Three is a crowd: David goes for the jugular 

(Continued from last issue)

David and Diane have been married for years; then there is Julie, the young secretary whose axis collides with the couple’s in ways none of them saw coming.

DIANE

I might have felt better about going for the boutique’s shopping trip if David had raised some objection; however, when I told him about it, he actually encouraged me to go.

“Since Tracy always goes, it’s only fair for you to do so this time, especially since she’s dealing with her mum being ill and all. I think it’s very important for your partner to know that the business can count on you if they’re occupied elsewhere,” he said thoughtfully.

“I know; it’s just that I’m worried about how you guys will manage with me gone – probably for up to a week,” I answered, privately hoping he would take the opportunity to say he would miss me. He didn’t.

“Don’t worry about us; we’ll be fine,” he reassured me.

It seemed like the only person disturbed by the news of my upcoming trip was Daniel who fretted and whined about how long I would be gone for, and why someone else could not go in my place. Although his relationship with David had improved of late, they were still far from ‘close’, and I knew he would struggle with me being away.

However, there was nothing I could do about that, so it was still with a heavy and uneasy heart that a few days later I kissed David and the children goodbye and boarded the flight to Dubai.

As the plane took off, I prayed that Daniel would be alright (I was not worried about the girls who were ‘daddy’s girls’ through and through), but more than that, even though he had not given me any reason to suspect he would, I prayed that David would not take advantage of my absence to see that whore again, and that when I returned, my marriage would still be as strong as I had left it.

DAVID

While I was surprised by Diane’s impromptu Dubai trip, I was not really bothered by it. Sure, it would mean handling the children singlehandedly, which was no doubt going to be an exhausting and crazy task, and yet ironically, the thought of Diane being away for a week felt like the promise of a mini vacation.

That was not to say Diane was being difficult; on the contrary, she was being great, saying and doing all the right things and generally being the perfect wife.

However, that presented its own challenges for me, as it meant that I had to reciprocate, constantly striving to be the perfect husband, burying whatever true feelings I might be feeling at the time, to ensure that I too was saying and doing all the right things, and it was this constant effort to live up to a particular standard that I was looking forward to enjoying a break from.

I knew that Diane was probably worried that I would take advantage of her absence to cheat on her; she had made it obvious from the sudden, sharp increase in her sex drive, and the way she had been generally overly affectionate in the days between when she had told me about the trip and her actual departure; the truth was, she had nothing to worry about on that front.

I had not been back to the apartment since the afternoon Julie had practically begged me to go over, and since she still had not acknowledged that she had been wrong to go out with that bloody doctor, much less apologized for it, I had no intention of returning any time soon.

My plan regarding our relationship and restoring my position of authority in it was to give her the bare minimum as far as money was concerned, so that while I was still providing for Junior, there was absolutely nothing extra.

In addition to that, I would continue to withdraw my time and affection, which I knew meant a lot to her; if not for her herself, for my relationship with Junior.

It was not an ideal plan, since it meant I would be missing out on time with Junior, but if it restored the original dynamic of my relationship with Julie, then it would be worth it, and I would be able to make up for all the lost time with Junior then.

On the other hand, if withholding money and time did not work, I would have to resort to threatening her with the last card I had in my deck; the one thing I knew mattered more to her than me or my money, the one thing that bound us together – our son.

JULIE

It is hard to believe that a great relationship can crash and burn in the blink of an eye, but that is exactly what seemed to be happening to David and I.

Not only hadn’t he returned to the apartment since his last visit, which was not really a surprise considering how cold and angry he had been, but he had not made his regular deposit in the account since then either – and that was a surprise.

No matter what was going on between us, David had never not deposited money in the account, and while I definitely was not a gold-digger, the truth was that the financial security he had always provided had formed part of my attraction to him.

I had never had to directly ask David for money; he had just always given it, but when days went by without a deposit in the account, I had eventually had to, texting him to ask for money for Junior’s pampers.

Even though he had never ‘forgotten’ to make a deposit before, I hoped against hope that that was what had happened, and that my text would jog his memory and the deposit would be made.

That last desperate hope was dashed when in response, he sent me fifty thousand shillings on my mobile money account. David had never sent me less than a hundred thousand at the very least; so, I was sure he was making a statement with a transfer that literally covered nothing else but the pampers I had asked for.

What I was not equally sure about, was how to respond; money had never been an issue between us before, and I did not want to make it one now, but at the same time, whether I wanted to admit it or not, it was important, and I needed to know if I could still depend on him to provide it or not.

‘Thanks for the money you sent, but I’m afraid it’s not enough,’ I finally texted.
‘Last time I checked, a pack of pampers was forty-three thousand,’ he replied.

Taking a deep breath to calm myself, I texted back; ‘Yes, but pampers isn’t all we need.’

There was a few minutes’ delay before he responded, and when I read his reply, the blood literally drained from my face, and it was a good thing I was sitting down.

‘All I care about is Junior’s needs, not yours, and the way things are going, I’m beginning to think I’m better off taking him and handling those needs directly, and leaving your doctor boyfriend to handle yours.”

margaretwamanga@yahoo.com