Karla’s Story Episode 5

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The shock she felt registered first in her heart, and then her mind. She didn’t know where all the rage came from, but it threatened to knock the wind out of her!

Her first instinct was to slap him! Slap the thought out of him! She had not had an affair! She had been stupid, yes, but it didn’t give him the right to imply that she’d had an affair!

She was at a loss for words. She felt guilty enough as it was, and this accusation wasn’t making things any better.

“Akwei Coffie, Get. Out. Of. My. House.!” she said it very calmly. Yet it was laced with pure anger. How dare he accuse her of having an affair? Is this what affairs looked like to him?

He was surprised. He knew his choice of words was probably wrong, but that didn’t warrant him being kicked out of her house. She had after all been with someone else!

“And now do you think there’s any wonder I didn’t tell you about this?”

Just then, Rama walked into the room. ‘’K, I heard you coughing…….” She stopped mid-sentence when she saw Akwei. She could tell something was wrong. Karla was pointing at the door, and she didn’t look happy – heck she was trembling!

“Hey, guys is everything okay? I just heard her coughing, and then it stopped, then she started again.”

Neither of them was saying anything. They both looked as if they could kill the other.

“Okay, well… I suppose I will come back later?”

When she left, Karla sat back on the bed. “I did not have an affair….” She paused for a bit, trying to hold back the memories from her mind.” “I suppose I got too comfortable with the wrong person.”

He was silent for a while. “K, I have work early tomorrow. I should leave now.” Without really thinking, she shut her eyes tightly to stop the tears from falling. Exactly what she hated – her rage turning into tears.

“Of course, Akwei, go…. Go to work early tomorrow. Come back late too. Make your boss happy – Oh I keep forgetting, you’re kind of the boss now! Well go and make your job happy, excite your clients… and of course enjoy the company of your secretary too. Make all the money in the world! One day, when it’s too late, you’ll realise that some things matter more than others!”

With that, she went and held out the door for him to leave.

“K, we will talk about this tomorrow.”

She stared blankly at him, and started to shut the door. She knew it was going to be really long night!!

It was 11:13 when Akwei sat in his car. He felt drained. For about five minutes, he sat in the car, staring into space. He didn’t even know where to start handling this from. He would call Prince in the morning. Prince was his ‘no filter’ friend who always told the story as it was. He didn’t try to please anyone, and he was often the most sensible of the boys. He was the person that could speak sense into his head the most. Many times, Prince had told him that Karla deserved a lot more than he was giving her. His answer was always the same –

“That’s why I keep working my ass off so she can have what she deserves soon.” He’d always known that it wasn’t the money Prince meant. And soon was very relative.

It was 3:00am when he finally managed to fall into a fitful dreamless sleep. He’d been up the whole time wondering. He realised how long it’d been since he really prayed. Of course there was the morning ritual he did before work, which included a 5 minute prayer and reading of a verse or 2 from the bible. But he hadn’t said a heartfelt prayer in a very long time.

“Dear God, I don’t know how to deal with this. I’m scared that I may have pushed her into the arms of a man who probably hurt her. But I’m upset that she couldn’t deal with my temporary situation. What happens if we get married and either of us has to travel for a while? Why did this happen? Do I confront the guy and warn him? How did this even happen? Please help me …. No, help us deal with this.”

He felt so helpless.

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*****
When Karla woke up in the morning, she felt sick. She called in at the office, and asked a friend to work on her urgent stuff for her, and then she sent an email to their boss. She kept wondering where Akwei read the letter up to, to think she was having an affair. Maybe the first paragraph was all that he got to. She was mad at herself and at him. Maybe there was a reason for all of this. Four years together didn’t mean that it had to be forever. That thought made her sad. They’d had some really good times together. He was a lovely man. The kind of man her mother would have approved hands down. Her dad liked him, and her aunties were always asking when they were planning on getting married.

They’d cornered him one time and told him how Fantis never organise small weddings. One of her young aunties had given him a vivid account of what happened in their family weddings – how they didn’t entertain cocktails or small receptions – there had to be a variety of dishes, and the venue must be big enough as there was a large family! She told him that he ought to find good caterers, cos’ their family members were made up of “big time connoisseurs“!

At the time they’d laughed at her so much, cos’ Karla knew she was exaggerating. Besides, she wanted a very modest wedding. They’d done so many road trips together, especially in the first two years of their relationship.

She hated that she’d allowed herself to destroy all that. But she was prepared to be brave about it. If he wanted out, she’d let him go – she felt like damaged goods to him anyway! But before that, she’d explain to him that not every girl wanted a house full of money, with a husband who wasn’t there.

All she did that morning though, was mourn her apparent loss.

****
Akwei walked into Prince’s office without realising that his shoulders were slumped. Prince was always a tease, and much as he made sense, it never came without some name calling and insults.

“I have a feeling that K has finally left your stupid ass!” Akwei couldn’t even muster a smile. He felt as if he had lost her. “I knew she’d leave you! You’ve married yourself to your work for over a year, and you expect that she’ll remain there waiting for you? ” he continued with some Fanti expletives.

“She hasn’t left me…. But I think she had an affair.”

Prince looked astounded. He knew Karla well. Knew she would never be capable of anything of that sort. She had a crazy heart in her, but she was loyal and forgiving, almost to a fault!

“Okay, now you have my attention – what the hell is going on?!”

When he had finished his narration, Prince was quiet. Which was odd, because normally he would laugh at him or something of the sort.

“Akwei, you are a fool! Ohwie waa!! Your woman was manhandled by another man, and all you could think of was that she had an affair? Wait, tell me, which part of your story did the so –called affair happen in?”

“Ah Charlie, she stated categorically that she was enjoying his hugs and the way he looked at her – all of that. What else would qualify it as an affair?! And how do I know for sure that it wasn’t consensual?”

Prince knew that his friend had probably lost his mind. He sat in front of him, and called him a fool in every language he knew how!

“K is a loyal girl… too loyal mpo. How many times have I told you that if she were any other girl she would have left your ass?! She did not have an affair, she fell into a smart man’s ruse… or maybe she was just in the wrong place at the wrong time, I don’t know! She wanted you, you were not there – And Akwei, I know you, even when you’re there physically, it’s just your body that’s there! Your mind is on some stupid contract or plan or promotion! So she enjoyed the attention Kobby gave her – saa akoa no, Ͻyξ slick!!

Akwei, I’m even surprised it was just Kobby. Cos I know that the really dark guy from the evangelism wing has had his eyes on K… and then the pastor’s younger brother too, that UK bad boy no… You think if it was affair she wanted, she wouldn’t have gotten any of these guys? And she didn’t even keep this Kobby from you. You met him, she told you about him – you probably didn’t even listen! When was the last time you kissed the girl…? Wodeξmaybe you’ll tell me that woyξ asore boy, nti I won’t even ask about sex. Fine. But tell me the last time you planned time with her. Took her out somewhere, and kept work away from it. I know you haven’t done that in at least 8 months – because the promotion was 8 months ago meboa???”