MY SPIRITUAL WIFE
EPISODE 15
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I looked at Janet, startled.
I could not believe my ears. “Why in heaven’s name would this one even ask me such a silly question?” I thought to myself. “A guy as young as me? married ke! Not even just married, as in, in present tense o, but in the past? Haba! This girl never begin dey mad like this ni?”
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I did not know how to answer Janet’s question. It was too awkward. I couldn’t even begin to form the words, in response.
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Janet hadn’t blinked since she asked me that question. She was now staring. Her stare was piercing.
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Janet’s cold stare was suddenly making me uncomfortable.
It soon developed me, a stutter.
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I took a deep breath; I nervously opened my mouth to speak but then, I was not sure what to say or even, what I was expected to say.
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The answer to this question was simple. “I’ve never been married before”. But then, this seemingly “very simple” answer suddenly felt like the “wrong” one.
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I suddenly felt a very strong strange feeling.
It was more like uttering what I knew; what I am very sure was “true” to the hearing of Janet, being suddenly all shades of wrong.
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“Paul! What is there to think about na? This is a simple question. A simple question that requires either a yes or a no response.” Janet said, readjusting her sitting position. “Paul, have you been married before?”
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I managed to mutter “No”.
Then the scorn on Janet’s face in reaction to my response got my heart racing; pounding so hard; so fast.
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All these were strange. I felt as though I would pass out any moment from having run out of breath.
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“Will you like to think about that response again, Paul or is that your final answer?” Janet asked, still staring deep into my eyes.
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“I…I dunno. No…Yes…See…Jane! What exactly do you want to hear and why are you even asking me this kind of question?” I managed to throw at Janet, confusingly.
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Janet smiled. Her smile was not the usual kind; it was not your regular voluntary or involuntary expression of amusement.
Janet’s smile had a more coded meaning to it. It was glaring, yet it wasn’t.
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Before I could process what this smile meant, Janet asked… “Who is Oluchi to you?”
“Who is, who?”😕 I asked. Now even more confused.
Again, a question in present tense.
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“I’ve never heard that name in my life”. I said.
“Are you sure?”
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It actually took me a while to remember who “Oluchi” was.
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If that name hadn’t been the only Oluchi I’d ever come across, I am sure I wouldn’t have known what or who Janet was talking about.
I’d had to wrack my head for the answer to Janet’s question and when I finally did, my jaw was on the floor in shock.
I was shocked; puzzled and confused, all at the same time.
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Janet let out a smirk, the moment I asked to be sure, that she was referring to the same Oluchi I’d gone to the same primary school with; the same one that’d mysteriously disappeared, never to be seen again all through my remaining stay in the school.
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I couldn’t even begin to wrap my head around the coincidence in this, when Janet nodded, affirming to the fact that she was indeed, referring to the same Oluchi.
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Janet still didn’t break gaze with me the entire time.
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“We went to the same primary school.” I said.
“Are you saying that she was just someone you attended school with?” Janet asked, with a facial expression depicting keen interest.
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“As far as I can remember, yes. Wait! Did you attend the same school or something?” I asked, still trying to make sense out of this mystery.
Janet chuckled. She shook her head as though sorry for how unbelievably stupid; naive I was.
“Yes Paul, I attended the same primary school and you haven’t changed a bit.”
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“Oh wow! There was no way I could have recognized you from back then, Janet.” I said, beaming.
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Janet’s smiles kept drifting from what it ought to originally have represented to something more.
I was too distracted or not sensitive enough to have decoded that something was not adding up; something was just not right.
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Janet told me that night, that she doesn’t usually “do this” (have sex) on a first date. She said she doesn’t usually do this at all.
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I did not understand what Janet had meant by “I don’t usually do this at all”, especially as she no be virgin when I been enter that place earlier.
I didn’t get enough time to “process” any of it before Janet’s next words drowned my thoughts.
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“Paul, we have a connection and connecting with people is usually not my thing. I hold trust and loyalty at a very high esteem and hope we can build something out of it; out of this”. Janet said, making a gesture, signaling both of us, dramatically.
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Something about all of this just didn’t seem right.
I had to pinch myself to be sure that I wasn’t dreaming.
“How could this goddess; literally the most beautiful girl I’ve ever met be telling me everything I should be on bended knees telling her?” I wondered.
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Janet is “drop dead” gorgeous.
Janet is everything every guy my age could kill, just to have a clear image of her in their head, as they wank.
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“The same girl I am still trying to wrap my head around the magic responsible for me to have had her on a platter, is currently telling me I could have her for keeps? What else could a horny fresher ask for?” I thought to myself.
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I told Janet that I am big on loyalty as well and as long as she’ll stay loyal to me, I promised to be good; to stick to her.
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“Are you sure about this, Paul? Janet asked, with the cutest smile I’d ever seen.
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“How could she even be asking me such an obvious question?” Again, I wondered.
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“If you stay loyal to me, Paul, I’ll treat you well. You’ll achieve things beyond your imagination.Amongst your peers, you’ll always rank first…”
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In my mind I was like “Having you to brag with, amongst my friends alone is enough achievement. Just leave every other matters for Matthias, jare.”
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But, little did I know what Janet had meant by those words.
To be continued…
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