FAÇADE: A STORY OF DECEPTION (EPISODE 1&2)

EPISODE 1

I could feel the rage burning through my veins, I almost considered going down the street to get a rat poison and put it inside the food I was preparing, but the thought of being a murderer made cold sweat run down my face.“Honey is my food ready yet?” he called from the sitting room where he was watching a football match.

“If only you knew what I was about to do to your food” I almost said, “your food is coming now dear” I responded instead.

As I walked into the dining room, holding the tray of food with both hands with a smile on my face as I spotted him sitting on the dining table, anyone present at the scene would have sworn that I had the best if not the perfect marriage.

If this were to be yesterday, they would have been right, but the shocking news I heard from my friend a few hours ago is beginning to make me question who exactly the man I got married to is.

Kolawole was the centre of my world and until now, I always believed he felt the exact way about me.

“Mum when am I going to grandpa’s place” our 5 years old son Nathan called from the sitting room where he was seated playing a video game.

“Daddy will take you there once he is done eating” I answered smiling up at him.

Nathan is the smartest 5-year-old boy I have ever met in my life, everyone who knew him always said that his brain is a combination of both of the people who brought him into this world.

I have successfully established 3 thriving multi-million businesses within 10 years and Kola is a dentist who owns 10 successful dental clinics in different states of the country including Lagos and Abuja.

Some minutes later, Kola was done eating and ready to go drop Nathan off at his dad’s house, then “go hang out with his guys” as he has always led me to believe.

“Honey I will see you later in the evening he said kissing me on the lips as he picked up Nathan

“Bye Mum” Nathan said waving at me

“Bye sweetheart” I waved back.

Once I heard the gateman lock the front gate as kola drove out, I burst into uncontrollable tears.

I have never had a cause to doubt kola’s words but right now I was almost tempted to get in the car and follow him to wherever he was going just to confirm that he wasn’t lying about it.

10 minutes later, my phone rang in my pocket, when I checked it, Stella’s name flashed across the screen.

Apart from my husband, Stella was the closest friend I have. Our friendship has been on for almost 10 years now and it even led to my husband and her husband (Jude) becoming very close friends too.

“Hey babe” I chirped into the phone, trying to stabilize my voice and breath

“Oh No! Don’t tell me you have been crying. Now I feel like a terrible person” she said

“Don’t be ridiculous. I just woke up from sleep when your call came in” I lied

“Cut the crap V, I know you have been crying. Anyway, I am calling because we have to sit down and talk. I know you are desperately hoping that what I told you this morning isn’t true but sadly I even have more news “

“Can’t we talk about it over the phone”, I said between hiccups

“What? So you are tired of seeing my face already” She said faking annoyance, “Just kidding though. The truth is that I have to be with you when I tell you this news”

“Ok, can you come over right now?”

“Of course, I will be on my way already”

The 30 minutes I spent waiting for Stella was the second-longest 30 minutes of my life, the first was when the drive down to the hospital when I was called that Kola was involved in an accident.

I heard Stella’s car turn off in the driveway and I sat up wiping the tears from my face away.

Immediately the door opened, she rushed to where I was seated and gave me a tight hug.

“We will get through this V,” She said to me reassuringly

“Ok” I replied, mostly to myself

“Now let’s get to why I am here” she began,

“According to a very reliable source, kola isn’t just having an affair, the woman in question is also heavily pregnant for him and she would be going to Canada to have the baby in few weeks. I tried to get words out of Jude’s mouth yesterday to see if he knew anything about the situation at hand, but he seemed ignorant. He also said that it has been a while since Kola hung out with the boys”.

“I don’t want to hear any more of it” I almost screamed.

“So that means that he has been going to her place every Sunday and lying to me that he was hanging out with his friends,” I thought to myself.

“Can we put a trail on him? I want to meet with this girl while they are together” I said too quickly

“Of course we can do that, but that would be next week Sunday. Are you sure you can be calm till then?”
“Of course I can”.

EPISODE 2

That night when Kola came back home with Nathan, I tried to avoid being in the same space as him. I stayed up late in Nathan’s room to read him and when he fell asleep, I slept beside him.

The rest of the week went by in a blur.

As usual, I went to work, kola went to work and Nathan went to school.

When Kola came back from work on Friday, he told me that he would be going to Canada in two weeks on a one-month business trip.
I expected that he would do that, but I desperately hoped he wouldn’t. But as we all know, wishes aren’t horses to ride on.

Deep down in my heart, I just couldn’t wait for Sunday to arrive.

Saturday came and I decided to go grocery shopping.

I didn’t feel like driving, so I called a cab to take me to the shopping mall.

Although Kola was home as he always was on Saturdays, I didn’t tell him that I was going shopping.

He would probably assume I was in my office because that was the only room I had been in since this week apart from occasional visits to Nathan’s room and the kitchen. When he asked why I wasn’t sleeping in the bedroom, I lied to him that I had a work project which I needed to complete urgently.

Throughout the ride to the shopping mall, all I could think about was how my Loving marriage of 7 years was about to go down the drain. Or maybe it was already down the drain and I just didn’t want to accept the fact.

I kept asking myself where I went wrong or what I did wrong, but I couldn’t find answers.

I thought our sex life was great and my cooking was exceptional. I always thought we were happy too.

Or could it be those who said that a man was never content with one woman no matter how good she is in bed or how beautiful she is, were right?

When the cab got to the shopping mall, I told the driver to wait for me till I was done and I went in to do my shopping.

As I entered, I went to the foodstuffs section straight and as I was about to pick up a bunch of plantains “my favourite food in the whole world”, I caught a glimpse of Stella’s husband pushing a shopping cart.

“Stella has sent this man shopping again,” I said chuckling to myself

Just as I was about to go to where he was standing and exchange pleasantries, I saw a heavily pregnant lady drop an item into the basket on the cart he was pushing, then they both began to talk and smile at each other.

I quickly dropped the plantain in my hand and hurriedly slipped out of the shopping mall praying that he doesn’t notice me.
I spotted the cab and climbed in, then the questions started spinning in my head.

Is that the girl Kola impregnated?

If she is the one, then what is she doing with Jude?

Or is Jude also having an extramarital affair and the girl is pregnant for him?

This particular thought made me chuckle because if it happened to be true, it means I and Stella would be stepmothers or worst-case scenario, divorcees.

“Then maybe we could both go faraway together, start a new life and leave the scum bags,” I thought dreamily

Back to reality and back to the question popping up in my head!

Should I call Stella to tell her what I saw?

Or should I just confront Kola?

Story to be continued…..

I hope you enjoyed reading the first two episodes in the short story.

If you didn’t, tell me why in the comment section. Any comments and critique are also welcomed. Don’t forget to share with your friends and foes.

PS: In your own opinion, what do you think Stella should do at this point?