a game of love and obsession episode 18

A GAME
OF LOVE
AND OBSESSION

Chapter 18

Sandra became quiet for a while. Actually, that freaked out Jesse since he was expecting a straight ‘yes’ answer from Sandra. But, his hope became to dwindle by the sudden silence of Sandra. “Jesse, I am surprised. I wasn’t expecting it, trust me. Please, can I give you an answer later? As you are aware, I was discharged from the hospital today. Can we please discuss this another time?” Sandra implored Jesse. Jesse agreed by nodding. He was showing signs of displea-sure although he agreed. He had come there to pour out his heart only to be met with an indefinite answer. He knew himself. Raising such a topic again wouldn’t be easy. He had to show virtues of patience if he was going to win Sandra’s heart. He had no idea that Sandra had accepted Desmond’s proposal earlier in the day.

The only option for Jesse now was to allow Sandra to think about his proposal for some time. Perhaps he was too eager for the relationship to commence. He thought of it as a good idea. He immediately changed the topic to the relief of Sandra. He later excused himself to go home. Sandra escorted him to the door and bade him goodbye. The moment Jesse started walking on the road, thoughts about what Theodora said came to his mind. He was wondering what at all could have made her contact him in such a manner. There was only one way of finding out. He just hoped she will fulfill her promise by coming over.

True to her promise, Jesse found Theodora in front of his house. It seemed she had been standing there for quite some time. Jesse had mixed feelings about everything that was happening. “Finally, Jesse. You are in,” said Theodora. “Yes! I must confess, I am surprised to see you,” Jesse confessed. “I know, Jesse. I have been waiting for you here for some time. What kept you? Because I know the time you close,” Theodora inquired. “I had to pas-s by a friend’s house. She isn’t feeling well,” Jesse responded. “Wow! She!? I see you are doing well without me,” Theodora teased. “She is not what you think. I said a friend not a fiancee,” said Jesse. “if you say so, Jesse, but I know you. Can we go inside?” Theodora asked. “Sure! Please come in,” Jesse said and opened the door for Theodora.

Theodora started pacing the room immediately she entered. “I see! Same old Jesse. Nothing has changed here except my portrait. You were serious when you said you have thrown it away. I never thought you could get over me that quickly,” said Theodora as she still paced the house. Jesse kept mute and ignored her. “Silent as always,” Theodora teased. “You said you wanted to discuss something important with me. I am here now. Can we begin?” Jesse interjected. “What is the name of the girl you were talking about over the phone? Was she the one you went to see before coming here?” Asked Theodora trying to divert Jesse’s question. “Please, that was not the answer to my question. That is my private business. Can you start talking about your reason for coming here? I don’t have all day!!” Jesse exclaimed. “Calm down, Jesse. I was just pulling your legs,” said Theodora.

Theodora sat in the sofa in silence and began to cry. “This is the only laugh I have had in months, Jesse. There is no joy in my marriage. What I am seeing is horror. I never thought I would end up like this,” Theodora said amidst tears. Her tears moved Jesse. He felt sorry for her although he didn’t know what her problem was. “What is it, Dor? You know you can tell me anything,” Jesse said as he tried his best to comfort her. “You are the first person I am disclosing this to, Jesse. No one knows about this. It is actually difficult for me to tell anyone. I trust you very much that is why I am going to tell you this,” said Theodora. “I am all ears, Theodora,” Jesse said.

“You remember the day you proposed to me?” Theodora asked. “Yes, I do; and I also remember how you ripped my heart out of my che-st when you laughed at me. I still remember those words coming out from your mouth. “You can’t handle me, Jesse. I am too big for you to contain,”” Jesse responded with pain and sadness in his voice. “I am so sorry for that, Jesse. I was not wise then. I met this guy on my way to your place that faithful day. He gave me a ride from my Junction to this place. The guy looked very rich and in fact was very rich. We had a lengthy chat in the car on my way here. I realized he was interested in me. You know my weakness for money, Jesse. I couldn’t resist. I weighed both of you in my mind and came to the conclusion that he was a better choice than you. That was why I gave you the kind of answer I did when I came over,” Theodora explained.

Jesse just looked on in silence. He was lost for word. He just watched Theodora as she paused for a while to wipe her tears. “That was the worst mistake of my life, Jesse. The day I rejected you for him. He was very intense with his approach and I fell for it. He talked about marrying me and I couldn’t control myself. I mean who wouldn’t want to be married to such a successful guy?” Theodora asked rhetorically.

“We scheduled the married for the following month. He quickly went to see my parents to ask for my hand in marriage. My mom was quite suspicious when she got to know how long we have dated. She advised me to take my time to know the guy well before committing myself to the institution of marriage. I would have none of it. I remember vividly the constant disagreement I had with my parents because of that issue. It got to a time I wasn’t talking to them anymore. I gave them no choice, but to accept my decision. The date for the wedding was finally fixed and I got married to Newman.

Everything was working as I envisioned. Newman was so sweet and caring. He often showered me with expensive gifts anytime he came back from his travels. It was just me, him and the dog in the house. He treated both the dog and myself well. I was beginning to get jealous since Newman gave the dog the same attention he gave me. Sometimes the dog got more attention. I was thinking why he would give an animal so much attention than a human being. But, I reasoned that, the dog had been with him for a long time and they have really gotten acquainted with each other. So it was a normal thing.

Three months into the marriage, I got pregnant. That was where everything took a turn. Newman initially was supportive even until the baby was born. I gave birth to the baby in London. I came back to Ghana to find a new Newman. He was surrounded by new friends I didn’t know of. He became distant and always spends his nights out of our matrimonial bed.

I followed him one night when he got up from bed to do whatever he had always been doing at that ungodly hour. I was so filled with curiosity. I trailed him as he walked on the compound backward in a spiral movement. He removed his clothing at a point and did walked backward again with his na-ked ness. I was so frightened. He was mumbling some words on is li-ps as he walked. The next thing I saw was that, he approaching the dog’s kennel. What I saw with my eyes can’t be explained with words. But, let me try and explain as well as I can. I saw my husband having intimacy with the dog with do much pas-sion. He had never expressed such pas-sion to me in our entire marital life. I was so horrified. It was then I un-derstood why he gave the dog more attention. It wasn’t just a dog to him,” Theodora began to wail at this point. Jesse emBr@ced her and began to comfort her.

TBc…