The president wife episode 17 – 18

TITLE: THE PRESIDENT’S WIFE

WRITTEN BY: OGECHI ALABI

CHAPTER 17

She went to their bedroom that night. Truly, her tummy had reduced but it was not completely flat. Lere, seeing her naked for the first time after childbirth was so excited. They made love almost all night. Zara, a willing participant.

There was a knock at the door. That was when Zara heard her babies s¢ræming. It was her mother-in-law. “I have been calling both of you; why is the television so loud? They have been crying to be fed. I will be in the parlour, make yourself decent and come.”

“Mama, I am fine.”

“No, go and wash up. You take a bath after s-× and wash your n¡ppies very well. I hope he left enough for the twins to eat.”

Zara wished the ground would open and swallow her up. How did she know they had s-×? Why would she expose her like that? Zara went into the bathroom to take a bath. Lere stood up to follow her but his mother stopped him, “Don’t go with her; these two need to eat immediately. She will come back after they are fed. You didn’t teach her to bath after s-× no matter how many times you do it? That’s wrong.”

“Can you not talk about it again; she is very embarrassed as it is. I forced her to come here tonight. Don’t make her feel bad about it.”

“She shouldn’t get pregnant while these two are still small. It will not be funny. Three months after she had the babies isn’t too long to wait. Then she will go for family planning so she doesn’t get pregnant. Don’t say I didn’t tell you.”

“We will be careful.”

The next morning, Iya Lere called Zara into the room when Lere went out. She apologised to her if she felt awkward the night before. “Zara, you are my daughter now. Men are selfish, they will tell you they cannot endure without s-×, but they can. He has lured you. Think about yourself and your children. It is ‘sweeting’ both of you now but you will be the one to suffer it when you get pregnant almost immediately after having these two. Don’t forget, you gave birth through an operation. Use wisdom to manage this man. He is my son but I support you. Let him use a condom when he is with you until your period returns and you can use family planning.”

Lere came back as predicted. Zara refused some nights while she agreed some other nights as long as he used a condom. Lere was happy. He was all r0mantic with Zara in the house. Their mothers have caught them smooching many times. They understood they were in love.

Zara lost a considerable amount of weight and also lost almost all her tummy weight by the time she resumed. She used a girdle to hold her tummy. She went shopping with Adanna for work. She had taken good care of her skin before resumption. Adanna travelled to Dubai when her son was six months. She bought different types of hair for sale. She bought some for her sister.

Zara found a classy salon to make her hair. She wanted to showcase the new improved Zara. The shoes she bought with Adanna and had abandoned when she got pregnant resurfaced. She carefully selected the clothes she would wear for three weeks and hung them in the wardrobe according to the days. She didn’t want Lere to see how excited she was to resume work.

When she stepped out of the room to leave for work at her resumption, Lere was dumbfounded. She looked gorgeous. She applied some makeup which she had never done before. Lere was worried. With the babies, she looked more mature and even more beautiful. His mother could see the fear in her son’s eyes as his wife left for work. She talked to him.

“Oko mi, I have stayed with this girl and I can confirm she is a good person. She is not wayward at all. Stop worrying you might lose her. You won’t lose her. Allow her to be beautiful. Men will envy you, they will shake your hands and say you have tried. I wanted to suggest, why not move to the property your father bought for you so I can help take care of the children while both of you work?”

“Don’t worry, Zara will leave the job soon. When you go back home, we will drop the twins off with her mother and pick them up when we get back. I want to get a bigger house near the third mainland bridge. Ipaja is too far from my office. The rent from the house Ipaja will cover the rent in the house we want to live in. I want to buy a house. I have asked Alhaji to look for a house where I will live with my family. He promised to find an affordable one.”

“That’s good. In a marriage, when there is no trust it creates problems. She doesn’t doubt your faithfulness, why do you doubt hers? Be careful please, you can’t afford to lose her.”

Zara resumed work and had an amazing breakthrough two weeks after her resumption. She went to the banking hall to withdraw some money. She met this elderly man having some trouble writing on his chequebook. She walked up to him as a staff of the bank, introduced herself and asked if she could be of help. The man was a Hausa man and didn’t speak very fluent English. She got a security man who acted as an interpreter to help. She filled out the cheque and showed the man to confirm. It was obvious he was happy he got the help he needed. He took Zara’s contact.

What Zara didn’t know was that the Alhaji was a major distributor of cement for a multinational. The Alhaji came to her office to open an account with her. He came with three of his brothers who were also major distributors. One of them spoke English fluently so Zara could communicate. They opened accounts and deposited millions.

Her boss assured her if she opened at least ten of the major distributors’ accounts, she will be able to open the multinational’s account. It was a very big deal. Zara opened twenty-six accounts and opened the multinational account to make confirmation of payments made into the multinational’s account easy. All these happened in two months. Zara was promoted again. In two years, she was on her third level.

The promotion made Lere very unhappy. She was progressing and doing better than he had anticipated. She was now busy and even worked on some Saturdays. Lere complained she was neglecting her family because of the job, she told him she wasn’t. She had to deal with her clients one on one otherwise they would move to other banks.

Lere decided to slow Zara down by getting her pregnant again. He was aware she had to wait for two years before she could conceive but he didn’t have that patience. With the agreement they had about her resigning, he couldn’t keep his end of the bargain. He wondered why he would give Zara N350,000 when she was earning quite well.

When the twins turned one, Zara wanted to throw a party. Lere complained about their accommodation and space for it. He wanted them to move to a bigger accomodation but hadn’t had the time to find a place. He gave Zara the responsibility but she was also busy. They decided to celebrate when they clocked two.

Lere had unprotected s-× with Zara without her knowledge. He cut the condom when he wore it. He knew when she was fertile and targeted the time to perform this mischief. When Zara discovered she was pregnant, she almost went mad. She decided to quietly abort the pregnancy but her conscience wouldn’t allow her to do so without telling Lere about it. Lere found out. She had become moody and withdrawn. He knew she was contemplating removing it. He played a trick on her.

He woke her up in the middle of the night and said, “I had a dream. I saw you holding a child by his legs and then stabbing it to death. What does it mean?”

“I don’t know,” Zara answered him as tears swelled in her eyes.

“Are you pregnant and you want to terminate it?”

“I am pregnant. I just found out. I am trying to process it. How did I get pregnant using a condom?”

“I don’t know but you should have told me about it. Were you planning to abort the pregnancy?”

“No. It has happened. What can I do? I will see the doctor tomorrow. He has said we will have the baby via caesarian again. I wanted a natural birth. I am tieing my tubes after having this baby. No more babies.”

The pregnancy was gentle on Zara. Apart from spitting and vomiting for the first trimester, everything was fine. She couldn’t cope with the house chores, work and the children. She told Lere she wanted to employ a maid but he refused. He claimeda third party will be a negative influence on the children.

She fainted in the office one morning. She was rushed to the hospital. Lere wasn’t around so he called her mother. Zara complained of the workload being too much. She cried and refused to return home after she recovered.

It was agreed that the twins would remain with her mother and come back home Friday evenings. It made it easier for Zara. Lere went to see the twins every day from work. He loved them very much. He accused Zara of not loving them because she didn’t want them. He mentioned it several times.

Zara gave birth to their son, Mayowa. She fell in love with him at first sight. Lere was overjoyed at his birth. His heir had arrived now he was motivated to do more. He rented a duplex in Gbagada for all of them to live in. It was well furnished; they only moved with their clothes and personal effects from the previous flat.

The new accomodation was the best gift she had received until he presented her with another brand new vehicle. He thanked her for giving him three children. He was elated. He promised to buy a house for them to live next.

His mother came to take care of Zara. It was too much work that she had to ask for help. Zara’s mother came during the day to help out. The house was big and needed to be properly cleaned because of the twins. The three mothers insisted on a maid to help with the house chores.

Lere hatched his plan. He compelled Zara to resign from her job and face the family business. The business was the sim and recharge card sales. He egistered a company for the printing of recharge cards. Zara saw it as a small business anyone could manage. She wanted something bigger which will afford her the salary she was earning in the bank and more.

Lere revealed to her other aspects they could dabble into. Diesel supply to base stations, repairs and siting of base stations. She agreed to be a part of them. Lere found the office, set it up nicely and gave her the leverage to employ her staff. The office was an entire floor. She demarcated the floor into sections, she put a kiosk outside for the sales of the sims and recharge cards. People come to buy the cards on credit and pay.

Immediately the arm of the business could run on its own, she diversified into the supply of diesel to base stations. She had customers from the bank who imported diesel so she bought directly from the importers at the tank farm. She was given five sites to supply diesel. Before long, it was increased to fifteen sites. She was making money for their company.

One year into the business, she was already a recognised distributor winning many awards. She made huge profits from the diesel delivery business.

She had a fallout with Lere. He refused to share profit with her. He wasn’t paying her salary, just giving her money whenever he felt like it. This was because most of the payments for the supplies went directly to the company account. He made claims of paying off people and eventually they had little or nothing left.

A fellow supplier linked her to two other telecommunication companies to supply to them. Zara went to her father, collected his company documents (which he wasn’t using) converted them to a Limited liability company and made herself the majority shareholder. She used the company to apply to those telecommunication companies. She was given sites outside Lagos. One gave her sites in three states in the east. Her quote was high initially, it wasn’t considered. But when other suppliers couldn’t meet up with their supllies, she was contacted. She supplied the three eastern states before the deadline.

She also discovered other means of getting the diesel cheaper and delivered seamlessly. It worked. Before long, she was supplying sixteen base stations for her own company and ten for Lere’s company. She discovered Lere was lying when his company also contacted her company. She realised how much Lere was making and wasn’t paying her.

She told him to pay her otherwise she would stop the supply and go back to work. She insisted on taking an amount per litre supplied to the base stations. Lere refused. She stopped his work. When he realised he was going to lose the business, he agreed, and she added the amount to the amount for the diesel. She collected her payment upfront.

It was later she told Lere she had her own company and contracts. She had observed Lere’s company had just himself, his father and his brother as shareholders, she didn’t have a stake. She told Lere she wanted to open a company of her own but he couldn’t be a shareholder. He was angry with her. He asked why he would not be made him a shareholder. She showed him his company documents and asked him if she had a stake. Lere assured her he would change it. She told him until he did it, she couldn’t work for him anymore.

Lere was trying to protect his company by not including her. He didn’t want her to be completely in charge of the company if anything happened to him. He was scared she will fall in love and get married to someone else. He couldn’t imagine her with someone else. What happens to all he had acquired? Who would take care of his mother and siblings? He wanted to keep the business in the family.

But from what he could see, she was also keeping her business in her family. Her father was still the chairman of the company. He observed she did the business with her brothers who were students in the university down east. They handled the deliveries there. She wasn’t disclosing her method of operations; she didn’t keep a single document in the house.

Lere didn’t make her a shareholder. Instead, he was ready to share profit with her. He wondered how she managed to supply twenty-six base stations successfully. He couldn’t handle a single supply. He went on leave to understudy her but she didn’t need to leave the office to get her supplies done.

He decided to involve his siblings in the business. They were to help with the supplies. Zara didn’t have a problem with it as long as her profit was certain. Se didn’t reveal to them how she got the products. She sent them to the base stations to receive the products. It wasn’t what Lere wanted but there was nothing he could do.

The business could run on its own. She took other supply jobs within Lagos for additional income. She ran her business account with her former bank. She visited her former colleagues whenever she had a transaction. Her former boss tried to entice her to return to banking. They had lost almost all her customers; no one could give them the personal touch she gave to them. She had enjoyed her job and missed it, but she also enjoyed what she was doing.

CHAPTER 18

A number sent her a message. It was a strange message. She deleted the message the first time she received it. But she was getting them twice a day. When she tried to call the number, it would be switched off. The message was about Lere. The last one read:

Where did your husband tell you he was travelling to this time?
Did he inform you of his promotion?
He no longer travels, so where does he go?
He brags about it in the office, he brags about deceiving you.
I warned you not to marry him.
He is not trustworthy.

It was Raymond that came to her mind so she decided to ignore the messages as they came. She asked Lere if he had been promoted. He was but he claimed it wasn’t what he expected. That was a red flag for Zara. She watched him closely.

He claimed they had an event for a three days. Zara asked him if she could go with him. Lere seemed troubled by the request. He asked her who would care for the children.

“My mother will watch them for me. I need the break.”

“I will be too busy. I don’t think you should follow me. If you need a break, you can travel anywhere you want to go.”

“Who will foot the bill?”

“Aren’t you making money? Spend your money.”

“Ok, I will travel with my sister to Dubai then. She wants to stock up her boutique so I can travel with her.”

“Dubai? Is it not the same place those Arabs fornicate with other people’s wives? Where women sell their bodies for gold. Is that your plan? You want to sell your body to buy gold?”

“I have more than enough money to afford to buy my gold myself. Lere, if I can’t go with you on this trip, then I will travel to Dubai. I am tired of you talking about me falling prey to men, meanwhile I am not sure what you are doing. If I find out you are cheating on me, know I will divorce you. No amount of begging will work.”

“I should be the one telling you this. All the contracts you get I wonder why they are giving them to you? Is it because you are beautiful? Or you have promised them something.”

“Well, I know you get information about our movement from the driver, what did he tell you? Aren’t you tired? I will travel with my sister whether you like it or not. I want to experience foreign land. You have travelled abroad by yourself many times without taking me or the children. I will also go by myself and have fun.”

She travelled to Dubai with Adanna. Uju was heavily pregnant so they shopped for her too. The trip made Zara very happy and exposed her to things she had never seen before. She went on a shopping spree for her children. They also shopped for gold. Zara bought gold earrings for her daughters and also for herself. She could afford to shop because she saved especially for this trip.

Adanna helped her shop for her clothes. She selected clothes for different occasions. Zara was glad. They also shopped for laces, shoes and bags. Some of the laces Zara bought she intended to sell. She bought for her mother, mother-in-law and stepmother-in-law. She bought native attires for the men. She bought other clothes for her siblings and her husband’s siblings.

Zara also shopped for Lere even though he was against her travelling until his father stepped in and asked him to allow her to travel. He refused to see her off to the airport and complained all the time. Since she arrived in Dubai, he called per minute to find out where she was and who she was with. Adanna wasn’t comfortable with the frequent calls from Lere. At a time, he accused her of introducing Zara to men so she could leave him and marry a rich Igbo man. Adanna laughed at him and just ignored him completely.

Zara told Adanna about the messages she had been receiving. She said she received a message after Lere travelled to visit the office and she would meet him there. She said she called the office and she was linked to Lere. She heard his voice. She called his GSM number and he picked up. She told him she just called him on the office line and he picked up. He claimed he linked his intercom to his number. She didn’t believe him.

“So what did you do?”

“Nothing. I didn’t want to talk too much so he wouldn’t know how much I knew. He has been acting strange. Apart from our disagreement about the business, Lere is no longer interested in having s-× with me. We can stay almost a month before he will make a move on me. If I make a move on him, he will tell me how tired he is. I allowed him to be since he wasn’t interested. Have I become hideous that Lere doesn’t desire me anymore?”

“You are not hideous or ugly. Zara, you are the most beautiful of us all. The problem is you don’t realise who you are. Lere is obsessed with you and he is doing everything to make you feel less. When you were in the bank, you brought in customers very easily. Apart from your beauty, your humility, passion and selflessness have always worked in your favour. You were a good banker, why did you allow Lere to make you leave the career path you have chosen from the very beginning? You knew my heart’s desire and I am doing it now. I am happy in my marriage. Andy has girlfriends but he treats me with so much love and respect. Lere does not do the same. To me, I see your marriage as a competition. He is finding it difficult to subdue you because you are very wise. I can’t believe this is the Lere that was so in love with you before you got married. Now he has made you leave the bank, he is treating you anyhow. Respond to those messages, request concrete evidence and catch him in the act. There is no need to confront him, just catch him.”

That conversation prompted Zara to respond to the text. She had conversations with the strange number. She asked for proof that Lere was cheating as suggested. The number didn’t reply for weeks. She forgot about it.

When Zara returned from Dubai, her relationsh¡p with Lere didn’t improve. She drew his attention to the fact they hadn’t been intimate for a while.

“You are acting like the man. If I say don’t do this, you will challenge me. Be intimate with yourself now. O, I am only good for s-× and nothing more. You are competing with me in a business I introduced to you. You refused to make me a shareholder in your company. You are acting like you are better than me. Go and have s-× with those men your sister is introducing you to.”

“Lere, if I ever come to you for s-× again, call me a bastard. You are not a man so I won’t waste my time arguing with you. When was the last time you dropped money for the running of the home? You think you are smart but you are not. Keep your body, since I haven’t had s-× I have not died. Nonsense. All I know is that I will leave this marriage if I find out you are having s-× with any other person. I will never forgive you.”

Lere brushed it aside and let it be.

Lere was still in love with Zara but she was fighting the control that he wanted to have over her. She wasn’t having it. Lere wanted a submissive wife. He wanted someone who would love him and be at his beck and call. Zara was too ambitious for his liking. The fact her two sisters were married to wealthy Igbo guys who showed off their wealth worried him too. He felt inadequate around them so he avoided them and silently competed with them.

Zara always laughed off his insecurities and told him to focus on making his own money and building his wealth. It hurt when she tells him it isn’t a competition. To him, it was a competition. He had tried to get Zara pregnant again so she would be too busy with children to think of making money but it wasn’t happening. She was a good mother but a better businesswoman. She was like a money magnet. A woman with money was arrogant and wouldn’t need a man. That was his biggest fear; Zara wouldn’t need him. He wanted her to need him always. Her saying she loved him wasn’t enough for him.

Shortly after their argument, Zara received a message from the number.

Your husband did not travel.
He is a hotel on Victoria Island.
I will send you the details of the hotel.
Tell the receptionist you are from Sam, she will attend to you.

Zara sent the message to her sister. Adanna agreed with her that they would go to the hotel together to find out if it was true. If she went alone, she could be accused of adultery. They planned to go there at 10 pm when he would be back.

Zara called Lere before they left. It took some time for him to answer. He claimed he was tired and had fallen asleep. Zara asked him how Delta state was and he told her about the event. He sounded so confident about what he said that Zara was going to call off the appointment. But Adanna encouraged her to go, if they were wrong, at least he wouldn’t know what they did.

She received the hotel address and the room number. Both women went to the hotel that night. The receptionist was very supportive. She took them to Lere’s room and even knocked on the door. They barged into the room when he opened the door.

Lere could not believe his eyes when he saw Zara and Adanna in the room. He wore only his boxers and the girl on the bed was naked under the sheets. How did she know he was there? He had been caught redhanded. He couldn’t look Zara in the face as he fell to his knees and hid his face in his hands.

Adanna was furious. “You accused me of pimping my sister to rich Igbo men when in reality you are the one cheating. This is Asaba, this is where the event was held. You are shameless. Look at the girl you carried and look at your wife even after three. You will rather have s-× with these girls than with your wife. You are a shameless fool. I will not video this encounter to preserve my sister’s sanity. I know you will try to deny it so I will take the picture as evidence so that when you lie, there will be proof.”

Zara didn’t say a word. She was in shock and was speechless. When she regained herself, she walked out of the hotel room and left. Lere wanted to go after her but realised he was wearing only boxers. Adanna left immediately after taking the picture.

Zara went home with Adanna. She locked herself up in the room until the next morning. She left for her home. When she got home, she saw Lere in the house. She walked into the room ignoring him.

Tbc