Tare stood by the window of the bedroom of the suite, gazing down at the city below. From that height from the penthouse of the hotel, she could see part of the city spread before her, the lights from the buildings twinkling like a million stars.
It was a lovely view, but its beauty was lost on her. Her dark thoughts were in contrast with the bright city lights, thoughts mixed with voices in her head, mostly hers and Eddy’s as they threw harsh words at each other…
"Love?" he had said with a short laugh. " If I loved any woman at all, it was Ini. But I left her for you, because of what I thought I would gain from being with you."
He had paused and walked close to where she sat on the bed.
"It's now clear I made the wrong choice and it's time I sorted this out. "
She had looked up at him warily.
"What do you mean?" she had asked.
" This," he said, pulling off the ring she had lovingly placed on his finger some hours before at the church ceremony.
"It's over! I can't keep up with this charade anymore. Let's end things cleanly before the situation gets worse. I'm out of here!" With that, he had picked up his jacket and headed for the door.
Tare jumped up from the bed.
" Wait, Eddy! You can't leave just like that! We just got married! What will people say if they hear our marriage is over even before it began? Stay, Eddy! We can resolve this in an amicable way!"
But he ignored her.
At the door, he had turned towards her, a cold look on his face.
"My lawyer will send you the divorce papers. It will be a quickie divorce as the marriage was never consummated."
And he was gone.
Tare ran after him along the corridor pleading with him all the while.
"Eddy, don't go! You can't leave me here all alone! If it's money you want, I'll talk to my Dad. Come back Eddy! Please, don't go!"
That had been the last she saw of him. Later, her family and friends, shocked by the turn of events, had quickly rallied round her and everything had become a blur...
***
Tare turned from the window, the room suddenly feeling stuffy. She needed some fresh air, a change of scene.
In the living room, Mina and Tejiri were watching TV while the other girls were sprawled on the couch and other chairs, asleep.
They both looked up when she stepped into the room.
"Do you want something?" Mina asked. She was eating some of the wedding cake from a plate on her lap.
" I'm going for a walk. I feel as if I will choke in that room, " Tare said.
"Alright. We'll come with you as it's so late," said Tejiri, getting up and reaching for her flip flops.
"Don't bother. I'm not going far. I'll just stay in the garden for a while and clear my head"
After she had gone, her two friends exchanged glances and made for the door.
The garden flanked the poolside where some of the hotel guests were sitting, drinking and chilling.
Tejiri and Mina saw her sitting on a chair, her shoulders slumped and gazing up at the dark sky.
Mina sighed with relief. "Thank God she's ok. For a moment, I thought she was going to do something crazy. Like jumping off the roof or something."
"Tare is strong. She'll overcome this," said Tejiri. Then in an angry tone, her hand bunched up as if to throw a punch, added: "That Eddy! He had better stay far away because the day I set my eyes on him, he' ll be dead meat! The bastard!"
***
As the call ended, Tare's father stepped into the living room.
"Oh, you are back, dear. Tare just called. She said she would be coming home today," his wife said.
"About time. Its been four days now. She can't stay cooped up in that hotel room forever."
" She needed some time to recover a bit from the shock."
" She has to put what happened behind her and move on. It's painful but the deed has been done." He paused. "The silly boy! A little bit of patience and he would have gotten what he wanted."
She looked at him curiously. "What do you mean?"
"I had something planned for both of them- two of our buildings at Lekki, the same amount of money I gave to Selema and her husband, shares in the company and other things. I even wanted to set up a construction company which he would manage since that's his field.
"I wanted to give it to them in six months time when I had observed him enough and was satisfied he was not with our daughter just for the money.
"What happened enabled us know the kind of person he is. That he's nothing but a bloody gold digger!"
The End
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