MY WIFE’S FRIEND.

I met Seun through my wife.

Light skinned, petite and pretty, she seemed to like my wife a lot and my wife appeared to feel the same way. Both women shared quite a close bond.

She would come around the house now and then but I never conversed with her beyond the usual hello’s and hi’s.

One day, I realized she wasn’t visiting anymore.

“Baby, what’s up with you and Seun?” I asked my wife out of sheer curiosity, “I haven’t seen her around here in a while”

“Oh! we’re good o,” my wife casually replied, patting her face with a powder foam, “She’s just busy I guess..”

“I see”

“Besides, she and her husband are almost going through a divorce..”

“You don’t say. What happened?”

My wife shrugged, snapped her powder close and replaced it on the dressing mirror in front of her, “irreconcilable differences, coupled with the fact that the man has been making demands of a threesome…”

“Woah!”

“I know right?” she nodded at me, “Their issues are really compiled”

I felt sorry for Seun.

That day when I got to the office, I looked her up on WhatsApp. I had always had her number but never had a reason in my four years of marriage to Monica to contact her, and neither did she.

I found her, and I could not help but notice the pretty photo she set of herself on her profile – smiling dashingly as if she was not sinking in pain…as I assumed a woman in her situation would.

“I’m sorry about what you ‘may’ be going through, Monica told me… I hope you don’t mind..” I wrote her. “It’s Michael” I quickly added as an after thought.

“I know” she replied almost immediately, “It’s okay”

“How are you coping?” I went on.

“Striving. Numb for the most part…”

The intercom on my desk rang, interrupting the reply my mind had begun to cook up.

I picked it up to my ear and listened as the secretary invited me to the meeting currently going on downstairs.

I agreed to be there and in that haste, wrote to Seun, “Listen, I’m here if you ever need to talk.” With that, I sprung up from my chair and walked out of the office.

_____
She contacted me two nights after that day.
I was in bed with Monica fast asleep besides me when my WhatsApp chimed with a notification from her, “Awake?” she wrote.

“Yes” I replied, “Perusing mails” I watched her read my message without replying, then I followed up with a, “Are you okay?”

“No” she replied.

“What’s the matter?” I asked.

“Is it really okay to confide in you? I mean, I don’t want any trouble” she worried.

“There will be none.” I assured her. “You’ve more or less been a friend of the family. So, feel free”

“Is Monica there?”

“Yes. She’s asleep”

“Okay.”

“What’s the matter Seun? Exactly tonight, what’s keeping you up?”

“#sigh. We had a fight… because I won’t let him go anal…” My eyes almost popped out of its socket. “I am honestly tired Michael, I’m tired of this marriage, I’m tired of this pain…”

She went on to further enumerate her challenges in the marriage, pages upon pages she wrote and I read every word, listening to her as time ticked away on the clock hung up against the wall of my bedroom.

When it was 2:30 am, we said good night and went offline.

_____
The morning of the following day, as Monica and I got dressed in our bedroom to begin our day, I refrained from mentioning my conversation with Seun to her.

I did think of saying something, but not sure if it was necessary, I kissed her goodbye, drove our two boys to school then went over to my office.

As soon as I sat down at my desk, I sent Seun a text, just to check up on her. You see, in spite of how sad our subject of conversation was the night before, I liked talking to her. Her choice of words and methods of expressions were quite interesting. What was more? I cared about her situation; after all, she was a friend of my wife.

She replied, stating that the atmosphere at her house was still tense. I gave her a few words of encouragement and settled down to work.

By evening, I found myself checking up on her again.
Those checkups continued, and our communication developed into a friendship.

By the clock of two weeks, Seun and I were steadily conversing, no longer just about her troubled marriage but about life in general. We talked about how our day was going, what she had for lunch, what I had for lunch. Her favorite band, our fantasies, what her daughter did, what my sons did, most memorable sexual encounters…

It was exciting, a breath of fresh air from the mundane activities of my life.

Our closeness bred fondness, as well as some sexual tension between us, as a matter of fact, we both expressed our attraction to each other from way back.

A part of me felt guilty, but the other part reminded me that Seun no longer seemed to be friends with my wife; she did not come around the house anymore and I and her did not meet up in person, so, I was simply enjoying a harmless friendship, and I must say that I really enjoyed talking to her.

By the fourth week, we agreed to a meeting in person – finally.
We met up at an exclusive water front spot in Victoria Island. She came looking good and smelling nice. We were both uneasy at first, but we had come too far to turn back.
We talked, had a few drinks and dared to share a kiss, and then some more.

After a couple of sneaky make out sessions, we agreed to get a room.
I paid and we were escorted into our fully lit furnished room.

As soon as we were left alone, we went at each other – fully charged with desire. Our clothes went off and in no time, I had her nipple in my mouth. She cried with desire, and I groaned from wanting her for so long.

My body became one with hers but that contact was unfortunately an anti-climax for me. I am no carrot seller yet I understood in that moment, why her husband had been insisting on going anal.

I got it done with. Managed to meet up a few other times and have a couple of rounds before the whole relationship fizzled away for me. I was put off by her irrational needs as she became excessively clingy, and bold.

She would call my phone at odd hours of the day as opposed to chatting and this irritated me. Her boldness was so daring, it was almost like she wanted us to get caught.

One Monday afternoon, she sent me an mp3 attachment of a song whose lyrics promised ‘forever’. She said she was dedicating it to me and I knew after listening to that song meant for two people who were in love and wanted to be together, that it was time for me to end things with her.

I called her up and calmly but firmly excused myself from the ‘relationship’.
To my surprise, she took it well.
I ended that call, feeling very good with myself.

_____
One Saturday afternoon, I was at home, watching the ESPN match in my living room when my phone chimed. I picked up the device and to my surprise, it was Seun calling. We hadn’t spoken since that Monday afternoon, matter of fact, I thought that we were done.

“Hi Michael, are you home?” she inquired upon me answering.

“No” I lied, “I’m out of the Country”

“Okay” she said and hung up.

Confused as to why she would ask that question at all, I refused to ponder on her possible reasons. I dropped my phone to the sofa besides myself and resumed watching my match.

***30 Minutes Later***
The doorbell rang and my wife came running down the stairs, excitedly.

Her excitement was not directed at anything she wanted to share with me because she went straight for the door, pulled it open and in walked Seun…

I almost shit my pants.

Dazzled, I watched as both women embraced themselves, giggling like teenagers.

They hugged each other repeatedly, chittering on about how much of a long time it had been. I stood on the sideline, watching this display of affection with my heart somersaulting behind my chest.

“Let’s go upstairs,” my wife invited her, “gosh! There’s so much to talk about”

Giggly, Seun followed behind her. “Hi Michael,” she casually greeted as she passed by me.

I stared at her, unable to mutter any words of reply.

Oblivious, my wife nudged her onwards, “Come on, we have so much to catch up on!”

Both women disappeared upstairs and I could no longer return my focus to the match playing on my screen.

I paced the floor, scared and curious. A part of me wanted to storm upstairs to the family lounge which I presumed they would be in, eavesdrop at their conversation, or call out my wife just to distract her, but I did neither of those. Instead, my restless feet continued to pace the tiled floor.

The ESPN match I had waited all day to watch now seemed irrelevant as my heart beat on my chest, and my palms sweated profusely besides my body.

I tried to sit down, but unable to stay seated, I rose to my feet again.

A sudden rush to ease myself overwhelmed me so I dashed to the visitor’s toilet, hurried out of my pants, let myself go, came out and continued to pace, subconsciously waiting for the moment when my wife would run down those steep stairs, flaring in anger and poking accusing fingers at me.

True to my thoughts, both women emerged at the top of the stairs.
I stopped dead in my tracks, ready to go down on my knees and apologize to my wife whom I had wronged so greatly. There was no need to pretend watching the match, so I stood rooted, ready to face the wrath of Monica. As I watched the women approach the foot of the stairs, I caught no angry look on my wife’s face. No tears, only a satisfied smirk…

“Seun is leaving now” she informed me as both women paused in front of me, “she stopped by just to catch up,” she explained as if reading my mind, “after been gone in like forever!” she concluded, nudging Seun’s shoulder playfully. Both women chuckled. “You better come back to visit o” my wife warned her.

“Of course” Seun agreed, “I would no longer stay away” she declared, locking eyes with me.

My wife, oblivious of the situation on ground, laughed away carelessly. All I could do was swallow hard and thank my lucky stars that today is not the day that I die.

“Bye Michael” Seun waved and began making for the door.

My wife followed after her, pulled the wooden door open, stepped out and shut the door behind them.

I collapsed into the sofa.
Relieved, I dragged both hands down my face and exhaled deeply into my palms.

________
** TWO DAYS LATER**

I wanted to call Seun.
I struggled with the idea especially as a day after her visit, she uploaded a photo of my wife on her Instastory tagging it, friend for life.

Why was she doing all these? I wondered to myself. What was her end game and what in the hell have I gotten myself into?.

I knew she was expecting me to call her, to show fear, probably plead, be at her mercy, so I refrained from giving her that satisfaction.

I sat back, but with my heart in my mouth, watched on silently as she rekindled her friendship with Monica and once again, became a regular visitor at our home.
_____
Saturday, the 2nd day of March is a day I wish life had skipped over. The world would have just rolled over to the 3rd of March or maybe even the 4th, never for us to experience that day. Maybe that way, my heart wouldn’t have broken into a million pieces.

How could I let this happen?, I kept asking myself as I sped home to Monica on that 2nd day of March, right after I got the message. How did I not see this happening? I continued to wonder. How did I think she would never do a thing like this? Why had I gotten so comfortable, so relaxed? What in the freaking hell!

I pulled up at my gate and honked the car, continuously. The security man must have thought someone was pursuing me as he staggered in pulling the gate open.

I sped through.
Ignoring his greeting, I pulled up in the compound and pretty much raced to the front door.

Monica would be at home I knew it, reading or doing anything else.

“Babe!” I yelled her name as I wheezed into the house.

“Daddy, daddy!” the boys called from the floor of the living room, where they laid watching TV.

I ignored them and headed for the kitchen.

“Welcome sir” greeted the cook from the gas where he stood.

“Welcome” seconded the housemaid, peeling some oranges at the counter.

“Where’s your madam?” I directed my question at the housemaid.

“She’s upstairs. In the study sir” she quickly added as she sensed my impatience.

I made a quick about turn, out of the kitchen, up the stairs and into our shared bedroom.

“Babe!” she startled in her chair as I barged into the study, her eyes widening at once.

“What is this?!” I demanded, holding my phone to her face with the message reflecting on the screen.

“What?!” she demanded back, eyes still shocked from having me barge in on her.

“Okay, no problem,” I retorted, retrieving the phone down to my face, “I’ll show you..”
I swiped the message upward to reveal its attachments, “there!.” I held the phone back to her face.

She squinted her eyes, strained her neck forward, and then received the phone from my hand to have a closer look. There were photos, about four of them, all completely nude, of herself, taken right in our bed..

I watched her shoulders drop, and then she buried her face in her palms.

“You cheated on me Monica?!” I stated, my heart pouncing on my chest. Shock, hurt, and disbelief – I was feeling them all at once. “I didn’t think you had it in you” I stated as a matter of fact, “You?” I pointed a finger accusingly at her still buried head. “So all this time, while I trusted you, you were busy frolicking with someone else? Now he’s sending me photos and messages intended to expose you? What did you do Monica?. Lift your face and look me in the eye while I’m talking to you!”

She shook her head in her palms, sounds of her sniffing escaping to my hearing.

Angered, I took one stride closer and tried to disengage her face from her hands. She struggled to keep her face hidden. I overpowered her and she ran out of the study, dashed into the bathroom and bolted the door after herself.

“Open this door!” I demanded, banging fiercely at the locked door.

“I’m sorry…” she called from within..

“Monica I said open this door!”

“I am so sorry” she wept…

________
A wreck, that’s what I became.
24 hours had passed since confronting Monica yet I still could not believe that she had the audacity to have an affair, under my roof. How could she do something that terrible to me, her husband?.

It hurt, more than anything had ever hurt me in my entire life. I was restless, I was pained, in fact, I developed high blood pressure.
What was more? She chose one heck of a useless guy to indulge in the shameful act with as the stupid boy had been blackmailing her for thousands of naira. When she wouldn’t give him any more money, he exposed her, to myself and to the popular Nigerian blog – Instablog.

It was a scandal – the whole situation was.

While she was still under my roof, I could not bear to look at her. She didn’t make it easier anyway as she avoided me at every turn, hiding from my presence like Eve of the bible hid from her Creator.

She reduced our communication to text messages, tons of them she sent, all rendering apologies,
“I was lonely” she claimed, “You were distant, I had no one to talk to, to share with. I am so sorry I found solace in another man..”

Her family begged me to forgive her, my friends asked me to throw her out and my conscience reminded me – as much as I hate to admit it, that I too was guilty – only unexposed.

_____
As we faced the repercussions of her scandal, I no longer saw her in the same light.
I became untrusting, of course.

One evening when she left her phone to charge in the living room, I got hold of it. I opened her WhatsApp with an intention to read through her chats – see what she was up to in general. An act I never found necessary in the past.

I saw a chat of her and Seun and for obvious reasons, I decided to read through it.
I scrolled all the way upwards and sat down to it.

It was surprising to find out that my wife had begun her affair around the same time things got ‘serious’ between I and Seun.
According to their chats, my wife complained about my distance in our marriage, informing Seun that she was lonely and sad amongst other complaints. It was at that point that Seun pressured her to have an affair, stating that she too had found someone (obviously me from the timeline) who was keeping her company and making her happy.

She cheered Monica on, throughout the pendency of her affair and stayed encouraging now that the secret was let out of the bag.

I felt weak to my knees.
I sank down into the sofa and got immersed in deep thoughts. I evaluated the whole situation and concluded to myself that Seun was not a good friend, for while she was claiming to be a friend to my wife, she was willingly having an affair with me…and my wife in turn drew strength from her to keep her own affair going, at the time.

What more was Seun capable of? I wondered. One thing was for sure; she was not a true friend and I needed to tell Monica… to let her know that Seun did not truly have her best interest at heart. To warn her and hopefully get Seun out of our lives for good, before she did her own version of revelations.

The question now becomes, how would I let Monica know the truth about Seun, without implicating myself?

She must not know that I slept with her close friend.

THE END.