Unfulfilled promise episode 71 – 72

Unfulfilled promise

Season1

Episode 71

“I loved Eric. I loved him very much then but didn’t realize it was love until that fateful night Remember you all had a graduation party at a club?” she asked and he nodded. “That night was the night I tasted beer for the first time,Eric and I drank beer. He was feeling bad at leaving all of us behind and needed the alcohol to take his mind of it. He asked me to join him and I obliged but stopped because I hated the taste We later went ahead to take another alcoholic drink and before we knew it, we were tipsy.

We decided to go home when the party was getting heated and people were smooching. We got home and somewhere along the line, he declared his love for me and that was when I realized I loved him too. One thing led to another and we had s€× that night. We had unprotected s€×. When we did it the next time, we used protection but three months after he left, I discovered I was pregnant.”

“What?” Dave jerked sharply.

“Yes, I got pregnant for Eric.” She admitted ruefully.My God!” He yelled and got up to glare at her.

“My mum got to find out and she wanted me to have an abortion.” She stared at her hands.

“You mean you aborted the baby?” He sounded accusing.

“No, I refused to. I was scared Moreover, I hated the thought of abortion My mum was so angry, she sh¡pped me here to stay with Aunt Vien. That was why I disappeared from Port Harcourt Aunt Vien was so good to me throughout my period of pregnancy. I finally put to bed. I gave birth to a baby boy.” She couldn’t help smiling. “You should have seen him. He was so beautiful. He was a replica of his father.”

“You mean you have a son?” Dave couldn’t believe his ears.

“No, I said ‘was’” she stressed in an undertone. “He died a few hours after I gave birth to him They said it was after birth complications. It hurt for a while but later on, I picked up the pieces of my shattered life and started afresh.” she finished with sadness.

“Wow!” was all he could say. After thinking for a while, he asked, “Was that why you broke up with Eric? Because you got pregnant? It wasn’t his fault, you know.”

“No.” she softly proclaimed. “He abandoned me. After ignoring me for a long time after I sent him messages through his box and phone, he sent me a message to terminate the pregnancy if it was his, he didn’t want to be saddled with an unwanted baby because he had a bright future ahead of him and to forget about him.”

“You don’t mean it.” He was bamboozled.

“I do. Eric who I thought was my soul mate abandoned me at the first sign of trouble So you can see why I can never forgive him and why we can never be together again He’s a beast in sheep’s clothing.” she pronounced with so much venom, he could only stare at her.

“My! My! Who could have thought that Eric could be so callous? But he said…” he trailed off and looked at her uneasily.

“He said what?” She was curious.

“Nothing. Forget about it.”

I don’t care about what he said They’re all lies He’s just trying not to get hated after behaving like an animal.”

“Thank you for telling me, sweetheart. Now I understand why you hate him so much. I’ve always wondered why. I promise never to be like that to you.

I’ll stand by you through thick and thin.” he promised passionately.

“I believe you.” she declared, got up and they hugged.

“Do you have anything to tell me? Any dark secret?” she joked but was surprised when he became tense.

“Nothing. I’m clean.” He fielded quickly.

“Really? Why did you want to commit suicide?” She studied him expectantly.

“Sweetheart please. I’d rather not talk about it. I’ll tell you when I’m good and ready.” He held her hands and k-ssed them

She shrugged nonchalantly. “No problem.”

There was a moment of silence before he said, “Sweetheart, what do you think about children?”

“What do you mean by that? I love children.”

“I mean, do you want to have children?”

She was amazed. “Of course. Every woman wants to have children. Well, almost every woman anyway I want to have children but not now. I want to get a job first so that I can contribute to our home before they come in. Why did you ask? Don’t you want children?”

“No. I mean, yes I do. I want daughters just like you.” He smiled. “You know I’m quite busy now at the office and I don’t want you to face the stress of pregnancy alone, so I’m glad you said you don’t want a baby yet.”

“Dave, I mean for maybe six months to a year not as if I mean two to five years.”

His expression was that of frank astonishment. “I understand. We’ll discuss further when the time comes.”

“No problem.” she grinned.

“I love you.” He drew her closer.

“I love you too.” She k-ssed and hugged him.

“Oh! Lest I forget, I got you something.”

“Again?”

“Hold on. Let me go and get it.” He gave her a peck before leaving the sitting room.

There was a knock on the door when he was in,side so she went to open it.

——————————-

can you guess who she saw??:)

Unfufilled Promises

Season 1

Episode 72

What? What are you doing here?” Michelle scre-med when she saw Oleng.

Oleng surveyed her coolly.

Michelle roughly pushed her aside and entered the house. Oleng shut the door but stayed by it.

“So, Dave is still going out with you? I thought he had sense. What have you done to him? You Calabar witch!” she raged.

“Michelle, what is the meaning of this?” Dave demanded fiercely as he came into the living room.

“She has cooked for you, hasn’t she and you have eaten. She has used her Calabar witch to charm you, hasn’t she?” Michelle spelt out bluntly as she faced her brother.

“Michelle, I’ll not stand here and watch you insult my fiancée.” Dave was furious.

“My fiancée.” she mimicked mockingly. “Fiancée, my foot. You’ve been bewitched, you don’t know. But really Dave, what are you doing with a Calabar girl? They’re notable for their pr-stitution and witchcraft” She seemed baffled.

Dave walked to the door where Oleng was standing quietly, watching them and placed an arm around her shoulders.

“I love her. That’s all that matters.” he told her squarely.

“You’re not serious.”

“Thank you.” he intoned coldly. “Now what do you want? I don’t believe you came all the way from PH, left your husband and son to come here to insult my fiancée.”

“My business brought me here. I decided to stop by to say hello.”

“Well, you’ve said it. Now goodbye.”Michelle looked at him as if she had been slapped. “You’re asking me out of your house because of this…this…” She gave Oleng a seething appraisal.

“This what?” Dave demanded curtly.

“This tramp! This low life daughter of a nobody.” She delivered with acidic bite.

“That’s it! I want you out of my house now!” Dave retorted sharply.

He left Oleng who tried to hold him back and went to grab his sister harshly by her arm.

“You can’t come here and insult my wife to-be and think I’ll do nothing about it.” He dragged his sister to the door whilst her scre-ms and protests.

They halted at the door.” Alright.Alright. I’ll leave. Hold on.” she conceded witheringly and he left her.

She straightened her clothes and stared at Oleng who was standing beside Dave, surveying her steadily Michelle smiled.

Before any one could say ‘Jack Robinson’, she gave Oleng a dirty slap on her face. Dave quickly held her and opened the door.

“B—h! You’ll pay for this. My own brother throwing me out of his house because of a harlot.” she scre-med like a banshee before he threw her out and locked the door.

Oleng held her reddened cheek. Dave quickly took her in his arms.

“Sweetheart, please I’m so sorry. Please don’t threaten to leave me again. I’ll handle her. She’s just jealous because you’re more beautiful than her She has always been jealous of my beautiful girlfriends in the past. Please don’t mind her

She’s the black sheep of our family Her son is even for another man not her husband She got pregnant when she was eighteen. She didn’t know who was responsible but pinned it on Tawari He had no choice but to marry her.

She was into drugs in school and was expelled twice in different secondary schools. Please don’t worry about her. I’ll handle her.” he soothed her gently.

Some days later, Oleng went to her tailor’s place in Marian market to see if her dress for their small traditional wedding had been made.

All of a sudden she heard that angry voice that she’d forever recognize even in her sleep.

“Yes! I said it.” Michelle ranted as she came into the shop and closer to Oleng while the tailor looked at her as if she’d gone bonkers.

“Gold digger! You’ve come here to spend my brother’s money, haven’t you? You filthy nobody. You dirty w—e. Because of you, my own brother threw me out of his house. Because of a harlot like you. Let me tell you, I’m ready to go to the end of the earth just to make him forget about you. Foolish witch.” She declared harshly.

No one could determine who was more surprised, Michelle or the tailor when Oleng gave her a sound slap on the face that turned her head sideways.

“Is it because I’ve been keeping you quiet that’s why you want to embarrass me anytime you see me? What’s your problem anyway? What did I do to you? Why are you so bent on making me unhappy? I love your brother and he loves me too. I’m not after his money or anything. I just want to make him happy. What’s wrong with that? You should be thinking about your own miserable life instead of poking your ugly nose in the matters of others.

You think I don’t know about you? Do you know the father of your first son? Talking about witchcraft, didn’t you bewitch your husband because I don’t know why a young man would saddle himself with a banshee like you who doesn’t even know the real father of her son.” Oleng slammed back at her with angry emphasis.

Michelle could only stare at her in a dumbfounded state The tailor was perplexed She had always thought of Oleng as a quiet and shy girl but here was a very angry girl. The saying was true that when pushed against the wall, you’d be forced to retaliate. She had always known Michelle to be a very troublesome woman and was glad that Oleng had put her in her place.

She quickly held Michelle when she wanted to retaliate She was a very strong woman so she was able to hold her down while Michelle protested vehemently Her admiration for Oleng grew when she stared at her sister in- law-to-be, unperturbed.

“You’re finished! I’ll deal with you. You’ll regret ever knowing me. I give you one week to leave my brother alone or you’ll have yourself to blame for the consequences.” Michelle launched back furiously at her.

“When you finish making a spectacle of yourself, ranting and raving like a lunatic, go back to your husband and child and remain there for the rest of your miserable life. Please Mama Etim, I’ll see you another time. The air here has been polluted by this deranged thing. Mtchew!” Oleng looked at Michelle with scorn and walked majestically out of the shop.

When she got outside, she took a deep breath. She was shaking in,side but didn’t allow it to show. God! Dave’s sister was a dreadful person. She hadn’t meant to slap her but the insults had been too much coupled with the slap of the other day. She prayed Dave wouldn’t be angry with her. She’d better report to him first before that witch would go and tell him another version of the wh0le story.

She was amazed when she told Dave and he laughed and hugged her.

“Thanks a lot for doing that. I’ve wanted to do that to her for a long time but as you know, my parents brought me up as a gentleman. Don’t mind her; she’s a toothless bull dog. All bark and no bite. I’m going to report her to her husband by the weekend. This has got to stop.” He completed with a note of finality.

“Please don’t do that,” Oleng quickly interposed. “I don’t want to get her into trouble. She’s just being a caring sister even if she’s going by it the wrong way.”

“Caring sister my foot! She likes bullying people but she can do it to someone else not me.” he remarked, not heeding her words.

Oleng couldn’t dissuade him. He traveled to Port Harcourt during the weekend and told Michelle’s husband to warn his wife or he would deal severely with her He also went home to tell his parents to warn Michelle off Oleng or she would have herself to blame.

His mum quarreled heatedly with him while his dad promised to talk to her. After a while, they heard nothing from her again and they breathed a sigh of relief.

Oleng and Dave got married in a registry a month after that It was a quiet affair They had had a very small traditional wedding the previous day with only Aunt Vien and three distant uncles as the only relatives there to represent her family Only Dave’s dad and younger brother attended the wedding from his family They had not bothered to inform Mrs. Linda Akpan Marvy was her maid of honor. Zinny came but she came late and didn’t participate much in the activities Edward didn’t attend His excuse was his work Oleng was hurt at Eddy and Zinny’s behavior but kept it to herself She was determined to be happy no matter what.

They had a quiet reception also at Dave’s new place It was a building with two flats and a big compound His colleagues and boss from his office came and Oleng’s friends and former course mates from her university days came also Her friends from the bank where she served were present also The full compound made her happy and forget that her best friend, Zinny went about mopping on her own wedding day as if she was in a funeral just because she wasn’t in support of the marriage.

She was depressed inwardly but hid it and looked forward to a future with her husband She couldn’t believe she had actually married Dave It was like a dream.

She smiled when he came to her side and gave her a k-ss She was glad Eric hadn’t shown up She couldn’t help feeling joyous within that Eric would be jealous when he found out she had married Dave She shut out the thought that she had sub-consciously married Dave as sweet revenge against Eric She killed the feeling also that she was having in,side; the one telling her that she had made a great mistake She hugged her husband.

Time would tell if she had.

To be continued