“… so yeah, bro, that’s what happened. That’s the full story. Chale, if I had known it would go this far, eh, plenty things dey wey I no go do. I really regret this thing. I really regret. It’s one of the worst things I’ve ever done, and I don’t know if I’ll ever get over it. But Kev, please, abeg, you and Maggie speak to Aurie for me. Tell her I’m sorry, coz bro, I really am. I love her. I wish I’d never done this-“

Hitting the pause button, Aurelia sighed, folding her arms and crossing her legs as she sat in the living room of Kevin and Margaret’s house. Where she had been staying for the past one month with the boys.

She had not wanted to hear anything about Jeremy since leaving the house after that terrifying horror movie experience. Aside the anger at him for sleeping with another woman, the fact that everything that happened was because he cheated on her made it even more painful to deal with. Not to mention the fact that it triggered all those emotions she had had to live through when her mother’s affair came to light many years ago.

So since she and the boys left, she had not spoken to him. Not even through a message. He had come to the house a few times, and despite the urges of the Annor couple, she refused to see him. She was too livid to hear him out.

He had sent a 20 minute long voice note to Kevin outlining everything that had happened. After hearing it for himself, Kevin advised her to listen to it. She had refused to for a while. But now curiosity got the better of her, and after asking Kevin to send it to her, she heard everything.

From Kenzy and Enoch encouraging him in his inebriation to their fight the next day, and from the STD test to Lincoln’s directive.

She heard it all.

And as she sat there, having listened to it about three times, she was thinking long and hard on what to do.

Well, there was one thing she really wanted to do after hearing that. She picked up the phone, searched for the contact she was looking for, and dialled.

After a few rings, a nervous-sounding voice crackled through the phone. “Hello?”

“Kenzy, it’s Aurelia. Jeremy’s wife. We need to talk.” Aurelia’s tone was firm, but a mix of anger and hurt was evident.

Kenzy gulped audibly on the other end. “Aurelia, I… uh, sure. What’s… what’s up?”

“I want the truth, Kenzy. I need to know what happened that night with Jeremy, and I need to know now,” Aurelia demanded.

Kenzy hesitated. “Ummm… wh-wh-what are you talking about, please?”

“Listen Kenzy, I know when someone doesn’t know what I’m talking about, and when someone knows exactly what I’m talking about but is trying to pretend. And that annoying little stammer of yours makes it crystal clear that you know what I’m talking about. So please, don’t annoy me. Start talking, and fast!” she snapped, her patience wearing thin.

Shaken by her reaction, he went silent for a moment before finally admitting. “Umm…Aurelia, the truth is this: we took him out that night. Kinda against his will. Umm… Enoch and I felt that since we were there for the program, we should all move as a group were out that night, and so we pulled him along. We had some drinks, got a little tipsy, and Jeremy… Umm… we saw someone. Some girl bi. And we thought she was so damn fine, we urged him to go and move to her. We did it as a joke, honestly. We didn’t think it would lead to… to what happened.”

Aurelia’s eyes narrowed. “So… basically, you encouraged him? You played a major part in this betrayal? Neither you nor Enoch thought it wise to go and move to her yourself?”

“Umm… uh, uh…”

“Speak, gentleman! Speak! I’m not doing primate sounds with you! Speak like a damn human being!”

“Yes, yes! Um, yes, we… we encouraged him. And he was almost drunk, so… umm, I’m sorry, Aurelia.”

Aurelia remained silent for a moment. Then she unpacked.

“You know, I’ve never really understood why Jeremy accommodates you and that Enoch guy, because it’s always been so glaring to me that you guys are a bunch of jokers. No sense of seriousness about life when it comes to you both. Especially you. When you guys brought up this building capacity conference thing up, I was skeptical. I honestly only agreed because Jeremy thought it was a step in guiding you guys to actually being serious with your lives. Only for me to discover this. And while he realized his mistake, you were there giving him fans? Really?”

“Aurelia, I’m sorry-“

“Shove your useless apology up your ass, gentleman! You’re sorry? Do you have any idea how much pain and betrayal this whole debacle has caused me? Huh? Do you?”

Kenzy’s voice conveyed how badly he was trembling. No surprises there; he had always been a bit afraid of her. “I-I-I can only imagine. Honestly, I never thought it would spiral like this and hurt you like this.”

Aurelia’s expression hardened. “Well, it has. And listen very carefully to me. I want you to stay away from Jeremy. He doesn’t need friends who encourage infidelity and deception. I’ve heard he’s already blocked you and Enoch on every platform, and it had better stay that way. I don’t want either of you trying to contact him again.”

Kenzy was speechless.

“This will be the last time we ever speak. Have a nice life, and I hope you mature and realize that life is much more serious than you assume it is.”

His voice was filled with remorse. “I understand, Aurelia. I’m truly sorry for everything. I hope one day you can find it in yourself to forgive us.”

She ended the call, not dignifying that claim worthy of a response.

She leaned back in the sofa, taking a few deep breaths while she shut her eyes. She remained in that position for a while.

Then footsteps and Margaret’s voice broke through her reverie.

“Aurie?”

She opened her eyes as her friend came to sit by her. “Are you alright?” Margaret asked softly.

Aurelia took a deep breath. After a few moments, she looked at Margaret.

“I think I need to step out for a while.”

***

“So she’s not spoken to you since then?”

Jeremy shook his head, lying on the couch. “She’s not answered my calls, not answered my messages… nothing. It’s been one whole month, and we’ve not spoken a word to each other.”

Lincoln sighed, rubbing his hair while he sat at the edge of the couch. “Wow. Chale, I really didn’t think it would be this long. I really hoped that she would hear you out.”

Jeremy shook his head. “That woman has some scars caused by infidelity in her family. She’s extremely intolerant of it. That’s why I was so scared to tell her from the beginning. I mean, I still wish I had done it earlier; it would have saved us from that awful showdown I can’t forget in a hurry. But… I knew this was coming. I knew it would.”

After the night of that encounter, Lincoln had been called in, and since then, had been visiting Jeremy to see how he was faring after everything. From praying with him to simply making his presence felt with a hand on the shoulder while Jeremy broke down, he had been there for Jeremy in this valley moment.

He sighed again. “Chale,” he remarked, “at this point, I dunno what else to say. I’ve been praying for God to touch her heart and come back. That’s all I can do at this juncture. I mean… chale, that’s all I can do.”

A few moments of silence followed after that.

Then Jeremy spoke up. “See, if there’s one thing I’ve learned, eh, it’s that the friends you move with really can affect the trajectory of your life. As I dey there dey follow those two fools go some men’s conference, see what I ended up with. A soul tie with a daughter of Satan! Chale! I really slack. Guys who don’t take anything serious in life. They say they want to attend this conference about building capacity in Ada. Me too, I follow them. Chale… you want to build capacity in your life, but as your paddy go do stupid thing come back, you dey give am fans tell am sey he be hard guy. Ah!”

Lincoln nodded silently. “Well, at least they’re part of the chapter of your life that’s over, right? That’s what is important.”

“Oh, yeah, I have. Those two should stay away from me if they know what’s good for them. Nonsense guys. I’m not hanging around guys like them anymore. I need proper people in my corner. People I can laugh with when the time is right, but will point me in the right direction where necessary…”

A knock on the front door interrupted him. They both looked at it in surprise.

Lincoln arched an eyebrow, glancing at Jeremy. “You dey expect anyone?”

Jeremy shook his head, confusion flickering in his eyes. “No, not really.”

“Lemme see who it is.”

Lincoln stood up and approached the door cautiously. Peering through the peephole, he pursed his lips together and stood there for a few moments.

Jeremy, now sitting upright, waved at him. “Who is it?” he asked.

Lincoln glanced at him. “Jeremy. I think I need to give you two some privacy. I’ll call you later tonight. See you.”

Before Jeremy could understand what he was saying, he opened the door, and she stepped in.

The stunning, six-foot tall Aurelia Provencal.

Jeremy sprung to his feet, staring at her. “Aurie?” he whispered.

Lincoln nodded. “See you guys later. All the best.”

He exited and closed the door behind him.

It’s time for them to reconcile, isn’t it? They should. Let’s hope it ends with that.