The President’s wife episode 19

TITLE: THE PRESIDENT’S WIFE

WRITTEN BY: OGECHI ALABI

CHAPTER 19

Lere was ashamed. He went into the room after her, lay on the floor and begged for her forgiveness. He tried to blame the devil but Zara wasn’t interested in the conversation. She lay on the bed and turned her face to the wall. Lere was worried. He expected her to shout, scold and threaten, but she did none. He knew she had a plan. He had to work fast. He called his mother and told her.

That same day, she landed. Iya Lere went on her knees to beg Zara. Zara would never have allowed her to kneel before her like that. She realised Zara sitting there wasn’t there; she didn’t even notice her kneeling Iya Lere sensed trouble.

Iya Lere was very angry at her son. “I warned you not to offend this girl. What else do you want in a woman she doesn’t have? She had her babies via caesarean, her vagina is still intact, so what is your reason? You have been doing it now she caught red-handed. If she leaves, you will have a problem. Do you want to go back to square one?”

Lere didn’t want to go back to the beginning. He begged his mother to help him. He didn’t know what her next move would be. He was willing to confess to her parents and also beg for forgiveness. He loved Zara and couldn’t imagine living without her. Even though they had been distant, he knew she was his and his alone.

What Lere didn’t know was that Zara had made up her mind to leave him. She had gradually been moving her belongings from the house without him knowing. She wanted to leave with the children but she knew she would be disrupting their lives. Lere is a good father; he loved his children more than life. They could live with her but they might not be comfortable. She was moving into a smaller accomodation which might be too small for them.

She packed her children and dropped them off with her parents. She told them she was travelling and needed her parents to take care of them. She left the car and driver with her parents and left with Adanna. She moved out her remaining property from the home and left the house for good. Zara moved into a two-bedroom apartment in Lekki, far away from where Adanna lived. Adanna knew where lived but she had been sworn to secrecy.

When Lere came back and discovered Zara had moved out, he almost ran mad. He went that night to his in-laws. He asked where Zara was. They were shocked to find out Zara had left him. Everyone tried to reach Zara, she was ureachable. He was relieved she didnt take the childen. He believed she couldn’t do without her children.

Lere confessed to Zara’s father. He mentioned the part Adanna played in the whole scenario. He took the children home with him. The next morning he called his mother to help him. The twins were in school and couldn’t be moved far away from home.

Lere looked for Zara everywhere. The business suffered in her absence, but it was the least of his problems. He humbled himself and met Adanna to help him. Adanna refused to assist him even if she knew where her sister was. Lere begged Andy to help him appeal to Adanna. Andy promised to assist.

Days turned into weeks and weeks into months still, Zara was nowhere to be found. Lere was a shadow of himself. People told him he would get over her with time but that was not the case. Each day of her absence added to his anxiety. She had abandoned her sim card. He didn’t know what else to do.

He went to his in-laws every week to beg for their intervention. He told them he believed the two sisters knew where Zara was and had refused to tell him. He begged them to compel them to tell him where his wife was so they could sort out their issues. The sisters remained adamant that they did not know. It was confusing to everyone, especially Lere. Did she just drop off from the surface of the earth?

Zara felt alive after leaving Lere. She could work until any time she liked and she could make her own decisions. She secretly spoke with her children through their nanny. She also called her parents and asked them not to worry about her. She contacted them hiding her new number. She talked to her children via skype once a week so she could see them. The nanny helped her achieve these without informing Lere.

Zara ran into her former boss at the tank farm in Apapa. He had come to prospect the tank farm owner. The bank was interested in financing the business. She was glad to see him. Alhaji Tanko, the tank farm owner, had concluded with another bank to finance him. Zara talked to Alhaji and appealed for him to consider her former boss. Alhaji agreed because she asked.

“Zara, why not come back to banking. See how easily this man agreed to open an account with you. Imagine how many of these accounts you can open in the bank. We will make you head of the Oil and Gas unit because I believe you can do more. These men will do anything to please you and you can take advantage of it.”

“I would have loved to come back to banking but I have been away for more than two years. I left as a Banking Officer, my mates might be higher than me. My business is doing very well. Why would I want to change anything?”

“You are a banker. Remember you once told me about your passion for banking. What happened to that dream? Your insecure husband convinced you to leave your passion and be running around here when you are better in banking. With your passion you can grow fast through the ranks. You achieved the Banking Officer level in just two years. Imagine what you will do when you get higher in rank.”

“I have left my husband.”

“You left him? Unbelievable. He does not look like someone who would have let you go; he was obsessed with you.”

“He does not know where I am right now. For the past four months, I have successfully been out of sight. Banking might make it easy for him to find me.”

“Have you not filed for a divorce yet? File and do not permit him to have access to you. What of the children?”

“I talk to them on the phone and we skype as often as we can. I want to be able to work and get a bigger place. The children crammed in my apartment will be uncomfortable when their father lives in a duplex. He is a good father; they should stay with him.”

“Without prying, what caused the separation?”

“I caught him cheating.”

“We men cheat. It doesn’t mean we don’t love our wives, but we do it anyway. I stopped when I saw how it affected my wife. Because I loved her, I stopped and resisted temptation. If he is a good husband and father but he cheats, it is not enough reason to divorce him.”

“Well, he travels for work at least thrice a month. That is what he told me. I found out he was still in Lagos spending those days with girls. I caught him red-handed on a tip-off. I would have forgiven him if everything was fine at home. He deprived of s-×, accused me of sleeping with other men, accused my sisters of pimping me to wealthy Igbo men and in all, he was the cheat and the deceiver. I can’t forgive him. He manipulated me to leave a career I loved because of his insecurities meanwhile he was the one killing me. It has been four months without him and I have enjoyed peace. I will file for divorce and take it from there.”

“Yes, we men are manipulative. You are a beautiful woman. If I didn’t know better, I would have suspected your relationsh¡p with Alhaji. What I like about you is that you don’t realise how your beauty affects people. You are so innocent and humble that no one attempts to take advantage of you unless you give them the opportunity. You gave your husband the opportunity.”

Her boss was right she did give Lere the opportunity. She didn’t nip his excesses in the bud when it first started. She was carried away by love or she thought she had it under control. He used continuous nagging, which she hated, to get her to do his bidding. Now she was free and was determined to make her life better, she decided to take the bull by the horn by going back to banking.

Her boss took her to see the Managing Director of the bank. The MD recognised her instantly. Her boss stated she, Zara, helped to open the account of Alhaji Tanko and recommended Zara should be re-employed and allowed to manage the Oil and Gas accounts and her previous accounts. The MD instructed the Head of Human Resources to schedule an interview immediately. It was agreed that if she does a minimum turnover of N500m, she would be promoted on confirmation.

Zara put her business structure in place before she resumed her job at the bank. She went to her former customers, and many of them agreed to reactivate their accounts with the bank as long as she would manage the account.

An account she knew could turn her life around was Andy’s company’s account. She dressed up to see him. Andy’s eyes popped in excitement when he saw her. “Where have you been?” He asked her while hugging her.

“I needed a break. How are you doing? It is so nice to see you again.”

“Likewise. Your husband has almost gone mad looking for you. He almost lost his job, his business has grounded, and he is a shadow of himself. I believe he loves you. Couldn’t you have forgiven him? He messed up, but we all do. Even you can fall into temptation.”

“I can’t because I hold my vows sacred. If I didn’t mess around when I was young, I won’t mess around now. It is not in me; I am a one-man woman. Lere was my second lover ever and I hoped he would be the last. But from what I have seen, I wasn’t good enough for him.”

“You were more than enough for me, though.”

“You would have been bored. Adanna gives the vibes you need. She is crazy, fun, spontaneous, adventurous and a faithful lover. What Lere did is child’s play compared to how you would have treated me because you see me as a prize, not a partner. But with Adanna, it is different.”

“You are correct. She is everything I need in a woman. She doesn’t care what I do with other women as long as I come back home to her. I make sure I do. She makes me dream of a forever with her. And our children are well taken care of with her thorough supervision. She can never leave her children with your parents or alone with me as you did. Anyway, two of you can’t be the same.”

“Exactly. I have gone back to banking. Please reactivate your account with us so I can get a promotion at confirmation.”

“You went back?”

“Yes, I did. It is what I have always wanted to do, work in a bank and probably own a finance company in future. Oil money is sweet but I would rather pursue my passion with reckless abandon. I enjoy banking. I am very good at my job. My former MD offered me my job back with a promise of a promotion to Assistant Manager on confirmation of my appointment. I need your help to achieve this. I can achieve growth in a short time if I have your support.”

“I will support you if you go back to Lere. I know he was jealous of our friendsh¡p but he has confessed everything to me and asked me to appeal to you on his behalf. I feel sorry for the man. Zara, he is a shadow of himself. We talk every day; all he talks about is you. He has sworn to me it will never happen again. Ok, I am not giving you an ultimatum but I am begging on his behalf. He is my guy, please reconsider and allow him to see you. If he sees you now, I swear he will never cheat on you again. You look so good.”

“Andy, are you reactivating the account or not?”

“Is it like that?”

“I didn’t come here for Lere, I came here to secure my job. If Lere is your problem, then let me leave and we can discuss later.”

“Chill dear. I am more loyal to you than Lere. I will reactivate the account for your promotion and support you as best as I can. But, I will also appeal to you to see Lere and discuss this issue with him.”

Zara knew it was a matter of time before Lere finds her. She couldn’t believe Andy was his advocate. The same Andy he called names and couldn’t hide his envy of him. It was sad to realise how manipulative Lere was. She was happy she was a lot stronger, knew what she wanted and was not ready to give it up for anyone but herself.

She filed for a divorce. The process took longer than she thought it would. Her lawyer had advised her to wait until they were separated for two years before filing but she insisted on doing it immediately. The moment it was filed, she went to visit her children for the first time.

Her parents were overjoyed to see her. She looked good. She came with goodies for everyone. She saw her children physically after five months. She hugged them and cried as she bonded with them. She left them to go home before Lere came to pick them up.

Tbc