SHADOW OF THE PAST

02 Who Is Zoe?

---

Tomisin sat motionless on the sofa as diverse kinds of thoughts ran through her mind. She summoned the courage to check the images on Femi's phone to clear her doubt about Zoe.

She couldn't believe her eyes after going through the images one after the other. She saw the pictures of Femi and a very much young lady which she presumed to be Zoe together. They both had a selfie in a park, the girl was smiling radiantly and Femi was staring into the girl's eyes in the image. She checked the date on which the picture was taken from the image settings and noticed it was taken the previous month.

"So, this is Zoe. This is the lady that has been stirring trouble in my home." she scoffed as she thought of what to do to Zoe.

°°°° °°°° °°°° °°°°
"Your wife picked up my call... I hung up the call immediately I noticed." Zoe's words rang up in Femi's memory as he drove off with great speed heading back home to get his phone.

He could remember when he left the house in annoyance and went to lodge in a hotel around 4.00 am, he had left his phone behind and didn't notice until he got to Mrs. Esin's house to take Zoe to her workplace.

Zoe had informed him on his arrival how his wife had picked the call and he'd dropped her off at work before heading back home to get his phone.

Moments later, Femi parked in his car at the gate, jumped out of his car, and barged into the building walking fast.

"Who gave you the permission to pick my call?" Femi scowled his wife as soon as he stepped into the living room, where he met his wife sitting on the sofa with his phone lying on the table before her.

"Who is Zoe?"

"Hey woman, I'm trying my best to be patient with you. I am trying my best to condone your attitude, but it seems you are tired of my patience," he said and snatched his phone from the table.

"Femi, is cheating the solution to the problem we are having?"

"I do not have time for a conversation like such." he retorted and stormed out of the house in fury.

Tomisin's eyes were clouded with tears as he watched Femi leave the house in fury.

°°°° °°°° °°°° °°°°
In a room self-contained apartment, Grace and her thirty-eight-year-old bachelor son 'Banji' sat down discussing some trivial issues.

Banji just got back from South Africa where he had spent close to twelve years doing menial jobs to save up for a living. He had returned to Nigeria to set up a business by partnering with a close friend. Grace was not happy with the location he had chosen to open up a restaurant in Nigeria.

"Why can't you set up your business here in Lagos? This is where you grew up after all..."

"Mum, I have so many reasons why I choose Abuja out of all places."

"And, what are the reasons?"

"One of the reasons is because I was led by the Spirit to set up a business there."

"So, you mean your friend Udoh just accepted your choice of location without praying along with you? How deep is that your friend in Christ that you both can't pray together? Why are you praying alone? Why partnering business together when you both are not compatible in the place of prayers?"

"Mummy...do you believe I can lead Udoh to Christ? I can win his soul for Christ. Being an unbeliever doesn't mean one can't do business together or work together. After all, that is what Jesus instructed us to do in the Bible."

"You are very right. I could reason with what you just said." Grace said thoughtfully. "So, when are you leaving? Since all necessary arrangements have been made over there," she added.