Episode 10 (Our Fate)

Last updated on April 30th, 2024 at 06:51 am

Adelana’s wife knows! Patricia dropped her toothbrush in the toothbrush holder, or so she thought as the toothbrush fell to the bathroom floor. She had woken up early to work and just got to her phone hours later. Adelana’s message had come in at 2 am and this was 10 am. She immediately dialled his phone. After trying for the third time and he still wasn’t answering the calls, she threw her phone on the couch and crashed on the floor. There were a million thoughts and scenarios in her head. How did his wife find out? She thought.

—

The next day would make it a month since Pat and Adelana spoke on the phone. Patricia had been a shadow of herself during this period. She had messaged Adelana, sent him emails, and called him severally all to no avail. After ignoring her sister’s call for weeks, she decided to return her call.

“Look who finally returns my calls. Just tell me you’re fine.” Patricia was going to pretend, all the while that she and Adelana were together, she only told Helen that she was in a relationship but didn’t share that it was Lana. She knew Helen wasn’t going to be happy about it. Now though, she didn’t care. Her heart ached too much. Was Adelana pissed at her? Was he done with her? What was happening? She needed to know what was going on with him. She missed him dearly too and it drove her up the wall to not have heard his voice in almost a month.

“I dated Adelana.” She answered Helen, ignoring her comment.

“What?!” Just as she had anticipated, her sister was shocked. Patricia explained the whole relationship to her sister, starting from when she chatted with Adelana. She was prepared to be judged and tongue-lashed, but she couldn’t keep this to herself again.

“Have you told Sire?” Helen asked. Her response surprised Patricia who had expected her to be mad at her. She cleared her throat and answered.

“No, he doesn’t know either.”

“Well, he might know what’s up with him. We need to tell him.” Helen said. Patricia nodded even though Helen couldn’t see her. She wondered why that hadn’t occurred to her all this time. They added Sire to their call and Helen gave him an abridged version.

“O my God. I suspected this. Oh no!” Sire exclaimed loudly.

“There’s no time for any of this. When was the last time you spoke to him?” Helen asked.

“About two weeks ago. He told me he was busy and that he’d call back, but he hasn’t.” 

“Please call him. We need to know what’s happening and know the next line of action.” Helen demanded. Patricia remained quiet on the phone. She had cried so many times and was exhausted from crying. Now, all she could do was hope that Adelana answered Sire. Sire hung up promising to call back once he got feedback. He had suspected that something was going on when Adelana slipped and mentioned Patricia more than once. He had asked him once and Lana had denied even seeing Patricia so Sire had thought it best to ignore it then. If only he had pursued it.

—

You guys up for a call? I’ve got updates. Sire sent it to the group.

“Hello,” Helen answered.

“Hello,” Pat said quietly.

“Guys, I eventually spoke to Lana this morning. Long story short, he’s been house hunting and he’s getting divorced.” Sire explained.

“Oh, Lord.” Helen said at the same time that Patricia exclaimed. A heavy sense of guilt overcame her as she started sobbing. 

“Pat…” Helen said and trailed off.

“So, why wouldn’t he talk to Patricia?” Helen asked Sire. He sighed.

“Honestly, I didn’t ask. He seems to be going through it. I know he’ll come around though.”

—

Ibukun understood that getting divorced wasn’t as easy as getting married but, thankfully, she was a divorce lawyer. She had seen several cases in her career but none like her marriage. She couldn’t afford to be bitter because of the history behind her soon-to-be ex and his mistress. Of course, she couldn’t say that she and Lana were particularly head over heels when they married, but it didn’t bother her considering her experience. She knew commitment mattered more than love in a marriage. Maybe she was wrong seeing as they had the commitment yet still lost their marriage. 

Still, she was hurt. She had even deliberated remaining in the marriage on the premise of him ending his affairs until he explained everything to her. She stood no chance, they stood no chance. While she had gotten on their divorce process, she wasn’t sure if he had gone to see the other woman but she knew he had finally gotten an apartment, in Lagos. He’d been apologising constantly and to say that she didn’t rethink everything was a lie, but she deserved better.

Ibukun knew that his apology was because their marriage had ended and not just because he cheated. His heart was with the other woman. No marriage could work that way.

—

Lana dropped his phone after talking to his agent. He had eventually found an apartment after weeks of rigorous search. It was tedious finding a house in Lagos but more complicated given that he couldn’t travel there to see the apartments. He had decided to respect his wife by not contacting Pat until they separated physically and he got the divorce petition. He considered it time for him to also sort out his feelings and get a clean break, if possible, from his wife. 

He hadn’t spoken to Pat in a month and thankfully, he had eventually answered the divorce petition which was only the beginning of the process. Now that he had to move back to Lagos, he had to talk to Pat. In the period that everything came crashing, his feelings for Pat never wavered. He knew he still wanted to be with her but he had to allow her the space to also miss them and reflect on whether or not she truly wanted them this time without any obstacle in their way.

Now that he’d gotten an apartment, he had to move as soon as possible. He’d been enough inconvenience to his wife or soon-to-be ex-wife.

— 

We need to talk. Patricia saw the message as soon as it came in and gasped. She’d been clutching her phone around, never letting it out of sight except when she was asleep, and even then she kept it close to her pillow. She didn’t want to miss any call from Lana if he ever called and she had prayed and hoped every day for him to call.

She knew that she was largely to blame for what happened and what Adelana was going through. Her fears about establishing a real thing with Adelana had kept her from going all in. With over a month of uncertainty and having not spoken to or seen Adelana, she knew what she wanted. She was ready to do it right if he still wanted them. She hoped it wasn’t too late as she typed: Yes, we do. She had more to say, she had a million questions to ask, but she knew to keep calm. She waited impatiently for Lana’s response. After some minutes, he replied. See you soon. What?! Adelana was coming to see her? She panicked. She was about to go into her room to change when she heard the gate and a car driving in. No!

—

Adelana knocked on Patricia’s door, his heart beating wildly. He hadn’t seen her in so long and he had to admit that it was one of the hardest times of his life. She opened the door and he gasped. Patricia looked depressed and seemed to have lost weight. His heart tugged as he took her in his arms. She was more beautiful than ever even though she looked out of sorts. 

Patricia tried to hold back her tears, but they forced their way out as she cried in Adelana’s arms while they stood at the entrance of her sitting room. Had he come back for her? Did he still love her? The uncertainty was killing her.

“Baby. Pat. I’m so sorry.” Adelana replied, kissing her face. He guided them to sit on the couch still holding her to his chest. Patricia managed to stop crying as she took in Adelana’s face. He didn’t look too good either. He wiped her cheeks with his thumb and kissed her forehead. Then he launched into everything that happened from the night his wife confronted him. Their fingers remained intertwined as he explained everything to her. Her heart leaped when he said that he had found an apartment and was moving to Lagos.

“What does this mean, Lana?” She asked unsure.

“This is the time for the truth, Patricia. Do you really want to be with me? Do you really want a chance at us without any excuses, guilt, secrets, or whatnot? Are you ready to really do this? Cos I am and I’m going fully in and taking no excuses again.” He noticed that she still had her promise ring on and hope filled his heart but he needed to know if she was prepared. He was ready to cut his losses and move on if she wasn’t willing to show up fully in their relationship. It’d kill him, but he’d do it. He looked at her face as she seemed to contemplate her words.

“Adelana, to begin, I’m sorry. I’m so sorry for making us go through this. For not being brave from the onset. I’m sorry for not trusting us. I’m sorry it took us hurting our loved ones. I’m sorry for making things hard for you.”

“Okay?” Adelana prompted, his heart splitting already.

“I want this. I want this with you. This is our third chance and I’m willing to go fully in with you. I want this.” She answered. A sigh escaped Lana as he pulled Pat in for a kiss, tasting all of her as they rocked each other’s world. He didn’t know what the future held but with Pat by his side, he could go on with his head high.

…

Whew! They sure took me on a ride and I hope they did for you too. Share your thoughts in the comments, please.

Thanks for reading! See you soon!

Enjoy other short reads here or read Ibukun’s story, On a Sunday!