The President’s wife episode 20

TITLE: THE PRESIDENT’S WIFE

WRITTEN BY: OGECHI ALABI

CHAPTER 20

Two weeks after her first visit to see her children, Zara got a call from the reception informing her of a visitor. His name was Taofeek. She came out to the reception on her floor to see him. It was Lere.

Lere was stunned when Zara came out. The lady before him couldn’t be his Zara. She was sophisticated; she wore high heels, the length of her weave was down to her w–st. Her complexion shone, and she spoke differently. He stared at her. When she saw him, the beautiful smile on her disappeared. She turned to walk away Lere ran towards her and caught up with her. “Please Zara, please, I just want to talk to you.”

“Lere, I am not interested in any conversation with you. Please excuse me, I thought you were someone else.”

“Zara, haven’t you punished me enough? For almost six months I haven’t seen you or talked to you. You ran away from me. I accept I messed up, but please give me a chance to make it up to you. I will spend the rest of my life making it up to you. Do you want me to kneel here to beg? I am not ashamed to do it.”

“Lere, I have heard you. Please give me time to think about your apology and promise. I will get back to you.”

“Zara, please, let us have lunch and talk.”

“I am not interested. I will appreciate it if you don’t come to my job anymore. If you make me resign from here to work in another bank, then I will never forgive you. Please leave me alone.” Zara walked away from him into her office.

Lere came again a week later. He was furious. He almost created a scene. Zara’s boss had to step in at this point. He invited him into a meeting room. He asked Lere what the problem was.

“Zara filed for a divorce. I was here last week only for her to file for a divorce? She told me she would consider my request and without giving me a chance she decides she wants a divorce. I don’t know what has gotten into her. Maybe she feels she is too good for me now. She left the marriage; she walked out. She didn’t allow me to apologise for what I did. She has taken it too far. I want to ask her what her intentions are. I am fed up with her attitude.”

“For someone at fault, you seem to have too many expectations. You expect her to talk to you, not to file for divorce and not to do what pleases her. It is all about you and not about her or the children. You did not mention how broken she was when you selfishly did what you did. I was in your shoes at one time. My wife found out I was cheating. It hurt her so much that she almost took her own life. Over my philandering? How could I have lived with that? I had to make up my mind never to hurt her like that again. We built the trust and now she’s confident I will never cheat on her.”

“What did you do? I love Zara with my entire being. I can’t give a very good reason why I do it. I was faithful to Zara before we got married and even after, but she can be stubborn. I have expressed my dislike for this bank job, but she does what she likes. I can’t stand men looking and lusting after her.”

“But Zara isn’t that kind of woman.”

“Every woman has a price. Maybe she hasn’t been offered a price she can’t resist.”

“Your cheating disintegrated your family; the shame is yours. For her to successfully hide away from you for months shows how porous your marriage is. I will advise you to retrace your steps. Whatever craziness those girls outside offer, your wife can do them. All you need to do is explore together. She’s hot. No one will doubt her if she claims not to have a child talkless of three children. Woo her again. Keep apologising and begging her shamelessly. She is a good woman. She is a professional and knows how to handle advances from men. I can vouch for her because I work with her. Don’t lose her. Your children need her too.”

Lere decided to listen and start afresh. He went to meet his in-laws to appeal for a settlement. He requested the meeting should be conveyed in their house to make Zara comfortable. Zara honoured the meeting.

Lere agreed to a legal separation but not a divorce. He promised to agree to the divorce if their differences weren’t resolved in the two years of their separation. The children to spent the weekends with her while they stayed with Lere during the week because of school. He further asked for communication between them. He felt they needed to trash out many issues. He appealed for her to forgive him even if she doesnot take him back. It was a very mature conversation. There was no yelling or arguments.

“Alhaji asked me to bring your soup to him. Since I told him I had found you, he has been asking for his soup. Can you make it for him so he will stop breathing down my back?”

“Making the soup for him will send the wrong message of reconciliation. I don’t want to do that.”

“I told Alhaji how I ruined a perfect relationsh¡p and marriage. He knows you are determined never to come back to me. He will like to have the relationsh¡p you shared with the family even though we are no longer together. They miss you. I promise you, he will not try to make you come back to me. He has told me to let you go if truly it is what you want. It is difficult for me to do. But if it is what you want, I will do it.”

“Any other issue?”

“Counselling, I will like us to attend marriage counselling.”

“I am not ready to do that.”

“You are a Catholic; you can’t receive communion if you divorce me. I don’t want you to sin against God that is why I want to see if we can try again.”

Zara didn’t have a response. Lere was making effort to right his wrong but she was still hurt. Seeing him completely humbled and speaking gently touched her but she also feared it might be a charade of a sort. She had made up her mind about how she wanted to live her life and she didn’t see Lere agreeing to it.

It took months but gradually, Lere was able to warm his way into Zara’s heart. He took his time to woo her. He contacted her via email and shared his daily itinerary with her. Each weekend the children went to spend with her, he sent a special gift. When he travelled abroad, he shopped for her. He never ceased to apologise for his wrongdoing and swore he will never hurt her like that again.

Lere had garnered enough supporters who used every opportunity to appeal to her to reconsider. The most surprising advocate was her boss; the man who encouraged her to divorce Lere was now a strong supporter of his. She was shocked when Adanna asked her to forgive him too.

“Nne, the guy has acknowledged that he messed up. Please forgive him.”

“Would you forgive Andy if you were in my shoes?”

“Our marriages are not the same. I married for money while you married for love. Infidelity is not a deal-breaker for me. Andy doesn’t pretend not to desire other women; he cheats respectfully. When he travels, I warn him, oga leave full tank so I can have my fill. He will laugh and assure me he will and he does. He doesn’t deny me s-× unlike what Lere was doing. Even if Andy goes to meet a babe and I stretch my hand to him that night, he will satisfy me. He will never say no. I am tired is not in my dictionary. Nne, I dress to s-duce him. Even with my fat, he still desires me. That’s why I wonder why Lere was denying you s-×. You know me, I have experience and ‘ashawo’ tendencies. The thing used to burst Andy’s brain. You have only been with one guy before Lere. These past months I hope you worked on your skills.”

“Worked on it how?”

“Zara! You mean you did nothing with any man for the past nine months of being separated? My sister is a saint. You would have used that opportunity to taste other men and improve your skills. Being beautiful is not enough, having skills (not only cooking skills) is very important. A man wants a goody goody as a wife he can show off to his friends but a wh0re in his bed. No matter what he does outside, he must come home for dessert. That’s the icing on the cake.”

“I am still married to Lere; another man cannot behold my nakedness. I can’t even imagine doing anything with another man. I was ready to be celibate if he didn’t agree to divorce me. But, is it possible my lack of s-×ual prowess is the cause of him cheating?”

“Has he ever complained?”

“Never! I could have sworn he enjoyed our time together more than I did. But, even if he didn’t, he could have taught me. With Nonso, he allowed me to lead and it was fun for both of us. Nonso and I were closer in age than Lere and I. I allow Lere to lead all the time. I know what I like but find it difficult to voice it out with him. I don’t know why.”

“It is because Lere has always been controlling you. The bedroom should be your playpen but you gave him control there too. They say the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach; I beg to disagree. The way to a man’s heart through your combined skills, especially the food others can’t see him eat. He will just be smiling knowing what transpired the night before or that morning. Zara, you are beautiful, intelligent, passionate, and s-×y, I love your new look. You still love Lere even with what he did. Forgive him and give him conditions for the marriage to continue. If he fails to meet the conditions, you are free to take a walk. Lere wants you back. The guy is crazy about you. Pity him and go back to him.”

“I saw that girl with him in the hotel room. She was very busty. I have moderate melons which luckily are still standing. Lere has developed certain tastes I can’t live up to. Will I make my boobs bigger to be with him? I will never do that. I am slim, I don’t have large h¡ps and bum. Lere stares at ladies with those when we are together. I found it disgusting but I didn’t make a fuss. I felt he was just looking. Now I see what I have to compete with and I don’t think it is worth my time and energy. Our arrangement is perfect now. We mustn’t live in the same house. Our children have the love of both their parents. What more do we need?”

“Zara, it is a broken home. They deserve better. I am not saying you should reconcile because of the children but they are a part of the reason. Lere is a changed person. He desperately wants you back. He says he loves you with all his heart. That’s all he has said. I can remember the day I believed him. He said, “I used my hands to destroy my life. I can’t live without Zara. Whatever it takes, I want her back.” It shocked me. His mother stopped talking to him because you left. She loves you so much. She begged daddy and mummy to forgive Lere and even if they don’t, she wanted you to remain in your life. Have you seen her since then?”

“Not yet. My father-in-law talked to me through Lere’s phone. He was almost in tears when he heard my voice. He asked me to cook soup and visit him. That was all he asked for. He didn’t beg me to take Lere back. He said he missed me very much. He calls me Omo mi, I love his family but I can’t remove the image of the hotel room from my head.”

“You have to. Take enough time to heal but please go back to your husband. Let me confess this to you no man can love you like Lere. Don’t forget to give him conditions and one of them is to test for STDs, you don’t know if he was using protection with those ladies.”

“Very true, I have had myself tested monthly since I left. I still can’t believe Lere could do this to me. I believed he loved me that was why he was so insecure but now I know he was covering his tracks.”

“He loved you and showed it by being jealous. It doesn’t stop men from being who they are. If you want faithfulness, you must demand it. Have the chat with Lere and see if you can forgive and forget what happened and have an enviable marriage.”

Eventually, she agreed to have a sit down with Lere. She voiced how she felt that night she caught him in the hotel room with the girl. She wasn’t ready to compete with his fantasies of big boobs and large bums. She believed in a committed relationsh¡p which included faithfulness and loyalty. If he couldn’t do without the other ladies, she was ready to set him free to explore as much as he wanted. She also wasn’t ready to feed his insecurities anymore. She wanted to maintain her career which she had successfully built. Other banks approached her for employment and a higher position. Her loyalty remained with the bank that gave her the opportunity twice.

Finally, she reiterated. If he cheats on her, she was gone for good. She added, “The children are with you because you are a good father; a better father than many can boast of. Reconsidering our separation is not based on them but on what is best for me at this time. If I decide to divorce you, they will remain with you. I am telling you this so you would understand I am making myself the priority.”

She laid out other conditions and he accepted each of them. He couldn’t wait to be with her again. He admired her strength, her poise and the power it emitted. It was what attracted her to him and it still had that hold on him. He wanted her back by every means possible even if it meant giving up everything for her. He knew the battle ahead was going to be tough; there was temptation everywhere, especially in his department.

Finale episode soon