Alfreda knew immediately she saw the look on his face that David was in trouble. Big trouble. He is not difficult to read especially when something is bothering him and somehow, she is always quick to detect just like this moment.
She took a step away from the window planes, and turned to face him,
“David, you can’t pretend nothing is bothering you, it’s all over your countenance and I know deep down that something is wrong, this was further rooted when you raised your voice at me over the phone today. what exactly is the problem? I need to know,” She asked in a barely audible and persuasive tone.
A low groan escaped his lips and he pushed himself up against the pillow. She noticed he was trying not to make eye contact with her and that made her more agitated.
“Al, I’m deeply sorry for raising my voice at you. I don’t know how to begin telling you this, I’m so scared and afraid. Saying this might cause a rift between us and I don’t want that, Al. I would be able to bear this burden alone,” He said while still making efforts not to make eye contact with her.
“David, you not speaking to me about whatever is going on means only one thing, and it is that you do not trust me. I need to know what is eating you up, baby. Do you know how I feel? As if you built a shell around yourself and you’ve withdrawn into that shell, shutting me out. What you seem not to know is, that I’m not happy when you are not, Dav. So please, talk to me,” she pleaded.
“Sweetheart… er hmm…you see…one thing I want you to know is that I will never intentionally hurt you, you’ve always been my rock, always been there when I need you most, you prioritize me over anything else even your career and I feel like I am the luckiest man on earth every single day and I pray earnestly to God that I do not want to hurt you because I love you with all my heart, without you, my existence is meaningless, my life had a turn around when you came into it.”
At that moment She had struggled to even breathe as a blush crept up her neck and spread widely across her cheeks. Oh, how he has a sugar-coated tongue, he has always been that good with words, words that made her insides tingle.
She snapped back to reality, beginning to get impatient and it seemed as if he was deliberately stalling time. Was he pulling her legs?
“Baby, I know all this, just tell me what has been bothering you.”
“Al, you see…ermm…,” He paused to clear his throat
“I have wronged you, all we have built is down the drain..be..be..because of my stupidity. All our savings are gone, I sold off my car and yours, the new owner of your car is not yet here to pick it because I told him to wait until I have informed you. I’m sorry I did not do so before going ahead to sell it. Al, there’s no hope of getting a proper apartment again, I sold my position at the office too, and I took out loans in my name and yours. We’re in a huge debt and we’re back to square one.” Then he went silent.
She said it! He was pulling her legs or he was simply playing a prank on her like the videos she has been seeing all over the internet nowadays where people play pranks on their loved ones while a camera records somewhere across the room.
She stood up to ransack every nook and cranny of the room, scattering things along her trail, looking for the hidden camera. Surely, this must be a prank or if it turns out not to be that, then it must be a dream.
“Al, take it easy, what are you looking for? You’re scaring me this way, Al. Al?…Al?..Al!”
She turned towards him suddenly and snapped,
“For God’s sake, where did you hide the camera? Where is the damn camera? I know all this is a prank but it is not funny, when did you start shooting videos for comedies, Dav? You know I hate surprises like this and you should have told me beforehand. So, where exactly did you place the camera?”
While doing all that, her heart was slamming widely against her chest. She had looked straight into David’s eyes and what she saw horrified her. She saw guilt, anguish, and woe.
“Dav, you were playing a prank, right? You were trying to see what my reaction to that news would be, right? Are you being serious?”
“Yes, Al. I’m damn serious”
Her throat became dry and painful.
She sat on the bed next to him and said, “It’s no problem, all you spent was for the investment of your start-up company, right? The one you started alongside, Jide? Is it not moving according to plan? Do not worry, I understand. Everything will get into place soon. I know all this is to make our life and that of our children better and it’s not easy for a start-up company to boom immediately. We just have to trust God and put in more effort to make it work. Do you need more money, then? I can take out of my savings for you, baby”
“No, dammit! There was never a startup company Alfreda. Our lives are ruined!.”
“Our lives are ruined? Oh no, darling, I trust you”
Suddenly, something dawned upon her and she rushed towards her vanity table, opened the drawers, and ransacked it from top to bottom, she moved to their wardrobe, ransacked it, and still could not find the documents to both her car and his. She rushed downstairs and searched everywhere for her car keys but found nothing.
She had picked up the phone to call David’s friend, Jide, and cunningly asked Him about the start-up company and he denied having started something of such and even laughed at the idea of a start-up company.
She ended the call and put off her blouse to create a source of air herself as a wave of heat came upon her from nowhere and her throat felt tight. The atmosphere had been cold but it seemed as if she was in an incinerator.
This is a dream and she needed to wake up.
“Somebody wake me up,” she screamed
“Alfreda!” David called rushing down the stairs toward her
“Get it together, Al you’re not helping matters, you’re rather making it worse with your display. You know, I didn’t want to tell you. If I had known you’d go berserk like this, I wouldn’t have told you” He said with a straight face
“Make it worse? My display? You say all that to me? You sold my car, spent all our savings, did all sorts of things on only-God-knows-what without informing me and you dare say those words to me? I trusted you to know what you were doing but there was no company to start with. Oh God! I have been fooled. My head… My head is hot. Where did all the money go, Dav?”
She got no answer.
“What did you spend that money on before I go crazy? A mistress?”
“It was a game that was supposed to make me rich, The game took it all”
Right at that moment, she indeed went berserk
Then she laughed. She laughed like she never had in her entire life.
TO BE CONTINUED…
