The Puzzle
Episode 9
ELIZ AND DANIELLA
Somewhere in Texas, U.S, Eliz and her daughter, Daniella sat at the dinner table. It was 7:40pm in the evening. Just as they were about to start eating, the door bell rang. “Oh cra-p!” Eliz nearly screamed. “I don’t want a visitor right now!”
“Why mom?” Daniella asked innocently.
“Cos I’m so tired, would faint if I didn’t hit the be-d right after dinner…” The bell rang again. “Who the hell could that be?” she said in a whisper as she moved to the door.
“Who is it?” She barked, her annoyance reflecting in her voice.
“It’s Helena,” c@m£ the voice from outside.
“What? I can’t believe this, Helena?!” Shouted Eliz.
“Oh yeah, silly girl, open this fv¢king door, I’m freezing out here!” She yelled.
Eliz opened the door and there stood her childhood friend and close confidant.
“Oh my God! When did you arrive? How did you get my address? I don’t believe this, what a surprise!” Eliz kept ranting on as she hvgged ti-ghtly her friend of over 25 years . They were so happy to see each other again for the first time since Eliz left Nigeria for the US. Eliz soon forgot about her tiredness
. She called out to Daniella to come and say hello.
“Oh my God! My baby is now a big girl,” Helena exclaimed.
“It’s been a long time you know, Eliz replied. “But how come you didn’t tell me you were coming? How and where did you get my address?” Eliz asked further.
“Calm down babe, won’t you even ask me to sit? Where are your manners?”
“Oh, plea-se sit, I’m so sorry, I am just too excited. In fact come and join us on the dining table”
“Okay dear, thank you.” Helena replied “my coming is meant to be a surprise,” she said as they all settled down to eat.
“Wow! I am so happy to see you Helena. When exactly did you arrive?”
“Last night. I put up at Uncle Richa-rd ‘s place.”
“I can’t believe this, so you have been in town since last night. If I had bu-mped into you today, I would have thought it was your ghost!”
They all laughed.
“So how are you doing Eliz?” Helena asked.
“I am so good and you?”
“Well, I’m doing great as you can see…”
They chatted on and on for several minutes, gossiping and gisting about different issues and people.
. Daniella soon sle-pt off in Helena’s arms where she had curled up earlier.
“So, how long are you gonna stay in Texas?” Eliz asked after she had taken Daniella to her room and settled back on the couch with her friend.
“In two months from now, I would have been back to Niger oh. I beg, no place like home. I wonder how you people survive in a place where local delicacies are such a luxury to afford and where cold can ‘kill person.’
See enh? Eba, fufu and Ogbono soup are very important in my own life oooo”
“Silly girl” Eliz laughed.
“Back to s£nder” Helena replied giggling.
“Eeenh! Eliz,” Helena called out suddenly. “What are your plans babe, is your decision to leave Michael final? Won’t you have a rethink?”
Eliz immediately went sober. “I don’t want to go back to him, he’s such a cheat and a liar, I regret ever marrying him in the first place…”
“But why don’t you at least let him know what he did wrong, the reason why you left him?” Helena interrupted her.
“Well, I decided to let slee-ping dogs lie since I have my own secrets too you know, let us both live in our separate worlds okay? My daughter is not complaining neither am I. Even if Daniella insists on seeing her Dad, I can agree and arrange to do that for her once in every year. Anything asides that, I don’t want to hear.
But you are a cheat and a liar too Eliz, considering the fact that you also have your own secrets and faults, why don’t you just do this for the sake of your daughter? She nee-ds a father figure in her life.”
“Helena, forget about it, I will never go back to him, and that is final okay? Let’s talk about something else.”
“Alright babe, it is your life, you have a right to your own decisions. I was only bothered about your loneliness, it’s not too good for a woman of your age. You are in your early thirties babe, how are you coping with your b©dy’s S-xual demands? I hope you haven’t been going out with different men?”
“Me? God forbid!” Eliz replied, “you know I can be really choosy when it comes to men, I don’t even have their time here at all. There are vibr@tors in the market, I alre-ady bought one for myself and I make use of it whenever my b©dy is on fire.
“Chai, baaaad girl,” You are really a bad girl and I hate you for that.” Helena replied.
“I hate you too, Eliz said, “the feeling is mutual.”
They both bur-st out laughing as they made their way to the be-droom to retire for the night.
The Puzzle
By Moyoso-re Teniola
Episode 10 and 11
MY IDEAL MAN
So, we discovered in episode 8 that Rose concluded in her heart to try all her best to avoid Michael. Let’s see what happens next.
***************************
When Rose got to her daughter’s school, she alighted from the car, she said a quic-k ‘thank you’ and bade him farewell. But before she turned to go, Michael c@m£ down from the car, walked to Rose and said, “I know you are a married woman, Rose but permit me to say this: “in all my years as a doctor, you seem to be the most beautiful woman I have ever come across . When I saw you this morning, I thought you have never had a child but now that you talk of a daughter, I concluded in my heart that you are wonderfully made! Your husband is the luckiest man on earth. plea-se keep it up, you look so smart and beautiful beyond description.”
By the time Michael finished his lines, Roseline was totally flattered. She couldn’t explain why this was happening to her, probably because she has been emotionally starved for a long time. She couldn’t find the right words to respond, she only smiled shyly as Michael went back to sit behind the wheels again. Before he started the car, he handed out his complimentary card to Rose.
“plea-se take this, you may nee-d my medical attention anytime anyday, don’t hesitate to call. Take care Angel”
Roseline stood on the sp©t, staring at the vanishing figure of the Toyota car
. Inside her, she wished he hadn’t gone yet. She suddenly wished she wasn’t married yet, not to talk of marrying a cold husband like David. That feeling of loneliness c@m£ over her again. Then, she remembered why she was there, she sighed and quic-kly turned to enter her daughter’s school. She apologized to the teacher for coming late, while both mother and daughter headed for the hospital.
“Where are we going mom?” Debbie asked
“To see grandma, at the hospital sweetheart, she’s a bit ill…” She replied her daughter abs£nt mindedly, her mind was still busy thinking about the encounter she had with Michael…
They finally got home around 08:45pm leaving grandma with her house help to watch over her for the night, so they could prepare for the following day.
After they ate dinner and Debbie had gone to be-d, Roseline la-id on the be-d she shares with her husband. The devil started working on her mind. It’s been a while her husband made love to her, she somehow felt the coldness that night.
. Her thoughts went back to Michael, there was just something about the guy that arou-ses her feelings so much. It’s not as if he was more handsome than her husband anyway but what turns a woman on is beyond mere good looks. Michael has those words that will make a woman stick to him.
“His wife must be very lucky.” Rose thought then paused in her thoughts… “But wait, I didn’t even notice if he had a ring on his f!nger. Could it be that he isn’t married yet?”
Her phone rang, jo-lting her from her thoughts, it was her husband. She checked out the caller and hissed.
“He’s just calling back since morning. It’s alre-ady 10:15pm, is that what a good husband should do?” The phone kept ringing. She refused to pick the calls, hissing again and again, but because of her husband’s persistence, she finally picked up.
She sounded so cold and harsh, “is this when you should be calling enh? Since morning, you didn’t bother to check on us, is the meeting that tough and has it just ended?” She went on and on.
David re-moved his phone from his ear to check out the number he dialled again, it was his wife of course. “What happened to this woman?” He thought then spoke to her
“I am sorry Rose, I had a very busy day and besides, if I didn’t call, you should have at least called too.” He didn’t know he just added petrol to fire.
Eeeeeenhhh? I should do the calling, then you start cutting the calls that you are in a meeting or in the midst of a crucial discussion, I don’t have time for all that…”
“Roseline! Are you sure you are alright?”
“Definitely, do I sound like I am sick? And that reminds me, grandma had an accident today and she’s been hospitalized, though she’s getting better.”
“Jesus!” David exclaimed, “I am so sorry about that, plea-se let me know when you are with her so I can speak with her.”
“No problem, I have to sleep now,” Rose replied, still sounding cold.
“Alright, David replied, sleep well but I also wanted to tell you that I won’t be back till four days from now, I want to check on one of my clients at Benin before coming back to Lagos…” His wife’s voice interrupted him,
“If you like, stay there forever, it’s not like I nee-d you anyway, I’m used to the loneliness”
“Roseline! What is wrong with you tonight? God forbid that I stay forever, what kind of statement is that? I reject it in Jesus name.”
“Whatever,” Rose muttered and dis£ngaged the call, switching off her phone immediately.
Episode 11
APPEARANCES OF EVIL
Roseline la-id on her be-d that night but she was unable to sleep. She kept having this bad thought about her husband. For the first time ever since she was married, she suspected that her husband was having an extra marital affair. “If he doesn’t have any woman over there, why does he usually feel comfortable days away from home? She wept silently for a while then sprang to her feet as if she suddenly remembered something. She went to where she had dropped her bag earlier in the evening and searched for Michael’s complimentary card . When she found it, she smiled as if she had just found a source of comfort. “Is this guy married?” She asked herself. “I just wish I can call to appreciate him again but this is an ungodly hour to call a married man.” She checked the time again, 10:55pm. “Let me give it a try, is he not a doctor? At least he may have sometimes received emergency calls at times like this…
She switched on her phone and dialled the number, he didn’t pick up. After trying again three different times, she gave up. Just then, a thought crossed her mind, why not s£nd a WhatsApp message, when he receives that, he will definitely respond later and they can chat on from there. It seems to be a good idea to her
. She s£nt the message to him via WhatsApp immediately. Thank goodness that it was the same number he gave her that he uses for his WhatsApp. She s£nt the short message to him, “Thanks for today Doctor Michael, you are so nice. God bless you.” – Roseline
The message was delivered immediately. Rose also noticed that he was online. “That was probably why he couldn’t pick her call,” she guessed.
What really happened was that Michael was on a call with his ex-wife, Eliz on his other phone line when Rose called, he didn’t know who the caller was but decided to check back later. After his conversation with Eliz, which of course proved ab-ortive as usual, he decided to chat with some friends online since he wasn’t feeling sleepy yet. He had sle-pt for like two hours after he c@m£ back from work in the evening but now, he didn’t feel like going to be-d. He saw Roseline’s message on WhatsApp and he replied. Rose was just coming back from the bathroom where she went to shower when she heard her phone beep.. She rushed to it in anticipation, wishing it was Michael and indeed it was him. She smiled with great delight. The kind of feeling that engulfed her was the type that engulfs a girl that had just fallen in love for the first time.
She kept re-ading Michael’s message over and over again. It re-ads: “It’s my plea-sure Rose flower, beautiful women like you deserve this kind of favour, I am glad I did.”
After some minutes, she noticed that Michael was still online, she wished he would just s£nd another message so that they could continue chatting, she didn’t want to be too forward.
. She waited and waited and jumped at every beep thinking it was Michael but no it wasn’t.
“He is probably busy chatting with his wife, my own husband will not do that. Only two minutes phone call, he is gone, Hmmmmm,” she sighed.
Then, she suddenly started feeling guilty. “What is wrong with me? This is a married man or at least another woman’s future husband, why should I be doing this? Oh God,” she cried. I just wish my husband is there for me especially on lonely nights like this…” Just then, her phone beeped, it was Michael’s message on WhatsApp.
“Hello, are you still there?”
Rose quic-kly wiped her face, she was so excited. Why she’s feeling this way for this man, she couldn’t un-derstand.
“Yes, I’m here,” she typed.
“Wow, I thought you would have sle-pt and also I didn’t want to disturb a married woman at this time, knowing fully well that you will be with your husband,” he replied.
“Oh! My husband has travelled. He went on a business trip and besides, I don’t feel sleepy yet.”
“I see, can I keep your company then till you feel sleepy, give me the privilege to do just that.”
“Thanks, I will appreciate that a lot but how about your wife?”
“Wife? No wife”
“I don’t un-derstand, what do you mean by ‘no wife’?”
“My wife left me some years back, she insisted on staying abroad, which I opposed vehemently, I don’t like staying abroad, I prefer owning my own hospital in Nigeria, so she left with our daughter ever since.”
“So, you stay alone?”
“Yeah, for now.”
“I am sorry about that.”
Silence….
“Hello,” Michael typed, “do you mind if I hang out with you next tomorrow, that is Saturday?”
“Hmmmm, what kind of hanging out, if I may know?”
“Just to go somewhere to have some nice time, I don’t really keep friends, I feel bored at times, you know.”
“Okay, no problem”
“Alright then, see you by 7pm on Saturday.”
“Okay, I have to go now, I am feeling sleepy alre-ady.”
“Alright dear, sweet dreams”
Roseline felt so happy. She wasn’t sure of where this was leading her to but she didn’t mind. All she wanted was to start a friendsh!pwith this wonderful guy. She yawned and lied on the be-d, satisfied at last that she would see Michael very soon.
Just then, she remembered she hadn’t prayed. She sat up to pray but her ton-gue was tied.
“Do you think God is foolish Rose?” c@m£ a voice from within her.
“You are lvsting after a man who is not your husband, yet you have the guts to pray?”
Rose felt so guilty all over. She lost the boldness to talk to God in prayer and at the same time, she couldn’t ask God for forgiveness because she knew it’s of no use, she was still planning to see Michael anyway…
She soon sle-pt off and dreamt of the outing with Michael all throu-gh the night.
Tbc