The Perfection in Love - Part One

Chapter 4 - Olive Skin and Couple Things

Oyin was so frustrated. Olive was coming to visit them. Olive with her perfect olive skin, red hair and blue eyes. With their matching hair and eye color, she and Henry looked like the perfect couple—everything matching. Ever since their argument on Saturday, she had barely talked to Henry. Anytime he wanted to start a conversation, she would just walk out of the room. She knew her mom suspected something, but she was not going to tell her. Mummy would blow it out of proportion.

You mean just like you are doing now? She heard the still, small voice in her spirit.

Admittedly, she was being a little petty. Marriage was not like courtship. It was a whole new ball game. Before they got married, whenever she had an argument with Henry, she would withdraw from him. It always drove him crazy and Oyin knew that was why she was doing it now.

She looked up from her computer screen where she had AutoDesk open. It was only 11am on Monday, and she was already tired. She knew that her fatigue stemmed from the state of her relationship with Henry—a situation that was mostly her fault. They didn't usually pray together on weekdays, because they had different work hours. But even on Sunday, she had dressed up and left the room before Henry was fully awake—opting to do her morning devotion alone. Though praying together on Sunday mornings was more of an unofficial affair, judging from the look on Henry's face when she saw him later that morning, she knew that he knew she had purposely gone out of her way to avoid praying with him and that it hurt him.

Looking back, Oyin realized that her actions were quite childish.

Where was the Christian in her?

Letting out a sigh, she picked up her phone. She couldn't help it—she was so insecure when it came to Henry. And though she would never admit it to another living soul, she still had some walls up with Henry, preventing herself from utter heartbreak if he, one day, decided she was not good enough for him anymore.

She hated that there was some part of her that felt this way, but that part recognized the fact that Henry was way out of her league. He had the whole package: rich, tall, handsome (very handsome), and God-fearing. And she couldn't help but feel like it was all a fluke. Too good to be true. Even over a year down the road.

The day he asked her to marry him was one of the best days of her life, second only to the day she got saved. He was a prince out of a fairytale - her very own Prince Charming. Even through their cultural differences, he had come out shining: trying to learn Yoruba language, trying to learn Yoruba traditions, traveling to Nigeria multiple times to meet the rest of her extended family who never seemed to remember that his name was Henry not Oyinbo. She knew it couldn't have been easy for him. But he did it all, never complaining.

Oyin was scared that Perfect Olive would come, and Henry would realize that he had made a huge mistake in picking her. And while Henry loved God too much and was too noble to divorce her, his heart would be Olive's. And to Oyin, that was worse than a thousand divorces over.

Since Saturday, the end of their conversation was on a constant loop in her head, reminding Oyin that Olive's place in her husband's life was not one that could be easily dismissed:

"Oyin, you have to understand. Olive is a reminder of the good old days. Her visiting is not just about her—it's about home, about my life back in California."

Her heart had plummeted at that statement.

"I thought I was home."

"Babe, don't take it like that. I didn't mean it that way. Oyin..."

She had walked away at that. She knew that Henry had not meant it the way she took it. But it hurt hearing it out loud.

Unlocking her phone, she found his number and pressed 'Call.'