She held him to her and found herself crying silently. Kissing her tears away softly, he whispered, “I am here now Damilola, we are going to be fine! I love you.” In a shaky voice, she whispered “I love you too.” Only if she knew that was only the beginning of it all, maybe she might have had a rethink and not been too quick to think of a bright future ahead.
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It was now three weeks since Gbade’s arrival in Nigeria. Of the three weeks, they had been at loggerheads for about two over Mirabel.
She couldn’t understand how he could claim not to love the other woman yet picked her calls. Damilola found herself resenting the other woman without knowing her and wishing she could tell Anu about what she was going through but she knew that she had to work things through. She couldn’t quit, knowing Anu, quitting would be the first thing her friend would scream at her.
Damilola was glad of her decision to endure the pain as in the third week, a change came over Gbade and he began to ignore Mirabel’s calls. All he did was talk about their engagement and how they would have a lavish wedding just so she would know that she was his first choice. Damilola felt happy once again, it was just like the old times and she silently congratulated herself for having withstood the storm of his cheating.
She was preparing breakfast on a Wednesday morning when she suddenly felt dizzy and had to quickly hold onto the open refrigerator door to steady herself. Her vision clouded for some few seconds and the moment passed just as quickly as it had come. Damilola paid no attention to it and dismissed it as one of those warning signs of an impending illness. She made a mental note to use an anti-malaria drug and continued with what she was doing. She dished out the steaming porridge and vegetables and headed for the dining table where a patient Gbade was seating. She was about to drop the food when the dizziness swept over her again and the tray of food dropped from her hand and landed on the table with a rattle. Gbade was out of his seat in a flash as he saw her wince in pain, catching her as she grabbed at a chair for balance.
“Are you alright? What is wrong Dammy?”His anxious face was pressed close to hers.
“I am fine, my vision just clouded for a few seconds that’s all,” she replied, disengaging herself from his hold and sitting on a chair.
“Do you realize a lot of people die just for not being more concerned about their health? Even if you feel fine again, you should have a routine checkup.” He said with the concerned expression still on his face. Damilola offered a weak smile at the worried expression on his face.
“I am fine really,”
“We are going to the clinic after you eat. Please don’t argue.” His voice was firm and Damilola knew there was no use arguing so she nodded her head in acquiescence.
***
Damilola was silent throughout the drive to the hospital. She was unconsciously wringing her hands together as her heartbeat in the way she usually did when she was nervous or worried about something. She had an inclining of what could possibly be wrong but for the life of her she was hoping she was wrong. She hoped fervently she was wrong and they were making a big deal out of nothing. Her mind went back to the month before Gbade’s arrival. That was when she ran into John was it not? John was her last ex before Gbade. They broke up on friendly terms and although they didn’t bother to keep in touch, there was nothing but goodwill between the both of them. John had been excited to see her again, it was close to a year since they last had any form of contact and he had been insistent on her having a drink with him.
In his usual affable manner, John soon had her laughing as they talked about random things and made jokes about their seven months romance. He made a joke about how she had left him because he was too busy only for her to get into a long distance relationship.
“Isn’t that ironic,” he quizzed with a quirky laugh.
“It isn’t. In your case, we are both in Lagos but in his case I know he is not in Nigeria at the moment, besides he is coming back to Nigeria just to see me next month you know. We talk daily and he has been down to Nigeria about twice since we started dating.”
“As long as he makes you happy, I am happy for you. Trisha has always said she wanted to meet you you know?” Trisha was the name of the white girl he was dating now.
“Meet me, why would she want to do that?”
“I was pretty heartbroken when you left me,” he said with a sincere look in his eyes.
“Didn’t seem like it at the time,” she replied dryly, “if I remember, you didn’t ask that we give it one more shot. You didn’t make any promises about easing up your schedules. How could I have continued to be with a man that was too busy for me?”
“You weren’t patient, it’s all water under the bridge now. Cheers to the new life and to our new found happiness.” He raised his glass in a toast and she clinked her glass against his. “You should meet Trisha, she is coming over later today, please?”
She had to admit, she was curious to see his new girl and without thinking about it any further, she agreed to meet up with him at his place for dinner with Trisha.
Damilola arrived a little earlier than agreed and was surprised to see John doing the cooking.
“White women don’t cook?” she teased as she took a seat and looked around the familiar room. For a moment she felt a twinge of nostalgia.
“Trishia is a bit of a feminist,”
“I see, yet you made me do all the cooking if we were not eating out,” she said with a laugh.
“You are an African woman, common. African women can’t be feminist. Come with me, you can keep me company in the kitchen till Tricia shows up.” Maybe that was when she should have stopped things from getting any further after all when the handshake begins to pass the elbow, it is becoming something else.
Perhaps it had something to do with not being with a man for so long or simply the nostalgic feelings of being with John again but as she drank glass after glass of wine and helped with the cooking, she got more relaxed and was amazed to find out that there was no sign of Trisha when they had waited for about two hours.
During the wait, she had kept on drinking and sharing jokes with John who was only too happy to supply her with drinks and after deciding on eating their cold dinner of rice and fish, she made up her mind to leave. Somehow she never did but instead found herself the next morning sleeping next to John, his right hand draped over her naked body.
Damilola didn’t need to be told of what must have happened and she cursed herself silently for having drank too much as she picked up her scattered clothing from the floor and hurried out of the house making sure not to wake up John. John had been very apologetic about the whole situation when he called her later in the day and admitted that he still had feelings for her and perhaps it was best they avoided being in close contacts alone?
Now sitting next to Gbade, Damilola feared she was about to pay the price for that one day of indiscretion with John.
***
Gbade’s face was a mask of rage and hurt as he stared furiously at Damilola. The veins were standing out prominently on his temple as he stared at her like someone.
“Damilola, how could you? Why?” Gbade felt like his whole world when the doctor had first said Damilola was a month and some few weeks pregnant. At first he had been sure he heard wrong but one look at Damilola’s ashen face was enough to confirm his fears. How could she be pregnant for another man?
Damilola said nothing as the tears rolled down her cheeks uninhibited.
“I cheated on you yes. Dammit, I didn’t get her pregnant. It was just bloody sex because at the back of my mind it’s always been you, you, you you!” his voice was raised in anger as he slammed his fist against the steering wheel.
“I didn’t mean it, it was a mistake,” her voice was a barely audible whisper.
“How could you Damilola. I totally understand if you couldn’t stay off sex but get pregnant? Does he do it better than me? Is he richer? Is he more handsome? Tell me Dammy.” The look of betrayal and hurt on his face made the tears flow even faster from Damilola’s eyes.
“Gbade I am sorry. It was a mistake, it wasn’t mean to happen, I was drunk.”
“Drunk, you were drinking with another man? Bloody hell. You see why I have always told you I don’t like you drinking,” he bellowed. He fixed her with a long look and said in a much calmer tone, “look where that has gotten us. How would you feel if Mirabel showed up pregnant? Tell me.”
Dammy shuddered at the thought and wished she could wipe the frustration out of his face. His pain must be much more worse than how she had felt when she found out about Mirabel. She wished she could comfort him but she didn’t know how.
“I will fix this. I will abort the baby.” Pushing aside her hair from eyes, she looked at him with red-rimmed eyes and said quietly “I can fix this Gbade, please we can get through it.”
Written by Akinwale Akinayode. All contents of this story belongs to the author of the website www. penastory.com
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