TUNDE had been separated from his wife
for years. She lives abroad and they are
good friends. After years of enjoying the
single life, he eventually fell in love and
things started going horribly wrong. His
story:
“I am a medical doctor with a thriving
private practice. Six years ago, I finally
plucked up enough courage to ask Maureen
out to lunch. She was a junior manager at
the bank the hospital used and was always
very friendly. Whenever interest rates on
fixed deposits went up, she would advise
me to push for the highest possible on our
account. A professional to the core, I was
very impressed with how brilliant and
intelligent she was. Not to mention her
smashing figure.
“She’d just helped push a soft loan I
desperately needed to refurbish the hospital
when I asked her to lunch as a ‘thank you’
gesture. To my pleasant surprise, she
agreed and that was how our relationship
started. I was in my fifties with two lovely
children. Their mother had opted to stay
behind when I wanted to relocate to the
country – our marriage wasn’t working and
she had a job she loved with the social
service. So, we parted amicably and I so
much enjoyed my freedom, I wasn’t really
keen on getting married again- until I met
Maureen.
She was a single mother of a two-year-old
daughter and as I got to know her better,
she told me she was thinking of leaving the
bank to pursue a business in horticulture.
She’d completed a horticultural course
when she studied abroad and had done a
bit on the side for a few clients who’d
praised her efforts. I encouraged her to
follow her dreams and gave her financial
support to kick-start the business – she
already had half of the outlay from her
retirement benefits.
“Barely a year later, the business had taken
off beyond our wildest dreams – thanks to
elaborate decorations that are the in-thing
at functions these days – weddings
especially. With my clout, I was able to get
her jobs from reputable companies and
friends.
“It was around this time we gave a serious
thought to getting married. One thing we
both wanted very much was a baby of our
own. For the next three years, we tried but
nothing happened. In the end, I took her to
a gynaecologist who was also a very good
friend. He did tests upon tests until it was
discovered that only one of her fallopian
tubes was functioning. That, coupled with
my age, had reduced our chances of having
a baby. My friend then suggested we travel
to Britain, giving us the address of a top
IVF hospital. At first, I was reluctant, but
Maureen was in her early 30s and feared
her biological clock was ticking fast. And I
loved her. So I agreed to go with her.
“I won’t bore you with details of the tests
we had to do, including my being banged
up in a cubicle with pornographic materials
to facilitate my ejaculating sperm into a
small tube I was given. But, I gladly did all
that. Maureen was then given a series of
fertility injections to help her improve her
chances of harvesting as many eggs as she
could produce. The more eggs that were
fertilized and put in her womb, the better
her chances of conceiving. The cost of all
these procedures was staggering.
“After we got a firm date for the IVF, we
both came back to Nigeria, with my top
nurse giving her the hormonal injections
everyday for the duration of the treatment.
We had to push our travelling a few months
forward as both of us were busy. When it
was eventually convenient for us to go
back to the IVF clinic, Maureen began
stalling – she had some fresh contracts to
fill and she wanted to arrange for her
daughter to be looked after by a proper
relative.
“I couldn’t really believe what was going
on, especially when it was her idea to start
a family. I was working late in the hospital
that fateful day when my daughter came
calling. She didn’t want to live with her old
man when she finished at the university, so
I gave her and her older brother a flat each
in a four-flat apartment I had. Bibi, my
daughter, and I have always been close –
closer than I was with Mike, her brother,
who was on the snooty side. He’d let his
studies abroad go into his head and
believed the sun rose and set for him!
“When Bibi didn’t hug me with the
enthusiasm she used to, I knew something
was wrong. But nothing prepared me for
the bomb-shell she dropped. ‘I don’t know
how to say this dad,’ she began, looking
into her lap, ‘but I think Mike and Maureen
are having an affair … ‘ The atmosphere
was charged for seconds. Was she insane?
What had Mike got to do with Maureen?
She went on: “I had seen her a few times,
sneaking into Mike’s flat, and just last
night, as I made for my car, I heard them
arguing, so I stayed back to hear what was
going on. Mike was threatening to tell you
about them if Maureen was too scared to
tell you to your face. I thought I should
prepare you for whatever shock they have
in stock for you.’
“It was obvious my poor daughter had
given coming to me a great thought
because there was this sympathetic
concern on her face as she finished this
sad news she’d brought. I must have
looked as shattered as I felt because she
offered to stay with me for a while. I was
confused. How long had this been going
on? Why didn’t she tell me when it all
started? But I couldn’t really blame Bibi –
she hadn’t betrayed me. My son had. So
had Maureen, and I intended to get to the
bottom of this. I called at Maureen’s shop
on my way home, mentally kicking myself
for not asking her to move in with me when
her treatment started. I’d thought we would
do that when she got pregnant – a sort of
icing on our good fortunes. No wonder
she’d been reluctant to go back with me
for the IVF treatment, was she now
planning to throw me over for my own son?
Impossible!
“She was her friendly self when I got to her
flat. I gave her a penetrating look when she
started fussing over me, but she couldn’t
really meet my eyes.
‘What exactly is going on between you and
my son?’ I asked quietly, silently hoping
that she would deny being involved with
him. Only, she sat down, shoulders sagging
– and burst into tears, weeping profusely
that I should forgive her. That when the
doctors said she had only one functioning
tube and that I wasn’t as fertile as I used
to be, she’d toyed with the idea of finding
another man. Only, she’d confided in Mike
once and he’d encouraged her to have an
affair. If she became pregnant, the child
would be passed off as mine as it would
have the same genes. Now she was
pregnant. Mike was reneging on his
promises …
‘’’Now wait a minute!’ I barked. ‘Pregnant?’
You’re actually pregnant?’ I didn’t wait to
hear more. I drove straight to Mike’s and
asked Bibi my daughter to join us. Quietly,
I asked him what madness possessed him
to get my fiancee pregnant? He looked a bit
scared but tried to bluff things out. Bibi
didn’t even know about the pregnancy. She
was gobsmsmacked.
How many blows is a man to take in one
fell swoop? If I’d had a gun, I would have
happily terminated the life of this traitor
that called himself my son. Instead, I
turned on my heels and left. What a
disaster, I thought on my way home.
Spending all that money, time and emotion
on fertility treatments only for my son to
reap the benefits of my efforts …
“It’s often been said that betrayal always
comes from people closest to you. Mike
and Maureen eventually had a son and
they’re now together. They’d toyed with the
idea of getting married but none of them
has the guts to come and discuss anything
with me. My own son and my fiancee
stabbing me in the back. It is betrayal of
the worst kind. It’s going to take forever for
me to really understand what happened
and come to terms with it. I’ll never trust
another woman again ..”.
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