The President’s Wife episode 16

TITLE: THE PRESIDENT’S WIFE

WRITTEN BY: OGECHI ALABI

CHAPTER 16

Lere went into his bedroom, had a bath, and laid down on the bed. He was hungry but the food wasn’t his problem. He wanted to make peace with Zara. He tossed and turned on the bed but he couldn’t sleep. He came out to the sitting room and turned on the television but had no intentions of watching anything. He quietly opened Zara’s room, the wedge hindered easy opening but he was adamant. Finally, he was able to enter the room. He closed the door and climbed into the bed.

He lay on the bed with Zara which woke her up. She turned on the light to see her husband beside her. “I can’t sleep. Just hold me and I will sleep. I have apologised, what more do you want me to do? I promise it won’t happen again. Let me hold you to sleep.”

“Lere, please allow me to sleep in peace. We will talk tomorrow.”

“I can’t wait. It has to be tonight. Let me just hold you, that’s all.”

Zara allowed him to hold her. She knew the consequences but was too tired to argue or struggle with him. She backed him and fell asleep.

The next morning, she prepared for mass while he was still asleep on her bed. She was about to leave for church when he stopped her with his voice. “I want to take you to church and bring you back. We will shop after service so we can cook together like we used to. I have thought about it, I agree I can be insecure. Help me overcome it by assuring me of your faithfulness and love. I will do the same. When is your confirmation?”

“Next month.”

“I want to support you with my vendors. I will make the big ones open accounts with you. I know two people, if they open accounts with you, the bank will shake. Give me two account opening forms and I will get them for you. This is to show my support for your career. And to tell you I love you very much. I’m sorry.”

“I’m sorry too.”

“Come here,” and that was how the quarrel ended.

True to his words, two accounts were opened and received an inflow of five hundred million naira each. The MD of the bank asked to meet with Zara. He had been pursuing the accounts for years now and she got it in a twinkle of an eye.

“How did you do it?” the MD asked.

“My husband is their boy so I took advantage of the relationsh¡p.”

“Just like that?”

“Yes, sir”

Her confirmation came with a promotion. She couldn’t believe it. All her allowances were paid and she was entitled to leave. She was so excited she called her husband to share the good news. On hearing this, Lere’s plan moved into action.

Adanna’s wedding was fixed for the next month. Everything was done in a hurry. Andy wanted a big traditional wedding. Papa Adanna’s house in the village had been completed so everything was set. It was a grand wedding. The white wedding held the following week. It was after the wedding Adanna announced her pregnancy to her family.

Six weeks after her confirmation, Zara was pregnant. She was ill and didn’t know what was wrong with her. To get out of bed in the morning was almost impossible. Lere took her to the hospital and it was confirmed. Lere was elated; his plan worked. Zara wasn’t happy at all. She talked about termination because it would affect her productivity in the office.

To discourage her, Lere invited her parents to the house. Her mother noticed her countenance and asked her if she was pregnant, she couldn’t deny it. Her mother was overjoyed. There was no way Zara could talk about terminating the pregnancy anymore.

The first trimester was terrible. Zara had constant headaches, vomited, couldn’t keep any food down, and was generally weak. As her health was struggling, her accounts were doing better than she could have imagined. She had gained so much respect from her colleagues as she stood out. She had the biggest personally initiated portfolio in the department. Sometimes her boss would ask her to take some days off; he understood the challenges of first pregnancies.

Adanna didn’t have the same challenge. Her pregnancy was smooth sailing; you would never guess she was pregnant. Andy asked her to quit her job. She was at home having the time of her life. She used the best hospital and Andy had promised she would travel abroad to have the baby.

Zara used Lere’s company’s hospital which was also topnotch. She had not had a discussion with Lere about travelling to have the babies. She was comfortable with the doctor and didn’t mind having her babies in Nigeria.

As the pregnancy progressed to other trimesters, she felt better although she still spat and threw up at the smell of certain foods and fragrances. She couldn’t do any work at home, Lere had to hire a woman to help on the weekends.

Another problem was s-× was thrown out of the window. Zara didn’t want to have s-× and everything irritated her. She complained of his cologne, his breath, his touch. She allowed him when he had begged for a long time and the schedule became once every three weeks. Lere wasn’t happy about it. Zara refused to budge since he deceived her into getting pregnant, he had to bear the consequences.

Zara lost so much weight with the pregnancy but her belly was big. It was bigger than usual. The doctor requested a scan when she was twenty-six weeks gone. She was pregnant with twins. Lere was excited at the news while Zara was indifferent. She hated being pregnant, all she wanted to do was work.

Adanna gave birth in the United States to a son. Andy gave their parents a car as a gift. He was overjoyed he had an heir. Andy lavished gifts on his in-laws.

Zara gave birth to two girls. They were identical twins. Zara’s motherly instinct kicked in immediately after she had the girls. She fell in love with them when they met after her caesarian session. She couldn’t stop herself from looking at them and loving them. Her stomach was still big which worried her. Her doctor advised her to wait until six weeks before she began her exercises. In the meantime, she had to watch what she ate in order not to gain excessive weight which was common among women who had twins.

Lere and his family were overjoyed. As was customary with the Yorubas, Lere’s mother came to care for them. She treated Zara like a precious egg. She took very good care of the babies and allowed Zara to rest. Zara’s mother also came to help out after she returned from Adanna’s house.

Lere asked Zara to name the children. The naming ceremony was held in the hospital because of the caesarian session Zara had. Zara had chosen the names Uma and Ursula, her in-laws named the twins Ayotundun and Ayowonuola, while her parents named them Chialuka and Chieloka. Lere chose to call them Uma and Ursula.

Six weeks after their birth, Alhaji Disu threw a party for his first set of twin granddaughters. He was a very happy man. He showered Zara with gifts and money. His friends did the same. The money was divided into two. Zara took one half for herself. The other half she divided into for each of the twins. She needed the money so she could shop for her resumption. There was no way she was going back to work the same Zara as before.

Lere asked Zara to resign and face the homefront. He said he didn’t want anyone taking care of the twins except family members. He wanted her to give them her full attention. Zara asked him, “Will you also resign and stay home with me?”

“Why would I do that? Who will take care of the finances?”

“Exactly. You refused my travelling abroad to have Uma and Ursula because you believed I wanted to compete with my sister. She advised me to do it so our children will have dual citizensh¡p but you refused. You said there is no money for that. I offered to raise part of the money you refused. You made a fuss and I allowed you have your way. Now you want me to be a housewife. I am not willing to be one.”

“You will not be a housewife. I will open a business for you to run.”

“Open the business and run it yourself. Before we got married, I told you I want to be a banker. I will leave banking after I have attained a certain height and I will move to politics. I want appointments. That’s my plan. I asked you the same question but you had no plans. Even now, you have no plans. You work with a telecommunications company and you are not a major distributor of their sim cards and recharge cards. What is your plan? What is the future of your department? What height can you attain? Has anyone in your department been made MD? My boss told me I made the right choice coming to corporate banking. From corporate banking, I can attain any height I so desire and even be MD. And I will grow very fast if I keep up my good work. Now you want me to sit at home and nurse children I didn’t plan for. Ok, I have heard you. When you can afford to take good care of us, I will resign. This would include moving into a very comfortable house. You can afford it if you stop spending unnecessarily. You can afford to pay me N350,000 every month. If you do this successfully for six months, I will resign.”

“Fine, I will look for a house for us to move into. But babes, the doctor said you are okay now, why don’t you want me to touch you?”

“Lere, I haven’t fully recovered. My tummy is still big. I begged your mother to tie it for me but she told me not to, it will go down by itself.”

“What does your tummy have to do with anything? You had two babies and with time you will be fine. Your tummy is not that big anymore. Allow me, I have waited for this long. Why are you starving me?”

“I am not starving you. It is not deliberate. Just give me some time to adjust to the changes.”

“Zara, remember how long it is taking. Don’t blame me if I find a solution somewhere else. I have tried. Even before you had the babies, it was war. We only did it when you wanted it. It is more than six weeks since you had the babies and we are still on this matter. It is because I love you we are having this conversation.”

“Are you threatening to cheat on me because I haven’t succumbed to your advances? Lere, know this, the day you cheat on me is the day I will leave this marriage. There is nothing you will say to convince me otherwise. There is no amount of begging that will make me come back.”

“What about you? If you cheat on me what should I do?”

“Lere, I will never cheat on you. I will leave before I desire another man. I have never done it and I will never do it. I want to build a career and I will do it with self-respect. I will never sell my body. Anytime I refuse to come back to you, know I have been with another person and it is only that person that has access to my body. That’s the same with you. Once you sleep with another woman, she is the only one that can have access to you.”

“Ok, I don’t want to cheat. I love you so much. Reciprocate this love by giving me this thing. I have missed you. You hide your body from me, you don’t allow me to touch you. You sleep with my mother while I sleep alone. It is not fair.”

“It is because of the babies. They s×¢kle at night.”

“Ok, come this night to my room. When we are done, you can go back to her room. Feel me, I don’t want to rush because of the operation. My tank is overflowing.”

“I will come to the room. But I don’t want your mother to know what we are up to.”

“No problem. Come to the room.”