FAÇADE: A STORY OF DECEPTION (EPISODE 5&6)

 

EPISODE 5

On my way home from the hotel, I stopped by at my favorite ice-cream spot to let off some steam and get ice-cream for myself and Nathan.

When I entered, I spotted the pregnant lady whom I saw with Jude on Saturday, seated on a chair t and typing away on her phone, and without a second thought, I walked over to where she was seated.

“Hello Madam” I greeted

“Hello, do I know you please?” she said looking up from her phone

“I don’t think so, my name is Sandra and I love your dress. I think I have seen you somewhere before though” I said giving her a fake smile

“Ooh Thank you, I got it from a friend’s store. Where did you say you saw me?

“At the mall yesterday with my cousin Jude”

“Ooh, Jude is your cousin, he never mentioned to me that he has a cousin who stays in Lagos. He said that all of his immediate and distant family lives abroad”

At this point, I was considering ending the conversation and leaving because I didn’t know if Jude was coming and if he did I wouldn’t want him to meet me here or see me, but I couldn’t resist the urge to get more information from her.

”Jude is right. I just got back from the United States yesterday but I haven’t told anyone that I am in Nigeria and I don’t intend to. I will be returning to the states next week. That was why I didn’t come over to greet you both yesterday at the mall. Are you Jude’s friend?”

No” she replied smiling sheepishly

My phone rang at that moment and I excused myself to check who was calling, I saw “my world” display across the phone screen, but I ignored the call

“Sorry about that”, I said to the pregnant lady smiling up at her. ”I don’t mean to pry but if you are not Jude’s friend, then who are you to him if I may ask”

“Well, I am his girlfriend and we would be having a baby soon” she responded smiling down at her baby bump

Wow, that’s so lovely to hear, you know he has a wife, right? I never really liked her though. I quickly chipped in faking a smile

“Yes I know he has a wife, but they would be done with the divorce proceedings by next month, he showed me the papers to confirm it”.

“Wow, I never knew that Jude was getting a divorce though”

Pretending to look at my wristwatch, I said,

“I need to run now but can we exchange numbers, please? I didn’t get your name though”

“Ok, that’s fine. My name is Oluchi” she responded, then she proceeded to call out her phone number to me

“Thank you so much. Also, I would love to get this type of dress you have on before I travel back and as your sister-in-law, I hope I get a discount from your friend”. I said to lighten up the mood

“Definitely” She replied with a wide grin

“I will text you as soon as I can, please take good care of yourself and my cousin.”  said before I walked out of the store into my car, with my heart beating so fast due to the information I just heard in there.

Once I got in, I let out the deep breath that I have been holding for too long

“Can today get any worse?” I asked myself

Jude is the one cheating on Stella and is even expecting a child with a girlfriend whom he has falsely led to believe that he is getting divorced.

Kola is going into a hotel room with a gangster looking guy to do God knows what shady deal.

I am particularly angry regarding Jude’s matter, I always thought he loved Stella despite her inability to have a child yet. They have been trying to have a child for over 5 years but everything they did has been futile.

Last year, Stella suggested that they should adopt a child, but Jude declined and said they should keep on trying to have a child of their own.

But I am also very confused about kola, because if he is not the one with the pregnant girlfriend, then what is he going to Canada for in two months times? My guts keeps telling me that he isn’t going there for business and I just can’t stop thinking about what was between him and the gangster looking man I saw him with. God Forbid that the is now into hard drugs and arms dealing.

Should I tell Stella about this or I should just keep quiet? I asked myself trying to fight back the tears welling up in my eyes.

I decided to push all the thoughts running through my head aside and concentrate on driving home safely.

So, I started the car and turned on the car stereo to play love the way you lie by Eminem featuring Rihanna, tuning the volume to the highest level.

EPISODE 6

I spotted the car kola drove put earlier today in the parking lot as I drove into the gate of my house.

When I walked into the house, kola was coming out of the kitchen with a bowl of cereal in hand.

“Hey, baby where have you been? I tried calling you earlier but you didn’t respond” he said to me as he spotted me at the door
“I went out to do some shopping with Stella and I left my bag in the car”

“But you aren’t carrying any shopping bags,” he said giving me a funny look

“Well, I didn’t get any item only Stella did,” I responded

“Vivian? Why do I feel like you are lying to me? Also, I saw that your bags are packed, do you plan on traveling without informing me?”
Immediately he made that statement, my head did a 360 degrees turn and I started boiling with anger from within.

“Maybe if you weren’t entering into hotel rooms with gangster looking men and if your friend Jude wasn’t cheating on Stella, then I wouldn’t have to lie about where I was to you or pack my bags in case I have to leave” I responded harshly

“Baby Wait, just slow down and hear me out, it’s not what you think”

“Don’t baby me and please tell me what exactly I will be thinking after seeing you enter a hotel room with that kind of man. Kola please tell me what exactly you think I am thinking” I screamed at him

“That I am sleeping with him?”

“Wait, sorry?”

“No you wait, don’t say anything, I’ll tell you the truth, the whole truth.

“I have indeed been sleeping with Jason but I swear I wanted to tell you tonight. I went over to the hotel to end things with him and that was when you saw us…”

“Stop right there, just stop, what do you mean by you are sleeping with Jason? Oh God! This is even worse than I thought” I said in despair, breaking down in tears

“Wait you didn’t suspect that I was? Holy carp! I thought you suspected and that is why you have been avoiding me

“No this can’t be true, kola can’t be sleeping with men,” I said to mostly to myself with tears flowing freely from my eyes

“Wait, where is Nathan? Kola where is my son? Don’t tell me you have started teaching him to sleep with men too because I swear on my dead father’s grave that if I ever find out you are doing anything to harm my son’s life, I will make sure you pay for it with your life” I said pointing at him angrily

“Calm down Stella, Nathan is my son as much as he is yours and I will never do anything to hurt him or destroy his life. He is still at mum and dad’s house. I wanted us to go out for dinner tonight so that I can tell you about this. I thought you already knew and you were just waiting for me to come out clean and tell you.”

“For how long have you been sleeping with men kola? Please tell me the truth. The absolute truth. Did you even ever love me?” I asked sobbing louder

“To answer your last question, yes I love you, I have always loved you and I will always love you. Don’t ever doubt that for a minute. I will tell you everything now, I promise” He responded with pain evident in his eyes

Then he started.

The next chapters of  FAÇADE comes with whole new surprises that you definitely don’t want to miss out on, therefore subscribe to our ‘newsletter‘ now in the top right corner of this page or below the page and be the first to know when it drops!

In case you missed any of the episodes of FAÇADE, you can check them out: 1 &2 here  3&4 here.

PS; Watch out for my giveaway in the next post.