The President’s wife episode 3

TITLE: THE PRESIDENT’S WIFE

WRITTEN BY: OGECHI ALABI

CHAPTER 3

She heard some muffled argument coming from a closed door. She would have left but Lere had locked the door and dropped the key somewhere. She stood by the door ready to leave if the argument escalated. It was obvious she was the cause.

Within minutes Lere came out. He was surprised to see her standing by the door. “Any problem?” he asked her. She shook her head. He opened the door and they both left in his car. “I’m so sorry. If I had known you were coming, I would have prepared for you. So how have you been?”

Zara was boiling in,side. This guy had the nerve to act as though everything was fine. He was asking her out while he had a woman in his house. Did he take her for a fool? She wondered why she took the risk to come to his house. What was she looking for? The bride’s maid he spent the night with during Dipo’s bachelor’s eve said a lot about him. She knew he might be a casanova. With the little attention he gave her, she almost fell victim to his antics.

“Hey, where have you gone? What are you thinking about?” Lere asked.

Zara didn’t respond. She sighted a taxi park and asked to be dropped there so she could find her way home. That was the only thing she said to him. Lere knew she was angry but was trying to cover his mistake with playful questions. She wasn’t buying it. Why did she choose today of all days to come to his house? He didn’t stop at the taxi park, instead, he drove her home.

He made one more attempt at diffusing the stiffness of the atmosphere, “Are you upset about something? Do you want us to talk about it? Zara, ignoring me won’t solve the problem.” She still did not respond to him.

When he got close to her street, she opened the door of his car suddenly which forced him to stop. “Thank you for the ride home,” she said as she got down from the car and walked home.

Lere tried to follow her but she ignored him completely. People were looking at him funny so he quickly turned his car and went home. He had Bose to contend with at home although he felt terrible the way they parted. He had forgotten Zara wasn’t like other girls he could bamboozle with words, she was smart. He was more hurt about Zara than Bose. How he would win Zara’s trust again was uppermost in his thoughts.

He came on Monday morning to see Zara but she wasn’t home. He didn’t know where she went. Lere paid a young girl some money to give Zara a note. He came back two days later and she still wasn’t home. The girl told him she delivered the message to Zara and Zara warned her never to receive any message on her behalf again otherwise she would report her to her parents.

Lere felt she was taking the situation too seriously. He wanted to talk to her but she refused to give him an audience. How would he apologise when she would not create an avenue for reconciliation. He regretted allowing Bose to stay. She had not visited in a while and showed up without notice. He couldn’t resist her alluring body and the tricks his mind was playing on him when he reminisced on their last encounter. But why would Zara visit him on the same day? It was unexpected. If all these did not happen, it would have been the happiest day of his life. Now, she didn’t want to lay her eyes on him again. What was he to do?

Zara kept imagining what was happening in the flat that even when she knocked and rang the bell numerous times, they didn’t respond to her. She was upset. She had begun to like Lere even when it was wise for her not to encourage him. She had seen a different side of him and was captivated. He had never asked her for a k!$s or a hug. Their platonic friendsh¡p was something she appreciated, they could talk about anything.

When the girl gave her the note from Lere apologising if he had offended her in any way, she warned her never to collect anything from him again. She threatened to report her to her mother and she meant it. One reason was because she didn’t want her to be used as a courier and two, she didn’t want her to get used to taking money from guys to do favours for them. She read the note and tossed it aside.

She had been quiet at home when this happened. Her parents had travelled for a burial on the day she went to visit Lere at home. They were to return on the Saturday of that week. She could have stayed with him until late. She had told her elder sister, Adanna, who encouraged her to visit. When she told her what happened her response was, “What did you expect? If he is not getting it from you, he will get it from somewhere else. After you told me he is just a friend. Don’t put your hope in a guy being faithful to you when you are not with him 24/7. If you like this guy, tell him and if he reciprocates, enjoy it while it lasts.”

Adanna was working with a Communications company. She didn’t have a serious relationsh¡p yet and she was happy the way she was. Their mother had tried to matchmake her with some of their church members but Adanna had set her eyes on a particular kind of lifestyle she wanted to live. She wanted to be married to a rich man and own her own fashion company.

Zara, on the other hand, was interested in being a banker. She wasn’t particular about the type of guy she wanted. The only two criteria she was interested in were good looks and faithfulness. She had only one boyfriend whom she believed she would tie the knot with. Adanna had laughed at her when she told her. Adanna wanted the ‘good life’ whether the man was faithful or not.

Zara came to church for the 6:30 am Mass. She sat at her usual corner. She came to church with Adanna. The boys would attend 8 am Mass while their parents would attend 10 am Mass. Zara joined Adanna to church because she took a taxi to church; she would never be caught on a commercial bike. All her ‘suitors’ were comfortable; they drove big cars and spent lavishly. The taxi was a luxury Zara could not afford at that time.

Immediately after the Mass, Adanna left to attend her society meeting. Zara would wait for most people to disperse and then leave for home. As she sat waiting, someone came and sat beside her. She turned to look at the person and was shocked to see Lere sitting beside her.

“Don’t react here, can we go outside and talk. Please don’t turn me down.” Lere asked.

“What are you doing here?”

“I came to see you since every attempt to see you failed.”

“You shouldn’t have come here.”

“I am here now and I will not leave until we talk. It has been three weeks since I tried to talk to you. Please, just give me this chance.”

Already, the girls were staring at him. He didn’t seem to notice them (which was a good thing). She stood and left the church; he was close behind her. She wondered how she would dodge her parents’ friends and their prying eyes. She couldn’t avoid her sister seeing them together. She gave her a knowing look and she nodded. Her sister smiled and gave her a thumbs up.

They entered his car and drove out of the church compound. Lere stopped at a closed shopping mall so they could talk.

Lere turned to Zara, took her hand in his and said, “If I offended you, I want to ask for forgiveness. I keep wondering what I did to offend you except for keeping you waiting. Please, tell me what I did wrong and I will apologise.”

“You didn’t offend. As you said, it was the waiting. I am fine now.”

“You got my note, you didn’t respond instead you threatened the poor girl.”

“It is not safe for her to take bribes from men to do favours for them.”

“You make the gesture sound dirty. I wanted to see you.” He paused, still looking at her, “you haven’t told me my offence.”

“You didn’t offend me.”

“Why didn’t you visit again?”

“I had a good opportunity the first time. I haven’t had that again.”

“So, would you try and visit me again this week? Let’s schedule a day and time so I will be readily available.”

“Or so you wouldn’t have another guest.”

“Are you upset about seeing another girl in my house? I won’t play games with you by telling tales. She is a friend, ok not just a friend, we were lovers. We hadn’t seen each other for a very long time. She came around and that was it. If you hadn’t seen her, you wouldn’t have known.”

“Why do you want a relationsh¡p with me when girls can drop in at any time and have you?”

“Are we in a relationsh¡p? If we are, then I promise you, I will never be with any other girl. But if we are not; I can’t guarantee to be loyal to you. I have needs.”

“We are not in a relationsh¡p and it will most likely not happen ever. There are things I don’t treat with levity and one of these is friendsh¡ps or relationsh¡ps. I am very close to my siblings; we tell each other everything. That is how I intend to be in my friendsh¡ps and relationsh¡ps. I believe whatever you tell me and you told me you had no girlfriend. I believed you. If you had told me otherwise, I would have remained friends with you, creating the right boundaries to safeguard your relationsh¡p.”

“I’m not in a relationsh¡p; we are just lovers. It is not a serious affair. When she is around, she comes. But if you become serious with me, I will stop her from coming.”

“So, why were both of you arguing in the room?”

“Because she is a woman. She was intimidated by you. I told her you were my girlfriend. I’ve called off whatever we had. You can come whenever you want to, you will never see another girl in my home ever again. I like you. To be honest, that day, your reaction made me restless. I have tried to see you for weeks before it occurred to me I would see you in church. It made me realise it was more than the likeness I had for you. Let’s start over. Trust me once more and see what happens.”

“I don’t want more than friendsh¡p from you.”

“We can start with that. You didn’t ask me what I wanted from you.”

“What do you want?”

“I want you. I want to be able to see you every day. I want to talk to you every minute I can. I miss you so much when we are apart, these three weeks have been terrible for me. Seeing you and holding your hands right now is my happiest moment. I’m serious.”

“As long as you don’t ask for s-×, I am fine.”

“Are you a v-rgin?”

“I’m not but I am not in a hurry to have s-×. I want to reserve it for when I get married.”

Lere laughed at her. He then said, “There is no man that will be with you that wouldn’t want to have s-×. Right now, I want to make love to you but I will respect your condition for now. When you trust me enough, you will let down your guard.”

“Until then. I have to get home, my folks will wonder where I am.”

“So girlfriend, before I take you home, let me buy you breakfast.”

“If you are buying breakfast it will be for four; my siblings and me.”

“Not a problem.”