Second Chances – Episode 12

Wale and Kunbi arrive back in Lagos on Sunday evening sans drama. The engagement ring still sits in Kunbi’s bag undisturbed. Both of them by an unspoken agreement steer clear of discussing her mission to Ola’s place. For Wale, she is an adult; besides, it is her life. For Kunbi, love covers all sins.

The week rolls by with Sola and Kunbi still having lunch as usual every afternoon. Kunbi decides not to wear her engagement ring as she is unsure of what Sola’s reaction would be. He is already heartbroken as a result of Tolu’s betrayal, I don’t want to hurt him as well. She resumes her weekend journey to Ibadan every Saturday and everything seems to go smoothly.

One Saturday, she forgets to put on her engagement ring before leaving for Ibadan. As she approaches Ola’s apartment, she looks at her hand and realizes the mistake. Oh goodness, how could I have forgotten?  She contemplates on what to do but then shrugs as there is nothing that can be done at the moment.

“Hello darling”. She says as she walks into Ola’s apartment. She had requested for a spare key last weekend since Ola had previously changed the locks and he had obliged her.

Ola is seated in front of the TV engrossed in a video game he is playing and barely notices her presence. Kunbi drops her weekend bag on the floor and stands akimbo. “Helloooooo”. She stresses.

Ola glances at her and smiles but goes back to playing the game without responding. Kunbi upset that she is being ignored, walks to the TV and stands before it.

Ola’s face changes all of sudden and he screams. “What do you think you are doing?”

Kunbi maintains her posture. “Did I travel all the way from Lagos to be ignored?”

“You ain’t a visitor, go ahead and make yourself comfortable”. He says. “I’m in the middle of something right now, as you can see”.

Kunbi stamps her feet on the floor refusing to budge.

“Kunbi, please don’t get me upset. We both know it is not a pretty sight when I do”.

She gives up the fight and slumps her shoulders as she heads towards the kitchen.

“Can I have a glass of water?” Ola calls as she is walking away.

She comes back to the living room with a glass of cold water and places it on the side stool beside Ola. He looks at it briefly and notices that Kunbi is not wearing her ring.

“Why are you not wearing your engagement ring? He asks as he pauses the game to look at her.

“I forgot to wear it”.

“How can you forget to wear it?”

“I just forgot, okay? She says upset.

He drops the handheld controller on the settee and looks at her critically. “I assume you forgot to wear it means that you take it off. Isn’t it meant to be on you always?”

“I don’t know why you are making this an issue”. She says. “I wear it every day but forgot to put it back on after I did some washing”. She lies.

Ola frowns giving her an angry stare.

She looks at him afraid he is going to hit her but he picks up the handheld controller and goes back to playing his video game.

She breathes out quietly and walks towards the kitchen. I wonder what was on his mind.

 

After about an hour of playing his video game, Ola walks into the kitchen, his senses assaulted by the glorious aroma of jollof rice. He stands behind Kunbi circling his arms around her waist. “When are we going to see your mum and tell her about our plans?”

Kunbi smiles. “Whenever you are ready”.

“This is March, we should plan towards a June wedding”. He says.

“June? That is three months away. Why the rush?”

“What do you mean by a rush? Don’t you want to get married?” He says taking his hands off her.

“I do. What I mean is we should take our time to plan instead of getting married in a hurry”.

“It is no hurry. Three months is enough for you to get everything planned. Pick a date when I can come see your mum and let’s get started”. He says with finality walking out of the kitchen.

Kunbi sighs. Do I really want to get married in three months’ time? Am I ready to spend a lifetime with Ola? Her mind drifts to Sola and her heart sinks. I can’t deny that I am in love with him. Oh God, please help me.

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Kunbi leaves for home four hours later. She meets her mum reading the day’s newspapers at the dining table and kneels down to greet her. “How are you, Kunbi?”

“I’m fine, mum. Can I talk to you for a moment?”

“Yes dear”. Wunmi says as she drops the newspaper on the table.

Kunbi pulls out the chair closest to her mum and sits down. “Mum, Ola wants to meet with you sometime soon”.

Wunmi looks at her daughter intently.

Kunbi expects a reaction from her mum but receives nothing. “He has proposed and I have agreed to marry him”.

Wunmi takes a deep breath. “Hmmm…..Kunbi, do you understand what you are getting into? Do you realize that marriage is a life-long commitment?

“Yes mum, I do. I love Ola”. Kunbi says.

“Love is not enough. Can you tolerate his excesses? His jealousy, his pride, his insecurities. Are you ready to deal with all that for the rest of your life?”

2nd Chances 12

“Mum, Ola loves me and is just looking out for my good. Isn’t that enough?”

“I think you should sleep over your decision. You are my only child and I want the best for you. I am your mother, I won’t deceive you”.

“Mum, can you just give me a date when Ola can come visiting?” She says beginning to get irritated.

Wunmi shrugs. “Next week Saturday”.

“Thanks mum”. Kunbi says as she stands up to leave for her room.

Her mum watches her as she walks away. How else do I make her see that disaster lurks at the corner. She looks heavenwards as she shakes her head. I can’t let my daughter make the same mistake I made. She picks up her mobile phone and dials Wale. He picks up on the first ring. “Hello mum”.

“Báwò ni Wálé?” (How are you doing, Wale?)

“Adúpé mà. Sé dada l’ëwà” (I’m fine, thank you ma. Hope you are keeping well).

“Adúpé, O seun. Mo pè é nitorí àbúrò ë ni”. (I am, thanks. I called you because of your younger sister).

“Okay ma”.

“How come you never mentioned that she is engaged to Ola?”

“What? She agreed to marry him?” Wale asks in shock.

“Nkan tó sö fúnmi ní ìròlé yìí nìyën”. (That is what she told me this evening).
I am surprised that you are not aware.

“I’m not aware, mum. She knows I can’t stand Ola, so she won’t mention it to me”.

“Jòó bàmi ba sòrò” (Please talk to her). “I don’t know why she is bent on this relationship. “Sé kò s’ókùnrin tó da ní Èkó ni”. (Aren’t there other good men in Lagos?)

“Mum, I have tried talking to her but she won’t listen”. Wale says.

“Try harder. Ègbón è lo jé (You are her elder brother). She may feel I am old school but she would listen to you”.

Wale sighs. “Okay ma. Màá tún ba sòrò“. (I will talk to her again).

“Osé ömö mi”. (Thank you, my son).

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Photo Credit: http://www.gettyimages.com

Second Chances – Episode 10

Kunbi and Sola walk into Wale’s apartment. Kunbi slumps into the settee while Sola sits gently by her side.

“Home sweet home. I couldn’t wait to get home from that maddening crowd at the airport. Oh God! I’m so tired and tomorrow starts another working week”. She says yawning. “I wish the weekend could go on and on”. She notices Sola is quiet and looks at him with surprise. “Helloooooo”. She stresses. “What’s wrong? Why are you so quiet?” She says nudging him.

“I’ve been thinking”.

“About what?”

“It’s nice to know someone cares so much about you”.

“Are you talking about Wales and I?” Kunbi asks smiling.

Sola turns to look at her. “Of course and frankly speaking, I’m getting jealous”.

“Oh dear. Jealous? Why?”

“You won’t understand”. Sola says as he takes a deep breath.

“I know you are finding it difficult to fathom what happened between you and your girlfriend but you have to get over it. Life has to go on”.

“Yeah, I know. I guess I was expecting too much”. He says looking morose.

“No, you weren’t”.

“Love sure hurts”.

Kunbi smiles as she holds his right hand and pats it. “It does sometimes. Take heart, you’ll meet your heartbeat at the right time”.

“I wish it were that easy”.

“It will be if you take things easily”.

Sola looks straight into her eyes. “Kunbi, I need you”.

She removes her hands from his and looks away. “Sola, we have talked about this before”.

“Yes, we have. But I never stopped loving you”.

Kunbi’s heart begins to beat faster. He just said he loves me. Oh Lord! My heart is already broken. I can’t handle this. “We can’t go through this again”. She says stalling her thoughts. “Besides, I don’t think this is the right time. We are both hurting”.

He turns her face to look at him. “I am ready to wait till you are ready”. He stands up and shrugs. “I should go home now”.

Kunbi keeps her head bowed and is unable to look at him. She cannot deny her love for him but she is confused. Deep down her heart, she still loves Ola, regardless of all he has done. She knows she should move on but her heart has refused to do so.

As Sola walks out of the house closing the door behind him, hot tears roll down Kunbi’s cheeks. “Why is love so complicated? I love Sola but I am scared of his non-commitment. And I still can’t get Ola out of my mind”. She decides to retire to bed and does so dreaming about Sola and what could have been between them.

2nd Chances 10

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Sola picks up Kunbi from work every day and drops her home as promised. He also takes her for lunch as usual. He, however, keeps their conversations very simple and avoids getting intimate. Kunbi misses their intimate conversations but refuses to say anything about it. She knows Sola is still hurt but she is helpless.

Wale arrives from his trip a week later as planned and decides to take a taxi home from the airport. He expects to see Sola in his apartment but is surprised that Kunbi is home alone. He drops his luggage in his room and has a quick bath.

“I was expecting to meet Sola here”. He says walking into the living room and eyeing Kunbi as she hands him a glass of juice.

“Why?”

He shrugs. “He ain’t dating any longer, so I just felt you guys would keep each other company”.

“He obviously told you about the incident between himself and Tolu”.

“Yeah, we talked on the phone while I was in Abuja. I wanted to check up on you, so I called him”.

She looks at him with surprise. “You wanted to check up on me and decided to call Sola?”

“Yeah, you would have told me you were fine. But Sola, would have told me if there were any issues. It only made sense to call him”.

She sighs. “Wales, can I ask you something?”

“Shoot”.

“Erm….I don’t know how to ask this”. She breathes deeply. “Are you aware of Sola’s non-commitment to relationships?”

“Hmmm….no, I am not aware but I don’t think he has such intentions with you”.

“Why do I feel like I am the only one in the dark?”

“How do you mean?”

“Did Sola discuss me with you?”

Wale smiles. “Sola had made his intentions known to me from the beginning but you were too preoccupied with Ola to notice that he likes you”.

“I still love Ola”. Kunbi says looking away.

“Obviously”. He says wrinkling his nose. “I can’t help but wonder what hold the guy has over you. C’mon, when are you going to open your eyes and see?”

Kunbi moves towards him and picks up the empty glass. She goes to the kitchen refusing to respond to Wale.

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During one of Sola and Kunbi’s lunch breaks together the following week, she is chatting with Sola when she receives a text message. She looks at the sender and instantly hides her phone. Sola notices but feigns ignorance. On the drive back to the office, she decides to open the message. “Hello darling, I hope you are fine. I am sorry about the last incident. I still love you and will always do”.

She breathes in and out before typing back a response. “How could you? Your intention was to kill me”.

She receives a response immediately. “I would never do anything to hurt you again. Please come to Ibadan this weekend and let’s talk”.

She puts her phone away without responding to the last message.

 

As Wale and Kunbi drive home from work on Friday evening, Kunbi thinks of how best to discuss her trip to Ibadan. “Wales, I have missed mummy and I want to see her this weekend”.

“Okay. I would like to see her as well. It’s been a while. We can do the trip together”.

“You want to go this weekend?” She asks.

“Yeah, do you have a problem with that?”

“No, no. I just thought you might be busy”.

He looks at her curiously. “Busy doing what?”

“I don’t know”. She shrugs.

“Kunbi, is there something I should know?”

“No, why do you ask?”

“Cos, you have never been good at lying. Why are you going to Ibadan this weekend?”

“I told you already. I want to see my mum”.

“And?” He asks expectant.

“And what?”

“Are you going to see Ola?”

Kunbi refuses to answer.

Wale looks at her and shakes his head. “Would you be satisfied when Ola kills or maims you?”

Kunbi opens her mouth to say something but decides against it. It was no use as she knew she could never convince Wale as far as Ola was concerned.

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Photo credit: http://www.123rf.com