The Lives We Lived

68: Stalker

“Kemi didn't know what she'd been expecting, but seeing her husband drag that nasty woman towards the door set off something feral in her. So feral that she scratched Jude when he tried to hold her hand.

“What's the problem?” Jude asked.

Kemi ignored his question and kept her eyes on Osa's thin back. What was the public display of adultery that she had just witnessed? Did he no longer care about their image?

She had watched the way that thing smiled and where that thing had touched Osa. Clearly, that woman wanted to sleep with her husband and instead of Osa to refuse and focus on his duties, he had dragged the woman out in a haste.

In a haste to where?

“Kemi, if you're really that bothered by him, you should fire him.” Jude said.

“Oh believe me, I've tried.” Kemi grabbed her bag and slung the strap unto her shoulder. “I've said it. He doesn't bother me.”

Jude stood in her path. “Then explain why you've been all over me all evening and why your eyes drift to him at every opportunity. Why are you trying to make him jealous if you are not bothered by him?”

Kemi's eyes snapped to his face. It was like she was watching Ijeoma speak in Jude’s body. Was that why her best friend and the manager got together? Because they thought alike?

It didn't matter. Look where their relationship has ended. She would rather die than take solutions from them.

“You wouldn't understand.” She stepped around him.

“We're in the middle of a discussion.” Jude said. “Our food is still unfinished.”

Kemi reached for both of their glasses of wine on the table and downed it in three gulps, before wiping her lips with an exaggerated swipe of her hand. “There, we're done. I'll catch up with you later.”

She was gone before he responded. She hurried into the street, hoping they had not gone too far for her to follow.

Yes, she had been trying to make Osa jealous. She had not expected the other woman to show up and distract him. All of her laughter had been directed to grate his nerves, and she was so sure he was coming over to give her a telling off when that thing appeared. Was it that easy to steal someone’s husband?

She caught sight of her husband as he walked towards the major street. As mad as he looked, and with the giant steps he took, he still cradled one hand around Ruth’s stomach.

There was a hollowness within her own stomach as a twisted jealousy rose within her. She had been jealous before but not as jealous as now, watching Osa care for another woman while she watched on the sidelines like she was the side chick. She remembered now how Osa had defended Ruth in the restaurant: ‘The Mother of my Child.’

She bit her lips as it dawned on her that Osa did not have a problem with kids. He had no problem taking care of a woman with a kid, and he prized his child above anything else.

She almost let out a stifled cry when she noticed that she wasn't the only one following Osa. He and Ruth where almost at the main gate now and there was a hooded figure following them, ahead of her. Kemi had seen the woman in tight jeans and a dark blue hoodie trailing after them but she had not thought anything of it, until the figure stopped and crouched beside a low wall, just as Osa stopped and looked at Ruth, urging her to move faster.

Kemi’s eyes pinned the person. Was this one of the many patrons from the restaurant? If so, why were they stalking Osa? Kemi chose to close the gap just as Osa stepped beyond the main street gate to flag down a mini bus. Once the bus stopped, Osa ushered Ruth in.