THE UNRAVELLING

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Chapter 25

OSAGIEDE

The door of the sitting room opened and closed, informing me that someone had come in. It was faint, but I'd always prided myself on my good hearing.

I checked Eseosa to see if she was still sleeping. Little noises startled her these days. Luckily, she was still fast asleep.

The house was quiet. Mum and dad were not yet awake, thankfully. I lied to them Eyare went for a business meeting and wouldn't be back home last night. I didn't want them to think we were having issues in our marriage. Truth is, our marriage was close to perfect. Better than most I"d heard of. I just didn't think I'd see the day Eyare would spend the night out of his matrimonial home.

Was he having an affair?

I pondered on this for a bit. I didn't think so.

I hadn't been able to sleep at all last night. I was sick with worry and anger. I had oscillated between those two emotions all night. Another emotion had added itself to the duo --- fear.

I was scared. Scared of the unknown. Scared something had happened to him. Scared he was cheating on me. Scared he had gotten some other woman's attention.

I had called him, on and off, all through the night and every time it rang, up until the automated voice said 'switched off'. Then I knew his battery had died.

But why would he deliberately not pick my calls?

I stood up to go check if he was the one sneaking in.

As I got to the door of the sitting room, I saw him sitting on one of the couches with his head thrown back on the head rest. Eyes closed. What drew my attention the most, were his clothes. They were dirty.

Understatement of the year, they were filthy.

I quickened my steps towards him and he opened his eyes. Our eyes clashed and I saw an emotion I thought I'd never see on his face --- guilt. Raw guilt.

His eyes were begging me for mercy. I wanted to think this was how we looked in the eyes of God when we asked for forgiveness. My heart softened and melted as we stared at each other.

How could I remain mad at the man who taught me real love?

How could I be angry at the man who gave me the best gift that is Eseosa?

How could I stay angry at the man who has my heart, literally in his hands.

Never!

I quickened my steps towards him, but stopped a foot away as a foul smell hit me. It was so pungent, it was almost choking.

It was the smell of alcohol that had stuck to clothes overnight.

It was not a pleasant smell. It practically oozed from every pore of his body. I was immediately disgusted.

I covered my nostrils in reflex and took two steps back, and then another, just for show.

He noticed my action and shame replaced the look of guilt on his face and he looked down at his shoes. I couldn't bear to see him this way, so I turned round to walk away, but I needed to niggle him a bit, so I threw some words over my shoulder. "Go take a bath. You stink!" I immediately felt sad I used those words on him, but I was more disappointed to see him in the state he was in.

I walked away to the room, anger making me antsy. I paced the length of the room, wearing the carpet thin. No need wasting useless emotions on people who wouldn't heed my request.

I scooped Eseosa who was still sleeping, up in my arms, and took her to the nursery to run a warm bath for her. I removed her clothes and gently put her in the soapy water. The smell of fruity grape bath water filled the air, and I smiled as she opened her eyes and yawned. Bath time was her favourite time. She loved to play with soap suds. She always made a mess in the process.

We had ditched her baby bath two months ago and decided to give her a bath in the bath tub.

She was still asleep, but that was probably because she was up with me half - way through the night. I bathed her quickly and dressed her up in a pretty, yellow sun dress and put her back to bed. She immediately curled up and stuck her thumb in her mouth. I shook my head as I watched her. That was a habit I hoped she would outgrow soon.

She was going to be one year old next month and we were already making preparations for her birthday party. I wanted it to be a special birthday celebration filled with fun and laughter.

Eyare wanted us all to travel to Disney land, including mum and dad, but I had disagreed, my case being that she was still too young to understand all the cartoon characters. She would not appreciate it --- we will. Wait until she grows older, I said, and he had reluctantly agreed.

We decided, instead, to have a cartoon character - themed birthday party and take loads of pictures and videos she could always have memories of, and refer to when she grows older.

Mum and dad agreed with me and Eyare had no option but to give in to my suggestion. I had already contacted the event planner and caterer too. Things had already been planned for that day. I was so excited that my baby would be one year old in a month's time. She had already begun taking her first tottery steps.

I kissed her on her soft, chubby cheeks and closed the door to the nursery quietly. I was still thinking of the preparations for her birthday as I walked into the room, only to see Eyare sprawled on the bed in his towel. His dirty clothes lay in a heap at the foot of the bed. I scrunched up my nose and picked up the offending items with two fingers with the intent to throw them in the washing machine.

Something bright red peeked out from the collar of his shirt. It was turned away from me. On closer inspection, it looked like a mouth imprint. I frowned as I peered at it, forgetting the smell that emanated from it. I recoiled in shock as realisation dawned on me. It was the imprint of a woman's lips.

Shock ripped through me as I dropped the offending material and blinked. Hot tears threatened to seep out of the corner of my eyes.

"I will not cry. I will not cry." I chanted to myself.

I was supposed to be happy in my marriage, not upset and teary eyed. I would wait for him to wake up from his drunk - induced slumber so he could explain this to me himself.

Some treacherous tears escaped and were presently making their way to my chin, but I swiped furiously at them and picked up the offending material once more. It was a Saturday and I was going to make pancakes and forget that my husband just walked through the door smelling like a damn refinery with a lipstick stain on his shirt.

Yes! Making pancakes would definitely put me in a better mood.

An hour later and the kitchen was filled with the heavenly smell of pancakes. The table was set for four. Even Eseosa had her own baby chair beside my mum. Her toothy grin and honey - stained mouth was evidence she was enjoying herself. I blew her a kiss as I took a seat. The chair beside me was conspicuously empty. I shook my head in annoyance.

Stupid, foolish drunk!

We all made small talk as we ate. The pancakes were delicious and I added a large dollop of honey on mine. I was in pancake heaven. I'm sure my mouth looked just like my baby's, but I didn't care. I looked up as Eyare walked in, looking relaxed and refreshed.

I couldn't help but linger a bit on him. He was quite handsome, after all. He winked at me and I hid a smile as I looked down at my food. He clapped my dad on his shoulder, kissed mum on the cheek, tickled Eseosa who giggled like it was going out of fashion, before taking his place beside me.

I served him two puffy pancakes, but he was silent and didn't dig in. I glanced at him and saw him looking at me. I raised an eye brow and lifted my shoulders in question, but he just shook his head and turned to his plate and began digging into his pancakes.

I began feeling hot and bothered suddenly. Just one look from my husband had gotten me this way and I couldn't eat anymore. I suddenly stood up and got

busy stacking plates and taking them to the sink to wash. I left them in the sink to soak in warm soapy water and walked to the room to get some rest.

I heard foot steps and I looked up as Eyare came into the room. He closed the door without breaking eye contact with me. As he got close, my heartbeat accelerated and I couldn't seem to look anywhere else but at him.

He cupped my face with his two hands. I could feel his warm breath on my face now. "I'm so sorry, baby!" He knew how I got when he was close.

He was using it against me.

Damn him!

I struggled to remove my face from his grip but he shook his head and closed the little gap left between us. Any slight move and our mouths would meet.

"Please, don't. I had a meeting that took a long time. We had a few drinks and I must have slept off." His eyes were pleading with me.

"A few drinks?" I queried, with a lift of one brow.

He smiled. "Quite a lot, actually."

I nodded, but continued the query. "You never answered your phone." My eyes were beginning to tear. I will not cry. Not now. He can not see me weak.

"Honestly, baby! I can't even find my phone, I think I misplaced it." His fingers were beginning to draw circles on my face. It was so soothing. My eyes drifted shut, but I struggled to open them.

"I saw a lipstick stain on your shirt." My voice came out as a squeak. One of his hands began tracing a path way down my neck. He was doing this deliberately. He knew my Achilles heel.

"I hugged some clients and there was a woman amongst them. Her lipstick must have stained my shirt." His mouth was near my ear now. I shivered as thrills traveled down my spine. My poor defenseless spine.

He guided us to the bed. I was totally disarmed now. No words were necessary. This was my husband. I had been craving for him and from the way his hands were moving all over my body, he had been craving for me too. Our lips moved in synch against each other and our hands --- they did the touching. Our sighs were synchronized in tandem.

We would face the world together.

This was where I wanted to be forever!

* * * *

Eseosa's birthday party was in full swing.

It was a moana - themed birthday party. There was a life sized, blow - up doll of her in the middle of the compound. Women were trying to contain their little children running around trying to touch it.

Food of different types were on display under two tents.

Uniformed waiters idled by, waiting to help people. It was a buffet - styled fest, so they didn't need to do much, except point to what they needed.

There were huge tents set up in the compound with chairs under it for people to sit. The sun was shining so bright that it would have been extremely humid, had it not been for the bright idea of setting up fans at strategic places to take away the sweltering heat.

Soft music streamed from hidden speakers and people had begun swaying to the music, as they
clutched their better halves. Everywhere I looked, people were coupled up. I pitied any single person who walked in now.

I looked around for my own better half. He was with some friends, laughing at something one of them was saying. He must have felt my eyes on him, because he turned and winked at me. He murmured some words to his friends, broke away from them, and began walking over to me. Butterflies filled my stomach. I couldn't tear my eyes away from him. I swear, every new day made me fall more in love with him.

He was almost close, but someone blocked my view.

It was Onari. She was standing in front of me with a big smile plastered on her face. She looked absolutely stunning. Her long beige gown clung to every curve and dip of her body. She was the cynosure of some straying husband's eyes. I smiled as we hugged.

Her dressing screamed money. She was either dating a rich dude, or she had landed herself a wonderful paying job. Either which way, she had to let me know what was up. We hadn't done much by the way of catching up, especially since I  gave birth to Eseosa.

I saw Eyare frozen to the spot, mere inches from us. A look of shock marred his handsome features and I briefly wondered what the problem was, but Onari quickly guided me into conversation of how big Eseosa had grown. She was currently squirming in mom's arms and wanting to come down and explore, but mum wasn't having any of it.

We laughed at the struggle as Onari guided me to a tent that was not not occupied by anyone. There were seats there, so I took one and she took another. From the corner of my eyes, I saw Eyare coming towards us, frowning heavily and this time, I focused on him as he got closer.

When he was close enough, he tugged on my arm, completely ignoring Onari. I was shocked at his attitude, so I jerked my arm back and rubbed on it. It stung from his pull. I became confused as I looked up at him. He was breathing heavily.

Onari smiled a very bright smile and stood up to give him a hug, but he pushed her away so forcefully, she almost stumbled.

I watched all this with a stupefied look on my face.

Was I missing something here?

Onari's former bright smile had been replaced with a tight, grim look. She nodded to herself and turned to face me. "Well, I was hoping we would at least be civil about this. I'm sorry, Osa. I'm sorry I'm the one to break this news to you, especially on such a joyous occasion, but seeing Eyare isn't manning up. . ." She glanced at him then. "I have to be the bigger person and break the news to you instead." She turned back to me and blurted out. "We are having an affair."

My first reaction was to throw my head back and laugh. It was amusing that my friend had decided to joke around, involving my husband in her game.

I glanced at Eyare, expecting him to join me in laughter, but he wasn't laughing at all. On the contrary, he was frowning heavily. His hands were clenched at his sides and he had a murderous look on his face. It was currently directed at Onari.

I swung my face back to her, but she wasn't smiling either. She gave Eyare a look --- a look that said 'you've been challenged, what are you going to do about it?'

A large part of my brain thought I was being punked, so I looked around for people holding cameras. They were probably hiding and waiting for the opportune time to come out, but all that was shot to bits and pieces, when Onari slid a phone across the table at me and I realised after some seconds, it was Eyare's missing phone.

I wondered how she got a hold of it, when she took one long manicured finger nail and swiped it across the phone.

My mouth fell open as I beheld images of Onari and Eyare ensconced on a white couch. They were naked. As bare as the day they were born, snuggled up in each other's arms.

One swipe after the other, pictures unfolded. Onari on him. Him on her. A duvet covered only the lower parts of their bodies. Onari's perky breasts were pushed against my husband's chest.

They looked like a loved - up couple. I stared at the pictures for what seemed like ages and I looked back up at Eyare. His eyes seemed to be almost popping out in shock as he said the most damning words, digging himself further into his mess.

"You took pictures?"

Reflexively, I jumped up and slapped him with all the force in my body.

"You cheated on me. . . with my best friend?" My voice rose several octaves high. I couldn't help it. I was powerless to act like less of a shrew.

"That's not all, darling!" Onari drawled. She was utterly calm. Too calm for my liking. She seemed to be enjoying this whole mess.

"I'm pregnant with Eyare's baby."

I briefly wondered if I heard correctly as I stood up to face him. I needed him to tell me what she said was all a lie, never mind the pictures. There had to be some sort of excuse, right?

Maybe? Just maybe it was all a terrible mistake.

But Eyare couldn't look at me. He hung his head, searching for some of his dignity on the floor. I lifted a hand to my head. Dark spots had begun to dance in my vision. There was a ringing noise in my ears and my hearing had become dull.

I heard my name being shouted by Eyare as I felt the cold hard ground rushing to meet me. I heard a crack, before I felt a stinging, sharp pain against my cheek.

Screams suddenly exploded around me and I felt hands groping me, right before I gave in to the darkness.


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