She stood at the foot of the bed watching her husband as he stretched lazily, smiling sleepily at her. The delicate blue Waterford duvet didn’t quite cover his body and she looked admiringly at his lean, long body as he turned this way and that.

“Hey, honey.”

Something stirred in her. His voice still did something to her even after all this time…even after everything.

“Hey’, she replied softly.

“Want to join me for a nap?” he asked in a thinly disguised invitation.

She chuckeld lightly in spite of herself. “No time for that. I have to finish cooking so we can get ready for Ike’s wedding. I just came upstairs to grab my hair net. I don’t want you  to find strands of my lovely, nappy hair in your food” she teased.

“Okay. Wake me up in a couple of hours, please? Let me grab a little more sleep.”

She nodded. She had stopped asking him to set the alarm on his iPhone. He always insisted that ‘his human alarm’ was a much sweeter wake-up than a beeping phone. Well, it used to be…in those days – the early days when she couldn’t get enough of him, nor him of her. Not anymore. Now, things were different.

She had barely turned to leave the room when she heard him snoring softly, ‘like a piglet’ she used to tease. Now, she struggled to contain the irritation that flashed through her when she looked at or thought about her handsome, kind, popular, generous husband.

She turned one last time to look at his sleeping form and a thought reverberated through her mind.

I wish I could get a divorce.

***

She swiped her arm across her forehead before stirring the pot of oha soup bubbling on the stove. She replaced the cover and turned her attention to the stir-fry on the left burner. At the same time, her mind was on the chicken baking in the oven. As her eyes strayed to the wall clock, she wondered if she had taken on too much. She always liked to do her cooking on Saturdays…well, maybe ‘liked’ wasn’t the correct word – she had to do her cooking on Saturdays because there never seemed to be any time during the week, what with working a regular, full-time job outside the home. She felt like she was always chasing the clock, trying to catch up and never quite managing to.

A sigh escaped her as her eyes strayed to the clock again ‘2 o’clock already! I hope I finish in time for the wedding.’They had been invited to a friend’s wedding and she didn’t want to miss it. It was tough trying to fit a social life around her busy schedule, but somehow she found a way to do it.  Sometimes, it meant a few late nights in the kitchen, or cutting corners with her chores, or missing a couple of Sunday services, but she always consoled herself with the thought that person no be firewood  - she needed to kick back and relax whenever she could. Hunger pangs reminded her that she hadn’t eaten, and she quickly made herself a ham and tomato sandwich. She never liked to arrive hungry at an event. It helped her avoid over-eating and aided her efforts to maintain her trim figure. As she sat at the breakfast nook, eating her sandwich and watching images flash by on the small flat-screen tv in the kitchen, a feeling of loneliness overwhelmed her.

She glanced at the giant potrait hanging on the opposite wall – the happy bride with the delirious expression seemed almost like a stranger , as did the man into whose eyes she gazed adoringly. Nonso & Nnamdi, the inscription read – A Forever Love.

“I wish I could get a divorce…”

***

Onyih Odunze

Did you enjoy this story? Please share it by clicking the ‘Share’ button below.

Come back on Sunday for the next installment of our new series “Dreams That Fade” and find out what happens next with Nonso and Nnamdi. As always, thanks for reading!!