The day she had received a call from one of the hospitals; a reputable private practice was the same day Mathew’s mum had invited them for an impromptu dinner. She was amazed when she met most of his family there and her mother. Mathew came from a large family, unlike Serena who was an only child.
The dinner had started on a good note even as she was filled with unease that the dinner would not just be a simple one. She had been proven right when one of Mathew’s nieces ran to her to admire her palazzo pants.
“I can see that children love Mathew’s wife” the mother of the child had said promptly.
“That is true” one of his aunts added “that must mean that she would soon be giving birth to her children too”
“Are you sure about that? Mathew’s wife is a certified nurse, you know. I believe that women like that do not like to start their families early. Career women” someone else had said as if Serena herself was not in their midst.
“Serena is not like that, you know” her mother-in-law had said with a smile thrown in her direction. “She is a good child brought up from a good home who would surely know that her family comes first in everything. What good is a career to a woman when she would only end up in the kitchen at the end of the day? Am I right, Andrea?” the woman had turned to Andrea who smiled tightly at her mother-in-law and nodded.
Serena could remember that Andrea was the wife of Mathew’s eldest brother. She wondered what caused the strain on the woman’s face as she picked at her food. She could guess though as her mother-in-law turned to Serena’s mother.
“What do you think, my inlaw? Wouldn’t it be the best if Serena and my son started thinking of starting their own family now instead of chasing after frivolous things?”
Meimu dabbed the serviette lightly against her lips before saying with a smile “Of course you are right, my inlaw. I wouldn’t mind having a full house like yours at my table as well whenever I made dinner. It had always been my husband, Serena and I. My husband, may his dear soul rest in peace would surely want the same thing”
Serena looked sharply toward her mother as she thought that her father would never have made her do something like that. She missed him terribly at that moment. He would have preferred that she did what would make her happy, unlike her mother who thought she knew what was best for her child. Her mother was not looking at her though. Her eyes were on the woman she was talking to, her expression like that of someone who had found a kindred spirit.
Mathew’s mother saw the way Serena looked at the clueless woman though and she laughed softly “Don’t worry my inlaw. I am sure that our wife is a filial daughter and she would do what will make us all happy” she leaned over as she patted Meimu’s hand and the latter nodded and turned back to her food.
The disappointment and betrayal she felt about them was nothing close to what she felt for her husband who was just seated there, munching away on his food like they were just discussing the weather and not about something that affected her life. He felt her eyes on her after a while and he shifted uneasily in his chair from whatever it was that he saw on her face.
He looked over at his mother “Mum, let’s continue eating. The food would get cold” he said before he turned back to his food.
The older woman laughed awkwardly “That is right. Let’s eat, let’s eat. Serena, eat more. I asked the cook to make your favourite”
Serena smiled, nodded and picked her spoon. Jolabete was not her favourite but she chose to say nothing.
The guilty way Mathew peeked at her when he thought that she was not looking at him anymore made realisation dawn on her. As he looked away after he gave her a sheepish smile, it came to her.
The coward had discussed her with his mother and this faux of dinner had been solely about her. Did her mother know about this beforehand as well?
The little appetite she had left fled her.
No one was in her corner.
Divorced women in Chevsko were still frowned upon despite how advanced the world had become. Serena had no intention to be one of them especially since her marriage was a few months old. At the end of the day, she gave in and accepted to be a full housewife like her family wanted.
She still loved her husband of course but she knew that something had changed between them. She took care of the house, took care of his meals, did his laundry and make the home comfortable for him as they all wanted.
It’s been almost two years now and they had no child yet, she had not missed her period once. Her mother-in-law had started hinting that she should check herself to know what the problem was about. Serena knew that she had no issue, she and her husband had done checkups. The two of them had been virgins when they met and they decided to wait till their wedding day. Their first time had been nothing less satisfactory for Serena as Mathews had gotten atop of her, fumbled with her breast for a while then entered her. Even as she gritted her teeth against the pain she felt and tried to hold herself back so that she could please him as her mother had told her; her husband had groaned out loud, she felt wetness within her and he had collapsed against her, crushing her to the bed even as she felt soreness in her core. She turned her head to look at their bedside clock, the whole ordeal had not lasted more than three minutes but it seemed to her like it had taken forever. The pain she felt between her laps was a testament to that.
It took her a while to realise that he had slept off, his gentle snore was the first indicator. She gingerly pushed him off her as she moved out from underneath him so as not to wake him up. She looked at herself in the bathroom in the full-length mirror that Amara had told her to get as it would come in handy when things get kinky with her husband. She touched herself and came away with sticky wetness in her hand. Blood. She had been expecting it. She just had not expected the amount of pain that accompanied it. What a liar Amara was.
As all these thoughts cascaded through Serena’s mind, she looked at the sleeping form of her husband again and knew that it was high time they talked. She knew that the fact that they have not conceived might have had less to do with any issue that either of them might have and more to do with what he had said to her the second time they had sex.
She would have preferred not to disturb his sleep but she knew that once he woke up, and had his bath and meal; he would be in a rush to be at the office. He had told her that he was on the edge of getting the promotion that he had his eyes on for a while now, so he needed to work harder. He left home for work very early every day, came back home late and he even brought his work home with him.
Serena though apologetic knew that this was the right time for her to speak with him.
She tapped him gently on his shoulder. His snore stopped for a while then it started again as he settled back into sleep. She waited then tapped him again, longer this time.
Mathew turned over and he opened one bleary eye to squint up at her “What is it?”
“Baby, sorry to interrupt your sleep but I need you to get up because I have something to discuss with you”
She thought he had slept back when he closed his eyes again without response, she was about to tap him again when he said in an offended tone.
“I have told you to stop calling me baby, Serena. It makes me feel like a child. I am a full-grown man. I am your husband”
Serena looked at Mathew as he sat up in bed, grumbling about someone waking him up at this ungodly hour when he had a lot to do at the office in the morning. She was about to say she was sorry again when he looked at her like she was a nuisance and said “That is childish, Serena and I have told you before. I don’t expect you to keep making me repeat one thing over and over like you are a kid, you know” Serena was not so taken aback by his words. He could be grumpy when one disturbed his sleep and she had done so because she knew if she lost her courage now, she might not be able to do it again later. Not that he would patiently listen to her anyway. Now was the right time. “I am sorry,” she said softly. Mathew sighed and looked at her face “It is not as if I want to complain or anything. It is just I have work to do. I understand that you might not get that since you are only at home and all but I have to work. I have to fight for my promotion and that means I have to have enough re
The shocked look on Mathew’s face made Serena feel like she had just told him to kill his cat. “Well, that could never be the case as he already deemed having a pet as undignified,” she thought hysterically as she waited in bated breath for what he would say when he stood up slowly to face her. “Are you crazy? I am sorry about my language but I would never have expected such a talk from you. You spoke like a dirty woman!” he exclaimed. Serena forgot her apprehension as she narrowed her eyes at him “Excuse me?” “I do not want to say it, you know I wouldn’t disrespect you,” Mathew said as he rubbed his hand through his hair then gave her a look that made her uncomfortable “You are..you are talking like a wanton woman, like a loose woman. What has come over you, Serena? I thought you were better than this!” “You did not want to disrespect me, you say? This sound more than any disrespect anybody had ever accorded me recently and believe me, I am getting enough dose of it almost every
“Ser!” Serena looked up in the direction where the sound was coming from. She smiled as she saw Amara running to her as her husband told her to calm down as he tried to catch up with her while holding their toddler. He tried to carry the girl but she cried “Daddy, walk” Bo had no choice but to let her walk as he kept his hand on hers to guide the toddler after her mother who paid her husband no heed as she continued to run toward her friend. A run would have been used liberally in terms of what Amara was doing though. Waddling was more the term. Amara was heavily pregnant. “Sweetheart, Serena is just right there. Take it easy” Bo said exasperated as he looked down at his daughter who had the same temper as her mother and would not take it kindly if he ignored her request and carried her. He really shouldn’t let Amara run. “I will take it easy when I die” Amara called back at him. Serena laughed as she stood up to go meet Amara halfway. She knew her friend wouldn’t trade her husb
“Whew! Finally got rid of the Hovery Lord!” Amara said dramatically as she adjusted the skirt of her gown, settling it around her legs in the shaded part of the park where Bo had insisted they have to sit if she wanted him to leave as his wife had asked. She looked over at Serena when her friend laughed. “What? What is it? Am I wrong? I swear that man hovers around me more than a mother hen would do whenever I am pregnant” she smiled. Serena tried to curb her laughter to reply to her friend with the minimal result “No, no, not that. When you said Hovery Lord it sounded like Ovary Lord” she snorted again. Amara was confused “Of course, that was what I me…oh” Her eyes widened and she laughed when she realised what her friend was talking about “You meant O-va-ry, whoever made up these words must be a rogue” then her smile turned lascivious as she patted her stomach and gave her friend a sideways look “Well, he is lord of that too. Hello? Proof right here” she smacked her lips. Serena
“To see your face of course. Do you see how beautiful you are? You are a damn gorgeous woman, sexy in fact. You know I would kill to have amazing hair like yours. Instead, all I have is this mop of dishwater hair” Amara said as she picked up a handful of her hair for emphasis. “You know your hair looked amazing. You are just saying that” Serena said in a miffed tone as she collected her ribbon back. Amara sighed then she smiled “Yes, I admit that. Moreover Bo loves it, his ash blonde hair coupled with mine seems to be what gave Tanya her platinum blond hair. I swear I can already picture how much of a fashion diva that girl will be” Serena tucked her hair beneath her ears and briefly pondered packing her hair up back into a bun “If she ended up as one, she would have gotten it from you. At least the diva part” she said cheekily. “Hey, I can be fashionable too,” Amara said in protest then she grinned as she remembered all her makeover flops in college. Serena had been the one that s
Serena laughed as she remembered how Amara used to talk to her like this when she wanted to get anything out of her. Angrov. It had been a while since anybody called her that. All she heard these days was that she was Jones now. Jones. Jones. Jones. One would have thought she never had an identity before that. She batted her friend’s hand from her face playfully “It is Serena Jones to you now, woman and you had better remember that” “Pfft. I don’t want to” Amara stuck out her tongue to her friend before she turned to face front “Anyways, even if you did not tell me, I can tell that you have not done it in a while, maybe not this month at all” she caught the expression in her friend’s eyes and turned to her sharply “I am right, ain't I? How long? One month? Two months?” Can she really tell? Does it show? Serena thought as she laughed at her friend “I am not discussing my sex life or the lack of it with you, you horny girl” Amara sighed dramatically as she shook her head at Serena “T
“You know I wouldn’t want to disrespect you or anything” Serena rolled her eyes in the vanity mirror after ensuring he couldn’t see her as she heard that sentence, he was somewhere to her right behind her and he was not looking straight at the mirror. She wondered briefly how she had gotten used to the fact that every single insult he doled out to her these days started with that sentence, he seemed to be taking his time as she was sure he was checking her out before he delivered whatever the special was for this evening. “But you look like a tart” “Well,” she thought “That was a new one,” she thought. She doubted if he had ever called her a promiscuous woman before, maybe something close but not directly like that. She held on tightly to the hurt that lanced through her and turned to face him with a smile. Her smile slipped when she saw the derisive look he had on his face. No, she would come out of this unscathed. He wouldn’t rattle her confidence. Hadn’t she given herself a pep ta
She left him behind. And took the car. “I know you are not about to go to that party without me” Mathew had said as he stood close to the doorway as Serena, face perfectly made up with a heavier hand on the makeup this time around walked towards him. She grinned as she stood close to him, and rolled her eyes at him. I just did that she thought as she wondered what came over her. Well, she was not about to analyse that now. For today at least she was going to enjoy this A****n woman spirit that seemed to have overtaken her body “Sweetheart, watch me” she said simply and passed beside him. He made a grab for her but he did not connect as she raised her hand at the exact time. Purely coincidental. “What has come over you?” He asked again “Are you supposed to leave the house when I am angry with you? You hit me on the head too and now I have a splitting headache. You are supposed to stay and take care of me as a…” “Good wife, yeah? I know. Dear husband of mine, as of today; I am on va