Chapter Five
Oboh closed his eyes for some minutes. He had been trying to make sure the environment was conducive for what he had to say to his wife tonight. He was willing to make things right. He knew he was far gone, but he needed help, and he needed the support of the one woman he truly loved.
He opened his eyes and looked at the dining table once more. The scented candles glittered in the fading light of dusk. He had made sure to put out all the lights in the room.
The surface of the glass table was covered with a red draped material he got just that afternoon. For table mats, he had gotten six love-shaped designed fabric. They sat beautifully at the six chair-points of the dining table.
Oboh had specially ordered a large bottle of Champagne which he placed in a bucket of ice at the middle of the table. Then he placed a fairly large bouquet of flowers where his wife always sat. Cups of Coldstone Ice cream sat on the table by his right, together with the food he had ordered from Chicken Republic.
Convinced that all was in order, Oboh sat down on one of the dining room chairs, waiting patiently for his wife to return.
Otiti finally got off the floor of the bathroom. She ran herself a hot bath, sobbing as she did. The guilt that washed over her was overwhelming. She got into the bath tub and began scrubbing herself as though to erase the memory of Ikpea from her soul.
She didn’t love the man. It had been a huge mistake. Her hormones had betrayed her. She had had unprotected sex with a man she didn’t love. She was a Christian woman for Christ’s sake. How did she condescend to this level?
After many minutes of washing and scrubbing, she rinsed herself for as long as she could. Then she walked out of the bathroom.
“Oh my God!” Ikpea whistled. “You’re so gorgeous. You took so long in there you almost gave me a heart attack. Can I…”
“Shut up please.” Otiti said, her voice ice cold.
Ikpea stopped in mid stride. He had been about to hug her. “Did I do something wrong?”
Otiti gave the man an even colder stare. She looked at her clothes and wished she had something else to put on. How could she go back into the same clothes that had led her to this? And to think that she had specially selected them to impress the same man that now repulsed her.
“Baby?” Ikpea tried again.
“Will you just shut up? I am not and will never be your baby. This whole charade has been a mistake. I have been such a fool.” Otiti pulled on her remaining clothes and went out of the hotel room.
Ikpea sat on the bed, a sheepish look on his face.
Otiti waited outside for some minutes. She lacked the strength to face her husband. How was she supposed to comport herself now after breaking her marital vows? She had stopped by a boutique and got herself new clothes. She had left orders for the old ones to be burnt. The boutique attendant had perhaps not seen anyone buying clothes and putting them on immediately afterwards. She smiled sadly at the thought. If only she could turn back the hands of time.
She took a deep breath and opened the sitting room door. Was that Lionel Richie’s “To love a woman?” She closed the door behind her and looked straight ahead. The dimness of the sitting room. The candles burning in the distance. The heavenly scent in the air; it was overwhelming. “I don’t how it is but she has the power, she can make me laugh when I want to cry…” Otiti found herself singing the words of the song to herself. This was the same song they had used everyday of their honeymoon. Lionel Richie and Enrique Iglesias, from the album, ‘Escape’. Hearing it again after a year brought tears to her eyes.
Oboh watched his wife come in. He got up slowly and went towards her. Then he joined her in the song. “She tells me that I’m in control but I know it’s just a lie, And I don’t mind oh. Will she love you tomorrow like she loves you today, she can keep your heart guessing but she’s yours if she stays, and that’s what it feels like, to love a woman, to love a woman.”
Otiti let the tears run down her cheeks. She clung to her husband as though he were her life jacket.
Oboh took the gesture to mean that his plans were working. So he cleared his throat and continued the next verse, “When you’re looking in her eyes you can see forever (forever). You’re captured by the beauty of her soul (oh yeah). You know you’re never gonna find a woman like this again…”
Otiti joined her husband, “so don’t let go oh (don’t let go). Will she love you tomorrow like she loves you today. She can keep your heart guessing but she’s yours if she stays. And that’s what it feels like, to love a woman. To love a woman…”
“Baby before I say anything, I just want to let you know that I’m deeply sorry for everything.” Oboh looked at his wife in the eye.
“I’m the one that’s sorry.” Otiti quickly responded. She choked as the pain of the afternoon came back.
“I need your forgiveness…” Oboh continued.
“Please forgive me…” Otiti said simultaneously.
Both of them looked at each other. They had tears in their eyes…
To be continued…
© Oselumhense Anetor, 2016
