HER LAST WISH Chapter 42

(Moremi)

Zeemah Writes 📝

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“Dave! I’m not going to stop going to work” Aria said, trying not to yell.
“You will, you have to” Dave said sternly.
“Really?” Aria asked, getting frustrated. They’ve been on this for minutes and Dave’s refusing to give in.
It’s very unlike him, he allows her do whatever she wants, he supports whatever decision she makes and now he’s being like this??
She knows loosing the baby hurt him and the fact that it happened due to the stress of the work he had warned her about hurt him more.
“Yeah” Dave said, sitting on the chair in their room.

It was hours after Layla and Phil left, the nurse had come in almost immediately to continue her treatment and after the treatment,she had been advised to rest for an hour before getting up to do anything and she did just that, she got up after an hour and started arguing with Dave.

“I know loosing the baby hurt you but I’m hurt also” Aria said.
“I know Babe and I’m sorry about that”
“I’m sorry also…but why don’t you just give in already” Aria said in a pleading tone.
“The last time I did, you got hurt. I’m not going to allow you get hurt again”
“It wasn’t that painful” Aria lied.
“Lies, losing that baby hurt you physically and mentally”
“Staying at home is not going to make the pain go away, I need to go out and get my hands on something!”
“I’m going to find you another job then, a less stressful job with a better pay I promise but you’re not going back there” Dave said.

“I don’t want another job! I don’t want a better pay, I’m fine with that Job. Dave!” Aria sigh loudly, getting pissed at how adamant he is.
“I don’t know why you do not want to leave that place, despite coming home every evening looking exhausted and the fact that the pay is so little…”
“I’m not working there because of pay! and I’ve never for once complained that I’m exhausted whenever I get back home” Aria said.
“You don’t have to, it’s usually so written all over your face. You kept working there even after I told you I could afford to open a store for you…who wouldn’t choose owning a store over working so hard in a cafe with a very little pay!”
“I don’t want a store! I want to keep working at the Cafe.”

“If it’s actually because of Layla you really want to go back, I’m sure that girl is not going to support your decision either, I overheard what she told you yesterday, she doesn’t mind you not coming back to work, she just wants you to be fine” Dave said.
“Layla only said that because she cares about me but trust me, she’ll feel so lonely without me and not only that. I like working there and I’m not saying I’ll get back to work immediately, I’ll make sure I recover fully before going back, I promise” Aria said.

“Whatever, I am still not going to give in, how could you even want to go back to the job that made us lose our baby”
“The job didn’t make us loose the baby! I did! It was my lame decision to continue working even after knowing I was pregnant” Aria said, close to crying again.
“If I knew this would happen, I would have stopped working, I wouldn’t risk that baby’s life” Aria said, she’s low-key blaming herself for loosing their baby, she caused it. How could she continue working knowing she’s carrying a baby and knowing how stressful the work is. But to be honest, the thought of having a miscarriage never crossed her mind because while she was pregnant with Jane, she worked 9-5 and nothing had happened. So she thought she’ll be fine. How could she even have overlooked the fact that something could happen to the baby, how could she have compared her 9-5 job to working in a cafe where she’s literally on her feet all day. How could she! If she knew this would happen, she would have stopped working, she wouldn’t put her baby’s life on the line for anything.
She started crying again “It’s my fault”
“C’mon, it’s not. Stop thinking that way!” He reprimanded, getting to his feet to console her. The last thing he wants is for her to blame herself.
He’s the one to blame here, he’s the one who gave in to her request to continue working. If he had refused, she would have stopped and nothing would have happened to the baby.

“Having a miscarriage is a painful thing that can happen to anyone but it’s seems as though i caused this one. The pregnancy is still in it’s early stage, I should have made you stop working immediately you figured you were pregnant, how could I have been so dumb to give in to your request to continue working, how! What was I even thinking! I feel so…. responsible for the loss of this baby” Dave said, his voice laced with pain.
Aria finally knew what was wrong. Dave is also blaming himself for her miscarriage.

“It’s not your fault Dave, it’s mine” Aria said, looking into his eyes, sniffing as he wiped her tears.
“It’s mine babe, do not blame yourself okay? You’re hurting enough, do not add any blame to the pain you’re already feeling. We’ll be fine, this pain we’re both feeling will pass, I know that and you know I love you right?” He said.
“I love you too” She said and somehow their lips locked.

***

“Good morning Phil” Layla greeted, walking into the living room fully dressed for school.
“Good morning” Phil greeted handing her allowance to her.
“Thank you” Layla said. “And….” She trailed off.
“What?” Phil asked.
“What are you going to do about the morning shift now that Aria would no longer be coming?” Layla asked, swallowing hard at that thought. She’s still yet to digest the fact that she would no longer be seeing Aria daily anymore, the jokes, banters,chats, gossips they do have will all be gone. She tried not to cry thinking about it.

“I’m going to employ another person”
“Did you already?”
“No, I’m going to put out the notice today, I’m sure we’ll see someone soon”
“Then, who’s going to be there this morning?”
“Nobody” Phil said.
“Nobody?” Layla asked.
“Yeah, or do you expect me to go there and do the morning shift?” Phil asked.
“Of course no, I’ll get going now” Layla said.
“Try to arrive as early as you can okay?”
“Okay, Bye” Layla said before walking out of the house.

***

“What’s the matter?” Dan asked worriedly as he stared at Layla.
He had been so worried since yesterday, he suspected something was wrong even before she picked up his call yesterday and then she had confirmed his suspicion by saying she’s going to tell him what happened today..
Through out the ride to school, anyone could tell Layla’s countenance is not the usual.
They were seated in class already and she’s still looking so gloomy.

“I’m not happy..I guess you know that already…” She was saying when a teacher walked in.
“Oh, I guess we’ll talk about this later” She sigh.
“You’ll be fine, everything will be fine okay?” He patted her hand and she nodded.
He doesn’t like seeing her in a bad mood, it affects his mood.
He hopes whatever it is, he hopes whatever is bothering her clears away soon and if there’s a way he can help, he’s going to make sure he does.

~~

“Dan” Layla called, halting their walk to the cafeteria.

It’s lunch break already.

“Huh?” He asked, standing in front of her.
She rested her back on the wall and sigh.
“You’re ready to talk?” He asked and she nodded.
Tears build in her eyes… Sometimes, she doesn’t like the fact that she cries so much, she hates it whenever she cries over little things but right now she doesn’t care. She knows she’s cried over a dozen times yesterday but Aria is worth crying for over and over again, that woman was literally her only friend when she had nobody, she knew she was one of the reasons Aria kept coming to work even after getting pregnant.. and then something that sad and painful happened to her. She wonder why good people get hurt the most.
She sniffed, feeling so bad.

“Aria won’t be coming to work anymore, she had a miscarriage and it was due to the stress of the work.”
“Oh My God!!” Dan exclaimed. “Oh My God”
He has his palm over his mouth, feeling so sorry for Aria. God, this is so sad.
“I feel like it’s my fault, if it hadn’t been for me Aria would have probably stopped working the minute she discovered she was pregnant, she didn’t want me to feel lonely at work and now…the baby’s gone” Layla said, crying now.
“C’mon, don’t think that way” He said, pulling her in a hug. He very much understand how she’s feeling right now and it’s just so sad.

“Don’t blame yourself for anything, it’s not your fault, I’m sure Aria won’t be happy if she’s to know you’re blaming yourself for her miscarriage, just stop okay?” He said wiping her tears with his hands.
They were both oblivious of the students passing and staring at them.
“This is very unfair to someone like Aria, she doesn’t deserve this and to think I could probably be the reason it happened, it hurts so much” Layla said with a heavy heart.

“I understand how you’re feeling. No one deserves a miscarriage. But life and its ways, Layla you really need to let go of that thought, you’re not responsible for it. Do you think Aria would continue working if she knew she was going to have a miscarriage? No, she won’t. Perhaps she worked during Jane’s pregnancy and then felt nothing is gonna happen if she did same for this one. No mother will continue working knowing their baby’s life is at risk, not even for anything or anyone, Aria would never have risked her baby’s life for anything or even you. She didn’t know she was gonna have a miscarriage, or she would have stopped working. Believe me” Dan said.

Layla fell silent, thinking about what Dan just said.
“Really?” She finally asked, his words starting to make sense to her.
“Of course” Dan said..
She stared ahead with a ‘deep-in-thought’ look.

“I think you’re right” She finally said. “Aria wouldn’t continue working if she knew her baby was gonna get hurt, not even for me”
“Of course, that’s very right” Dan said and Layla nodded.

“So, promise me you’ll put an end to blaming yourself”
“I promise” She said after a little hesitation. The blame she was feeling is not so strong like it was before she spoke to Dan.
This guy is a mood lifter, whenever she’s sad, all she has to do is go to Dan, he always makes her less sad and she doesn’t even know how he does it.
How lucky is she to have someone who literally clears her sorrows.

“Good, and I don’t like seeing you sad, it breaks my heart” He said and she stared at him not knowing what to say. She felt emotional and won’t lie he made her heart thump in her chest, it’s been going on for some time now. Daniel making her heart thump randomly, it feels strange but good as well. She doesn’t know what it is yet or rather she doesn’t want to admit what it is yet but she really hope whatever she’s feeling for Dan is just due to the fact that they are friends… best friends.

Although Dan has never been seriously sad since she knew him but whenever he gets moody, if affects her mood also.

“I don’t like seeing you get moody, it affects my mood also, I’ve never seen you get sad but I’m sure it’s going to break my heart as well if you ever do” Layla said.
Dan nodded, resisting every urge to tell her how much he loves her, how deeply he has fallen for her. His heart aches painfully anytime he tries to restrain confessing his feelings to her. If only she wasn’t so head over heels for Dylan. Well… He knows he’s going to tell her one day, it doesn’t matter if she doesn’t accept him, he’s going to let out his feelings soon, his heart needs to stop suffering.

“Should we go to the Cafeteria now?” He asked and she nodded.
~
“But the fact that Aria had a miscarriage is just so sad. I feel so sorry for her” Dan said as they settled down to eat.
“Yeah, it’s sad. She doesn’t even look the cheerful Aria when we visited, her eyes were so puffy and red that I couldn’t stop my tears” Layla said.
“What a pity, that’s so sad. I can’t even imagine how she must be feeling now” Dan shook his head.
“I’ll be going to visit her soon, will you like to come along?”
“Of course, I would love to”
“Alright”

“Now that Aria would no longer be coming, I guess Phil will have to employ another person” Dan said.
“Yeah”
“I hope the person would be as kind as Aria”
Layla smiled “I don’t think there’s anyone who’s gonna be like her”
“Sure” Dan said, knowing how much Layla will miss Aria, he felt quite sorry for her, it’s gonna be so hard for her to cope.
“You’ll be fine okay?” Dan brushed his hand on her cheeks.
She nodded.

“Hi Dan” Dylan said as he walked past Dan with his tray of food in hand.
“Huh?” Layla’s eyes widen in surprise.
“What was that?” She asked Dan, in complete surprise. The last thing she could remember is that Dan and Dylan were enemies or rather.. Dylan hated Dan intensely and Dan doesn’t like him either but did he just say hi to Dan??

“Well..I’m surprised also” Dan said.
“Did you guys became friends in the school detention?”
“Friends? No, I only..gave him…this little advise, didn’t even know he would take it” Dan shrugged.
“Your words have a way of turning people around! You should seriously consider being a counselor” Layla said and Dan laughed.
” Okay, you really need to tell me the details” Layla said.
“Alright, grab your drink. Storytime” He said and she chuckled.

*†*

“Dan, what are you doing here?” Layla asked as he walked up to her in the cafeteria, she was by the counter, setting things up, she’s just opening the Cafe and she’s even yet to turn the sign by the door to “We Are Open” She needs everything to be in order first.
Walking into the Cafe without meeting Aria dawned on her that Aria would really not be coming again and it hurt her so much.

“I’m here to…keep you company” Dan said.
“What? No no, you can’t do that again today. I’m fine, I’ll be fine, trust me. You can leave” Layla said.
“But I want to stay” He said. With Aria gone, he knows she’s deeply going to miss her presence, there’ll be no one for her to chat with or work with and he’s ready to be that person till she get used to Aria’s absence.
“Just leave, Dan. I can’t keep making you do this! Besides, there’s nothing much to do today, the days of the week are not always busy, we only have few customers during the days of the week, it’s something I can handle” Layla assured.

“Well..I still want to keep you company, there’s nothing I’m doing at home, I’m just so bored so I decided to come along. Just let me stay” He said.
Layla sigh. “Really? You’ve never gotten bored when Aria was still working here, what’s with the sudden boredom?” She asked with a raised brow and he laughed.
“Okay, to be honest, I’m here to assist you and also keep you company”
“Thanks Dan, I’m so grateful but really…I need no help” Layla insisted. She doesn’t like putting people in unnecessary and uncomfortable condition.

“Well..I’m going to stay. I brought pies..so we’re gonna eat while we work. Yeah!” He grinned, raising the paper bag in his hand, he dropped it on the counter and proceeded to wash his hands.
“What? I’ve not said you can stay!” Layla said, furrowing her brows.
“Well..I am” He said, grinning.
“Gosh, really?”
“Yup, let’s get to work Coffee girl” He winked, his heart melting as he watched her laugh.

…………………..