#TENDER_BEAUTY_2 (Life after the wedding)
EPISODE 5
Richa-rd could not un-derstand the ploy of his as-sistant. She had been exceptional with her work ever since she c@m£ but he could not fathom why she would dress so shamelessly. He had noticed it the previous day and kept quiet but seeing it repeat itself today s£nt a warning signal. It was as though she was bent on s£dûç!ng him or someone else. He hadn’t meant to embarras-s her the way he did but he could not think of a better way to pres£nt it if he wanted a change. Men are not stones and if he could control himself, he could not say the same about the other guys in the hospital. Belina had disapproved of Oyinade immediately she saw her for reasons he could not un-derstand but he knew that she always trusted her instincts and her judgments are often correct.
His Phone beeped notifying him that he had a message and he st©pped what he was doing to check it. He also wanted to call his wife to find out how she was feeling, so in a hurry, he opened the message but what he saw gave him the chills. It was not terribly bad but he still could not imagine it. He re-ad the message and enlarged the picture attached to it. The s£nder of the message was not identified but that was not his problem. He stood up from his chair immediately and left his office.
********************
I l@yin the bathtub feeling slightly better than before. The warm water made my nerves settle and I felt good within few seconds. Remembering my encounter with Kelvin, I scru-bbe-d my b©dy clean because I didn’t want to have anything to do with him. We are Christians, I remembered him say. And so what? Was he not a Christian when he tried to have his way with me, knowing fully well that we were not married yet? Was he not a Christian when he got that harlot to his be-d, thinking he would be able to persuade me with that ridiculous act? He must be out of his mind if he thinks he can come between me and my husband.
All these went throu-gh my mind as I rinsed, toweled and left the bathroom. I remembered that Richa-rd always bec@m£ slightly edgy whenever Kelvin’s name c@m£ up in a discussion. He hated what Kelvin did to me and always emphasized his de-sire to punch the daylight out of his guts for what he did to me. Thinking of Richa-rd , I remembered that I did not tell him I would leave the hospital early. I was about reaching for my phone when it rang. The number I.D was hidden and I hesitated. I did not pick up the first time but the call was repeated. I picked and held the phone to my ear without speaking.
“Hello” I heard a female voice say over the receiver.
“Yes? Who am I speaking with?” I asked
“plea-se, is this Mrs. Belina br@nson?” she asked instead of answering my own question.
“Yes. Who is this plea-se?”
“I would like to remain anonymous ma. I love you so much and I have re-ad a lot about you and what you have been throu-gh. Your story is very tou-ching and inspiring. I know you but you don’t know me. I admire your inner and outer beauty and that is why I am not happy with what your husband is doing ma”.
I was surprised. “What are you talking about” I asked curiously.
“Your husband is cheating on you ma” I heard her say.
“What?” I yelled. “You must have someone else in mind. I am sure of it” I said confidently alre-ady feeling irritated.
“No ma’am. He is cheating on you with the lady working with him; that lady with hvge bu-ttocks and brea-sts. Believe me ma, I usually see them together and I even saw them k!ss!ngone day in the eatery not so far away from the hospital. I know you would not believe me but remember, I warned you”.
“Who are you and who s£nt you?” I yelled but the line was alre-ady dead.
I stared at the phone still wondering what was going on. I was beside myself with rage. The girl sounded sincere but I couldn’t see myself believing a word she said. I remembered that I had felt an instant dislike towards that Oyinade girl when I saw her over a week ago but I could not place my f!nger on what the problem was. I had told Richa-rd what I felt but he had defended her saying that her work had been impeccable since she entered BRH. I knew my instinct was almost always right but could my earlier anxiety have anything to do with Richa-rd . He hadn’t given me any reason to doubt him and his love for me since I met him so why should I doubt him now? Could he cheat on me?
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Richa-rd got to BRP Hospital and on getting to Belina’s office; he was informed that she was alre-ady out. He knew that the cloth she wore was the same with the one in the picture but he could not imagine her seeing that despicable guy for whatever reason. He knew calling her would be bad because he might accuse her, which would be unfair since she hadn’t given him cause to doubt her love for him. He knew she could not cheat on him especially with that guy but he could not un-derstand this; plus he was her first love. He ru-bbe-d the back of his palm against his forehead. Who even s£nt it? He wondered since there was no I.D.
He went back to the office and saw Tony waiting for him. He invited him in without the usual hvgs and funny guy to guy chats.
“What’s eating you bro? You look distant and pale” Tony asked immediately they were on seat.
Richa-rd sighed. “Its… personal” he replied.
“Personal” Tony repeated and laughed. “Since when did you start having personal issues that I can’t hear about?”
Richa-rd stared for a while then stretched his phone towards Tony. Tony scrolled throu-gh and saw a message with the words, “check this out”. Below it, he saw a ph0to of Belina and a guy in what seemed to be a hvg.
“Oh… I see… Jealousy is eating you up. It is just a hvg man, nothing more. He must be her friend. You know Belina better than that” Tony said confidently.
“Yes. It is just a hvg, only he is not her friend. That is Kelvin. Her ex. Her first love” Richa-rd lamented.
“Ok, calm down” Tony said, looking at the picture again.
“I don’t get it. I know she despises him, so what is she doing with him?” Richa-rd said standing up.
“Well, since you know her, you should not doubt her faithfulness. It would be unfair to accuse her wrongly pal, she may never forgive you. If you ask me, this does not look like a proper hvg”. He said inspecting the picture again.
“But it is definitely something, right?” he retorted.
“Who s£nt it? Or are you keeping tabs on her?”
“Definitely not. I also don’t know who s£nt it. The number is hidden”
Tony stood up and went to meet Richa-rd where he was, by the window, looking outside. “You guys have come a long way. You are married. Not just a new couple but you are two years into the marriage. You should know that people are jealous of the relationsh!pand love you have both maintained till now and they want to destroy it. Don’t allow them. I would advise you to take this out of your mind. I am very sure that Belina loves you and would not hurt your feelings this way. I can vouch for her” Tony said.
Richa-rd smiled faintly. “Thanks man” he said honestly, feeling better. “Not a word of this to Prisca, plea-se” he said as an afterthought and Tony nodded.
WATCH OUT FOR EPISODE 6