CONTRACT MARRIAGE
Episode 27
By GranAmah’s Heart
Three months later!
Ife arranged accordingly the last stack of files on his table and rested a little. The company was expanding at a pace he never expected, and that meant he had more work to do.
Today, he had been engaged in one meeting or the other and was exhausted.
But he had promised Omar yesterday that they would both go for their baby shopping together today. So he had to close early from work. In exhaustion, he closed his eyes briefly to take a nap but the incessant ringing of his phone jerked him awake.
It was an unsaved number, but his instincts told him to pick.
“ Hello….” He voiced.
There was a slight pause from the other end.
“ Hi Ife…. It’s Zoey….. it’s been a while I saw you….. I just needed to give you more time to come around…..but I think it’s time we talked things out….”
Ife mused and wondered how she got his number.
He threw the question.
“ Zoey…. Please how did you get my number?” He asked her.
There was a brief pause.
“ How I got your number is not important right now….. I know you are married now, and would like to keep your distance….. but I believe I still owe you an explanation regarding why I left the way I did…..” Zoey said and paused.
“…And I know you also desire an explanation.” She continued.
“… Ife…. I just want us to meet and talk.” She said.
There was a pause from Ife.
“ Fine….but that wouldn’t be today cause I’ve got a lot of activities stashed up for me.” Ife answered.
“ Ok…. What about 2pm on Saturday?….” She asked.
“ It works for me….. where do we meet up?”
“ let’s meet at our favorite spot at the beach.” she said.
He sighed.
“ Ok then.” He said and hung up.
Grabbing his suit hunged on his chair and his suitcase, he exited the company’s building and headed home.
Omar was on a call with Binta when he entered.
“ Hey love.” He greeted and kíssed her on the cheek.
She blew him a kïss and rounded up her call.
“ How was your day my love?” She asked him.
“ It was busy and brain demanding.”
“ hmm!…. Sorry…. Hope you are not too tired?”
“ No dear….. I’m okay thanks.”
“ Any gist for me?”
He chuckled and paused.
“ Zoey called me.” He said.
Omar’s brow creased into a frown.
“ What does she want?”
Ife smiled.
“ Calm down honey…. She just wants us to meet up and to explain the reason she left.”
“ But that’s in the past already….. you have moved on!!…. So she should do the same!!”
Ife cleared his throat.
“ I understand your point Omar…. But I need to know the reason she left too….. honey you got to trust me on this one ok?” he said persuasively.
She hesitated, then sighed.
“ Ok.”
He nodded and rubbed her cheeks with his palms.
“ So are you ready for our baby shopping?”
“ Yes…. Let me get my purse.” She said and climbed up the stairs. She came back in less than ten minutes, and they left.
**********************
Her office door creaked open and Omar walked in.
“ Omar!!….” Ashley gushed.
“ What a pleasant surprise to see you visit me after a long time!!” She said with a smile plastered on her face.
Omar didn’t return the smile. She sat down instead and fixated her gaze on Ashley.
“ What is it?…. Why are you looking at me like that?” Ashley asked her.
“ I didn’t come here for pleasantries Ashley.” Omar said in a serious tone.
“ Then why are you here?” Ashley asked in amusement.
“ My coming here is very simple Ashley….” Omar said, resting her arms on Ashley’s office table.
“ Tell your sister to leave my husband alone Ashley!!….. There are so many available men out there!!…. Let her pick from them, and leave Ife alone!!” Omar said, half yelling.
Ashley chuckled loudly.
“ If your husband loves you so much honey….why the insecurity?” Ashley asked mockingly.
“I’m not insecure…. I’m only marking my territory!!”
Ashley laughed out loud.
“ You do not need to mark your territory and fight shamelessly for a man who is married to you based on a contract!!” She said.
Omar scoffed.
“ I’m not here to banter words with you Ashley….. I’m just here to warn you…. And this would be my first and last warning!!….. Tell Zoey to stay the héll off my man!!!” Omar warned, half yelling.
“ Or what will you do?” Ashley challenged her angrily.
Omar scoffed.
“ You wouldn’t want to know what I would do Ashley…. Do not underestimate me!!….” Omar warned further, pointing her fingers at Ashley.
“ Get the hell out of my office.” Ashley fired back, further escalating the arguments between them as they yelled at themselves.
The door suddenly opened and Judith entered hurriedly.
“ Judith!!!…. Thank God you are here!!…. Imagine this fool having the audacity to come to my office to threaten me!!….” Ashley was saying, but was quickly interrupted by Judith.
“ I have been duped!!!….. I have been scammed Ashley….. all my investments are gone!!!….. As in gone!!!!” Judith lamented loudly, throwing her bag on the floor and placing her hands on her head.
“ Wait a minute Judith!…. Calm down …..I don’t understand what you are saying….. can you take it easy.” Ashley said, trying to calm her down.
But Judith panicked more.
“ The business I informed you about last month that I invested all my savings in?”
“ Yes!…. Yes!…. I remember…. You said you wanted to buy some shares in a foreign company!!” Ashley replied.
Judith nodded anxiously.
“ Yes!!!…. Ashley it was a scam!!!…. And I fell for it!!!…. All my savings are gone!!!”
“ My savings!!!!….. Do you believe I sold my property in Banana Island to raise enough money for the investment?…… Everything is gone Ashley….. I am ruined!!!” Judith said and began to weep profusely.
Omar swallowed hard.
“ You mean you sold your major properties to purchase some shares in a foreign company?” Omar asked subtly.
Judith wept loudly.
“ I thought it was legit….. he made me believe it was all legitimate… he even took me to the company and showed me some evidential proofs!!….I didn’t know it was all a set up!!!” Judith replied.
Ashley sighed painfully.
“ So how did you find out you were scammed?”
Omar asked in curiosity.
“ I went to the company building….. but there was no one there…. It turns out the building had been abandoned for a while now…..and the guy who introduced me to the company, was suddenly not reachable…. All his social media handles has been blocked!!!…. I am doomed!!!….” Judith said as she continued weeping.
Ashley and Omar, tried to console her but she was inconsolable.
CONTRACT MARRIAGE
Episode 28
By GranAmah’s Heart
“ You’ve grown more handsome within the last few years.” Zoey complemented him as they sat in a relaxed form by the beach side.
Ife smiled faintly and sipped from his glass of lemonade.
“ Sitting here with you by the beach side, brings me some memories of the past….
“…Memories of how we used to hang out after a long and stressful day…. You know?….This was our favorite spot Zoey.” He said with a smile on his face.
Zoey smiled broadly.
“Yes it was….we really looked good together….. and couldn’t even go a day without seeing each other.” She replied with a far away look on her face.
“ Yes….but that changed the moment you walked away and left me hanging.” Ife said and sighed.
Zoey swallowed painfully.
“ Ife….. I know I must have really hürt you by leaving the way I did…. But that was not my intention…… I had no choice than to leave.” Zoey said.
“ What do you mean you had no choice?…..” he asked her.
She sighed.
“ four days before I left.” She began and gave a long pause.
Ife focused his gaze on her and noticed she was pained.
“ I’m all hears Zoey.” He said.
She nodded her head and continued.
“ four days before I left for South Africa…… I was abducted on my way back from work.“
Ife squinted his eyes in surprise and flashed her a questioning look
“Yes!!…. I was abducted.” She clarified and continued.
“… On the second day of my abduction, the leader of the gang told me his boss wanted to have a word with me, so he led me to another room where I saw a man dressed in suit, sitting down and waiting for me….. it was Mr Coker.”
“ Mr Coker!…. My step father?” Ife asked in bewilderment.
Zoey nodded her head.
“ Yes!…. It was him.” She replied and swallowed a lump of saliva.
“ Mr Coker told me that I was standing in the way of his plans to establish a fatherly relationship with you…. He said he didn’t like my influence on you and he wants us to be separated……” Zoey said calmly.
Ife scoffed unbelievably.
“ Mr Coker threatened you!!!….”
“ yes he did….. he wanted me to leave you alone for good, or he would kíll me…. I begged him not to kíll me and so he made me sign an undertaking that I would totally cut off any ties with you…..then he made necessary arrangements for me to travel out of the country to Morocco…. I had to lie to my colleagues that I was traveling to South Africa…..but after staying six months in Morocco, I migrated to South Africa.” She said.
Ife fell silent for what seemed like an eternity.
He was hurt.
“ Why didn’t you tell me he threatened you?” he asked her eventually.
She exhaled deeply.
“ Because I didn’t want to dïe….. Ife you were still too young to stand up against your step father….. Mr Coker is a very evīl man who would clear out anything and anyone who gets in his way….. besides, your mom was sick and you had a lot to deal with.” She said.
Ife shook his head sadly.
“ I’m sorry you had to go through all of this because of me….. I feel so bad right now!!…. I….I just wished you had at least, found a way of telling me.” Ife said sadly.
“ I couldn’t have Ife…. I was afraid of Mr Coker and what he could do.”
Ife nodded his head.
“ I understand….. so why did you come back to Nigeria?…. Knowing that Mr Coker is still very much alive and at alert?” he asked her.
“ I’m no longer the timid Zoey of then Ife…. I have seen a lot in this life and I can categorically say I’m not afraid of anyone.” She said.
“… I….uhm…I actually came back because I couldn’t stop thinking about you…. I needed to explain things to you and I nursed a possibility in my heart, of us getting back together.” Zoey ended.
Ife swallowed hard and fell silent.
“…Ife…. I still very much love you…. And I am very much willing to get back together with you.” She said calmly and held his hands.
“ Zoey,…. As much as I feel so terrible about what happened between us,….. I’m afraid we can’t get back together.” He replied.
“ Why?”
He sighed.
“ I’m married, and I am determined to stay faithful to my wife….. Zoey…uhm…. I know this is hard for you, but we can’t be together.” Ife said.
Zoey exhaled deeply.
“ Ife,…. I know you are in a contract marriage….and it’s ok….I can wait patiently till the contract is over, so we can get back together…. You ….”
“ Wait a minute!! …. How did you know it’s a contract marriage?” he asked in surprise.
Zoey shrugged.
“ it doesn’t matter how I know Ife… I just know there’s a possibility we can be together.”
Ife scoffed.
“ I love Omar…. And there’s no way we are getting separated…. Not now…. Not ever….. see Zoey….I need you to move on, because I have moved on and I’m happy…”
He sighed again.
“ You have a great future ahead of you Zoey…. Do not jeopardize it by sticking to a married man…. There are so many good men out there, who will love you unconditionally…. Please Zoey….open up your heart to love again and forget about me….I already belong to another.” He said.
Zoey bit her lower lip in agitation.
“ Ife….look into my eyes and tell me you don’t love me?” She said and drew closer to kiss him, but he stood up.
“ I’m sorry Zoey…. This can never happen…. I wish you good luck in your endeavors…. Goodbye.” He said and walked out, ignoring her calls for him to come back.
*********************
Judith paced around her apartment anxiously, thinking of the next step to take.
She was ruined…. Like completely ruined!!
How could this have happened to her?
How could she be this trusting of that guy?
Hot tears streamed from her eyes as she meditated on her next step.
She needed cash badly to survive and has almost exhausted all her options except for one.
She decided to call Richard.
Judith picked up her phone and dialled Richard’s line repeatedly, but there was no answer.
She continued dialing it, until he picked on the fifth ring.
“ Richard!…. Where did you keep your phone?… I’ve been calling your line repeatedly, but you did not pick…I don’t…” Judith was saying but was suddenly interrupted by Richard.
“ What do you want Judith?” Richard asked her sharply.
“ I …. Uhm… actually I need some money to get a few more things for my birthday.” Judith stuttered as she spoke on the phone.
Richard chuckled loudly.
“So you have the effrontery to still call me for money after you’ve infected me with hepatitis B…. And sadly enough…. I transmitted the disease to my poor wife!!!…..” Richard accused.
“ What?…. Hepatitis B?….. I clearly do not understand what you are talking about.” Judith retorted.
“ Are you trying to feign ignorance now Judith? ….” Richard queried angrily.
Judith scoffed.
“ I don’t understand what you are talking about Richard!!… I do not have hepatitis!!…. Perhaps you could go check up with one of your girlfriend’s!!”
Richard hissed.
“ See…. I don’t want to have anything to do with you from now henceforth!!… I owe you nothing and would not hesitate to get you arrested if you try calling me again.” Richard warned and hung up.
She opened her mouth, dumbfounded by Richard’s rude response to her.
“ Hepatitis B!!!…. There was no way she could be infected with it.”
She banged her fist on her table in utter fustration, and sat on the floor crying.
Tbc