Unfulfilled Promise 2 episode 39

Unfulfilled Promise
season 2

Episode 39
##########

“Wow! She told you all that?”
Eric exclaimed as he held his sunshine.
“Yes.” Oleng sighed. “And the funny thing
is that she believes she did all that for me.
Imagine!”
Eric nodded thoughtfully. “While I can
understand her motive, her methods were
extreme.”
“Over extreme, when all I wanted was her
love. I wish Eric had been there to hear
everything but unfortunately, I didn’t see
him.”
“We’ll go there again in the evening. I’ve
got a feeling she’ll take a drastic measure
after her revelations.”

Oleng was alarmed. “You mean she’ll try
to take him back to Chicago tonight?”
He nodded. “It’s possible.”
She shot up. “Then we should go now!”
Eric gently held her down. “Calm down.
You need to calm down first.”
“Eric! Eric!” They heard Erica calling
outside from her playpen and they both
sighed still in each other’s arms.
“She misses him a lot,” Oleng sadly said.
“I don’t know always know what to tell her
whenever she asks me of his
whereabouts,” Eric said wistfully.
“I always tell her he travelled but he’d be
back soon.”
“I hope so,” Eric stated.
“Eric! Eric!” Erica called again in delight
and bubbles of laughter.

“Something’s not right,” Oleng said as she
left his arms. “Such cries are usually
accompanied with cries not laughter.”
They quickly went outside. The scene
they witnessed outside left them
breathless. Their daughter was in their
son’s arms, laughing joyously.
“Eric!” Oleng yelled and ran to meet him.
He placed Erica back in her playpen
gently and hugged his mother. They were
both crying when Eric got to them.
“My son, my son,” Oleng chanted. She
released him, k-ssed his head and hugged
him again while Ericlooked on, smiling.
“Dad!” Eric (Jnr) disengaged from his
mother and hugged his dad fiercely. Oleng
carried Erica and they both joined in the hug.

Eric (Jnr) disengaged from the hug and
looked at all of them.”I’m sorry for leaving
in the first place. I needed to know the
truth,” he said slowly. “I was going out for
a walk when I saw mum in her car driving
towards the house. I waved but she didn’t
see me. So I quickly walked back. When I
got back, I heard my….my grandma
talking and decided to listen instead of
revealing myself…I heard everything she
told you, mum…she lied to me…she…” He
couldn’t finish his sentence as a sob
caught in his throat.
“It’s okay, son,” Eric comforted. “We’re
sorry you had to find out that way. We’re
just glad you’re back and the truth is out.”
“Me too,” he said and smiled a little.
“Let’s go in,side,” Oleng told him, smiling
and they went back in,side happily.

##########.

A week later, Oleng and Eric were cuddled
up on the sofa late at night. They were
reminiscing the past week of the return
their son. He was freer with them now
more than ever though he refused to talk
about his grandmother. They realized he
was hurting because he had really loved
and trusted her, so they tried to make up
for it.
When Ericheard she was dying of liver
disease, out of compassion, he had gone
to her house to see if she was okay,
though she didn’t deserve it after all the
sorrow she had caused. The gateman
however didn’t allow him in under the
strict instructions of his madam.
“I’ve to get going. It’s getting late,” Eric
informed her and made to move but she
held him.
She pleaded. “It’s just 7pm. Please stay a
while.”
Eric chuckled. “You said that over an hour
ago.”
“Okay, please stay for another hour.” She
snuggled closer.
Eric laughed. After a while he called softly,
“Sunshine,”
“Yes, sweetheart,” she answered sleepily.
“Remember what my parents said about
giving our kids stability and security?”
“Yes.”
“You know we can’t give them that here.
We can’t continue living apart. We have
to be together and we can’t achieve that
here in…in your late husband’s house.”
“What are you suggesting?” She sat up to
look at him.
“I want you all to move in with me,” he
declared.
“What?” She was shocked. “In your
parents’ house?”
“No.” He cuddled her to himself again. “I
bought a house immediately I came back
to Nigeria. It’s at Macaulay Street. I didn’t
go to live in it because the thought of
living in the big house all alone was
depressing. Moreover, my parents wanted
me to be close to them since they had
missed me so much while I was in
America. I obliged them but now I think
we all need to be together. What do you
think?”
“I don’t know how Eric’s going to take it.”
“I think he’s going to love it. We can all
get to know each other better that way.”
“Then maybe he’d like it.”
“Sunshine, I’m not talking about him right
now. I’m talking about you. What do you
think?”
“Well…”
“Yes?”
“I think we should give it a try.”
“Thank you, sunshine,” he said, smiling
and gave her a k-ss.

After awhile, he brought out his phone and
flashed his son’s number with it.He
moved Olenggently awayfrom him and
looked into her eyes, “Sunshine, you know
I love you very much, don’t you?”
“Yes and I love you very much also,” she
answered and sat up.
“Let’s give our children a stable home.”
“Okay.”
“I mean…it’s almost two years since Dave
died…I know to you it’s still quite early but
I want us to be together permanently…
what I’m saying is…” He gave the signal
to his son who was standing by the door
way, who inturn pushed Erica forward.
The little girl came to stand in front of her
mother with a bouquet of flowers and a
small box. She gave her mother the
bouquet of red roses. She fumbled with
the box in an attempt at opening it,
setting her father’s teeth on edge.
“Will ju marry me?” Erica drawled in her
baby voice when she finally got the velvet
box opened to reveal a white gold ring
with little diamonds all around it.
“I…I…” Oleng stammered. She collected
the box and k-ssed her daughter’s cheek.
Her daughter smiled as if she’d won a
gold medal.
Eric (Jnr) called Erica and they both left
the living room but not before he had
given his father a wink and a bright smile.
“Don’t you think it’s too soon?” Oleng
asked immediately her kids had gone
in,side.

“Is it? For how long are you going to
mourn him? It’s almost two years. I know
with your deep sense of loyalty, it’s kinda
short a time for you but we can’t continue
like this.”
She folded her hands around herself.
“Eric, please understand. What will people
say?”
Eric was astonished. “I can’t believe
you’re worried about what people will say
concerning us. Surely you don’t expect us
to live our lives based on what people will
say. We love each other. We have two
kids. What more do you want before we
get married?” He wanted to hold her but
she moved back and gave him the box.
“Eric, please understand. I feel it’s too
soon. I can’t abandon Dave’s house just
like that.”
“Such loyalty!” Eric sneered in disgust
and rubbed his head in exasperation and
stood up. “Alright, if you’re not thinking of
me, think of our children. Do you want us
to play hide and seek with them forever?
Think of them.”
“I’m thinking of them. I don’t want them
to be at the receiving end of the gossip
our marriage would cause.”
“Sunshine, listen to me,” he coaxed gently
and held her hands. “We’re moving to
another side of the estate, a place where
no one knows us. We’re going to start a
new life there…Alright! If you don’t want
the estate, we can buy a house elsewhere.

I wanted the estate for security reasons.”
She left his arms and turned her back on
him. “It’s not as easy as you think. I’ve
always dreamt of a big wedding with you,
not the way I married Dave, but if we get
married now, I won’t have that.”
“Says who?”
She turned to face him. “Time. The timing
is wrong. I have to wait a little longer
before getting married to you. Please
understand.”
Eric was downcast. “How long do I have
to wait? When he’s three years, four years,
five years or even ten years in the grave?”
he bitterly inquired.
“Please, don’t be crude,” she firmly told him.

He was silent for a long time, glaring at
the beautiful ring. He shut the case with a
snap. He shook his head, picked up the
car keys and walked towards the door.
When he got to the door, he paused and
turned back.
“Do you know the funny thing about
everything? When Dave was alive, he kept
us apart. Now even in death, he’s still
keeping us apart. He must possess great
powers.” He smiled with scorn and left her
standing in the middle of the living room,
looking lost.
Eric went to his car and slammed his fist
on it. He had been so positive she would
answer his proposal in the affirmative. He
didn’t know her loyalty to her late
husband ran so deep! Gosh! He couldn’t
believe he was jealous of a dead man. He
couldn’t grasp the fact that Oleng would
sacrifice their love for loyalty to a dead
man and what people would say. He tried
to understand but couldn’t. It wasn’t as if
they had had a happy marriage so what
was the loyalty for? On his death bed,
Dave had even given them his blessings.
So why was she so God damn stubborn?
Did she really love him?
He stood in the same s₱0t for five minutes
thinking until he heard his name being
softly called. He thought he was
hallucinating. He turned around and was
surprised to see Oleng beside him.
“You’re right. I’ve always lived my life to
gain approval from people. I’m tired of
doing that. I had a miserable marriage
which I should have gotten out of but for
what people would say, I stayed yet I was unhappy.

I don’t care if people say that barely two
years after my husband’s death; I
remarried and already have two kids that
aren’t my late husband’s. I don’t care.
After all, they’ve already started talking
since you spend more time here than your
house anyway. What matters is our love
and our kids. I want to give them a stable
home. I’ve been very foolish all my life,
especially during the period you weren’t in
the country. I want to do what I want for
the first time in my life.
I love you and want to spend the rest of
my life with you. Yes, I’ll marry you, my
love, any day, any time.” She was all
smiles.
“Someone please wake me up because I
think I’m dreaming,” Eric joyfully said so
Oleng pinched him and he yelped
playfully.

“You’re very much awake, my love.”
“Sunshine,” he said lovingly and
enveloped her in a bear hug and
passionate k-ss. “I love you very much.”
“I love you very much too You are my life
My Ricky, my childhood sweetheart. The
one my heart has always longed for, the
one whose smile brightens my day. My
world, my heart, my treasure. The one I’ll
grow old with, the one I’ll love till my dying
day,” she proclaimed and k-ssed him.

To be continued