IF I WERE YOU. (Editing)

THREE_

In her little seating room, Vivian munched her saltine crackers in silence, washing it down with a cup of chocolate milk.

Her fingers dialed the number again, but it rang out without an answer.

She glared at the phone for a few minutes, hoping there would be a return call, yet nothing. Her mouth silently said a prayer she'd been repeating for days.

         "Lord, please find her." This was the tenth time she was dialing Meso's number.

Heaving a deep sigh as she walked into her white walled bedroom and tossed herself on the bed. The sun had gone down and a cool breeze filled her room. She opened the window wider, gusts of air filled her room with the cool evening breeze.

Glancing at the phone again, she muttered deeply under her breath. "Meso, where are you?"

Reluctantly, She stuck her head out of the window. Her face brushed against the wind as she took in the view of the lush gardens of the apartments within the 'Priests Haven.'
Her thoughts flashed back to the first time they'd visited this land with her parents. Her father had just been ordained a Bishop and he was willing to move.

Having ran his business concurrently with his calling as a pastor, he decided to liquidate his massive cocoa business and relocate the church's headquarters to the west. It was not an easy decision as it was fraught with misunderstanding between First lady and her father.

Bishop Maitama well aware of the chaos and massacre in the North, couldn't leave his safety in the hands of the Lord alone. His faith didn't go that far. He took that one step that would protect not just him but his church members. It was better to be safe than sorry.

        "Wisdom is profitable to direct." His top scripture bullet. "Don't wait till you have no life to start protecting your life."

That was his message to his critics who bemoaned his decision to move the fast growing church out of the northern part of Nigeria, but the Bishop was a practical security conscious person.

       From the proceeds of that transaction, he bought this massive acres of land in Ibadan. He didn't even wait for the church to be fully planted in the west before he started building his visionary 'Priests Haven.'

As she scanned the entire estate, she knew it was truly a beautiful haven and silently thanked God for her fathers unrelenting visionary skills.

Apart from being brash and insensitive, the man never wasted any opportunity to improve himself and expand his territories. Now, he had built more estates like this in other parts of the country, employing thousands of people. 

Initially, because of the location, No one was willing to move to an estate surrounded by bushes. But Unperturbed by the staggering difficulties and the nay sayers, Bishop Maitama plowed through the obstacles that tried to stop him.

Presently, Priest's Haven' had been rated as one of the best estates in the country with constant electricity, water, social amenities and most importantly, security. Most of the 'Priest's Haven' tenants consisted of high profile members and executive government officials.

Quickly, she snapped out of the conservation in her head on seeing her father's image walk briskly towards her apartment.

          "What now?" She grumbled. 

The old man was almost at her door by the time she made it to the entrance.

Standing by the door, she waited for the door bell to come alive. But what startled her was the pounding her innocent door received.

In a swift move, her hands went to the knob and freed the door from the unnecessary punishment it'd been subjected to by her father.

          "Bishop, Good evening." She greeted, bowing slightly. Still waiting for the hammer of whatever judgement to come on her, she took in his outfit.