My mother's phone call was about to interrupt the interesting conversation I was having with this strange fellow. I was getting some valuable information and didn't want to lose it. I had questions, and lots of them. Now I only needed to ask those questions. I switched my phone off and put it back in my bag.
"That was my mother on the phone. She wants me to come home for dinner."
"You have good parents. You need to cherish and love them."
"I do love them." I said looking at him.
"But you doubt them. And when doubt sets in, it leads to serious suspicions. They only tried to prevent losing you."
"Really?" I asked, remembering how they came back home and told me they had fixed the wedding. He nodded.
"So much as to come back and tell me they had fixed my wedding date?"
"It was a necessary step."
"Why?"
"Because you already told them you wanted to spend the rest of your life with this man." I gulped.
"No one could stop you. Not even your friend the policewoman could stop you when you first told her about him." I sighed and leaned back on the chair and looked up.
The ceiling fan rotating above me, was blowing cool air. It reminded me of the time Ola told me he wanted to end our relationship due to my unforgiving attitude. That moment, I had decided nothing and no one would ever make me lose him.
"And besides..." He paused briefly while he stared at me. His silence stirred me and I sat upright and faced him.
"Besides what?" I asked
"You never asked questions." He replied. I was baffled, and looked away. I had been asking questions all the time. I never got answers.
"That is not true. I have been asking questions, since the day this man walked up to me and told me I would be his wife." I responded, facing him.
"Quite true. But you followed your heart and forgot to ask the real questions. You never asked to know about the most important people in the man's life."
"What?" I asked widening my eyes.
"Don't panic. You only knew his father, you don't know his mother. And he never told you about her. That's because you never cared to ask him. But she came briefly to the wedding."
"What? And why didn't I see her?" I asked trying figure who it it might be.
"When the ring fell out of his hand it rolled down the alter."
"I know, a woman appeared dressed exactly like the woman in my dreams. I fainted."
" That was her." My eyes widened when he said that.
"But she only came to show her disapproval of the marriage."
"And why was she against it?"
"He already had a son with another woman."
"Ah no, no,no. Just don't tell me it's true. I don't want to hear that." I covered my ears and was shaking my head, until I saw the waiter staring at me.
"The waiter is beginning to feel uncomfortable with your attitude. You should remain composed. After all, the hotel manager already told you your husband had a son."
"I know, but I didn't believe him." I said closing my eyes. So truly Ola had a son by another woman and he never made mention of it? I couldn't believe he could do this to me.
"Being a devout Christian, your mother-in-law insisted he marry that woman. But his father had other plans."
"Yes, because his father and my father were friends. And so they decided to unite the two of us."Â He nodded.
"Quite true and this, in spite of your mother-in-law telling him, it may have serious consequences afterwards." I thought about these words and could only imagine how much both parents may have argued over my marriage to him.
"They must have had serious discussions."
"That was because for a time, your mother-in-law was certain your husband would marry that woman. Because until he met you, he and that woman were always together."
I now understood why he would stay away for long. And perhaps it was the reason he was never with his friends, or never appeared on graduation day. He was with that woman.
Nancy it seems knew this detail quite well, but refused to tell me.
At this point I felt disgust for the man I had so much loved.
" Nancy was right, you know?"
"Who?" He asked me
" My friend, the policewoman." He looked at me and smiled.
"She said I was blindfolded. That when the blindfold would finally come off, it might be too late."
"She was right and like I said before, you followed your heart."
" And its costing me now, is that what you are going to tell me?"
"These are the consequences. It's the price you paid for not asking the real questions."
"I did ask."
"You asked questions, but you were not getting answers. Everyone around you was not telling you anything. That should have been a warning sign."
I didn't like this line of argument as I knew back then, Nancy never really liked talking about Ola or anything about him.
"And so since I wasn't getting answers, I should have understood that to mean something wasn't right?" He nodded.
"You only focused on the love you had for him." he replied. I closed my eyes in disbelief. For once I was beginning to get a clear picture of where I went wrong and what I should have done.
And the one thing I should have done, was to look deeper. But it was too late now to turn back the clock. I had to move on with my life.
At this point, I had to leave everything behind me and pretend as if nothing had ever happened. I had to get my life back. But I knew it wasn't going to be easy.
" I guess I just have to forget about everything and move on; like everyone is telling me." I told the man. The man looked at me and smiled again. I was used to him smiling at me every time I said something.
"Live on what you are being offered." He said. I laughed.
"And what am I being offered, if I may ask?"
"30 million naira, a house, 5million shares in one of the 5 companies owned..."
"Owned by the Segun family, right?" he nodded.
"Live and stop worrying about who did what and why."Â I looked sternly at him telling me to live and stop worrying. No one was looking at how hurt I was.
"Like everyone else, you are also telling me to accept that offer. Tell me something no one else is telling me." The man got up to leave.
"These things sometimes open other doors. That's all I can tell you."Â He left me immediately and I found my head spinning. I slumped back onto the chair to regain myself. The waiter came and seeing me, asked if I was okay.
"I'm fine, thank you for asking."
"No problem, madam." He said still staring at me.
"Any problem?" I asked, when I noticed him staring at me.
"I mean, I hope everything is alri..."
"Why?"
"Nothing. It's just that since you told me to serve a drink to that man, I've been wondering..."
"Oga waiter, there's nothing to wonder about. After a hard day's job, a little confusion can sometimes come." I interrupted him. I got up and followed him to the counter. I paid for my drink and left him a little tip.
"Thank you madam." He said smiling. I left him and got into my car and went back home, only to meet my parents waiting for me. I looked at the time. It was past 9 pm. I had stayed outside well past dinner time.
"Ah Tola, since you told me you are coming, look at the time now." My mum got up and my dad followed her.
"Sorry, I came late." I replied.
"What kept you out there late?" My father asked me. I couldn't tell him about my encounter with the stranger. I couldn't tell him about everything I was told.
"I went to a nearby pub to sit down and relax myself." At this my mother frowned and I knew she was about to get angry with me.
"So your room is not good enough for you to relax anymore? Tola, where are your senses?"
"Why?"
"For a young woman of your age to go to the pub alone, supposing some bad boys, those that hang out there came after you?" I imagined her being afraid something might happen to me.
I was weak and tired of arguing. I walked up to her and held her hands and apologized.
"Mummy , I'm sorry. It never crossed my mind to think of what could happen to me." She kept quiet and looked at me.
"Well, since you are back, safe and sound, we can all go and eat." My father said. We sat at the dinner table about to eat.
I was back in my parent's house again sitting beside the two people that gave me life. I looked at each of them and let out a smile. From what the stranger told me, I had to count myself lucky.
Lucky, I had parents who cared about me. Sitting beside them, I had to do the one thing that came naturally to me in that instant. I had to pray with them before we started eating.
"Daddy, mummy? Give me your hands. I want us to pray before we eat." My parents looked surprised I was telling them I wanted to pray.
"Aha, Tola, since when did you start this?" My mother asked me.
"It just came naturally to me. " She looked at my father and they both looked at me. They held out their hands and closed their eyes.
I did a short improvised prayer, thanking the Lord for giving me wonderful parents. When I finished, we started to eat. But then, something had started to bother me.