Consequences

Chapter 27

I was finally in bed with Ola, wrapped by his muscles and touched by his kisses. This was the moment I really cared about. We were making love and I felt good and happy about it.

I wanted to spend  much time with him before I went home. And so we stayed in the hotel room until about 6pm before we left. I dropped him off at his place and went home. I got home to welcome my parents who were sitting in the parlor. It seemed they had been waiting for me to come home.

"Welcome dad, welcome mum." I greeted them, as I entered the house.
"Tola?" My mother called. When I answered, she told me to sit down. I sat down and they both stared at me. It wasn't a good stare as it made me feel that something was wrong. Coming back from the village I believe they had some urgent news to give me. I wasn't wrong.

"Tola, we have fixed a date for your wedding." My father said.
"My wedding?" They nodded, "Is that why you didn't tell me you were going to the village?"
"Who told you we went to the village, Tola?" My mother asked me.
"I just had a feeling you did." I didn't want to tell them about the vision I had had earlier.
"Well the wedding has been fixed. You will go up the aisle in about three weeks from today." My father said.

My eyes widened when he said that. Why were my parents so eager to rush this wedding? Why were they not taking their time to make it a memorable wedding? I felt uneasy hearing this and began thinking of it as something planned to quickly get rid of me.

"Can't it be shifted? I mean three weeks is a short time." I asked

"That won't be possible, as Ola's parents have also agreed." Said my father.

Whew, in about three weeks I would walk up the aisle and Ola would put a ring on my finger. I would officially become his wife. I would take on his surname and would bear the title Mrs instead of Miss. Just like my mother, and just like the many other women out there.

But mine was different, it was going to be different. Because it was being done in a hurry. I looked at my parents and then looked around the sitting room, part of the very house I had been living for a long time. I knew that three weeks from now, it wouldn't be my home again.

I had a dream and told my mother. And from that time onward and up until this very moment, my parents had been acting so strangely, I hardly recognize them. They gave me life and protection. But now it seems, they had decided to take away that life and the protection they had given me all these years.

I had a feeling that in spite of having parents, I was on my own now. I had to survive on my own and defend and protect myself. But why now? It's a question I won't ask them. And I know no amount of insistence would make them change their mind. I smiled at them and got up.
"I'm tired and want to relax." I said. They agreed and I went to my room. Once inside my room I quickly got on my phone and sent Ola a message.
'I'm having a wedding in three weeks, is it okay?' Instantly, he replied.
'I'm okay with that, provided its with me of course.'
'And with who else is it with?'
'Perhaps some guy you ended up with in a hotel room.' I smiled when he said that.
'I truly wish it was that guy of course.' I replied.
'To say the truth, everything is being done in a hurry, I don't understand a thing.'
'Neither do I.' I replied back, dropping my phone. I felt good during the few hours I had  spent with Ola in the hotel room. Now my parents made me feel bad, and I was confused.

A wedding was coming up and I didn't know how to prepare myself. Three weeks seemed like eternity, but to say the truth, it was just around the corner. And when it came, I felt like something was missing. In fact, a lot of things were missing.

Everything was done in a haste. Instead of a Church, the wedding was held in a small Chapel. And instead of so many guests attending, there were only a handful of people. I could count them with the tip of my fingers. The only thing that pleased me was the presence of Nancy.

Looking at how low-key it was, I asked myself how I had arrived at this point in my life. This was meant to be the happiest moment of my life. It was, as my mother described, going to be the wedding of the century. Why was it reduced like this? What happened? I couldn't say no now that I was standing at the alter facing Ola.

In my wedding dress I was facing him. I was ready to make the vow that I would accept to be his wife. The rings were before us and we were about to exchange them. And it was time for Ola to put his ring, onto my finger. He held it up.

"I Ola Segun do hereby take you as my loving wife... "
Yes, finally, he was declaring to the whole world that I was his wife. And when he finished, he would slip the ring onto my finger. He had finished making the vow and was about to do so, when a blinding light caught his eyes.

The front door of the Chapel had opened allowing a ray of sunlight enter the Chapel. Someone had come in and this distracted him. In a bid to put the ring on my finger, he missed my finger. The ring fell onto the floor of the Chapel and rolled down the alter. My eyes followed the ring until it stopped at the foot of the person that had come in.

It was a woman, a woman dressed like the woman in my dreams. Ola had fallen in front of her trying to pick up the ring. My eyes widened when I saw the resemblance. I fainted. There were shouts around me but I couldn't see the faces.

"Somebody, please bring water!" I heard someone shout. Water was splashed over my face and I opened my eyes. Ola was kneeling down in front of me and had taken my temple in the palms of his left hand. With his right hand, he was holding my right hand.

"I'm fine Ola. I'm fine." With his help, I got up. I looked at the people in the Chapel. I looked at my parents. My father nodded his head as if to tell me, everything would be okay. I smiled at him and nodded. I then looked around to see the woman who had entered. But she wasn't there. Everyone kept  staring at me and so I had to make a quick announcement.

"Thank you everybody for your patience. I'm okay now, so the wedding will continue." I announced. Everyone clapped their hands and then the ceremony recommenced.

Finally we exchanged vows and the Pastor declared us man and wife. Everyone clapped their hands as Ola kissed me.

It was over now. The wedding was over and all the guests present congratulated us. Nancy came over and hugged me.

"Tola? No, now na Mrs. Tola Segun I go dey call you." She said smiling at me.
"Nancy I'm waiting for you to join me."
"Me? I want to enjoy life first."
"So you pushed me into this life only to back out?"
"Let's say now that you're in it, I can learn a few lessons from you before deciding if it's right for me or not."

"Fine, since you want it that way, when I throw my bouquet its going to land in your hands." Nancy stared at me speechless looking a bit terrified.
"Hope I didn't say anything wrong, Nancy?" She looked at me and held my hand. We went to sit down on one of the benches.
"Tola, do you think I can trust another man again to want him to put a ring on my finger?"
"This is still about Tunde, right? " I asked her. She nodded.
"You can, Nancy. You can."
"And how do I do that?" I then went on to tell her about how I had bothered Ola about the presence of another woman and how we ended up in a hotel room.

"Ah Tola, so you dey quietly dey chop dat tin dey come dey cry give me?"
"Ah Nancy, no. Na when Femi, one of my colleague tell me say make I hold am tight say another babe fit chance me, my brain scatter o. I had to get into action." Nancy sighed and looked at me.
"At least you won. I don't think I have your strength to fight like that."
"Nancy it's not about fighting, once you know what you want you go for it. That's what I did. I wanted Ola and I went for him."
"Count yourself lucky that it's what he also wanted."
"Do you think he really wanted it, Nancy?"
"Yes."
"So why has he been avoiding to tell me if there's another woman or not?" Nancy looked at me.
"Tola but how did you arrive at the idea of  him having another woman?" I told her about the dream I had. I told her about how the woman who walked in was dressed in the same way as the woman in my dreams.
"I fainted when I saw that woman."
" Maybe its because you've had that fear... "
"What fear, Nancy?" I asked, interrupting her.
"How he left you at the restaurant, how you rarely see him. I guess you've been asking yourself this question for long."

  Just then, someone tapped me on the shoulders. It was time to throw the flowers. I got up and looked at Nancy. She knew why I was looking at her and stood up and joined  the other women. I threw the flower and she caught it. I turned and smiled at her and nodded.