MARRIED TO A STRANGER
By: Mister Allen
Episode 9
Ellen and Jeff had history, they were colleagues in the same company few years back before Jeff got a job in the telecommunications industry and left.
Back in those days, Ellen was head over heels in love with Jeff, she could literally die for him. She did everything possible to date him but Jeff was just not interested, he never found her attractive and the thought of having anything intimate to do with her made him cringe. He had made it clear to her that he wasn’t interested in a relationship but she refused to let go, she felt she could make him change his mind since he wasn’t in a relationship with anyone either so she tried everything from bringing him packed lunches at work to offering to clean his house and do his laundry, she even showed up at his house one day and got totally undressed in a bid to lure him into bed, but none of it ever worked out because he had no feelings for her.
One day, she confronted him in tears, asking why she wasn’t good enough for him but even he couldn’t find the answer to that question, he just knew she wasn’t what he wanted. From that day however, he tried his best to be more friendly and accommodating towards her so they hung out more often and spoke to each other on the phone a little more often than usual.
Ellen had enjoyed the little extra attention and felt she was making some progress with Jeff until he met Lara and totally stopped giving her any attention. She hated Lara with all of her even though Poor Lara had no idea about her existence, she just couldn’t understand what was so special about Lara and had hoped that whatever was between them would turn out to be a mere fling till one day to her greatest horror, he asked Lara to marry him without even hinting her or anyone else of the possibility that he was going to make such a move. Heartbroken, she confronted Jeff who showed no remorse and insisted he owed her no explanation or apologies. She became so dejected and began to lose weight unintentionally till she could easily be mistaken for someone suffering from a cancer in it’s late stages as unintentional weight loss was one of the features that could be noted in such people.
Cancer is a situation in which the cells in a specific part of the body begin to grow and reproduce uncontrollably and eventually invade and destroy surrounding healthy organs in other parts of the body. In most cases, the cause of cancer is usually unknown and the key to fighting cancer is early detection by going for regular screening tests and paying attention to any abnormal changes in your body and reporting them to your doctor immediately you notice them. If detected early enough, a cancer can be removed before it spreads to other parts of the body.
The wedding eventually took place and she monitored their marriage closely, hoping it would soon hit the rocks so that she would find her way back to Jeff but to her dismay even when it seemed they had difficulties bearing a child, Jeff never thought of sleeping with her for once. Eventually, she realised he was never going to leave Lara for her or any other woman and had to settle down with one of the men that had been asking for her hand in marriage even though she didn’t love him, it was around that time Jeff got another job in telecommunications and left the company where they both worked.
She had made sure to let Jeff know that she was still very much in love with him but was only getting married to another man because he had rejected her and time wasn’t on her side anymore.
Jeff could care less about her feelings and did not see why she needed to burden him with such information, he however remained nice and friendly towards her till their last day working together.
Seeing her again years down the line brought back memories, he knew Ellen may still be holding a grudge against him and judging from the way she had looked at him in the last few seconds they were together, he could tell her feelings for him never left.
“Should I just walk out? After all staying back will probably be a waste of time” a voice in his head whispered, “no don’t walk out! Stay and at least listen to what she has to say” a second voice whispered in his head.
He stood at the door still fighting the battle to stay or leave within himself, he didn’t realise that the debate in his head had gone on for quite a while and he was beginning to look like a mad man holding a door half open and standing at the door post with one leg in and the other out.
“Mr Jefferson Balogun, I called you to come for a meeting inside my office and not to stand at the door” Ellen blurted out breaking the awkward silence in the room and snapping him back to reality.
“Oh! I’m sorry, I didn’t realise I’d been standing there for so long” Jeff replied finally closing the door and taking a step closer to the desk, “please take a seat” Ellen replied pointing to the seat in front of her.
“So what’s this I hear about you asking for a loan?” She began when Jeff was seated, “are you in any kind of financial trouble?” She asked suspiciously, “well…”he began, “I want to start my own business and I need to raise more capital for start up”
“I see…” She replied with raised eyebrows, “how about your regular job, how’s that going?” She asked leaning back in her chair with legs crossed revealing a very short dress barely covering half of her legs while she played with the pen in her hands, it was becoming gradually obvious that she was on some kind of mission.
Jeff was a bit embarrassed to answer the question, he hated the fact that he didn’t have a job and he had been broke, worst of all, he was now being forced to tell Ellen of all people. “I was paid off” he managed to say, “hmm! I see” Ellen replied nodding slowly, “I guess you were the weakest link.” she concluded.
Jeff could tell she was trying her best to humiliate him but he was determined not to let her bruise his ego.
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