Onyedekagi? Ekene di ri gi? Onyene mema.  Onyedekagi? Ekene di ri gi? Onye nagworia. Imela, imela okaka onyekeruwa, imela imela Eze m oh (Who is like you? Glory belongs to you, He who does good. Who is like you? All glory belongs to you mighty Healer. Thank you thank you Great and Mighty Creator of the world. Thank you! Thank you! My King) – Nathaniel Bassey & Enitan Adaba in the song Imela

The song resonated repeatedly in her grateful heart as she sat by the window, her eyes not seeing the beautiful garden. Her eyes were clouded with memories of the past. Scenes from the past flitted through her mind, all very vivid. It seemed just like yesterday. The sudden crescendo from the children playing near her was enough to jolt her out of reverie. She turned and smiled at them as they hunched over a toy train set. They were her blessings. All part of the package she never thought could be hers again. She smiled and glanced back at the window. The sunny day reminded her of that fateful day.

She came out of her car elated. Her steps were springy, her heart brimming with joy. She couldn’t wait to give Tola the good news. Adaobi was just from her Dad’s office where he had given her an open check to pay all expenses for the wedding. As he said smiling “nothing is too much for my baby girl”. She just had to tell Tola who had been worried about the increasing wedding expenses. She knew he would be relieved. There had been so much complaining recently about the rising bills, bickering almost every time they met. Tola was her fiancé who she met three years ago. Their relationship had graduated slowly and steadily and now they were planning to tie the nuptial knot in a few months’ time. She could hardly wait to be his wife. Tola was every lady’s dream. Tall, handsome and financially stable. Not that finance was a problem for her anyways but then it made the whole package complete. She knew many of her friends were envious. She didn’t blame them. Sometimes she had to pinch herself that she wasn’t dreaming. 

His car was parked in the open garage and she was glad he was home. Normally at this time of the day he was at work and she had taken the gamble to pass through his house after her numerous calls to his mobile had gone unanswered.

Pressing the lock button on her car keys, she quickly went to the door. She had collected a copy of his keys some few weeks back when making arrangements for one of his numerous office parties he hosted. She smiled as she remembered. He was always reluctant to give her his keys but he had no choice then. She had conveniently forgotten to give him the keys after all she reasoned “we are getting married soon. So it would soon be our house.” She opened the door now and called his name cheerfully as she flung her bag on the sofa nearest to the door and kicked off her shoes. “Darling, I got good news” she sang out in a sing-song voice.  Suddenly she paused noting the haphazard look in the sitting room; clothes and shoes scattered, papers disorganized all over. Worried, she glanced around. “Tola? Sweetheart where are you?” This was unusual.  Tola was a stickler for neatness. In fact he had an obsession with being neat, something that had taken a while for her to get used to so seeing the dishevelled sitting room troubled her. Stepping over a pair of socks, she gingerly made her way across the room. Frightened, she called out. “Tola darling are you okay?” A thump followed by moaning. Her heart raced a mile per minute. Was he hurt? She held her phone mulling. Should she call for help? Indecisive, she entered the passageway picking up a shoe she sighted at a corner. Abruptly, she looked at her hand. This was highly unusual. Tola wouldn’t leave a shoe in the passage. She heard an indistinct sound near the room and moved closer….it seemed whoever was there wasn’t alone. She hurried along the passage to the master’s bedroom. “Tola….” she paused shell-shocked. Her eyes beheld an intimate scene: Tola locked in the embrace of a lady, both in nude state unaware that they had an audience. Her phone slipped from her limp hand, the sound of glass shattering jerking the duo into awareness of their surroundings.  Different emotions flitted their faces: her countenance total shock and disbelief, Tola and the lady, shock and dismay. Suddenly recognition filled Ada’s eyes. It was Nike! Her best friend and bridesmaid-to-be Nike. “You!”

To be continued………

Question: Do you think Ada was right to have kept a key of Tola’s apartment when they weren’t married?

Written by Oruare Ojimadu

Image by vishnu vijayan from Pixabay