He said no Episode 25 & 26

25/26
HE SAID NO.
EPISODE 25
 
 
Amifel was at Elegantè couture with Esther, one of her clients whose wedding was fast approaching. Esther asked that Amifel follow her alongside her sister to shop for her wedding dress and Amifel agreed.
They were on the t©pmost floor of the famous Elegantè couture, the view from up there was incredible. Different gorgeous designs of glistering white wedding dresses were displa-yed on the expensive-looking dummies.
“How do I look?” Esther said as she swirled around in front of one of the full-length mirrors. She was trying on a beautiful ball white dress with shiny spe-ckles of stones dispersed all around the upper p@rt of her dress, the lower p@rt which started from her w@!st was bogus, ma-king it look like lots of things wereee stuffed un-derneath the dress.
“You look amazing,” Amifel said excitedly, “Like Cinderella!” she added almost immediately, her sister facial expression showed that she did not quite agree with them as her eyes scanned throu-gh the hallway for other wedding dresses.
“Why don’t you try this,” her sister offered, pointing to another dress which looked somewhat like what she was putting on, however the lower p@rt of the go-wn was ruffled and the shiny spe-ckles weren’t as clumsy as the first one.
She decided to try it on,
“Now you look like a beautiful Disney princess,” her sister smiled satisfactorily while folding her arms.
“What do you think?” Esther asked, turning to Amifel.
“It’s beautiful too,” Amifel smiled, trying to sound enthusiastic, she preferred the previous one she wore.
“Let’s check some more but I have my eyes on this one,” Esther said to the female attendant who was taking them around. Amifel was alre-ady getting tired of walking around. For more than half an hour, they kept trying on some more dresses, they later decided to settle for the one her sister chose.
The female attendant asked them to go over to the receptionist while she re-moved the dress from the dummy. Amifel moved to the corridor, the sight from there was a beauty to behold, she could see people walking to and from the big premise, throu-gh the glas-s slides.
Her eyes fell on a dark-skinned lady walking out of the exquisite hall with a big white go-wn folded un-derneath her arm, a fresh and handsome looking young man on suit walked right behind her wearing dark shades. He was tall and fair-skinned and his broad che-st made him look like a Nollywood actor.
“Awwwn, such cute couples,” she smiled as she leaned slightly on the glas-s shield to catch a better view. The lady’s back view looked like someone she knew, she brushed the thought aside but she could not help but stare at her, her skin shone in the midday sun. As the young man collected the go-wn from her and opened the door to a white SUV which was supposedly his, the young lady turned back momentarily and that was when she saw her face.
“Blessing!” she said aloud, Blessing had alre-ady taken her seat in front of the car while the young man reversed the car as they slowly made their way out of the premise.
Running down to meet them wasn’t an option, they would definitely have zoomed out before she gets down.
“Blessing is getting married?” she asked herself, wondering why she has been hiding it from them, or maybe Grace knows about it, but she would have told her, she thought to herself, the whole thing looked confusing to her.
“Amifel, let’s go,” Esther called from afar.
“That’s her business, “she said to herself as she walked towards them.
***********************************
Grace was working on her l@pt©p when she heard a knock on the door, she left what she was doing to get it.
“Amifel, what’s up,” she asked, surprised. Amifel hurried in like something was chasing her as she dropped her bag on the table.
“Grace is getting married!”
“How did you know that,” Grace said as she sat on her be-d before placing her l@pt©p back on her l@p.
“You don’t look too surprised, ”
“Well, maybe a little, did she finally tell you?”
“It’s like you know about it before now?”
“Uhmm, I sort of guessed, but I wasn’t sure,”
“I saw her at Elegantè couture with her fiancé,” Amifel explained as she sat down beside Grace.
“Really? I hope it’s not another married man?”
“I doubt, the man I saw looked somewhat young and clas-sy too, but why is she hiding such a thing from us?” Amifel asked she sounded pained.
“Amifel, why are you stressing yourself unnecessarily?”
“I thought we were friends, are we supposed to hide such things from each other?”
Grace put her l@pt©p aside before facing Amifel.
“I saw her earlier this week when I c@m£ home from work and I heard her talking about some wedding cake for her big day. “she explained.
“We both know that nob©dy would hide such good news, without reasons. She definitely has her reasons, and it’s her life. She might eventually tell us when she thinks the time is right, and she might not. Either way, it’s her life, lets just keep praying for her.” She concluded before carrying her l@pt©p again.
“I don’t know why I feel so hurt, but you are right sha, she would be fine,” Amifel concluded.
“Keep praying for her,” Grace repeated. “What were you doing at Elegantè? I heard it’s a badas-s shop for clas-sy wears,”
“I followed a client to shop for her wedding dress. Mehn, that place is dope, the go-wns are to die for, I really can’t wait to get married” Amifel said.
“Don’t worry babe, very soon, very very soon.” Grace comforted her.
“Amen!” Amifel said, lying on the be-d while staring at the ceiling with longings in her eyes,
EPISODE 26
 
“Tobi, hurry up, or I’ll leave you at home,”
“No no, I will follow you,” Tobi stuttered with a mouth stuffed with noodles.
Mrs. Grace Akinwale was trying to tidy up her kitchen before leaving for Gateway radio, where she got a job as a radio pres£nter. It was her second week of working with them and she had never been happier.
Although her mum had been pestering her to go back to her husband’s house, she refused blatantly and even started avoiding her. If not for the new job she got which made it compulsory for her to drop Tobi at her shop on weekends, her mom wouldn’t have had the privilege of seeing her often.
However, her brother, Daniel, had been super-supportive, morally, and financially. He encouraged her to take a shoot at her long-lost dream of being a pres£nter after she told him that she was thinking of getting a shop like her mom.
“You can do this sis, plea-se give it a trial. It’s better if they reject you than canceling out yourself on this.” Her brother had said.
“I’ll think about it,” she had answered reluctantly.
She felt like no one would want to try someone who had been out of the show for years when there were more qualified and experienced people.
After a series of unsuccessful applications to different TV stations, which she would have preferred, she decided to try radio stations and Gateway radio finally c@m£ throu-gh. She was thankful that she gave gateway radio a trial, all thanks to her brother. The pay wasn’t all that much but she felt satisfied knowing that she had the freedom to go out and do her thing.
Daniel supported her with money every now and then and has promised to keep doing so till she finds her feet.
Like she does on weekend, she decided to drop her son off at her mom’s place before heading to work.
It’s been more than three months since she left home. She ruminated on how peaceful her life had been since she left her violent husband and encountered Jesus, although she could not deny the fact that she missed her husband, who of late had been messing with her thoughts.
He had tried to reach her, but she had blocked him off on all corners, both online and offline, refusing to talk to him while rejecting his money gifts. She even made sure that her mum didn’t know where she lived to ensure that her husband does not discover her newly found safe haven. Whenever Grace suggested she forgives him, she would say,
“I have forgiven him, I just want to keep him at arm’s length for now, “
She just didn’t want to have anything to do with him.
However, just the night before, she dreamt and saw her husband jumping into a dark bottomless pit in spite of her shouting and incessant pu-ll-backs, she was scared to her teeth.
Even though she was not re-ady to go back to him, she didn’t want him dead either, she prayed about him immediately she woke up and she felt a strong nudging in her heart to go and see him, she had been trying to fight it but it got stronger as the clock ticked.
“I don’t want to set my eyes on that man ever again,” she shrugged as she mopped her hands with the kitchen napkin.
“But I have forgiven him,” she comforted herself before heading back to the sitting room to meet her son, who was alre-ady done eating.
“Go get your shoes,” she instructed as he ran into the room excitedly.
**************************************
Grace had just finished anchoring a program tagged ‘Gateway lunch time out’ when she was notified by one of the staffs that her phone had been ringing non-st©p for hours, she apologized profusely for not putting her phone on silent mode before she looked for a quiet corner to sit, so return could return her calls, she had 10 missed calls from up to 3 unsaved numbers,
“Hello…Yes this is Mrs. Akinwale, may I know who I am speaking to” she answered.
“Yes, this is Doctor James and I am calling from Apata General Hospital, your husband was rushed here yesternight after having attem-pted suicide and he is in a critical state now, “
“Jesus!!” Mrs. Grace screamed as she stood up in an instant, “What happened to my husband, hope he is not dead, can I speak to him. plea-se doctor, don’t tell me that he is dead, ” she ranted, sounding perturbe-d and disorganized.
“We are trying our best to make sure that it does not happen but he is currently in the ICU and we would nee-d your attention as…”
“I would be there right away, I’m on my way!” She cut in, as she hurried to her office, which she shared with few other radio pres£nters. She felt a rush of adrenaline sweep throu-gh her veins, she suddenly started to feel pressed while sweating at the same instant.
“Oh God! Oh God! What have I done?” She lamented full of regrets. She headed straight for the office of her s£nior colleague to seek for permission to leave the station and also to have another person take her place for her evening broadcast. She didn’t meet him on seat and she didn’t have the luxury of time to wait.
She walked out of the radio station like someone who was stepping in h0t coals,
“I have killed my husband!” She said the anxiety in her voice was palpable. “I should have gone to see him yesterday! I should have just listened to God! Ah!” She shook, b!tt!g her lowerl-ip.
She decided to call Grace, she tried her number a couple of times without response before opting for a text.
As she hopped on a bike, her weaves danced in the wind as her heart raced at the same pace, “Who do I call? Father plea-se have mercy on Wale, have mercy on me! Ah! If anything happens to him, I won’t forgive myself. ”
 
 
Written by Sodamade Olamide Tolulope.
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