THE BrideGloom, Episode 1*
Change, they say, is constant. Change happened and Deric who was once a s£nior manager in one of the reputable banks in Nigeria was made redundant. Not wanting his wife Charlotte to keep shouldering the family’s responsibilities alone, he goes out Every day in search of employment.
Feeling rather defeated, disappointed and discouraged after an unfruitful day, he walked into their be-droom and found Charlotte dusting the be-droom furniture…
EPISODE ONE!
Deric: Hello sweetheart, what are you doing?
Charlotte: ermmm, my husband paid for this weekend away in this beautiful resort. So I am just in this swimming pool enjoying myself with this bottle of champagne!
Deric: come on, babe! You can answer my question without being c0cky.
Charlotte: Deric, I am aware that you lost your job, but when did you lose your sight? I mean, what was the meaning of that question! You clearly saw me cleaning!
Deric: I did. But I was only trying to start a conversation since you didn’t even take any notice of my pres£nce. Anyway! How was work?
Charlotte: stressful!
Deric: have you had something to eat then?
Charlotte: no. Because you left everywhere a mess, and I can’t function in this filth
Deric: erm, I’m very sorry, I..I woke up late and didn’t have the time to clean up
Charlotte: were you running late for work?
Deric: I was running late for an appointment, Charlotte!
Charlotte: oh great! So how was the appointment?
Deric: I met the manager and after a brief conversation, we realised I am not what they are looking for.
Charlotte: so cleaning the house wouldn’t have been such a bad idea. Would it.
Deric: can you just st©p going on and on about one day I failed to clean the house!
Charlotte: I see. Anyway, you have a letter.
Deric: from who?
Charlotte: find out. It’s right there on the shelf.
Deric: (sluggishly opens the letter, had a glance, dropped it and started undressing)
Charlotte: that letter is not one to be fli-pped or left in the shelf. It requires action and I am not one bit re-ady to deal with that rude woman. Rent is due, my dear husband!
Deric: Charlotte, plea-se give me a break. Will You?
Charlotte: just pas-sing a message.
Deric: message received. Thank You!
Charlotte: It’s a plea-sure!
Deric: Charlotte?
Charlotte: what?
Deric: who is Jaykob?
Charlotte: Bobrisky’s gate man!
Deric: oh will you cut that cra-p and answer my question!!
Charlotte: hey! You are shouting!
Deric: I’m shouting because you are acting daft! Who is jaykob that kept texting you all night!
Charlotte: I don’t know what you are talking about!
Deric: Charlotte, you attended one of the best universities in the UK, so st©p acting as if you have no un-derstanding of the English language!
Charlotte: na asu oyibo (keep speaking English)
Deric: and don’t answer me in your language because you know so damn well that I do not un-derstand It!!!
Charlotte: well! Maybe the time you spent perusing my phone should have been invested in learning a word or two of your wife’s native language! (Storms out)
EPISODE 2 THE BRIDEGLOOM
Nina: Are you okay, Charlotte? You look so pale and sleep-deprived.
Charlotte: phewww! This is not even me. It’s just a left over of last night’s dinner.
Nina: I see! So who had you for dinner last night?
Charlotte: my marriage was this close to packing up last night! This close!
Nina: did you have a fight?
Charlotte: a fight would have been better. I told you stupid Jaykob wouldn’t st©p ringing and texting me, right?
Nina: yea? What happened?
Charlotte: Deric re-ad some of his messages and went absolutely bunkers! He accused me of infidelity and every thing else known to man! We argued until about 3am this morning. Really heated argument. Nina, I just wanna go somewhere nice and quiet and be alone! I’m so fed up of it all. I really am!
Nina: did he get physical?
Charlotte: nah, Deric would never raise a f!nger on me.
Nina: you should have explained to him that Jaykob is only a hopeless stalker
Charlotte: I tried but he saw a message he s£nt to me about the cinema we went together
Nina: oh blimey! You couldn’t put up any convincing defence to that, could you.
Charlotte: none. I was just blabbing and you know Deric is very smart. Anyway, who left these on my desk?
Nina: it’s a memo for board meeting this afternoon. Apparently, we will be officially introduced to the new manager.
Charlotte: have you seen him at all.
Nina: not sure, but I saw a white man sitting in the manager’s office. It could be him.
Charlotte: Jaykob should know. I’ll text him and find o..
Mr Adrian: sorry ladies to interrupt. Is any of you Charlotte?
Charlotte: I am. How may I help?
Mr Adrian: forgive my manners! My name is Adrian and I am the new manager. I will be officially meeting all the staff this afternoon. But before then, I nee-d you to do something for me, if you would.
Charlotte: sure.
Mr Adrian: I’ve just noticed some unpaid bills and I nee-d you to write cheques payable to the companies I’ve written down here. I’ve also included the amounts due to each company . When you are done, plea-se bring the cheques to my office, thanks.
Charlotte: alright. You’ll have it in half an hour
Mr Adrian: perfect! Thanks (walks back to his office)
Nina: hmmmm! Looks like things are about to take a new turn
Charlotte: he seems hands on! Anyway, I better get on with it.
(Before half an hour, Charlotte finished the cheques and took them to Mr Adrian. After about 7 minutes, she got a call from Adrian asking her to come to his office immediately. So she went)
Charlotte: you s£nt for me, Mr Adrian?
Mr Adrian: I did. Have a seat.
Charlotte: (sits down) thanks.
Mr Adrian: how long have you been working here?
Charlotte: a little over 4 years
Mr Adrian: have you received any formal warning at all?
Charlotte: no, sir.
Mr Adrian: unfortunately, you will be getting one today.
Charlotte: why is that?
Mr Adrian: you’ve just made a mistake that’s capable of causing this company a hvge loss. I clearly wrote down the amount of money due to each company.
But from what I have right in front of me, you have made the sum of 1.5 million naira payable to Extext&Co. That is the amount due to Tiletides PLC. Down here, you have made the sum of 2000 naira payable to Clearglas-s instead of 2 million naira.
You see, these errors may look minor but think about what would have happened if I had asked you to post these cheques. We would have been in a mess.
Charlotte: I…I am really sorry, sir. It’s just not my best day today.
Mr Adrian: it takes only one bad day to do a permanent damage to a business
Charlotte: I have been having lots of problems in my marriage, sir. I promise this will never happen again.
Mr Adrian: I’ll give you some days off to sort thing out. Take one week.
Charlotte: sir, I am better off coming to work. I don’t nee-d the break. plea-se?
Mr Adrian: go back to your desk. You are pardoned. Take care.
Charlotte: thank you, sir.
(Charlotte got home at 9pm and met Deric watching the TV but the light was off.)
Deric: how was your day.
Charlotte: good. Why are you in the dark? (Tries to switch on the light)
Deric: the bulb died
Charlotte: why haven’t you replaced it?
Deric: we have no spare
Charlotte: phew! Well, I nee-d a new bulb because I will be working online tonight. Here is two thousand naira, get a bulb with it plea-se. If you can be really fast, that will be great.
Deric: can I have the car keys?
Charlotte: you mean you nee-d a car to go the the corner shop, come on! You actually nee-d the exercise as you are beginning to put on weight
Deric: Well, if I am going to walk, you will not have the bulb as quic-kly as you asked.
Charlotte: there’s not enough petrol in the car. I’m not letting you waste it. So I can wait!
(Deric was walking to the shop when he heard a female voice call his name. He turned around and saw a lady in a sports outfit running after him)
Chioma: Deric!!! Do you remember me!
Deric: I don’t mean to be rude, but I don’t remember you.
Chioma: did you study at Kings College London?
Deric: I did. Wait a minute, are you Chioma!
Chioma: yes, I am!
Deric: you are joking! Oh my God! Chioma! What are you doing here!
Chioma: you have changed! Look at you! We just moved in last week. We live at number 40
Deric: this is amazing! We live at number 38!
Chioma: wow! You must be married now.
Deric: I am. Tell me you are!
Chioma: with two kids. Hehehe.
Deric: You???
Chioma: yea! yea! My youngest is only 5 months. As you can see, I’m trying to lose my baby weight. I was just coming back from jogging when I saw you! What a small world!
Deric: unbelievable! My uni crush!
Chioma: hahahaha!
To be continued.