A twist of Fate (A Nigerian Love Story)

Chapter 4

                 An announcement from the house help informed Nneka that Chioma had arrived. Nneka who had been deep in thoughts stepped out from the pool where she had been trying to cool off and went to the master bedroom to change. As she walked in, she could hear her husband on the phone. "Yes Darling I miss you too." She sighed. 

Anselem and one of his mistresses as usual. She was tired of them, tired of it all, but she would not let him determine her happiness. She would not let him know that it was all getting to her. She would put on the most expressionless face ever and keep moving like everything was perfect. She knew he was cheating on her, but would not waste her time on something that could not be stopped. It was her fault that he was cheating and she knew it. If only she had been willing to forgive, if only she had not let pride rule her. In their 30 years of marriage, he had been cheating on her for more than half of it and she knew it. He was aware that she knew it too. However, to outsiders including their kids, they were the perfect couple. Nneka was a wonderful actress who could switch her emotions in a matter of seconds. She could go from an outraged tiger who was ready to tear up your throat to a nice angel who would not hurt a fly. This came in handy whenever she was having one of the very numerous fights with her husband and their kid would come in. It also came in handy when they were out on a couple's dinner or on an occasion which they could not refuse to attend as they were a Lagos Elite. They were among the top 1% in their state and they could not afford bad publicity.

She recalled the first time she had caught him cheating on her. Emeka was 8 and she had just taken him to a friend's house. She was supposed to take Emeka to see his friend and then drive off to work but she had forgotten an important document at home. She had to make a U-turn and rushed home to get it as she was running late. Her husband must not have heard her footsteps as she ran upstairs, but what she saw when she got into their room shocked her. There was her husband of 13 years, stark naked with a girl who would not be more than 20. At that moment, everything she was holding including her handbag fell over her hands and she froze. The two on the bed quickly disentangled when they heard the noise. The girl quickly dressed and ran off the room while her husband fell on his knees. Anselem pleaded, but Nneka refused to heed his pleas. "I do not ever want to have anything to do with you" she said.

She had tried to walk off the room but he had kept begging her, urging her that it was a mistake. However, Nneka did not oblige. She was a proud woman and would not let any man take her for a fool. That was the turning point in their marriage. Things went from bad to worse as she kept Anselem at an arm's length. After about two years of consistent pleading, Anselem drastically changed. He began drinking more, and chased after women even worse. When she tried to complain, he had told her that he was done begging her. He had called her a selfish and unforgiving bitch who only cared about herself. Nneka could never forget the look on his face when he had said "I am in this marriage only because of my kids, and I would set a good example for them. I would be the best father to them and they would never know me as a womanizer or a drunk. But as for you woman, I am done with you. I cannot fathom how a human being could be so unforgiving. You feel beauty and wealth is everything? Well it is not, and I want a wife who would love me as much as I love her. Turns out you were not the one."

Nneka shook herself from her thoughts and changed into something elegant. From the corner of her eyes, she saw her husband checking her out. She knew she still had an effect on him but they were both arrogant people. Moreover, it was about 17 years since they had drifted apart and they had learned to live without each other. She quickly looked in the mirror to make sure she was presentable and then walked down to the living room to see Chioma. After what had transpired between her husband and son that morning, she knew that something was wrong. Her son almost never confided in her and she was determined to know the root of his problem. She was aware he was not very much in love with Chioma, but she knew her son was a decent man who would not hurt a lady intentionally. She had invited Chioma for a 'ladies night out' but only to get information out of her.

"You look absolutely gorgeous ma'am" Chioma said as Nneka walked into the living room

"Thank you my dear" Chioma replied with an ever dazzling smile. "You do not look bad yourself" she complimented her.

"Thanks. I try" Chioma replied.

"I trust your parents are well" Nneka began

"Yes ma'am"

"And you and Emeka cannot wait to give us grandkids" Nneka made a joke smiling

"Um... we have broken up ma" Chioma said quietly with her head bowed a little. Nneka was greatly shocked, and was about to mutter a curse but she stopped herself quickly. "Of course I know you are broken up" she said with a sweet smile "I just wanted to know when you people will patch it up as we cannot wait for you guys to be married, or don't you love my son anymore dear?"

"Of course I do. I just hope he will be able to forgive me. He told you, didn't he?" Chioma asked quietly again. "Yes he did my dear. I just want to know your own side of the story so that we would work out how to make him forgive you" Nneka said sweetly as she lured Chioma into telling her everything that had transpired between Emeka and her. When she was done, Nneka could not believe her ears, but she smiled and said to Chioma "It will all work out, trust me"

                                                                           *   *   *    *   *    *

Emeka finally arrived at his apartment, after driving around for some hours. His mind was still foggy from the fight he had had with his father but was ready to sleep it off. However, that could hardly work out as he kept thinking of what to tell his parents. They did not know that he and Chioma had broken up and he had been waiting for the perfect time to tell them. His father would most definitely understand but he doubted that his mother would. She seemed to be intent of seeing him marry the two timing whore as he saw her. He decided he would tell them in a week. Maybe take them out on a little dinner and put them in a happy mood, then let them know he was done. That would work he thought as he made plan after plan on how to go about it. It was 12am when he finally came up with the perfect plan and decided to sleep. He had a busy day at the office tomorrow, and he was not planning to sleep off while on duty.

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