Courageous Woman

I have been on my toes for the past five hours. Am too glad am heading back to the office, our clients some times want their adverts ideas to come from the moon. I opened my door and realised I had actually left my phones on the table (my boss dey hurry person for Africa). I picked up my first phone and realised I had 150 missed calls and 85 on the other, my heart skipped three hard beats… The calls were from my husband, my second son”s teacher and a few numbers that seem new. I was scared, shaking, shivering. I knew something must have definitely gone wrong. I called my husband and he said Tokunbo fainted while playing ball in school, they were in the hospital and would soon be home. Why did he faint????? “If u had picked your call early enough u would have found out? He replied and hung up. I took a deep breadth and sank in my chair… It’s been six years, since I changed my last name. I married two weeks after my convocation *smiles*( yeah pretty early right! ) I met Olasunkanmi Peters two years back and it’s been a lovely journey of love, he’s not perfect (who is) but he completes me. We have four children to the glory of God. I served in an advertising agency and I was one of the few corpers that were retained, I have grown into big advertising force to be reckoned with in this industry. ( a colleague entered) Iya beji (as I am popularly called yeap my first delivery sprang forth twins.) I answered smiling. Oga dey call you o, what for? I I asked her? We”ve got an advert to run for our biggest client in port Har court! My head rang like an alarm clock! How am I going to break the news to my husband? I only just came back from South Africa 10days ago, and my son”s health????



I broke the news to my husband later that night and surprisingly he let me, (my man can be sweet at times) I spoke to my cook to please keep an extra eye on my children and left her a lot of money for her upkeep to persuade her to move in with my house assistant to have an extra eye to watch the kids while am away. A month had passed since my return from PH, my hubby and I were having a fantastic evening and he said “Uchenna my love, (I blushed) I need a favour from you… I sat up straight, baby you know I”l do anything for you. You will? He asked and I said yes baby. Uche please you have to quit your job!! My heart almost freezed, I thought this day will never come hmmmm! my heart was racing fast, I was crying loudly in my heart, (who can I send to help beg this man) it’s pointless talking to my parents about this, African parents always support their son -in-law even in the case of infidelity so that’s not an option! Weeks rolled by and I couldn’t get the courage to do the right thing. Olasunkanmi watched me closely for months, I even got promoted but he kept calm, said nothing, he waited for the right moment and then we had this tough argument, we were both disgruntled, my spirit told me I was pulling trouble strongly in the leg,

I couldn’t stand the heat between us. I tendered my resignation letter, explained to my boss why I had to, I even paid my company for not given them prior notice and off I went to the house wife zone, I stopped over at my bff”s office, cried my lungs out, Tolani pet my life away, she took me to lunch, tried to make me feel better and broke the news of her wedding to me, that Swang me into the happy mood, her fiancée proposed after two years of a what I would call sweet relationship, Gideon is a UK returnee (though he still visits the country very often) and his parents are as wealthy as Tolani”s they both belong to the influential circle. We began to pick the “aso-ebi” immediately, the wedding was slated for later in the year and that was some good news for me.

I took the kids to school the next morning that announced my resignation to my heart throb. Months rolled by and frustration began to set in, I felt like a part of me was dying, I enrolled in a cosmetology school that availed me the opportunity to watch my kids and still add value to myself, my husband approved of it and in know time I was a “guru” in the business. I started selling creams that rejuvenated people”s skin and my house became bubbling with a lot people, I needed an outlet asap.

An African woman needs to inform her husband before making any decision, so I prayed, called my love, (he was in Germany ) and he approved of it, he was shocked to see how big my outlet was and he marvelled at the price, ” you sure made a lot of cash at your advertising agency”. My ministry kept moving, had students enrolled I even added selling clothes, bags, hairs and shoes to my cosmetics business. (I no say me sef like money biko no blame me I no çon Lagos çon count fly over)

I realised the more money I made, the more money my husband gave me, he bragged about my success and was happier with me than when I just sat home doing nothing or when I was working full time and had no time for my family. I think he likes the fact that Am not just making money but also taking care of our home. I came up this saying everywoman should strive hard to be both a public and private success. Tolani begged me to remove the “woman” and leave it at “everyone”.

Her wedding was in a bit, she came visiting and as usual my kids were all over her, my husbands”s phone bipped and I read the message, she was shocked I knew his password, well, I seldom check his phone, it’s not like I”ld leave if I find anything incriminating any way! The few times I checked I was very disappointed, there was nothing to hold him on, I”ll just keep praying am the only one he”d always be attracted to. The engagement turn up would be in Nigeria after which we all will head to Paris to watch them say I do in the French way. Her skin was already glowing, (na my handwork dey show) she refused to have a bachelorette party, instead a dinner in one of the expensive restaurant in Paris and we all agreed.

On the other hand, her husband”s bachelor eve went on…. The next day was her engagement and to my greatest surprise Tolani was no where to be found, at first I thought it was a joke, then Gideon called after his hang over had cleared, I arrived at her house and it was crazy! Her mom said they just woke up and found out she wasn’t home, the security guard on duty realised the padlock was opened by morning when he awoke, I found it hard to believe she ran away, I pinged her all to no avail, checked up on her at work… It was the biggest disgrace ever, Gideon wept, so did parents of both the bride and the groom, her brother reported to the police and the search began. I couldn’t rap my head around this mess, could she have been kidnapped? I left early in tears myself. I got a mail from her, I was about reading it when her call came in, Tolaniiiiiiiiii!!!!! She begged me not to shout, am sorry I had to Run, I just couldn’t marry a man who stil has a thing going with his ex… I was raving mad!! I yelled is that why u left? Have you completely lost your mind? Uche I finally read his messages, he left his phone on his Bach party, they stil relate well, though she’s in the UK and that explains why Gideon travels to the UK at least once in two months, I couldn’t bare to think that all this years we”ve been dating he was also dating her, he sends her loads of cash and every time he goes to the UK they spend it together. I replied” I stil don’t get it, but you got the ring with time he”ll forget her. Uche I don’t just want his ring, I want his heart and if he is still this into her, then you know except a miracle happens the feelings won’t die, he even sent her a picture of what he was wearing yesterday, somewhere in their chat he accused her of not wanting to have child and she replied thanks for understanding! So maybe he is only into me for children purposes abeg I don’t want to be any body baby making machine, my own man will come, am sorry for running off like that without telling you, I knew you would hold me back.I need to run am currently in Ghana, am still heading to Paris but strictly to clear my head (I am stil in shock) and yes I have called my parents and emailed the chats to them though they are mad at me for disappearing but they”ll get over it pretty soon. I still don’t think your approach was right, we could have settled it after the wedding. Love you she said and hung up.

After pondering on the issue for a while, my husband and I came to the conclusion that her decision was going to pay off in the long run, you can’t manage a man whose heart belongs to another, it’s best she ran away before taking the final vows applying the medicine after death principle doesn’t work at all. Olasunkanmi said it sure takes a courageous woman to take such a bold an drastic step.(I hugged my husband and wondered if I could have done same if I were in her shoes, I think I knew my answer already!!!!!)