Lessons in love contd.

Next morning at breakfast it was business as usual.  He talked about his work and the fact that his father wanted to see him that weekend. There was no mention about the argument of the night before or how the night had ended.  He had been like someone who was possessed, there had been no tenderness or love in what had taken place between them. Afterwards, she had listened to him snoring as she cried herself to sleep.

She ate silently, hardly looking up as he handed her a small white envelope.

“Open that and sign it.”

She opened it and saw a neatly typed out resignation letter, suposedly written by her.

“Ade….”

“I know what is best for you. I want to protect you.”

“I cant ….if you love me..you wouldnt ask me to”

He got up from the table and went to close the door, then came back to the table and continued drinking his tea. There was a smile lurking on his handsome face.

“You dont know me, do you?”

She stared at him.

“You should know me well enough to know that I always get what I want.” he leaned back in his chair watching the way her eyes widened as  she as her haands gripped the glass in her hand. ” The minute I saw you, I knew that I had to have you.” his lips twisted as his eyes travelled over her. ” It was important for me to know that my wife had not led a wayward life. I couldnt bear to know that another man had touched the woman I had married. Thats why I wasted no time in marrying you. Now, you are my wife I couldnt bear to imagine other men looking at you.”

Lola shook her head. ” This is ridiculous. You cant lock me up in the house. ”

He got up, then turned and walked towards the door.

To her horror, she heard the key in the lock.

……………………………………………………………………….

HR got her signed letter of resignation the next day.  She couldnt deliver it herself because of her black eye.

A bachelor decides

Lewis woke up with in a bad mood.

Sundays usually did that to him. He was aware that some saw it as a day of rest but he saw it as a day when he had to slow down his usual hectic pace of life. He had to cool his heels. He couldn’t get into the school building to work. He coudnt mentor the boys because they were enjoying the weekend. Maybe he should try and enjoy the weekend.

How could he enjoy the weekend? Everywhere he went there were couples walking around hand in hand in the mall, the cinema – everywhere.  Yesterday when the football team was practising in the park he saw a few fathers with their sons going for football practice.

He would like that. A son to teach footie. Teach him how to learn from his mistakes. As a youth he had got into a bit of trouble, moved with the wrong crowd for some time but his step father had been there for him and had made him see the importance of making something out of his life. He owed the old man a lot.

Maybe a daughter instead. A little girl who he could call his little princess. His little Nubian queen.

Speaking of Nubian queens. One particular face came into focus and he found himself thinking about Lola.

He kept remembering how adorable she looked standing there in front of him. Close enough for him to catch the delicate scent of her perfume and close enough for him to wonder what it might be like to take her in his arms. So he had but he had chickened out of kissing her, deciding to drop a brotherly peck on her forehead instead.

Then his thoughts sobered. If he had kissed her, the way he was feeling last night there was no telling where it may have led and the last thing he wanted was to take advantage of her vulnerability.

This was the kind of woman that he could see himself spending the rest of his life with. He wanted more than the thrill of a few stolen hours. He wanted the joy of knowing what it would be like to wake up with her in his arms, knowing that she was his. He wanted companionship, a kindred spirit to share the ups and downs of life with.

Five years more and he would be 40.

40 and still single. 40 and still having Sunday meals at his parents a couple of times a month. 40 and not even a Baby Father like some of his friends.

If he died tomorrow – what would they write on his tombstone.

“Here lies Lewis Barclays – the best Headmaster that St Johns High School, Hackney ever had.”

He doubted it.

What was he living for? Who was he living for? Why on earth was he being so philosophical for any way.

Maybe he should just take a bath and sit down and polish off the bottle of Rum, someone had just got him from Jamaica. That would certainly help him stop feeling so depressed and pessimistic.

He dragged himself out of bed and went into the kitchen, when the phone rang.

It was his stepfather, calling to see how he was.

A single dilemna

He had a girlfriend once.  She was funny, witty and effervescent. His exact opposite which was why he wasn’t surprised when she found herself a boyfriend who was funny, witty and effervescent.

He believed that it was easy to know where you were with figures. They were reliable, solid and predictable. They didn’t make incessant demands on you to be entertained or expect you to follow behind them like a puppy when they went on these never ending shopping trips.

He worked for StoneWaterHouse one of the largest accounting firms in the world in the financial district. He had a head for figures and was a brilliant man who had put all his life into his career and now found out at the ripe age of 40 that there was no one to share it with.

Then he decided to try speed dating. A methodical man, he found it more than slightly irritating that just when the person in front of you was about to tell you something really meaningful after the initial first few minutes of waffle, the buzzer went and you had to repeat the whole tedious process all over again with someone else.

A kind of quiet desperation was rising in him. A fear that he would grow old and alone like his father so he had tried some dating websites and even put aside his innate inhibitions about making a fool of himself and joined a salsa group even though he knew he had two left feet and kept standing on the feet off all the women who partnered with him.

That was how he ended up asking Louisa, a lovely fashion designer, out for dinner.

She was the only woman who gave him the time of day, even though he had almost crippled her with his clumsy attempts to dance.

A Lesson in Love – excerpt of work in progress

 

At the beggining it had all been good.. The relationship had been idyllic until after the honeymoon.

 

They were having dinner, in their large sitting room, overlooking the Lekki penisula.

 

“Do you like the meal?” She was so eager to please. Eager to see the appreciation his eyes.

 

His smile was different. Kind of knowing. “Not bad. Could do with a little more salt.”

 

Her eyes fell in disappointment. She felt his hand cover hers.

 

“Don’t worry darling. You will learn.”

 

She smiled and started talking about how eager she was to get back to work, meet her colleagues.

 

He looked at her intently. ” You are so lovely.” his eyes travelled over her and rested on her face. ” Sometimes I wake up in the middle of the night and have to keep reminding myself that I’m not dreaming that you are lying there besides me.”

 

She smiled.

 

“You are young and innocent. You have no idea of how men think. Of how they view women who work. They see them as prey, people to be taken advantage of. Ive seen how they carry on. Even the Managers.. They even make passes at married women. Its not a safe environment.”

 

“Ive worked with them for years. They have always treated me with respect. Im not stupid – Im aware that there are so affairs going on but no one has ever bothered me when I was single so why would they do that now? Especially when my husband works in the same office.”

 

He shook his head. ” I dont see why my wife has to work, when I earn enough to take care of her. You can stay at home, amuse yourself, go shopping ….just relax. You dont need to have to spend long hours in what I feel is a very masculine dominated and chauvnistic environment.”

 

She stared at him. “What you have just said is chauvinistic enough! I cant imagine vegetating at home when I have an HND in Business Studies and a diploma in Marketing.”

 

He stood up from the table. ” We will discuss this later.”

 

She wanted to tell him that they would discuss it now, but there was something about the way he said that made her decide to keep quiet.

 

He walked off into his study and closed the door.

 

He had never closed the door against her before.

 

 

 

She had gone upstairs and was lying in bed watching the TV, when he came up. He folded his arms across his chest and watched her.

 

“I need to get something straight. I am your husband. I tell you what I want and you agree to it.  You promised to obey me.”

 

“You promised to love me.”

 

He watched her through half closed eyes.” I dont want to argue about this.  Tommorrow, you will hand in your resignation.”

 

“You cant force me. You dont own me.”

 

He laughed after that. ” Oh yes I do. I own every bit of you. You owe me. Your father and your whole family owes me. If it wasnt for me , your whole family would be in the gutter.”

 

“How dare you talk to me like that?”

 

“I dare because it was my money that bailed your Father out. I dare because it is my money that keeps a roof over your parents head, that pays for your brothe’rs university fees.”

 

Tears sprang to her eyes. Tears because she knew that what he said was true. Tears because she knew that she was in a prison, manufactured by her own parents.

 

She was still crying, when Ade took her in his arms, begging her, apologizing for his harsh words, telling her to trust him because he knew what was best for her. He loved her He couldn’t live without her. She was the one for him. She was the most beautiful woman in the world and he was crazy about her.

 

“My princess…” he whispered against her neck.

 

She was too dazed and tired to push him away. Everything else that followed was a surreal blur.

 

All she could think of was the fact that her parents had sold her for the proverbial seven pieces of sliver.