The Affair

19. Release

Sometimes our minds are an emotional ball
We see the warnings and don't heed them all
We envision happy endings with no regrets
But sadly enough,
At us, life scoffs.

Eva stood at the gate of her house. Her home. One she had shared with her beloved husband for two years of her life. She stood, frozen, staring.

'What am I supposed to do? Where am I supposed to go?'

The tears came unbidden. Slowly, painfully. Her eyes stung with them.

'Why won't you listen to me Kosi? You're not the only one who's hurting.'

The ringing of her phone was like a distant hum and vibration, an annoyance. Without thinking she flung it away, not caring about where it would land.

'Is that any way to treat a gift?'

Eva slowly turned to look into the face of the person who had spoken and fresh tears welled up in her eyes.

'Oh come now. Don't cry.' Ebuka cooed as he bent down to hug her to himself. 'Talk to me. What happened?'

But Eva couldn't speak past the lump in her throat and clung onto him like he was her life support.

'Let me take care of you.' Ebuka murmured as he lifted her off the ground like she weighed nothing.

Eva wrapped her arms around Ebuka's neck and sobbed as he carried her to his car.

                                                                             ***

Kosi watched silently from his bedroom window. His fist tightened against the window sill as he watched Ebuka carry her away.

'Damn it Eva! Why?!'

With pain in his eyes, he turned away from the window, his hands rubbing his eyes. He heard his phone ring and rushed to pick it up from the bed, heart hopeful.

'Eva...'

'Woah there. Did you hit your head or something? It's Hope.'

'Oh.'

'Wow. That's the most dejected greeting I've ever received in my life.' Hope replied. 'Are you home? I'm about 10 minutes away from your house and I was thinking of dropping by.'

'Yeah. I'm home.'

Hope ignored the sad tone in his voice.

'See you soon.'

The line went dead.

It wasn't long after, Kosi heard a knock at the door and went to open it.

'I knew something was wrong when I saw that guy walk out of your office. You acted weird and I just had to see you.' Hope said barging in. 'Asides the fact those at our wing heard the altercation between you and him.'

Kosi closed the door and went to sit on the couch. Hope joined him.

'Who was it that came to see you in your office today?' She finally asked when Kosi said nothing more.

Kosi's head leaned against the couch, his eyes closed. His fists tightened at her question, pain welling up inside him once more as his conversation with Ebuka came flooding through his mind, regret at pushing Eva seared his heart and seeing Ebuka carry her away made his blood boil.

'Ebuka.'

Hope's eyes grew wide. 'That bastard?!'

Kosi laughed.

His voice sounded strained and pained. Hope's heart bled for her friend. She never imagined things would get this bad between them. They were such a happy couple.

'What did he want?'

Kosi refused to speak, his eyes remained closed as he mentally replayed the events of the past weeks in his head.

'Where did I go wrong?! What should I have done differently?! I'm losing my mind!' Kosi screamed as his hands covered his face. He sounded so broken.

'Nothing! You did nothing wrong! Listen to me!' Hope demanded, grabbing his shoulders and pulling him towards her. 'You did what you felt was right at the time. Don't blame yourself for her actions or decisions.'

'But I chased her out of the house. Our home.'

Kosi felt so bitter. Even now, he realised that may not have been the best solution at the time but he felt so angry, he still did.

'What happened? Please tell me why Ebuka went to see you.'

Her eyes implored him to open up to her and he did.

'Eva. He wanted Eva. And I practically drove her to him!'

Itching to do something, Kosi got up from the couch and went into the kitchen to grab a bottle of brandy Eva bought while in her 'baking phase'.

'What?! What do you want to do?!' Hope asked, joining him in the kitchen.

'I'm ready to drown my sorrows in a bottle.'

'But you don't drink.'

'Now I do.' He said opening it.

Hope pushed the bottle away from him.

'This isn't you! Don't do this to yourself. Please.' She begged.

'Yes! This isn't me! Watching another man literally carry my wife away isn't me. Getting punched by my wife's lover isn't me as well! But damn it right now, at this moment, I don't want to be me. I want to be someone else, a man that doesn't give a damn.'

With every sentence, Kosi inched closer and closer to Hope until she was between him and the kitchen counter. Trapped. His eyes were shuttling between hot anger and cold determination.

'And right now, I want relief. Relief from this pain, this hurt, this frustration. Even if just for a day, a night. I don't want to feel this ache anymore.'

Their faces were so close together, a simple movement was all it would take for their lips to touch. Kosi's statement hung between them like a thick fog before he turned away at the last moment and grabbed the bottle of Brandy beside Hope.

'I'm sorry. My brain isn't exactly working properly tonight.' He said as he drank straight from the bottle.

Hope tapped Kosi's shoulder and he turned to face her.

'Good.' Was all she said she pulled Kosi's face to hers and kissed him on his lips.

Shock was his initial reaction but her arms came around his neck, pulling him closer to her while deepening the kiss. The bottle fell from his hand. It's content spilling on the floor as his hands wrapped around her body, then under her blouse to frame her breasts. Hope moaned in approval, instinctively standing on the tips of her toes. Awash with lust, Kosi lifted Hope up off the ground and her legs encircled his waist. He carried Hope to the bedroom, their lips still locked, before roughly depositing her on the bed. Hope cried in protest which soon turned to delight once he quickly did away with his shirt and trousers before joining his lips to hers. Hot, fevered breath against soft skin, they matched each other's movements before finally finding release.