Mrs Hannah woke up to the usual silence in her apartment, it's been like that for a decade but that Saturday morning felt different because it was her 60th birthday.
The little excitement she rose with vanished when the feeling and thought of being alone crossed her mind. She looked at the pillow beside her and caressed it as memories of family celebrating her flooded her mind.
She shut her eyes to distract herself but it only paved way for more memories that hurts deeply. Her birthday celebration used to be a huge one for her family and they use to celebrate in style but not anymore, there were no kisses in bed or birthday surprises.
She was lost in thought for a moment and started hearing birthday songs from her only daughter, Emily who was carrying a cake. Her sweet voice echoed in the bedroom and her husband had gift packs as he walked behind Emily. He was smiling like a child that was handed ice cream and Mrs Hannah was smiling too but suddenly they vanished the moment she blinked her eyes.
Mrs Hannah screamed and rolled from the bed to the tiles in pain. She leaned her back on the bedframe, staring at the giant wedding picture frame sitting in one corner of the bedroom. She crawled to it, touching her husband's face on the frame just to have a feel of him.
"I wish you were here to celebrate with me. Nothing feels special without you around me," She whispered while thinking about how a terminal disease stole him from her. She lay on the floor in front of the frame and wept uncontrollably for a while.
A few hours had passed before she couldn't find the strength to get up from the tiles. She gently made her way to the kitchen for a cup of black coffee and sat at the dining table to drink.
Every sip she took was accompanied by memories and Mrs Hannah wished the last 20 years of her life was a dream she would wake up from. She pinched herself several times hoping to wake up from the nighttime but instead, she remembered how her daughter left the house a decade ago and never returned home.
Emily was just 8 years of age when her dad passed away and exactly 10 years later, Mrs Hannah tried matchmaking her with one of her friend's sons hoping that they can tie the knot in a few years but Emily turned her down. She wanted to study and become great like she always planned with her father before he passed away.
Mrs Hannah convinced her daughter assuring her that the relationship wouldn't affect her education or dreams but her efforts were futile and was so angry that she threatened to disown Emily but the young girl didn't wait for that to happen before leaving the house.
Mrs Hannah snapped out of thinking about Emily the moment she heard a bike honking at the gate.
"It must be that dispatch rider again?" She stuttered and slowly walked out of the apartment.
She peeped through the gate hole and immediately after seeing it was the same dispatch rider that bring gift and cake every year, she hissed.
"How do you bring gift from an anonymous person every year and expect me to take it," Mrs Hannah stuttered as she returned back inside.
The dispatch rider honked severally again and even knocked the gate. As usual, he left since no one attended to him after waiting for 30 minutes.
"I know it won't be anyone other than Emily and if she doesn't come here to apologize to me, she can continue living happily. I know she's alive and that fine by me. She doesn't regard me as anything since my husband passed away," She stuttered and sat to continue her coffee.
She heard her phone rang after sipping from the cup and went to the bedroom immediately. Upon reaching the phone, it was an unknown number so she hesitated.
The call ended and while thinking who it was, her phone rang again.
"Hello, who am I speaking with?" She asked immediately after picking up the call.
"Mom!" The caller stuttered and went quiet.
"Emily, is that you?" Mrs Hannah's voice trembled and she didn't get a response for some seconds.
"It's been ten years and you wouldn't take those gifts because you knew it was me," Emily replied.
"You disrespected me, Emily. I wanted the best for you but you turned it down because it's not your father's idea," Mrs Hannah replied.
"Dad wouldn't have suggested such a thing. We had planned and he wanted to see me conquer the world, not just sending me off to his friend's son just to tighten their friendship and secure wealth," Emily replied and ended the call immediately she began to cry.
Mrs Hannah hissed and threw her phone on the bed. She angrily left the room and returned to the parlor. She started thinking about Emily and realized she didn't have a tight relationship with her daughter before her father died.
Being a business woman, she always travelled for meeting and buying goods, leaving her husband to care for Emily despite his tight schedule. Even after he passed away, Emily didn't enjoy much of her company.
"I could be wrong," Mrs Hannah stuttered as she reflects deeply about Emily. She emptied her coffee cup severally and bitterness of the coffee was nothing compared to what she felt in her heart.
After a while thinking, she went back to her bedroom to relax. She picked up her phone and several birthday messages were waiting on her WhatsApp. She slowly read the birthday wishes from friends and family, appreciating and replying to messages. She saw messages from the strange number that called earlier and clicked on it.
Immediately it opened, there was pictures of Emily, a lot of them including her graduation from the University as a first class student, her induction ceremony, NYSC and completion of her master's degree captioned Happy 60th birthday mom.
Tears welled up in her eyes while scrolling through the pictures and for the first time, she accepted that she had wronged Emily. Her hands trembled as she tried calling the number on Video call but she managed to do so.
"Please don't say anything," Mrs Hannah said to Emily immediately after she picked up the call.
"I was wrong," She stuttered and paused. Emily could hear her sobbing in the background.
"I didn't want you to suffer or be cheated that was why I wanted you to get married to our family friend's son. We aren't just family friends but business partners too, I just wanted us to keep the family legacy going," Mrs Hannah said to Emily who also asked for forgiveness.
She confessed that leaving home wàsnt the right thing but it was her only way of expressing herself her feelings.
The called ended after a while and Mrs Hannah felt relieved speaking to Emily. She spent the whole day indoor reminiscing memories of the beautiful she once had before her husband passed away.
Mrs Hannah heard a vehicle honking very early the next morning and upon getting there, it was Emily. She came with her friends, gifts, cake, and drinks.
Mrs Hannah didn't believe her eyes, she hugged her daughter so tight and didn't let go for several minutes. It was an emotional reunion as Emily brought life back into the house.