THE PERFECT WIFE

CHAPTER 1

Mr. Nonso came out of the hotel room beaming with smiles. He just had a good time with Sandra, his side chick. The two of them just had the best time ever. Mr. Nonso couldn’t remember the last time he had something like that with his wife Ebere. Ebere had become old fashioned to him and he needed something new and fresh. Sandra was the ideal substitute and his perfect definition of "fresh from the orchard."

He couldn’t believe he married a woman like Ebere when someone like Sandra roamed freely on the face of the earth. Ebere appeared to be nagging too much and not half as good as Sandra in bed. If only he hadn’t married Ebere, he wouldn’t have thought twice before making Sandra his wife.

Sandra had those curves that would turn his head upside down. She wore those clothes that would expose her cleavage and every part of her body that would awaken his hormones as a man. He had met Sandra a couple of months back when she came to apply in his office as a sale’s personnel.

While he was interviewing her, she gave him those looks that he couldn’t understand. Every look Sandra gave to him drove impulses down his spine. He started having those funny thoughts with her in his subconscious mind. After the interview, he decided to give Sandra the job so as to always see her and probably ask her out. Nonso had forgotten he had a wife and a beautiful daughter at home. All he could think of was to have Sandra for just one night. He wanted nothing more than to have the pretty lady in his bed. The past few weeks with Ebere hadn’t been the best. She would nag and say things that He never really wanted to hear. He had grown tired of Ebere already and not thinking if any of his actions would affect their only daughter Chiamaka, he went ahead with his plans. He gave Sandra the job and had noticed that Sandra would always appear seductive to him whenever she came to report to him. His eyes would go round her body making his mind wander off in nasty thoughts.

“if you don’t mind, I’d love for us to have lunch together. I want to get to know you more” he had asked that fateful day.

“I don’t have a problem with that, sir,” she replied.

The two of them went out for lunch and then things had happened so fast that Nonso found himself caught in the web with Sandra. He’d kiss her several times in his office. They had gone so wild that he knew if he wasn’t careful, he might get caught right there in his office.

For every bond he shared with Sandra, he was being separated from his wife and his only daughter. Chiamaka was only five and didn’t know what was happening between her parents. Things had gone so bad that Nonso came back from work later than he usually did. He wouldn’t even eat the food Ebere had prepared and would just retire to bed. It has been over two months since he last touched Ebere and Ebere was beginning to have the feeling that her husband was probably getting attention from someone else but she didn’t have a clue who it could be.

Nonso had been faithful when they got married. He was the kind of man she had always dreamt of getting married to. Caring, loyal, romantic, sweet and handsome too. She had always loved Nonso with the whole of her heart that she was always insecure when she saw him with other ladies. She knew her husband had those charms that any lady could easily fall for. She could still recall how he had swept her off her feet and the next thing she knew was that she was madly in love with him but the past few months hadn’t been the best for her. Her husband had changed and she was really getting worried. Nonso, who would call her every day, stopped calling and when she called, his phone would ring and he wouldn’t answer. She had tried confronting him as to why he wouldn’t return her calls even after missing them but he would give lame excuses. What Ebere didn’t know was that there was now a Sandra who was dividing her husband’s attention and stealing him gradually.

Nonso felt so happy because Sandra had given him what his wife hadn’t and couldn’t give to him. He dropped Sandra off at her place and they have decided to lay low for the meantime. As he drove back home, the memories of what happened a couple of hours ago kept coming back. He was beaming with smiles and kept looking forward to another opportunity with her.

The gatekeeper opened the gate and he drove inside. Ebere was in the sitting room waiting. She heard the horn of his car and turned to the wall clock. It was 9:45 pm and she was fuming with anger already.

“honey where are you coming from at such a late hour? Don’t tell me it's work because I don’t believe it” she said.

“You can choose to believe whatever you want to believe,” he said, making way to the bedroom.

Ebere had dressed seductively that night hoping to have a romantic night with her husband but his coming late had ruined everything.

Ebere fell on the sofa and wept. She didn’t know what was happening. She missed her husband and everything about him but every attempt she made to get him back, the farther he was going away from her. She went upstairs and found Nonso fast asleep. She felt so bad and started crying.

Nonso woke up the following morning only to see that he had a text message and it was from Sandra. He read it and smiled. The text message just made his morning. Ebere was in the kitchen preparing breakfast. Chiamaka was already dressed for school but she had to wait for Mr. Nonso to dress up and take her to school before going to work.

“Honey, go and see if your dad is ready and tell him to come down for breakfast” Ebere said as she set up the dining table for breakfast. Chiamaka turned and saw Nonso walking down the staircase.

“Good morning daddy,” Chiamaka greeted.

“Good morning my baby girl,” Nonso said, planting a kiss on her left cheek.

“you were already asleep when I came home last night. Hope you slept well baby? Nonso asked.

“Yes daddy I did,” Amaka replied. Amaka was what Nonso called their daughter Chiamaka. He lifted her up and then made those funny faces which would always make her laugh. The family sat down to eat but Ebere and Nonso didn’t utter a word to each other.

After breakfast, Nonso and Amaka made their way to the car. Not to make Amaka know what was going on, Nonso gave his wife a short lived kiss on the cheek and then Amaka waved her goodbye.

Ebere was still in deep thoughts over the incidence of the previous night. She really wished her husband knew how much effort she had put in just to have him all to herself but he was so insensitive to her feelings.

She later dressed up and went to her boutique which was downtown. Sales these past few days haven’t been encouraging and she was already running at loss because the latest trends of fashion weren’t available in her stocks.

Back in the office, Nonso was already using his eyes to search for Sandra. She hadn’t reported in for the day and he was already missing her. There was a knock on the door and when the person walked in, it was Sandra looking as angelic as he had always expected. Her hair was just in its perfect style. Her skin glowing bright and her perfume reminded him of the previous night.

He walked up to her and kissed her. It was long and he wasn’t bothered.

“ I miss you babe” he said, holding her hands.

Sandra was all beaming with smiles and it was already getting him mesmerized. Just then the sales manager knocked. Nonso quickly took his seat and then, not to make Mr. Felix suspicious, he started talking at the top of his voice.

“You just got here miss Sandra so you must be up and doing. I don’t want lazy people in my firm and you have to prove yourself worthy for this job” he said.

“yes sir” Sandra replied and walked out of the office.

Mr Felix didn’t notice anything and Mr Nonso was relieved.

“Sir our sales are dropping and competition is intensive. I think we need to come up with a better sales strategy” he said handing over the sales records to him.

Mr. Nonso went through the sales record and called for an emergency meeting with the employees. Mr. Nonso was the CEO of “CUBRAN BEVERAGES” and he had been in business since Amaka was born. Nonso had always experienced breakthroughs since he got married to Ebere a few years ago and seeing the sales in the last two months got him worried.

The meeting was between him, his secretary, the general manager, the sales manager and the sales promoter, the person of Sandra.

There were so many suggestions but Sandra had suggested sales promotion using models for advert. She volunteered to be used as the model because she had everything required to be a model. Mr. Nonso was pleased with her suggestion and then the advertising team started their work. Nonso never ceased to spend time with her. He would take her home after work and stay with her for hours forgetting his wife and daughter. Sandra became the only thing that mattered to him.

Ebere kept wallowing in her pain of not having her husband around. She really missed him but then his behavior hadn’t changed and it was getting worse.

“Mommy is daddy angry at me? Amaka asked one fateful night after waiting for her dad to come so she could show him the good grades she had in the work they did in school that day.

“No honey, your dad just has a lot of work to do. Your dad really loves you ok” Ebere replied.