Wednesday, 20 April 2016

Stuck or Not!!!!

She could not believe her eyes. He was rough looking like he had not slept for long. She kept staring at him. She knew the kiss was not just a joke; it must have meant something. Ifeanyi kept staring at her too. He was beginning to think coming here was a mistake till he saw her drunk from the window. She had taken their second home till the end of the divorce hence his entrance. She was in all sorts of emotions. He had lifted her up, which was a wrong move since she threw up all over. He scrubbed her clean and put her in bed not before he heard her not so sober thoughts. Ifeanyi and Bimpe kept staring at each other till she stood up and took an unconfident step towards her husband. Bimpe knelt before him and kissed him. She needed proof; something to show they have or didn’t have a chance.  He responded. She felt so small in his arms so he pulled her closer. Bimpe climbed over and they cuddled and kissed deeper. Ifeanyi was reluctant to go further. He still wasn’t sure and he did not want to put her in a compromising situation. Bimpe wanted it but the truth was she knew she didn’t need it. It had been a while yet she knew this would complicate things. What happened to her no distractions for eight weeks. So she stopped kissing him and stood up. She paced for a while and his stares followed her like a shadow. ‘why are you here?’, Bimpe asked. She wanted to know about the lady in their matrimonial home – she knew better than to use the pronoun ‘their’. Changing titles, pronouns and what not was getting difficult to keep up with. Ifeanyi did not have an answer. He did not know why he was there. After he escorted Dami , he felt the need to make sure Bimpe was okay so he drove to her. Looking at it now, he knew his mere presence was sending mixed signals.  Bimpe knew he had no answer. This guess game was getting too long. ‘You know what, just leave’, Bimpe was tired. She didn’t want any more problems. Ifeanyi knew what she wanted to hear but the will to say the word was nowhere in sight; so he gave up and strolled lazily towards the door. ‘One more thing, drop the keys’, Bimpe said. She knew what it signalled. This was a line she felt could bring out the response she wanted to hear but Ifeanyi was as blind as a bat. So he dropped the keys and left. Bimpe sat on the staircase and wept.
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Ifeanyi drove like a maniac. He just ended it with the cowardly action of dropping the keys. Her eyes and body language begged him to hold on but he dropped the freaking keys. So he took it out on pedestrians, fellow drivers and the Michelin. No work today, it was Sabbath. He was never a church goer even though he was raised a catholic. Even if he was, Jesus and Virgin Mary must have given up on his affliction, pride. He blamed his egotistical nature for this. He should have walked towards her and fallen on his knees but here he was, speeding like a retard and hoping to a higher power that he didn’t make a mistake. Ifeanyi pulled into his driveway and slammed the door. After kicking his tire for ten to twelve seconds, he limped into his house. Not a home anymore. He remembered the Saturdays when Bimpe would be bent over, dusting and vacuuming their home while something delicious was cooking. Then she would serve him and he would serve her in return. Those were the days when she had succeeded in keeping him in a good mood. He still wondered if his anger issues resulted from boredom. Was she too good, too predictable that he began his trip down boring lane? Again his ego, looking for whom to blame for a woman being good to him. He sat on the settee and stared at the television. He was in no mood for anything so he stared long and hard hoping Toshiba would have a solution for his hubris. Sleep crept in instead.
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Susan had not heard from her client and bosom friend since the episode at the law firm till this afternoon. Bimpe sounded distraught and unsettled so she rushed over. After ringing the bell four times or more, Susan had begun to panic. However the door opened slowly and there Bimpe stood, looking dishevelled with swollen eyes that spoke volumes and low shoulders. Susan walked in. She knew this was not the time for lectures , it was a time to listen attentively and make light of the situation while subtly echoing solutions. So she listened. She listened as Bimpe narrated her ordeal; from showing up at their former home to getting drunk up until now. Susan uttered not a single word! Not because she had no opinion, who would believe that anyway after all, she is a lawyer! Susan kept shut because Ifeanyi had broken her friend. Her friend had lost that pride that she knew her for back in the day. The no nonsense and go getter feature was gone. She could never imagine why people sought for happy ever afters when career and financial stability gave the same comfort. She looked at her once shoulder held high friend and saw a recluse. Bimpe read the look. She knew it so well. She felt it too. What stung the most was the ringing truth in it. She had lost herself. It would take strength that she didn’t have to fix herself. Susan cleared her throat. ‘Lets go on a vacation, you and I. You need to sort your life out and I am going to be with you every step of the way!’ Bimpe smiled weakly. There was no harm in trying. Bimpe, rejected any vacation spot outside the country with silly excuses but deep down, she knew she had the tiniest inclination towards the possibility of Ifeanyi coming to his senses and searching for her. She planned to stand her ground if he didn't have anything concrete to offer. She planned!
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"Bimpe stared vehemently at the tiles. She saw the beads of vapour and compared it to those of perspiration on her body. She felt the constant sting of the heat on her buttocks and back. She was hunched over even if She was alone, trying to cover her nakedness even when no one was watching. When did Bimpe become so self conscious? Who made her this way?  He did this to her. She had lost the confidence of a model and put on the cloak of low self esteem. The Tiara had slipped so low, her  finger tips were having a hard time reaching for it. The buzzer signalling the sauna session was over  reminded her that She was a month away from coming to terms with marriage and reality. She weakly wrapped her towel around her breasts and stepped out".
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Susan spoke about the cases she worked on and how her career was slowly strangling any hope of a relationship. This was the routine; Susan will talk and talk about life, it's beauty and complexities, anything other than Bimpe and her shattered marriage while She would listen, mostly inattentively. However, today was not going to be the case. For some weird reason, she woke up more moody than normal, she was in all sorts of mood like when she was pregnant. That one time after the second when they were really hoping he would stay but he didn't because she was stressing over Ifeanyi, his philandering and her health. Bimpe looked at the constant moving lips of her friend and hoped she would get the message that she was not in the mood. The yapping stopped. This was unusual for Susan so Bimpe looked up. Susan had an expressionless face, the kind she gave in the court. Bimpe followed her stare. A certain gentleman named Emeka just walked into the dinning room of the resort. It could be worse so they both sighed. Bimpe must have celebrated too early because Ifeanyi strolled in not long after!




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