FARIDA
PART 45
Wale planned to avoid Farida for the rest of her stay. Farida decided to move to a hotel as they were both uncomfortable in each other’s company. She informed Wale of her decision but he kicked against it. He asked her to meet him after work so they could talk like two adults.
The meeting held in at a sit out where grilled catfish and chips were sold. They found a table a distance away from noise and ears of others. Wale looked at Farida. She dressed like she used to when he first met her. She wore a pair of jeans and a white tshirt. She had no makeup on and her hair was packed into one. She had on sneakers. She looked so young. Over the years she had added a little flesh but she still looked amazing.
Farida couldn’t look Wale in the face after what happened. She was shy around him. Why would she be shy around the one person she has always been extremely free around? She couldn’t even start up a conversation.
Their order arrived and they ate in silence. After eating, Wale knew he had to break the awkward silence. He had a lot on his mind, he had so much to say but he knew he had to say it right otherwise he would lose.
“Farida, I have never hidden the fact that I like you and I am attracted to you. But, I also respect you and go with whatever decisions you make. Nothing has changed Farida, if given the opportunity and you were available, I would date you. I will make love to you like I have done many times in my mind. I will never force myself on you. It would be something we both want. Even then, it should be done right. I sat down and thought about it. I don’t want to be your rebound guy. Even though it would have been awesome, I don’t want you to use me as your revenge s*x. You are a principled person and I know if we had had s*x, you would hate me and never speak to me again. Emotions make a fool of us for a short period of time. They take over our senses. So, please forgive me for what happened. I won’t deny I enjoyed it but I assure, it won’t happen again”
Farida was quiet. She had her own fault in the whole saga. She should have resisted. She enjoyed it too. But then she was still married. “I have been asking myself, if we had done this what then is the difference between Sam and I? I am still legally married and until it ends, I cannot be with another man. I agree with you, I was overwhelmed by emotions but why didn’t I resist? I think we have become too close and we have not set boundaries for ourselves. Wale, you know too much about me and I will be uncomfortable being with someone who knows me too well. You know me better than anyone else. I …….”
“When we get to that bridge, we will cross it. We might never get there because I know Sam will come for you in London. He will do everything to woo you back. It is unless he is a stupid man that he won’t. When he comes back, Farida, I will advise you not to go back. But the decision is yours. I am preview to some information which I don’t think it is time to let you know. Don’t come back to Nigeria without your certificate. Don’t allow him bully you to give up your dreams. When you come back, get that law degree. You can even get it along side this as an online course. Do not lose out. Not having a baby is not the end of the world”
“Wale, you treat me more like a sister than a potential lover. That is where the problem is. I see you more like a brother although my body is beginning to think differently. You have never wooed me. Probably if you had I would never have gotten into a relationship with Sam”
“I asked you to wait for me. We had a moment Farida and I asked you to wait for me to come back. You hid your relationship from me. If I had known, I would have come back and proposed. Like you said, I know you that was why I took it slow with you. If you had waited before being with Sam, I wouldn’t minded but you didn’t”
“You asked me to wait for you when we were in the moment. Did you say anything else after that? Did you bring it up again after you left? Did you woo me and keep asking me to wait? You played it cool so I felt you were sending mixed signals. What felt for you then was brotherly love and nothing more. Sam was coming on strong. He swept me off my feet. Yes, I was too in love to reason when I married him but if not for having children for him, he wouldn’t have gotten this other lady”
“Who said so? He would have. It was part of the agreement for the expansion of his political career. Do you know Sam at all? Sam is selfish. He doesn’t want you to travel because he needs you. You take good care of him and moving with you in his circle gives him prestige. Also, an inter tribal marriage shown to the world to be filled with love will take him places politically. The Yorubas will support him if need be as he married one of theirs and he is taking care of her. Meanwhile, he doesn’t want you to know he has another family. He has a wife which satisfies the need of his people. Wake up Farida. Get over Sam, he betrayed you and will do worse if given the chance”
Farida was silent for a while. She knew all Wale said. She was aware as she had investigated which helped make her mind up to leave Sam. But, would seven years of her life go just like that? There will be no evidence to show she was ever in Sam’s life. That was her initial problem. Being with Wale was confusing her.
“Would you marry a barren woman?” Farida asked Wale.
“Who is the barren woman?”
“Would you remain with a woman who doesn’t have kids for you? Would you have acted differently from Sam?”
“I would remain with you Farida whether you have kids or not”
‘And if your family harasses me on the issue, what will you do?”
“I will take you away from where you are harassed to a place where no one will have access to us until they learn to behave”
‘Is that what you would have done if you were in Sam’s shoes? You won’t want to have children if it is not from me?”
“We will have children. We can adopt if you can’t have them physically. What if the fault was mine? Would you leave me to marry another man? Wouldn’t you stay with me? That is what you should ask Sam when he comes for you”
“I don’t know what we have but having s*x with you while still legally married puts me in the same pedestal with Sam. It would mean I have lost my moral values. I will confess, I was tempted but I am happy we did not sacrifice our good upbringing on the surface of lust. I will stay in a hotel until we leave so we won’t have such temptations that might not end well”
“You are scared it will happen again?”
“Yes, I am”
“You are attracted to me? I can’t believe it. If you are scared then it means I turn you on. You admitting to being attracted and affected by my touch is enough for me. I won’t touch you again. We won’t discuss this again. You have three more days to go. I will make you comfortable. I will bring in my female friend to help douse the tension. You will like her. She will stay in my room; hope you don’t mind”
Farida minded but who was she to say it. She was not a child, a man and a woman lying together on a bed could only lead to one thing. Her mind wanted to run riot but she stopped it. She told him she didn’t mind.
“I want us to still be best friends”
‘You are my best friend”
“Good”
The girl he brought was different from the last one. She was dark, average height, pretty face and she was curvy. She had an enviable figure because of her large hips. Wale introduced her as Tomiwa. Farida liked her because she was homely and friendly. She helped out in the house while Wale was away. Immediately Wale returned, she followed him into the room and then she would come out to serve his food. Whenever she called Wale to ask what he would eat, Wale would refer her to Farida. She had asked Wale who Farida was and he said she was his sister and best friend.
Wale couldn’t bring himself to have s*x with Tomiwa while Farida was there. She wanted to have s*x with him but knowing how loud she was, he knew Farida would hear them and it would hurt her. He also didn’t want to disrespect her.
The last night before Farida left, they all sat together at the dining table to have dinner after Wale got home. After the meal, they sat in the sitting room. Wale wanted to have a private conversation about her trip with Farida but Tomiwa was present. He called Tomiwa aside and asked her to excuse them by waiting for him inside the room. She refused to leave. When she wasn’t leaving, Wale stood up and called Farida and they went into her bedroom. They discussed the trip in details. He ensured she had everything she needed. He had arranged for a black cab to pick her up at the airport. He gave her his UK sim card and the pounds he had left from the last time her travelled. He just wanted to spend a private time with her talking about nothing in particular. When it was quite late, he bade Farida good night and left her room.
At the door eavesdropping was Tomiwa. Wale had to cover her with his body.
“What were both of you doing in there? I thought you said she is a married woman, why then did you enter her room and stay there for this long?”
“Tomiwa, I don’t need this drama now. Do not embarrass me in the presence of my guest. I asked you politely to excuse us but you refused so I went into her room with her to have a private conversation”
“Wale, I have been here for how many days and you didn’t touch me. Are you using me as a front? Is she your lover?”
“I think I should take you home, you have overstayed your welcome”
“I am not leaving until you tell me what is going on. Wale, you have not touched me since I came. I can’t leave until she leaves”
“Ok then, I am going to a hotel this night. Leave when you want to”
Tomiwa grabbed Wale by the leg stopping him from moving forward, ‘Wale, I love you. Why do you treat me like this? One minute you are into me the next you are cold. Is it because of her? I know about the other babes and I have waited for you to realise that what I feel for you is real. But seeing both of you together, I am scared. Are you in love with her? Is she the one you said you were waiting for? She’s married now. Won’t you settle down? I am available for you. I want to be with you for the rest of my life. I am willing to do anything you say. Just love me back. Make love to me just the way I like it. You make me happy. You are my first true love”
Her words and demeanor calmed him down. He knew he hadn’t really been fair to her. She had made advances which he rebuffed. Now that Farida had retired for the night, they could have some fun. Being with Farida had an effect on him. “Let’s go into the room”
Farida came out after they had entered the room. Was their friendship a threat to Wale’s relationships? Farida sat down in the sitting room and pondered. She heard some noise coming from the bedroom, then some loud moans. She heard someone shush the person. Moan was louder and it was coming from Tomiwa. Wale had succumbed. Her moans meant he was giving her pleasure. She rushed into her room. Thankfully, she couldn’t hear them from her room but her imagination went riot. She hugged her pillow as the memory of what she heard replayed in her head. Farida had never reacted like this with Sam before. She was hearing such reaction for the first time. What could he be doing to her that was different? She had to stop thinking about it and try to sleep, it was a difficult task.
Tomiwa was spent and had fallen asleep. She looked so sweet as she slept. Wale liked Tomiwa, she was his favorite girl. The problem he had with her was her age; she was too young for him. He was clocking thirty soon and she was just twenty-two. She looked more mature because of her body. She was interesting company and whenever she was around, he was sure of a meal after a hard day’s work. She and Farida had a lot in common. She was the only one who could challenge him and get away with it. S*x with her was good because she was very expressive. She hated condoms so she was on the pill. He invited her so she would be good company to Farida as they had a lot in common. After Farida was Tomiwa. He couldn’t even deny that himself.
The next morning, he offered to take Farida to the hotel to drop off her luggage and then to the airport to pick up maami. Farida couldn’t look him in the face. She declined his offer. He insisted. He carried her luggage to the car and then he told her he was ready.
Farida gave Tomiwa a hug and asked her to take good care of Wale. Tomiwa promised to do that as she was bent on doing it. She wanted to come along with them but Wale refused. He put his feet down.
On the way to the hotel, Wale observed Farida was avoiding eye contact and was a bit withdrawn. He had asked her what was wrong and she said nothing. He knew something was wrong. At the hotel, he followed her to the room. While inside alone, he asked her what happened that she couldn’t look him in the face. She still said nothing. He tried to recall what happened last night that could have caused this but he couldn’t think of nothing.
“Do you like Tomiwa?”
“She is a nice girl. Quite possessive and very loud” Farid answered without thinking.
Wale caught it. “Loud? What do you mean loud?”
Farida was silent for a bit. She wasn’t someone that could lie easily especially to Wale. She didn’t know what to say
Her silence revealed everything. Wale realized she heard them last night. But how was that possible. There was no way she could hear from her room. Unless she was eavesdropping.
“Where you eavesdropping on us? Where you listening to us in our bedroom?”
‘That’s not what happened. I came out to the sitting room when I couldn’t fall asleep and I overheard her”
Wale could see she was uncomfortable. He decided to tease her, “What did you hear?”
“Nothing really. She was just loud. I could hear her voice”
“What was she saying?”
“She wasn’t talking; he was moa….” Then she stopped. She had just realized Wale was teasing her.
“Go on” Wale said with a smile on his lips.
“Mum should be landing Abuja any minute from now. Lets head to the airport”
Farida felt awkward talking to Wale about his s*x life. She also felt jealous. Wale seemed to have a good relationship with Tomiwa. Why then was he talking about wooing her? Obviously, he had feelings for the girl.
‘Is Tomiwa the girl doing shakara for you?”
Wale smiled. He looked at Farida and was shocked at how innocent she looked. “She is not the one”
“She is a nice girl, why not consider her?”
“If you come back to me then I won’t consider her”
“Wale, why would you want me? We can’t get married. We can only have a relationship. Your mother will never allow you marry me. I want to be with you but not as your wife”
‘What are you saying? Not as my wife? Let us not even talk about this. When we get to that bridge we will cross it”
They drove into the airport. They didn’t have to wait for long before maami came out of the arrivals. She was pleased to see Wale. He drove them to his house to eat lunch. Tomiwa had prepared the food before they got there. They had lunch together before Wale took them to their hotel.
Farida didn’t tell maami she would be staying with Wale. She didn’t want her to ask too many questions. Luckily it never came up.
Farida told maami all that she had discovered since the last information she got. She knew Sam refused to release the documents. She told maami she had plans on living in London for a long time.
‘Is that your plan with Wale?” maami asked Farida who was taken aback by the question.
“No o. We don’t have any plans”
“The way both of you were looking at each other, I hope you remember you are still a married woman. End one relationship before you start another. I like Wale but I will not want your husband to accuse you of the adultery he is guilty of. You know our country is not merciful to an adulterous woman. Avoid it. Once you tell Sam it is over and file for a divorce then you can start another affair”
“Maami, there is no affair”
“Not with what I saw”
“Didn’t you see his girlfriend? Didn’t you see Tomiwa?”
“His eyes were on you not on her. I know what I am saying. I have nothing against Wale, I like him but it is not the right time”
“Like I said, there is nothing. I want to study Law at once too. I am not rushing home for anything”
“Ok. Not a bad idea but who will fund it?”
“I have my own money and the remaining money from Sam’s father. I can live comfortably in the UK. Wale got me accommodation in the outskirts of London which is a train ride away to the school. When we get there, we will see how it goes”
The next day, Wale came to pick them to the airport. He helped check them in. Iya Farida payed for Wale and went for her clearance not waiting for Farida. Wale and Farida found a private corner to talk. They were here again but this time the roles were reversed. She was the one leaving.
“I know you need to go but I want you to know I will miss you. I will call you everyday. I will come to visit as often as I can. I want you to know that whatever happens, this guy right here loves you and will do anything for you. Just name it”
Farida just walked willingly into Wale arms. She rested her head and his shoulders. He held her close. They were like that for more than five minutes. They listened to each other’s heart beating really fast and in unison. “I will never forget you. This time, I will wait for you. When we get to that bridge, we will figure out how to cross it together”
“I love you Farida”
‘I love you too”
Wale planted a kiss on her forehead and then one her lips. It was light but it was special. They stayed like that for a little more time before they heard people coming that way and they separated. He bade her good bye.
Farida had tears in her eyes and in her heart. She knew a new phase of her life was about to begin. She didn’t know what it held for her but she knew her life would never be the same again.
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