CONTRACT MARRIAGE
Contract Marriage – Episode 27
Three months later!
Ife arranged accordingly the last stack of files on his table and rested a little. The company was expanding at a pace he never expected, and that meant he had more work to do.
Today, he had been engaged in one meeting or the other and was exhausted.
But he had promised Omar yesterday that they would both go for their baby shopping together today. So he had to close early from work. In exhaustion, he closed his eyes briefly to take a nap but the incessant ringing of his phone jerked him awake.
It was an unsaved number, but his instincts told him to pick.
“ Hello….” He voiced.
There was a slight pause from the other end.
“ Hi Ife…. It’s Zoey….. it’s been a while I saw you….. I just needed to give you more time to come around…..but I think it’s time we talked things out….”
Ife mused and wondered how she got his number.
He threw the question.
“ Zoey…. Please how did you get my number?” He asked her.
There was a brief pause.
“ How I got your number is not important right now….. I know you are married now, and would like to keep your distance….. but I believe I still owe you an explanation regarding why I left the way I did…..” Zoey said and paused.
“…And I know you also desire an explanation.” She continued.
“… Ife…. I just want us to meet and talk.” She said.
There was a pause from Ife.
“ Fine….but that wouldn’t be today cause I’ve got a lot of activities stashed up for me.” Ife answered.
“ Ok…. What about 2pm on Saturday?….” She asked.
“ It works for me….. where do we meet up?”
“ let’s meet at our favorite spot at the beach.” she said.
He sighed.
“ Ok then.” He said and hung up.
Grabbing his suit hunged on his chair and his suitcase, he exited the company’s building and headed home.
Omar was on a call with Binta when he entered.
“ Hey love.” He greeted and kíssed her on the cheek.
She blew him a kïss and rounded up her call.
“ How was your day my love?” She asked him.
“ It was busy and brain demanding.”
“ hmm!…. Sorry…. Hope you are not too tired?”
“ No dear….. I’m okay thanks.”
“ Any gist for me?”
He chuckled and paused.
“ Zoey called me.” He said.
Omar’s brow creased into a frown.
“ What does she want?”
Ife smiled.
“ Calm down honey…. She just wants us to meet up and to explain the reason she left.”
“ But that’s in the past already….. you have moved on!!…. So she should do the same!!”
Ife cleared his throat.
“ I understand your point Omar…. But I need to know the reason she left too….. honey you got to trust me on this one ok?” he said persuasively.
She hesitated, then sighed.
“ Ok.”
He nodded and rubbed her cheeks with his palms.
“ So are you ready for our baby shopping?”
“ Yes…. Let me get my purse.” She said and climbed up the stairs. She came back in less than ten minutes, and they left.
**********************
Her office door creaked open and Omar walked in.
“ Omar!!….” Ashley gushed.
“ What a pleasant surprise to see you visit me after a long time!!” She said with a smile plastered on her face.
Omar didn’t return the smile. She sat down instead and fixated her gaze on Ashley.
“ What is it?…. Why are you looking at me like that?” Ashley asked her.
“ I didn’t come here for pleasantries Ashley.” Omar said in a serious tone.
“ Then why are you here?” Ashley asked in amusement.
“ My coming here is very simple Ashley….” Omar said, resting her arms on Ashley’s office table.
“ Tell your sister to leave my husband alone Ashley!!….. There are so many available men out there!!…. Let her pick from them, and leave Ife alone!!” Omar said, half yelling.
Ashley chuckled loudly.
“ If your husband loves you so much honey….why the insecurity?” Ashley asked mockingly.
“I’m not insecure…. I’m only marking my territory!!”
Ashley laughed out loud.
“ You do not need to mark your territory and fight shamelessly for a man who is married to you based on a contract!!” She said.
Omar scoffed.
“ I’m not here to banter words with you Ashley….. I’m just here to warn you…. And this would be my first and last warning!!….. Tell Zoey to stay the héll off my man!!!” Omar warned, half yelling.
“ Or what will you do?” Ashley challenged her angrily.
Omar scoffed.
“ You wouldn’t want to know what I would do Ashley…. Do not underestimate me!!….” Omar warned further, pointing her fingers at Ashley.
“ Get the hell out of my office.” Ashley fired back, further escalating the arguments between them as they yelled at themselves.
The door suddenly opened and Judith entered hurriedly.
“ Judith!!!…. Thank God you are here!!…. Imagine this fool having the audacity to come to my office to threaten me!!….” Ashley was saying, but was quickly interrupted by Judith.
“ I have been duped!!!….. I have been scammed Ashley….. all my investments are gone!!!….. As in gone!!!!” Judith lamented loudly, throwing her bag on the floor and placing her hands on her head.
“ Wait a minute Judith!…. Calm down …..I don’t understand what you are saying….. can you take it easy.” Ashley said, trying to calm her down.
But Judith panicked more.
“ The business I informed you about last month that I invested all my savings in?”
“ Yes!…. Yes!…. I remember…. You said you wanted to buy some shares in a foreign company!!” Ashley replied.
Judith nodded anxiously.
“ Yes!!!…. Ashley it was a scam!!!…. And I fell for it!!!…. All my savings are gone!!!”
“ My savings!!!!….. Do you believe I sold my property in Banana Island to raise enough money for the investment?…… Everything is gone Ashley….. I am ruined!!!” Judith said and began to weep profusely.
Omar swallowed hard.
“ You mean you sold your major properties to purchase some shares in a foreign company?” Omar asked subtly.
Judith wept loudly.
“ I thought it was legit….. he made me believe it was all legitimate… he even took me to the company and showed me some evidential proofs!!….I didn’t know it was all a set up!!!” Judith replied.
Ashley sighed painfully.
“ So how did you find out you were scammed?”
Omar asked in curiosity.
“ I went to the company building….. but there was no one there…. It turns out the building had been abandoned for a while now…..and the guy who introduced me to the company, was suddenly not reachable…. All his social media handles has been blocked!!!…. I am doomed!!!….” Judith said as she continued weeping.
Ashley and Omar, tried to console her but she was inconsolable.
(Do not take credit or Plagiarize AMAH’S HEART stories)
