Sunset Lily (part 1)

It was a cold rainy day, Celia decided to look out the window over at the backyard, she watched as the rain fell upon the grasses, as the huge mango  tree standing at the centre of the yard danced in array to the rhythm of the rain as it poured upon  it, the leaves swayed in amenity with the wind. The mango tree was all that was left of the trees her daughter Prov had planted 25years  ago after her first agric class. Prov was only 4 years old  then, with enthusiasm burning in her eyes. Celia felt a wave of déjà vu creep through her spine. As the rain got heavier, she became immersed in thought. Her daughter Providence is now grown, she had sharp piercing eyes, dark skin and perfectly lined face. She had a striking resemblance to her father. Everyone had thought it was the ordeal that  followed the disappearance of her father before her birth. Even though she had never seen him, she embodied him in  attitude. She produced the tone of his voice in her laughter, the same intense manner of his gaze, and same charisma emanated from her when she moved. And just as he had been a doctor, Providence took to science. Eneh had worked in the "University of Port Harcourt teaching hospital" where Celia had been admitted for typhoid in 1992, He was one of the young doctors on interns with the hospital.  He had this glowing confidence and charming personality that could get any woman crawling at his feet. He had bright white eyes, towering long nose and a charming smile that displayed a set of perfectly lined teeth. And when he invited her for a doctors conference in October that year, she couldn't refuse. Soon they were seeing each other more often and marriage was on everyone's mind.
            
            Early one Saturday morning, a call came in...Celia couldn't make out details of the conversation Eneh had with the caller but she knew something was wrong. Eneh dashed out of the house in a brisk manner leaving a note on the large unmade bed. Celia stepped out of the bathroom a while later with a grey towel tied around her chest. She saw the note just beside the bedside locker and picked it up.
       "Family emergency, I ll be back by evening".

But Eneh didn't return that evening or the next, and no one heard anything concerning his whereabout, not even his family members. They invited the police into the matter, but there was still no useful information. Months passed and soon it was time for  Celia's baby to be delivered. Torn between grief over the disappearance of her first love and the birth of her daughter, Celia dedicated her life to the upbringing of her daughter. Eneh's family let her keep his house, so she enrolled Prov in a school nearby.
   

To be continued.