WIFE INTERNSHIP (2)

The following weekend Chioma visited Nnamdi once again.  He suggested to her to move into the house and live with him as a live-in lover. She pondered over the idea over in her mind. It was risky and at the same time irresistible. If she moved in, she still had the option of moving out anytime she wanted.

Daisy, Immaculata and Onyinye told her to take her time and study Nnamdi more before she made the big move. They told her to defer her response till the next school year. There was no need to hurry as the second semester was about ending. Love could wait.

Nnamdi appeared hurt by her decline to move in but she reassured him that her love for him was strong and unwavering as ever.

The death knell sounded on the semester as the exams were concluded and students left the campus for the one month holiday.

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Year two began on a positive note for Chioma. The last semester results were pasted on the first week of the new school year. A colleague of her’s checked Chioma’s result and sent the summary of the grades to her. The results indicated that she was doing extremely well. She couldn’t wait to see her love Nnamdi.  They had been communicating on phone and on bbm chat daily. Chioma’s parents were honest civil servants and strict disciplinarians who frowned upon male visits to their simple country home in Awka. As such Nnamdi couldn’t visit Chioma at home. When she informed him that she was in Enugu, he drove to the park to pick her up.

Chioma stood with her luggage at the passengers waiting section of the park waiting for Nnamdi. Then she saw him. The Audi pulled up behind a bus at the driveway of the park. He came out of the vehicle wearing a green stock shirt atop a black chinos trouser. She ran down and flew into his arms as soon as he started moving towards her direction. He threw his arms around her in a tight hug and spun her around. The adrenaline coursed through their veins. They kissed. The dam was broken and the rivers of love gushed out. It was a long lingering moment of passion where she wanted nothing else but him. She wanted to ride the crests and troughs of his tidal waves, to carry his seeds within her.

“We are in public Nnamdi!” Chioma managed to say while putting a restraining hand across Nnamdi’s chest.  This was her first public display of affection.

“We both got overwhelmed. Nnamdi replied breathing heavily as he adjusted the collar of his shirt “Let’s carry your things into the car”.

Her two luggages and a big Ghana must go bag containing food items were hauled into the boot of the audi.

“I missed you Chioma. You liked what happened few minutes ago didn’t you?” He asked her with a mischievous twinkling look in his eyes.

“Yes, but you pushed me to it’

“Relax sweetheart, there’s more coming from where that came from” he replied with a broad smile.

Chioma grinned. They were heading straight for Nnamdi’s apartment, she wasn’t leaving anytime soon. She was finally ready.

Nnamdi’s car manoeuvred its way out of the hordes of vehicles in the park and pulled into the main road.

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“Chioma! why are you no longer staying in the hostel with us? What is this gist i am hearing about you living with a man who isn’t your husband? Angela, Chioma’s former hostel room-mate pulled her aside at the faculty of social sciences course registration office.

“Nnamdi is my boyfriend. We love each other. He has promised to marry me” She replied in her defence.

“Chum chum, I know you are in love but it is morally wrong. You know our Christian faith frowns upon cohabitation. This guy has not paid any dowry on your head. You shouldn’t be living with him as his wife”

“Angela you have never been in love. You have never known how it feels to be with the person you love. When you experience this emotion called love you will begin to see things from my point of view”.

“I know how you feel my dear but what is wrong is wrong and what is right is right! If you want to stay off campus you should rent a house for yourself or share a room with one of your friends. Are your parents even aware that you are no longer staying in the school hostel?”

“Thanks for your concern Angela. I want you to leave my parents out of this. Who even told you this gist? If it is Amanda that sharp-mouth girl with two flat slippers she calls her breast, you should be careful. If I tell you the things she has said about you to me you will be shocked!” Chioma cautioned Angela as she briskly walked away.

It had been over two months of her stay with Nnamdi. Nnamdi had given her the assurance that he would marry her when he enters his final year. She believed him because she was sure that he truly loved her. Life with Nnamdi as a live-in lover has been good so far. They have grown to know each other, their likes and dislikes. They have had few quarrels which they have settled themselves. They have undertaken the house chores together, splitting the tasks among themselves. Her major task was the cooking of meals, laundry work and attending to his sexual needs. The latter was tasking but she was learning fast. He was the first man to tap into her treasure.

The house was comfortable. Nnamdi was splashing money on her. The pocket money she got from her parents was directed to her savings account in the bank.

Her friends were not too pleased with her decision to move in with Nnamdi as it meant they had less time to spend with her but she wasn’t too worried. She made it up to them in different ways. They borrowed money and different items at will from her. She was sure Nnamdi will propose soon.

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Nnamdi walked into the kitchen and opened the three pots that laid on the stand one after the other. All of them were stark empty and hollow. His stomach protested as the rumblings increased. He was tired and stressed up. He had spent the whole day in the studio with his colleagues drawing architectural plans and designs.  He walked out from the kitchen door and ventured into the backyard where Chioma was sitting. The backyard was a large space at the back of the building accommodating few household items, some buckets and jerry cans, brooms, a rickety table, a small Gp tank placed under a sloppy part of the long span roof to collect rain water whenever it rains, a variety of clothes hung on a line placed over a stack of cement blocks.

Chioma was sitting on a wooden stool bent over a tray humming a song. An Etus earphone was stuck in her ears. Her African print wrapper was firmly tied in a knot around her waist. On the veranda was an enamel basin filled with ugwu leaves. She was slicing the leaves on a wooden chopstone inside the tray. Tiny bits of the leaves stuck to her arms.

“Why is my food not ready?” Nnamdi queried in an angry tone.

“Welcome honey, i didn’t notice when you came in. Food will soon be ready. Chioma greeted him and removed the earpiece from her ear.

“It is almost 7 pm! Are you telling me that there’s nothing for me to eat in this house?” Nnamdi thundered as his eyes glowed with fury.

“Nnamdi biko try and understand. Why are you talking like this? Both of us are students. I got home barely one hour ago” Chioma pleaded.

“I don’t want to understand! Today has been stressful for me and all I expect is to be served with food whenever I get home. That is why I have you here!”

The harsh retort kindled the flames of anger that was slowly gathering steam in Chioma’s chest. She threw aside the knife and got up to her feet. Her temper was rising.

“Nwanem I am not your wife, you have not paid any dowry on my head! Today has been very stressful for me. We had chained lectures right from 9 am in the morning till 3 pm. I was about leaving the school gates to head to Little junction market when Daisy called to inform me that the bald headed Professor Udeze was about to give an impromptu test. I had to run down to the lecture hall to write the test only for the wicked man to refuse to collect half of the test scripts, mine inclusive. You should have seen the way we followed him to his office begging for close to an hour before he agreed to collect the scripts. So when you talk about stress bear in mind that…..”

She broke off in mid sentence when she found out that Nnamdi wasn’t listening to her. He was walking away. He stood and raised his hands and shouted.

“Excuses, excuses, all the time!”

She could hear the revving of the Audi engine and the banging of the door as he drove off.

Chioma tried to fight back the tears from her eyes. Nnamdi was taking her for granted.

Nnamdi returned by 10pm, the longest time he had spent out ever since she moved in with him. Chioma was lying on the couch.

“Sweetheart” he whispered as he reached out to touch her.

“Don’t touch me!! Chioma yelled. She got up and made a beeline for the bedroom.

He followed her in hot pursuit.

She lay on the bed putting a pillow over her head.

“I am very sorry sweetheart. I shouldn’t have talked to you like that. I will make it up to you on your birthday!! I promise I will organize a quality birthday bash for you!”

 He reached out and slowly pulled the pillow away and proceeded to nibble on her ear lobes; the most erogenous part of her body, her weakest point.

Chioma caved in and in a short while they were wrestling in between the bed-sheets. A pleasant kind of wrestling that they were used to.

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“Angela how are you?”

“Eiii Chum chum see as you fat o, wetin you dey chop sef” Angela said grinning at Chioma.

“Na God o”

“Your boyfriend don dey give you another kind of food shebi?”

They laughed out heartily.

Chioma had gone visiting Onyinye in her hostel room. Onyinye had informed her that Angela was in the next room so she had dropped in to check up on Angela.

“Angela I just came to say hi”

“Thank you my sister, this one wey you remember me today, any beta?

“Beta tinz dey house, come carry dem”

“Chum chum where are you staying now?”

“I am still living with Nnamdi”

“Give me the address, I will visit you one of these days sha, make I follow chop wetin you dey chop” Angela said with a sly smile and continued “seriously i still maintain my stance. It is not right for you to keep living with and perform wifely duties for a man you ain’t married to.”

“Angela ahn ahn you sef, you no dey tire to talk one thing all the time? Dalu….i have heard you.” Chioma said in a derisive tone as she hastened to leave the room.

“Chioma you know an old woman is always uneasy whenever dry bones are mentioned in a conversation’

“Na you sabi that one!”

“Babe I am Sorry if I am too harsh” By the way what did Amanda tell you about me……?

“Don’t worry, what you don’t know won’t kill you”

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Chioma’s 22^nd Birthday bash was held at Frazzers, an elite club located close to the Gra in the heart of the city. Two mean looking bouncers manned the entrance to the hall. The interior of the club house was a large circular shaped hall with a high tech Led nightclub lighting system which emitted multi coloured streams of light rays around the hall. Dj Magic fingers the in-house dj was at his spot scratching and mixing the latest hits on the turntable. The club had an Ac cooling system installed at different points to cool the patrons. A couple of early birds were on the dance floor twisting their limbs and bodies as they struggled to out-dance each other.

Chioma was attired in a short white satin dress looking radiant and beautiful. She was slightly tipsy. Nnamdi had advised her to take a little more than her usual dose of alcohol to make her loosen up and become carefree. At the back of her mind she secretly hoped Nnamdi would use the occasion of her birthday to make a formal and public marriage proposal.

Attendance was strictly by invitation. The invited guests were carefully chosen from a small pool of Chioma and Nnamdi’s friends as the club was an exclusive club. Nnamdi had spent a lot of money to secure the venue.

 Chioma’s three friends; Onyinye, Immaculata and Daisy were present. Angela had declined the invitation, saying she didn’t buy the idea of celebrating a birthday in a clubhouse.

The young man sat cap in hand at the back row of the club hoping to catch a glimpse of the celebrant. He had been one of her secrets admirers and fancied her for himself. He was an oil company worker who needed a wife. His investigations revealed that she was in a relationship with a guy named Nnamdi. He thought it was one of the commonplace campus relationships with short lifespan that fizzled out when both parties got fed up. He had tried chatting her up several times. She had told him she was engaged to Nnamdi. He backed off when he found out she was living with the Nnamdi guy. Now he was at her birthday party to observe things.

The drinks flowed endlessly from the wine bar in the club. There was a suya spot outside on the club grounds on hand to cater for the suya needs of the guests. It was an atmosphere of frolicking and partying.

The crowd at the dance floor swelled up in size as Nnamdi hit the floor with Chioma for a special dance session. They stood in the center with other dancers forming a ring around them.

The Dj slotted in Flavour’s baby oku.

“The way you are looking tonight/I swear you too tight

Baby mo/and everybody wanna mingle/because you just single

But you made it clear to them that I am your number one

You took my heart away/you set my soul on fire

You are my heart desire.

Baby you too hot o

Baby oku

Baby eme mi fe…”

It was a slow sensual dance as they swayed to the rhythm of the music. Chioma danced with careless abandon in Nnamdi’s arms. Clasped in Nnamdi’s arms she was happy and secure. She didn’t care about what the naysayers said about her living with him. Their love was all what mattered, everything else paled into oblivion. Nnamdi’s hands ran down her body caressing the small of her back and gradually circled around her hips. She brought up her head to the same level as his and he slowly kissed her. She savoured the moment as pulsating tremors ran down her body. It was her second public display of affection. This time around she didn’t care if people were watching her.

The young man sitting at the back stared at the couple with an envious look. He shook his head and replaced his cap on his head and left the club, a disappointed man.

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TO BE CONTINUED