The Runaway Bride Episode 18

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Earlier that money, Tokunbo received a
message from his mother-in-law asking him to
“ please, be patient with her, I know God will
make all things right ”. As if they were
together, he got a call from his mother
“Tokunbo, how are things, has she spoken
with you?”
“Not really ma, but I know she will”
“It is not easy to live like that, but I want to
implore you to be patient with her, be good to
her, that would make you have a little control.
Don’t be rude or unkind to her, whatever is
eating her would be killed with a little
compassion from you. She must have had a
difficult life with that wicked man called her
father. So don’t be quick in ruling her out of
your life.” She said so much and all he could
just hold on to is to be patient and kind with
her; which he planned to do.
“Chinwe, I need to get to the store, I want to
pick up some things from there, is there
anything you will like me to get for you”
Tokunbo announced at the bedroom door,
holding his breath for the NO he knew she
would say.
“No, thanks”
“Okay, but I noticed you have not been eating
much, give me a list of something we could
have in the kitchen, you need to eat”
“You can buy anything; I will be fine with
anything you buy”
“See, I don’t really want to argue with you
and I want to make you comfortable as much
as I can, you barely eat since you came to this
house on Saturday, if you know there is
nothing we can do till your friend comes on
Saturday, let’s be well and alive till she
comes.”
Chinwe looked up from her phone on the bed
she sat and stared at the man standing at the
door, he seems to be making sense.
“I will meet you outside, let me change my
clothes”
Tokunbo was taken aback by her decision, he
did not expect her to respond that way; all he
wanted was to get a list of the things she
would love to buy.
Minutes later, they drove out of the house,
with her sitting beside him, fiddling her
phone again. He can’t complain, at least she
is willing to be seen with him.
When they got down in front of the super
mart, they walked in together, the store was
almost empty of customers, since it was a
Tuesday morning and most people would be
at work.
They went the opposite sides of the store and
when they met at the counter, she had very
few things in her basket, sanitary pads,
toothbrush, roll on, mouth wash, a set of
combs, and soaps. Really?
Tokunbo pushed his shopping basket to the
cashier and pulled Chinwe back to the food
and grocery section.
“We need food, help me, please” he said in an
almost frustrated whisper.
She looked at him and pulled a bigger
shopping basket and walked to the shelves,
picking all sorts of canned food, with Tokunbo
following closely. When the basket was almost
full and was pulling it with a noticeable
effort, Tokunbo took it from her as she
continued to pick, inspect, replace or drop
some items.
When they got to the frozen food section, he
watched as she picked a pack of washed
snails.
“You can take for yourself, but I don’t eat
snails” he said.
“Really?”
“I don’t eat it”
“Okay” she said as she picked one pack and
took some shrimps and chicken instead, when
they finally got back to the counter, the
cashier asked politely
“Can I go ahead now?”
“No no, wait” Chinwe said as she disappeared
between the shelves again, making Tokunbo
smile at how beautiful she looks.
She returned with a loaf of bread and a pack
of grape fruits
When the cashier finished adding all they
bought, he paid with his card and a boy
appeared beside him to carry everything they
bought, leaving the bread behind, he quickly
took it from Chinwe so she doesn’t have to
carry a thing.
Chinwe looked at his back as he walked
ahead of her to the park. He is quite a gentle
man, she always knew that, just that the
circumstances would not allow her to
commend him.
The drive back to the house was quiet and
Chinwe did not like the silence, she reached
for the radio at the same time Tokunbo did
and they both withdrew their hands
immediately.
“Go ahead” Tokunbo said as he focused on the
drive
Chinwe turned on the radio and tuned to a
station playing some good music, she sang
along some of them and Tokunbo could not
but look at her sometimes.
When they got to the house, Tokunbo handed
her the keys and asked her to open the door
for him, which she did without arguing. He
moved all the bags at once and went straight
to the kitchen. She joined him in the kitchen
and they started unpacking, storing away and
clearing the table together. The moment
looked almost perfect, only if they could talk.
The last bag contained Chinwe’s toiletries, he
handed it over to her as he went to the guest
room to drop his.
Chinwe went to the room to drop off her
things; an idea popped into her head as she
was in her room.
She went back to the kitchen and started
cooking
****************************************************
Tokunbo opened his laptop and started
replying some mails that needed his urgent
attention, when he finished with the mails, he
quickly searched online for some t some news
to read. However, that was short lived, he
abandoned the search for news and quickly
typed in Google search bar “ how to make my
wife happy”, so many blogs, articles and
features were brought as results and he
glanced through them and picked one that
looked interesting.
He read the article and would have readily
clapped for the writer because he nailed it, or
may be the writer is a woman, he did not
bother to check.
He decided to make use of 2 of the numerous
points stated
1. Compliment her
2. Pay attention to her
With those 2 ideas, he went out of him room
to get a bottle of water and almost stopped in
his tracks at the sweet aroma coming from
the kitchen. He quickly went into the kitchen
and saw Chinwe frying, tossing, turning and
wiping her hands at the counter, beads of
sweat settled on her forehead. He went into
the spacious kitchen and opened the back
door to allow in some cool air.
“Smells nice, well done”
“Thanks” she looked up from what she was
turning a little bit surprised.
“Can I Help?”
“No thanks, I’m almost through”
Tokunbo walked to the sink and started
washing the dirty bowls, utensils and pans
she used; she stopped what she was doing to
look closely at him, like seriously.
“Well, if washing would make me eat from
whatever it is that you are cooking, then wash
I will” Tokunbo said and continued washing,
Chinwe just had to return to the fried rice she
was turning on the cooker.
With the plates washed, wiped and arranged,
utensils hung and the counter wiped clean,
Chinwe took out 2 plates and dished some rice
for the 2 of them.
Tokunbo watched as she placed a plate of hot
steaming rice, chicken and some plantain in
front of him and was more surprised when
she sat on another chair at the table. They ate
in silence and in between each mouthful of
the delicious meal, Tokunbo kept
contemplating striking a conversation with
her but each time, he thought better of it.
When he finished his food, he looked at his
wife’s plate and saw she could not finish
hers.
“That was a very lovely meal, thanks.”
“You are welcome, there’s more in the
kitchen” she said when she found him
looking at her plate.
“No, I’m fine, thanks”
He stood up from the table and took his plate
to the sink washed and dried it. He returned
to the table to sit with her. Not hiding that he
wants to make them work; just not clear on
how to start a conversation with her, so when
she stopped eating , he stood up and went to
his room.
Chinwe watched him walk to the guest
bedroom as she struggled to finish the rice in
front of her. She seemed to have eaten to her
full, she stood up also to wash her plate. She
stood against the counter and went over the
day’s event in her head, they went to the
store together, ate together and she knew she
enjoyed it and would love more of it.
She wished the turn of event had been
different. For the past 4 days, he has been
very patient with her, and kept denying he
did not rape anyone.
For the first time since she ran away, she
prayed Clara would be wrong and they could
move on with their lives, she deserved to be
happy and so does he.