CHAPTER FOUR- “CONVINCED”

©️ Opeyemi Akintunde
As inspired by the DEEP ONE

I also couldn’t!
Seriously!
I couldn’t sleep that night.

As tired as I was, sleep eluded me. It felt unreal …completely absurd … that Imade was sleeping peacefully on our wedding night while I sat alone on the sofa like a rejected groom …

Like? That’s the wrong word….It should be “As a rejected groom that I was…”

I looked at her lovely, soft body lying on the bed… A body I had talked myself into loving… Talked? You ask? I will explain this later!

I kept telling myself as she snored off…My wife.

Someone that belonged to me at least by covenant.

I had paid her brideprice.
I had pledged before God, church, and both families that it was till death do us part.

Yet here I was, looking at my bride the way a chicken would gaze at bottled peanuts… or the way a low-income earner stares at designer wear through the mall glass.

“Oh Lord! Help your Son…” I wanted to scream.

I wanted to reach out to her….Touch her.
Hold her.
Even if just to feel married for a moment.

But knowing Imade and how her temper could switch from calm to thunder when provoked, I restrained myself.

Did I expect this?…Did I See the Tomato Red Flag? Maybe….The thought had crossed my mind once or twice, but I brushed it off.

I assumed that once she knew we were officially married, she would warm up to me … accept our fate … accept us.

But now I was asking myself:
Was she even seeing this marriage as our fate? Or just hers?

Did she think I didn’t see other girls who caught my interest?
Of course I did!

Even at our wedding, I saw Keisha the girl from primary school. I was sure Imade’s Mum invited her and her parents.

Keisha!
Now! That one was my spec!
Tall, slim, always smiling.

Truth be told, Imade’s average height and slightly chubby body was not my thing…
I always had to bend my neck to talk to her.
Even today during our photoshoot, lifting her for the couple photo took a little extra strength.

I would have loved to be with someone slim, my height … someone who matched my original fantasy.

But life is what it is.

I made up my mind in Junior Secondary School Class 1 ( JSS1) to honour my parents.
I grew to love Imade.
I accepted her flaws.
I appreciated her strengths. I talked myself into loving her height and her slightly chubby body frame.
And I haven’t looked back since then … despite distractions, temptations, and discouragement from Imade herself.

My phone beeped.
I checked the screen. A chat…

It was Eric, our mutual friend from way back.

“Guy! Tell me Imade has been screaming Hallelujah!”
I could literally hear the excitement in his tone.

I couldn’t help but smile bitterly.

“I wish,” I typed back.

“You say?” he replied with a curious emoji.

“She no gree.”
(She refused.)

My phone rang almost immediately.

I needed to talk to someone.
It was 2:45 a.m.

I quietly took the room card and stepped outside.

“Hello…”

“My guy! My guy! Wetin dey sup?( What’s Up?) Are you joking with me?” Eric asked.

“How can I joke with something like that? If she agreed, would I be gisting with you at 2:30 a.m. on my wedding night?”

“True…this one you talk makes sense.”
Then he added, “Guy, touch her nau! After few seconds she go lose guard.”

“Like you don’t know Imade,” I replied.

“True… Na sense you talk,” he repeated his iconic line about talking sense.

“Guy, I feel like I’m running mad!” I confessed.

“Of Course…e reach to run mad ( it’s expected) …I feel you, guy! With all those fantastic fantasy wey dey your mind. Oh boy! My guy chop breakfast on wedding night!”

He paused.

“That one make sense o … breakfast on wedding night. Epic! ….Breakfast…Night”

“Eric! Can you be serious? We’re talking about my life here and you are not talking sense” I snapped.

“Teju, sorry… I’m just trying to make a worse situation feel light for you…”

“How does your talk make it light? In fact, I think I’m speaking to the wrong person tonight. Get off my phone!”

I ended the call angrily.

I couldn’t remember the last time I had been that angry.
My heart was racing… pounding hard.

That was when a tear slipped out of my eye.

Yes. I cried.

My heart had always been a soft one.
I hated hurting people.
I could sacrifice anything for those I cared about.

I married Imade to make our parents happy.
Why couldn’t she make even a little effort to meet me halfway?

By now, I was standing in front of the elevator.

It was either I got into it and found somewhere …I mean anywhere… to cool down…

Or I returned to the room to try my luck again…

What would be your best advice for me?

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