She stood in front of the mirror looking keenly at her nude self. She was no doubt a beautiful sight to behold. But she was not having one of those her vain moments of self-admiration in the mirror that afternoon. She was trying to see the slightest trace of a bulge around her stomach line as she spoke excitedly into the phone.
But she noticed nothing. She cupped her full and well rounded pair of breasts, each in turn in one hand. Nothing about them too suggested anything. Well, she had a proof, she reasoned as she picked up the piece of paper that contained the best news of her life; the pregnancy result that showed she was carrying an eight-week old life in her womb.
She had to resist every urge to spill the bean of the news to her husband on the phone. She wanted to be able to see the reaction on his face when he got the news. So, she was prepared for the wait as she lowered the phone, but not after she had been able to make him promise he would be home early. She had told him there was something to celebrate away from the house and she would be footing the bill.
But when five hours after that call and her husband wasn’t back in the house, all her earlier excitement was dousing and was being replaced by anger. Having been informed by Tonia, her husband’s secretary, when she had called his office desk that he left work around 5pm, Chioma could not understand why he wasn’t home yet? Didn’t Mike promise to be home early when she’d told him there was something important to tell him? And to make it worse, his phone was switched off for whatever stupid reason. So, when it was some few minutes to nine and Mike was nowhere to be reached, it became evident that the dinner treat she had planned was not to be. She began in frustration to discard off the evening dress she had on. She changed into a nightie instead and crossed to the sitting room downstairs.
“Wake up, dear…” the voice was saying. This was what stirred her up from her half sleep. In her subconscious mind, she had thought it was her husband that was back home. She could not contain her disappointment when she realised the voice was actually from the TV. She snapped up the remote and turned off the TV without thinking about it. She checked on the wall clock, the time stood at 11:07. She must have dozed off on the couch for over thirty minutes, she concluded. 11: 07p.m. and Mike wasn’t home!
Chioma gathered herself up from the couch and crossed to the window. She pulled aside the curtain and peered into the night. It was pitch dark out there. It was one of those nights when the moon and the stars conspired not to give their lights. She had been angry before that short nap on the couch. But now her anger was shaping into anxiety. What could be wrong? Just then she noticed the beam of lights from the headlights of an approaching car from a distance. It had to be Mike she concluded and so decided to wait at the window to watch the gatekeeper let him in into the compound. But for the second time that night, she was disappointed when the car had driven by past the house.
She left the window and returned to the couch. She dialed his husband’s phone number again. She cut the connection as the voice began to say, “The num…” She knew what was coming next. The same story of his number being switched off. A flurry of thoughts rushed through her mind. But when the thought of the possibility that Mike could be seeing another woman dropped on her mind, every other thought was pushed out. And as much as Chioma feared it, the thought stuck. Hadn’t she read somewhere that late night keeping was one of the early signs of infidelity in a man? What about her secretary’s claim that he’d left work a long time ago? She winced at the realisation that that night was the third time in less than ten days that Mike was returning home very late. Could a crack be forming in her marriage of only nine months already? Her anxiety suddenly turned into desperation. She silently wished Mike would be home late for any reason, no matter how ridiculous, other than having another woman out there. She closed her eyes and begged God to save her marriage, should anything untoward be shaping up. She remembered that Mike had blamed the last two late homecomings on having to stay back at the office with some staff to tidy up some necessary work, two separate stories she’d believed then but was now having her doubts about.
Chioma needed someone to confide in. Her father was her best and about the only confidante she had aside from her husband. But talking to him about her fears when all she could lay claim to were just mere gut feelings was out of the question. Mike had no real friends as far as knew. He was just the male version of herself when it came to keeping friends. That left her with only one option; talking to Efe.
Efe was Mike’s cousin. And she was the only other person Mike seemed to care about. They were both orphaned and had weathered the storms of life looking out for each other. No other relatives mattered to them both. In fact, they went about life like they were the only two individuals who’d survived their lineage’s total annihilation. The bond they shared was actually inexplicable. Chioma had known her for as long as she known Mike. If there was anyone to discuss Mike with, it had to be Efe reasoned Chioma as she dialed her number, without caring it was late in the night.
* * *
Efe was just about tucking her petite body into bed when her phone rang. It was surprising to see Chioma’s number. They were not so close to the extent that she could call her at a time like this. There had to be something wrong.
“Hello”, she said yawningly into the phone. She did not miss the quiver in Chioma’s voice when she told her that Mike wasn’t home and that that night was the third time in ten days that would happen. She knew what Chioma was subtly trying to suggest; Mike could be involved in extra-marital affair. She tried to allay Chioma’s fears and advised her to go to bed, with the promise to come see her the following evening.
But more than thirty minutes after Chioma hung up, Efe was turning everything over in her lawyer’s mind. Would Mike be crazy, no stupid enough to get involved with yet another woman? He had better not be for his own good. But then it crossed her mind that Chioma had said Mike was home late even four days back. Four days ago? Wasn’t that the Friday Mike had failed to come see her as agreed, with the claim that he had to be home to look after a sick Chioma? Well, no use dying before one’s death. ‘Until you’re sure, you aren’t sure’, she concluded philosophically. But she seriously wished Mike wasn’t seeing another woman. She needed no one to tell her the consequence would be a grave one.
* * *
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