THE moment Charles walked through
the door, I knew there would be trouble,” said Molade. In her mid-fifties,
she’s a typical trophy wife. She’d never done a decent job in her life. After
being kicked out of higher school for not passing any decent subject in her
school certificate exams, she met Charles.” I was enrolled in secretarial
school and was bored stiff”, she said.On my way from lunch this fateful
afternoon, Charles stopped to chat me up in his brand new Mazda car. That brand
of car was the rage then amongst the young executives and I quickly got into
the passenger seat with him.
“He was handsome, tall and fun to be with. We
started dating and I was impressed by his two-bedroom flat. Less than a year
after we met, I became pregnant and Charles said he was ready to tie the knot.
I was 20, he was 29 and assured me he was ready for marriage. He’d never hidden
the fact he was a ladies’ man from me and he knew I had a couple of boyfriends
when we met. “And even after we got married, Charles behaved as if his new
status had nothing to do with his roving eyes. I knew he loved me and I was in
love with him too. Only the love we shared didn’t prevent us from admiring
other people.
I had four children in quick succession. Charles told me from the
get go I shouldn’t breast-feed – that he hated women with floppy boobs and I
was quite happy to agree with him. During the course of our marriage, I’d had a
few bites of the forbidden fruit myself and I wasn’t ready to stop. Charles had
even used it to his advantage. Where he worked, there were highly ambitious
colleagues wanting to step on top of him on their hurried climb up the ladder
of success. I happened to be friendly with a few of his bosses?’ so when the
competition got fierce in his office, Charles would encourage me to go on dates
with any boss that might make his next promotion difficult. “I’d ensured one or
two pushes up the ladder for him and Charles was really grateful and gave me a
monthly allowance generous enough for me not to seek paid employment. But after
our last child started primary school, I became bored and Charles agreed for me
to find a job that wasn’t too demanding. I just laughed.
What decent job would
I get with my barely finished secretarial course? In the end an old family
friend gave me a job in the building society his son ran. I was to be an
assistant to his son’s secretary and even with the work-load being minimal, I
found it boring. I went off on extended lunch breaks with my boss’ father. and
thanks to him, his now frustrated son couldn’t sack me.
“In the end I was the
one who left – to the relief of most of the staff. My husband was now a top dog
in his office and I was able to do their annual corporate gifts and supply some
stationery. It was around this time that I met Bernerd, a foreign partner in
Charles firm. He was to see how the business was run from Nigeria and planned
to be around for a couple of years. I started flirting with him straight away –
one might never know how badly his ‘vote of confidence’ would be needed in
Charles’ favour. I virtually seduced him and he was quite happy with how good I
made him feel.
He was married, but his wife was abroad. So I often ended up in
the beautiful house he lived in. “We were having a cossy snack in the bedroom
when his new steward came in. We both did a double take when we saw each other
but the steward quickly got himself together. He used to be our steward before
he travelled to his home town for good. Five months down the line he was back
and the company transferred his services to Bernerd. I was in a right spot now.
What would happen when the steward shared his ‘secret’ with his mates? A lot of
them were horrible gossips who shared tit-bits with other stewards and drivers.
“I didn’t have long to wait. As soon as Charles walked through the door I knew
there would be trouble. His face was like thunder as he yelled at me for
sleeping with Bernerd. How did he find out? ‘His wife called me in the office,
that’s how!’ roared Charles. But wasn’t the wife abroad? ‘He was alright and
someone who knew her called to let her know what her husband was up to.” I was
also portrayed as a man-eater to her and the quicker she warned me off her
husband the better for her marriage.
“As long as you were discreet, 1 never
bothered you about your ‘conquests’ and Bernerd wasn’t that much of a threat.
..” “That was what he thought. I told Charles how his assistant was bent on
rubbishing his reputation to Bernard so he would be promoted above Charles.
Bernerd had told me everything and I’d been extra sweet to him lately so
Charles would get promoted instead of his back-stabbing assistant. He calmed
down instantly as we talked into the night.
He emphasised that as long as I was
discreet, I could do whatever 1 wanted. He didn’t want any scandal. Humph! “He
got promoted in the end but it was really dicy. His assistant not only ran him
down, he got the support of some of the directors to unseat Charles, – but
Bernerd had the last say. Of all the bits-on-the side I’d had, he was the most
insatiable! I certainly deserve the perks I got from my husband, and once he
landed the job, he needed not fear being threatened by his superior as he was
now one of the powers-that-be. “What Charles and I have is what is termed
recreational adultery in today’s parlance. It means your having relationships
that will never threaten your marriage. Like having nibbles whilst your regular
meals are assured. Charles and I know what we have and we’ll never jeopardise
that by having relationships that would threaten it. “Of course I’ve had a rumour
or two of Charles having a couple of love- children. It’s no skin of my nose.
We’ve both sat down to write his will and no gold-digger is going to get her
teeth into what I’ve worked for my whole life. Whatever crumbs Charles could
throw at his ‘take-aways’, they’re welcome to them …”
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