His voice. He sounded like Sadiq. Not completely but there was this similarity between his voice and that of Sadiq, thought Humaira.

Humaira did get the job. Although it was obvious that Mustafa apparently had already given her the job even before the interview, but she was sure she did great and was enough to get her the job.

“Thank you sir. I really appreciate this opportunity.” Said Humaira to Mustafa.

“So work begins tomorrow okay?” he said.

“Yes sir. I will be prompt.”

“Good. Say me well to you dad.”

“Excuse me sir.” She said.

He turned to her.

‘I just wanted to say…there was this young man I knew..we knew, my family, but he died five years ago. You sound just like him.”

‘Is that so?” he smiled.

“yes.”

“Its not unusual.” He said. "Even people who arent related sometimes share a facial resemblance."

“Yes I know.”

“How did he die..if I may ask?”

“Bomb blast. Here in kano.”

“Near a secondary school?”

“Exactly. How did you know?”

“There is this diary my mum gave to me. I think she found it at the scene of the bomb blast when I tried to rescue my sister.”

“Can I see it?’

“I don’t have it here.” He said.

“I have a feeling it’s his.” She said and he promised to bring it the next day.

Mustafa couldn’t explain it, but somehow he felt he had known her before, from somewhere. Some images kept popping into his head, gloomy images. He couldn’t make sense of them, but he wished he did because he was having this unusual feeling that it related to his past.

To be continued tomorrow..... and tomorrow is the finale!

yesss!! sadiq mus remember or marry humairah

may God give u more wisdom&knowledge@ mattkent

nice update,i think d story is being rushed just thinking aloud

I am compeled to comment, this chapter is really amazing, it kept me active at every line, giving me a thorough satisfaction, each line bore outstanding meaning and truly made me happy, this is the type of story that can keep one glued to the screen.

I will not call this chapter a perfect one due to the fact that it has no suspense, nothing to compel the reader to be in wild expectation of the next update, another flaw is the fact that the update took too long to arrive, your updates are supposed to come on a daily basis or if much on a weekly basis.

In total, I give this chapter a 4/5 star rating

Now that's my man! Good to have you back here darl.
dandypearl, donkross1, Sageez, where art thou??

Wow mattkent, i'm speechless at ur update. Thanks.

Whao!At last....Weldone mattkent

heemah:
Now that's my man! Good to have you back here darl.
dandypearl, donkross1, Sageez, where art thou??

hey sweets. I'm not here actually but I jez decided to pop in cuz I know u musta been missing me. I'm not feeling too well. See you when I'm back

Blessinzy:
i want to sit close to mattkent

chai see mami water

It would be very heartless of me not to at least say thank u after reading this. So THANK YOU MATTKENT for this lovely update.

Awwwwwwwwwwwwwww....finally he updated, thumbz up mattkent

DandyPearl:
hey sweets. I'm not here actually but I jez decided to pop in cuz I know u musta been missing me. I'm not feeling too well. See you when I'm back

oops! Sorry dearie. Quickest recovery to you...

mattkent this is a nice piece although it's not up to perfection but it's still enjoyable for most of us here on nairaland

but I think the next update should be the longest because I don't see how a cut n join update will look here

carry go boss I'm eagerly awaiting the upcoming update which will signal the end of this piece

heema longest time.. hope you have been good

UPDATE: OPENING DATE: 1ST DECEMBER 2015.
DEADLINE: 5th FEBRUARY 2016
ABOUT NAWOT:
The Nelson Adeyeye Writers Of Today(NAWOT) is an online competition that is organized by Sandra Adeyeye C.E.O of Eminent Creators in honor of her late father Mr. Nelson Adeyeye as a way to encourage the writing and reading culture of the Nigerian youth.
This competition promises to be an exciting and uplifting showcase of well-laid out Prose that promotes creativity at it's peak.
AWARDS:
There shall be a selection of the best twenty stories by our judges. These shall make up our anthology other prizes to be won include but are not restricted to:
Best writer Romance Category - 15,000
Best writer Science Fiction and Fantasy Category - 15,000
Best writer Mystery and Horror Category - 15,000
Best writer Action and Thriller Category - 15,000
Other consolation prizes, a copy of the anthology and other books shall follow.
RULES AND REGULATION:
In order to be eligible, participants are to note the following guidelines as regards submission of entries.
1) Participant must be a Nigerian youth between the ages of 16 - 30 years.
2) Participant must send a mail containing a black and white passport photograph, age, sex, phone numbers, email and facebook i.d in a separate mail from the mail bearing his entry.
3) Entry to be submitted must be Prose, original work of participant and must be an unpublished work, not submitted for any publication during the period of this competition.
NOTE: entry should not bear author's name on it. Just the title and the word count.
4) Entry must be between a 1,500 (minimum) - 2,500 (maximum) word count. Entries must be complete, concise and bear a comprehensive plot, i.e a beginning, middle and an end (no season). Entry font should be Arial size 12 and double spaced.
NOTE: subject of mail should signify what category the author is entering his story. No entries in PDF format will be accepted.
5) Participants can compete in four categories during this competition. I.e every writer is entitled to four entries per competition. Science fiction/fantasy category, mystery/horror category, action/thriller category and romance category.
NOTE: each entry attracts a fee of #1,000.
6) Every entry must have an attachment of the scanned bank draft which has the title of the submission boldly written on it.
Account name: Eminent Creators
Account number: 0201029142
Bank: Gtbank.
7) Every entry must be in English language, with minimal usage of vernacular; and if unavoidably used, must be explained as a footnote for better understanding.
All entries must be submitted to nelsonadeyeyewritersoftoday@gmail.com on or before 5 February 2016 (late entries will attract an extra fee of 500). Date for the prize-giving ceremony shall be communicated to participants via mail.
MODE OF SELECTION:
Participants will have excerpts from their stories displayed on our blog and Facebook page for voting by our public audience within a span of two weeks. Excerpts with the highest votes/comments within that period shall scale through to the next stage of selection.
Final announcement of the winners shall be left to the jurisdiction of the competition's in-house judges whose decisions shall be Binding and Final.
Finally: Writers retain the rights to the stories they submit for the NAWOT competition. The twenty winning stories are published as an anthology and open for purchase after the launching. After that, the winning authors are free to publish anywhere, as long as due credit is given to the NAWOT competition and/or Eminent Creators. Eminent Creators staff and NAWOT team members are not eligible to participate in the competition.
Good luck.

Signed:
Hillary Zita Successa
For the competition department.

wow bro can't wait for tomorrow

wow bro can't wait for tomorrow,nice story bro

woow kent u re amazing....*thumbs up

Rapzino:
chai see mami water

hmm

heemah:
Now that's my man! Good to have you back here darl.
dandypearl, donkross1, Sageez, where art thou??

bae am behind you

virtuedagirl:
nice update,i think d story is being rushed just thinking aloud

Well observed... * thumps up*

I was just trying to meet the deadline.

lordseb:
I am compeled to comment, this chapter is really amazing, it kept me active at every line, giving me a thorough satisfaction, each line bore outstanding meaning and truly made me happy, this is the type of story that can keep one glued to the screen.

I will not call this chapter a perfect one due to the fact that it has no suspense, nothing to compel the reader to be in wild expectation of the next update, another flaw is the fact that the update took too long to arrive, your updates are supposed to come on a daily basis or if much on a weekly basis.

In total, I give this chapter a 4/5 star rating

Thanks for your elaborate criticism. Updating daily would involve me typing daily n most times I am occupied.

heemah:
Now that's my man! Good to have you back here darl.
dandypearl, donkross1, Sageez, where art thou??

Thanks darl...good to still see u following.

DandyPearl:
hey sweets. I'm not here actually but I jez decided to pop in cuz I know u musta been missing me. I'm not feeling too well. See you when I'm back

Get well soon.

Mj45:
It would be very heartless of me not to at least say thank u after reading this. So THANK YOU MATTKENT for this lovely update.

Big thanks to you too for following all the way.

kingphilip:
mattkent this is a nice piece although it's not up to perfection but it's still enjoyable for most of us here on nairaland

but I think the next update should be the longest because I don't see how a cut n join update will look here

carry go boss I'm eagerly awaiting the upcoming update which will signal the end of this piece

heema longest time.. hope you have been good

Yeah that's my plan... that's why this update was short. I want the concluding part to be a lot longer. I hope I don't disappoint u guys.

Thanks for following.

Blessinzy:
hmm

ina kwana

Mattkent:


Well observed... * thumps up*

I was just trying to meet the deadline.

forget deadline bro you should take your time in writing something extraordinary brilliant

Mattkent:


Yeah that's my plan... that's why this update was short. I want the concluding part to be a lot longer. I hope I don't disappoint u guys.

Thanks for following.

thanks for making it worth following