Must Read: As Deep As The Sea

Episode 7 years ago

Must Read: As Deep As The Sea

At a quarter past midnight, the ring tone of her phone woke her up. She sat up and switched on the bedside table lamp. She picked up her phone and checked the caller’s ID. It was an unknown number. Who could it be?


Earlier that day, she had been unable to concentrate on her work at the office.



Keshinro’s presence had messed up her day.



Boma had been worried about her, but she succeeded in avoiding him. He didn’t know when she left the office and she ignored his calls when she got home that evening.



Was he the one calling? She wasn’t sure she was ready to intimate him on what she was passing through, not until it was resolved. She pressed the answer button and placed the phone on her right ear.
“Hello.”
“My darling Promise.”
Sleep cleared from her eyes. It wasn’t Boma.



It was Keshinro Phillips.
“How did you get my number?” Anger boiled within her.
“Promise, I love you and I want you back. I am still in Lagos because of you. Can we meet somewhere this weekend?”
“Are you out of your mind? Keshinro go home to your wife and leave me alone,” she cut the call. How did he get her number? Why couldn’t he forget about her and leave her alone? What sort of man was he?



The phone started to ring again. It was an unknown number. Why has he decided to disturb her night? She needed to rest so that she could tackle her left over work the next day.




She had planned to stay indoors that weekend.


She picked the call, “What is wrong with you?!



Stop calling my number and leave me alone!”
“Promise please… please give me a chance to express my love for you and show you how much I still care,” the desperation in his voice irritated her.
“It is your legally wedded wife that needs your love. Stop depriving that poor woman. God is not happy with you. You need to repent and return to God.”
“Promise please… please stop talking nonsense. I know you still love me. We are meant to be together, forever. Promise… ”



She cut the call again and threw the phone on the bed.
‘God please get me out of this nightmare’, she prayed.




The phone began to ring. How do one block an unknown number? She picked up the phone and muted it.
‘God, you really have to help me out here. Get me out of this mess.’


********

The screams and squeals of children playing football on the street woke her up. She turned on her side and glanced at the wall clock. It was a quarter past twelve. She groaned. It was already mid-day and she had a lot of office projects to analyze before she resumed work on Monday.



She yawned and stretched her body. Hunger pangs took over her system and she groaned again. A sandwich or biscuit with a cup of beverage might hold off hunger for a while. She was sure her mother was already preparing lunch. She crawled off bed and slipped into a pair of bathroom slippers. She sighted her phone on the bedside table and reached out for it.



There were several missed calls and text messages and they were all from the same person, Keshinro. She threw the phone on the bed and strode out of the room. She needed food first.



“Mum good afternoon,” she joined her mother in the kitchen.
“Afternoon,” she continued stiring the vegetable soup in the pot on the gas cooker.
“I am so hungry,” she yawned.
“I am making lunch,” she closed the pot and placed the wooden soup on a flat plate.
“I can’t believe I missed breakfast,” she searched the fridge for something to eat.
“Are you okay?” Her mother faced her.
“Sure mum.”
“You know you can always talk to me.”




She settled on a can of coke and some slices of bread.

“I am fine mum,” she didn’t want to alert her parents. Who knew what they would do if they found out that Keshinro was in town and he was after her?



Blessing folded her arms across her chest. She wasn’t satisfied with her daughter’s response. She had noticed her distracted state when she returned home from work the other day. She decided to let her be. When she was good and ready, she would open up.



Promise carried a plate of buttered sliced bread and a can of coke and headed back to her room. She would have eaten in the kitchen, but she doesn’t want to give her mother the opportunity to keep asking her questions.


*******



She walked out of the church auditorium and searched for her car among the long line of cars parked outside the church gate.




The service had been liberating for her. The pastor kept hammering on faith in God and standing firm in the face of adversity. She had bared her soul to God in prayers that morning, believing that He had answered and created a way out of her present predicament. Everything would turn out well and work out for her good, she was sure. All she needed to do was to stand firm and hold on to God’s promises concerning every area of her life. God’s strength was made perfect in her weakness.



She would rest in Him and hold her peace.


She found her car, but someone was seated on her boot. A frown creased her brows. She doesn’t like people sitting on the boot of her car. What was wrong with some people? Why do people turn one’s boot into a cushion?



She hastened her steps and marched towards the person.
“Hey! Please… Please get off my boot.”
The person turned and smiled when he saw her.
“My beautiful Promise,” he got down.




She halted and stared at him in astonishment.
‘Oh Lord God have mercy’, she cried out within her.
“What are you doing here? How did you find me?”
“Love can make people do unimaginable things,” he grinned, exposing his white set of teeth.
‘God please give me strength’, she prayed.
“Keshinro, what do you want?”
“I want you,” the desire and plea in his voice tugged at her emotions.



She closed her eyes and opened them.



Frustration was written all over her face. The peace she felt that morning began to fade.
“You are a married man.”
He closed the gap between them, “It doesn’t matter. Our love for each other is all that matters.”
She backed away, “You can’t have me.”
“Promise… ”
“And… And I don’t love you.”
“Don’t say that,” he shook his head.
“I never did. I might have been physically attracted to you in the past, but, that was all it was. Simply put, lust.”
“Promise,” the pain in his hazel eyes gnawed at her.
“Look Keshinro, I should have maintained my stand in the past. I apologize for… for succumbing to… to your advances and… and engaging in an illicit and unholy affair with you.”
“Promise, those were the happiest moments of my life.”



She placed a hand on her forehead. She could feel an headache threatening to assault her.
“Keshinro listen to me. What we did was wrong. I regretted it… ”
“But I didn’t,” he reached out for her.



She stepped away so he couldn’t touch her.
“Look, I have made my peace with God. I advice you do the same. I am not prepared to go back to my vomit.”



He placed his hands on his hips and inhaled. He was at the very brink of tears. He didn’t know how it happened, but, he hadn’t been the same since she varnished from Abuja. Seeing her again in Lagos had resurrected him. He felt alive again. He couldn’t afford to lose her.




He loved his wife and children. He would never leave them, but, he loved Promise too. She had taken possession of parts of his heart that he rarely gave away. He felt incomplete without her. Although somewhere within him, he knew he had walked off the path God had placed before him. He felt he had gone to far to retrace his steps.



Promise wasn’t the only woman he had cheated on his wife with. There had been many others. He doubted if he could ever stop. He doubted if he had the strength to stop. As far as he was concerned, he was condemned for life.
“Promise, I cannot live without you.”
“Yes, you can. Go back to your wife and children. Reconcile with God. It is never too late.




His hands are always stretched out, wide opened and waiting. He forgave me. He will forgive you too.”


He wiped his face with an handkerchief. She doesn’t know what she was talking about. It was too late for him and there was no turning back.
“I am not leaving Lagos until you return to me.”
She gapped at him in shock.
‘This man is crazy. Didn’t he understand everything I have just said?’ She thought to herself.


She hissed and unlocked her car. He was free to do whatever he wanted. As far as she was concerned, she had made her stand. It was over between them and she wasn’t going back to him.
“Promise, are you leaving me here?” He watched her as she climbed into the car, closed the door and drove off.


He placed a hand on his chest. His heart was racing widly. He would not give up. Somewhere in her hardened heart, he was sure she still felt something for him. He would stay as long as he had to and awaken her love for him. It was a battle he would win. He was sure.