#DECEPTION
Episode Twenty
© Kemiliz Aiyemo Omotayo
” Why are you disturbing me now?” Esther said
“Wake up lazy bone, you have a job to prepare for” he said smiling
“Which job? Which job did you offer me nau? Esther asked sleep talking.
Ben starred at his wife in disbelief. He had no reason until now to ever doubt her. He knew something was off when she came home that Saturday but couldn’t place his hands on it. He couldn’t believe that his wife whom he had not only loved but trusted had the guts to him.
If she hadn’t gotten the job yet, then where did she go? Was she really the one he saw on his way to the bakery?
Many thoughts ran through his mind in milliseconds. He needed clarification from her as it was just too difficult to comprehend the unfoldings.
Ben tapped her continuously this time harder. She woke up to the pain on her leg.
She opened her eyes to see her husband’s questioning eyes searching for God knows what.
She starred at her husband hoping to see the reason for this strange attitude but couldn’t find it. She became impatient and was getting irritated already as Ben continued looking at her without saying a word.
” What is it nau? Why are you looking at me this way?” She finally asked when Ben refused to talk and she had eventually ran out of patience.
Ben still wouldn’t talk still. He just couldn’t believe that what he was imagining right now was true.
” Ben.. What is it? What is wrong with you?” She yelled.
” Is there anything you need to tell me?” Ben asked at last.
Esther was more confused now. She had asked a question and was getting another question in return. She knew Ben enough to know that something was definitely wrong.
” What’s with this question?” she asked trying to maintain her cool.
” You can just answer my question rather than asking me another question”.
” And you should have been polite enough to answer me as I asked you questions first” she answered rudely.
If he had anything in mind against her, then he had better open up because she isn’t ready for any drama.
When he kept silent again, Esther stood to leave for the bathroom.
“Which job did you go to on Saturday? Ben eventually asked to Esther’s dismay.
This came as a rude shock to her as she had never thought a question like this would ever be asked.
She felt she had been caught and almost wanted to start apologising. She wasn’t prepared to face the nightmare or having to end what she just started to enjoy.
Without uttering a word, she rushed to the bathroom and locked up from the inside.
Ben chased after her and began to bang the door demanding for the truth. She turned on the shower immediately and began to shiver thinking of how to get herself out of this ridiculous mess.
It was just too early for these problem and one thing she had decided right there in the bathroom was that no matter how hard he pressed, she would never tell what she had done. Never!
When Ben saw she wouldn’t open the door to face him, he returned to the bed and began to search through her phone for clues, just to get to the root of her attitude.
Esther thought it through and decided to come out to face him. She didn’t really understand why her husband would wake her up just to know where she went on Saturday.
She took her bath and came out as bold as a lion. She didn’t even look at his face let alone speaking to him.
She went about dressing up as she remembered she had an act to put up concerning her job.
She had been expecting Mr Charles calls. She was tempted to call him but she didn’t want to look cheap. Whenever she wasn’t doing anything, her mind would always go through the nice time she had with him but it never crossed her mind that Monday would come so soon. Mr Charles didn’t say anything about her appointment and now she didn’t know what to do but something was sure, she had to leave the house to avoid trouble.
Just to take little of her time, she headed to the kitchen and prepared breakfast of white rice. All through this period, the two didn’t speak to each other which was in her best interest.
Hoping a miracle would happen concerning her work, she stayed at the sitting room to eat her breakfast.
She went back to the room to pick up her handbag to leave for nowhere in particular.
“Where are you going to? Ben asked at last.
” I’m going to work” she replied
” Which work?” He asked
” What do you mean by which work?” She asked feigning ignorance.
” Do I need to remind you of your words? You asked for the job I gave you this morning and as I didn’t give you any, I want to know the one you’re going to.” He explained
Esther now understood the reason for her husband’s stance.
” I don’t understand you Ben, and I really don’t know what you are up to” she acted.
” Whao! Isn’t this change too obvious? Calling me by my name because I asked about the job you know you don’t have yet.” Ben teased
” I’m getting irritated with your girly talk. Hit the nail right on the head if you’re so sure of what you are accusing me about” she fired.
” You outrightly told me you do not have a job when I woke you up this morning, so that brings us back to where you went on Saturday and where you’re going to now” Ben revealed.
“What? All these just because I slept talk? Really? I can’t believe this? She said
” I can’t believe you don’t trust me enough to call me a liar.” Esther added
” I didn’t call you a liar” he defended
” You did” she returned and bursted into cry.
She increased the intensity of her cries until she saw the confused look on Ben.
She wept on and Ben had no choice but to move close to her as he couldn’t watch her cry.
She sat on the bed and continued weeping until Ben began to apologise for ever doubting her.
She sniffed and sniffed before she finally stopped shedding the crocodile tears.
” I just wanted to help out, to support you as a good wife. But it seems you’re just pretending to trust me all this while. I didn’t ask for the job, you did all the processing yourself, so why are you bent on frustrating me just after I got the job” Esther acted.
” I’m sorry darling, it’s not that I don’t trust you but the dream I had concerning that job wasn’t good.” Ben explained.
” Dream again?” Can’t you just forget about it as it seemed it’s the devil’s plan of setting discord between us?” She asked
” I didn’t see it that way but now I think I’m getting it” he said.
” I just don’t want you to ever doubt me again. It breaks my heart because I have never doubted you” she said with fake tears now.
Ben wiped off the tears with the back of his palm and promised never to distrust her again.
Just then, her phone rang and she went to the sitting room to pick it up. It was the call she had been waiting for. If this call had come earlier, she wouldn’t have to disburse so much energy on her fake tears just to convince him.
She was so happy when she was informed to come and start the job that morning.
She took the phone to her husband and showed him the call log.
” They just called me” she said joyfully
Ben was confused on why they would have to call her again as she already started. He didn’t bring it up because he had just promised not to doubt her words.
” I saw someone that looked like you that Saturday” he said as she was about to step out.
” It’s not me” she said without asking any questions on when and where.
She eventually left for work leaving Ben in a more confused state.
At work, she was directed to the store where she would be the assistant store keeper. She was glad with the robust salary she would be paid and immediately began to think of how fat it would be if she wasn’t assisting but being in charge.
She kept her phone in silence and determined never to call or receive calls from Ben as she had to out up with her initial lie.
She got home around past 5pm feeling very tired. It wasn’t because her work was that tedious but that was the very first time she would work in her life.
Ben had prepared something for her which she hurriedly eat before she even had her bath and slept off like a baby.
Ben had gone in search of work but his attempt yielded no good as he returned home jobless still.
He wanted to speak with his wife but had to let her rest.
He kept thinking of how things began to drop steeply ever since he got married. He tried not to dwell on how everything was working against him but focused on how to make things better.
The second day at work, Esther hoped to see Mr Charles. She carried on with her work with the assumption that every masculine approach was his. She was finding it difficult to understand the reason he didn’t even check on her after their passionate moment. The day went by still without seeing or hearing from him.
A week after, she still didn’t hear from him so she decided to squarely face her work and marriage as it seemed Mr Charles had had enough of her already while she thought she just started.
Esther’s new job was going smoothly and also she had no issues in her marriage as she now conversed less with her husband.
What she felt for husband was gradually reducing as she’s always either at work or at home praying and studying the Word. Ben too was preoccupied with getting a new and better job that he also didn’t realize the gap between them.
Esther, during her second week of appointment saw me Charles briefly. She greeted him happily but she was embarrassed with the response she got. She settled right there that the fling they had was really over as she would never allow anyone treat her like trash.
At home after work, she felt horny but didn’t know how to get her husband’s attention. Getting Ben’s attention shouldn’t be that difficult but the problem she had was that he wouldn’t satisfy her. She tossed on the bed, she couldn’t sleep. She really needed a man’s touch badly, preferably Mr Charles own. She wished she was able to contact him as she would just swallow her pride and beg for it.
Her husband didn’t even notice her, he was sound asleep already. Esther looked at him and hissed aloud. She hated the man he is now. She woke him up out of annoyance.
” What’s the problem with you Ben. Why are you doing everything to frustrate me in this marriage?” She asked the moment he opened his eyes.
” What is the meaning of this?” He asked surprised with his wife’s utterance and look.
” Well, I need you to make love with me since you can’t tell that I need it already” she asked boldly
Ben’s eyes became wider. The Esther he married to was reserved and she doesn’t speak vulgar words like these.
” Esther, what’s happening to you?” He asked.
” I just want you to man up and take up your responsibility like a man that’s if truly you are” she stated crudely.
To say Ben was surprised was an understatement, he was dumbstruck. He opened his mouth to speak but words failed him. It wasn’t even up to a month that Esther started working, she hadn’t even collected her first salary yet she was acting all mannerless.
Was it not this Esther that assured him of her support just last two weeks? When did she become this personality?
Instead of him responding to her remark, he decided to lay back and think of what he had done to deserve this kind of treatment from his beloved wife.
Esther began to rant when Ben wouldn’t answer her. She spoke loosely damning the consequences.
She spoke about how she will s*x herself and moaned loudly to his hearing till she cums.
When Ben couldn’t take it anymore, he left the room for her and slept on the couch where he was deep in thought for the better part of the night.
While Esther was still furious trying to bring to action her threat, a message from Mr Charles came in.
” Meet me up at that same spot tomorrow. Don’t be late”
Esther was infuriated at first with the message. Even though she needed s*x badly, she would have been so happy if he had some little respect for her and not treating her like a slut. She hated this but the thought of the beautiful time she would have soon began to creep in and finally clouded her brain and she became excited.
She began to pack her handbag ready for the next day which was Saturday.
She soon slept off as she was already eager to leave this misery of a Ben and be with a real man.
The next morning, she began to dress up without waking her husband for the morning devotion. She didn’t even pray alone. When Ben finally woke up, Esther didn’t greet him let alone apologising as he had thought. He continued to watch her as she carried on with her preparedness.
As soon as she went to the kitchen to make breakfast for herself alone, Ben took her phone and opened the message log. He knew he heard her message’s tone yesternight but was surprised not to find any new message on it.
” Is Esther really hiding things from me?” He asked in his thought.
Esther came in and found her phone with him. She angrily dragged it off him and went back to the sitting room where she had her breakfast.
She returned to the room to get her bag and leave to meet Charles.
” Where are you going to?” Ben spoke for the first time.
She snubbed his question and took her bag.
Ben stood up with full rage and closed the door against her in anger. If she really wanted him to man up, then he will do just that even in a negative way.
” Let me go Ben” Esther yelled.
” You’re not going anywhere until you answer my question. Where are you going?” He asked again.
” I’m going to work” she said with her hands on her waist.
” Which work?” He asked.
” Are you not ashamed to keep asking me which work every now and then. Does it mean you don’t understand what work is anymore because you’re jobless? Please just get out of my way and let me help your failure.” She barked.
Ben’s ego bursted. He felt less than a man. He had never believed a moment like this would ever come in his marriage, not even this soon.
He felt tears clouded his eyes. He mustn’t bring himself to shed tears in her presence no matter how deeply hurt he was. He needed to leave her sight instantly else she would see him cry.
He moved quickly out of her way and in that process he hit her slightly with his shoulder making her handbag and the content fall out.
Esther bent quickly and hurriedly packed up her bag but not before Ben who had turned to apologise for hitting her saw the brassiere and pant.
They appeared beautiful and red in colour.
” Are you going to work in those bikini?” Ben asked Esther who never thought she had been caught.
To be continued…
