Susan ekerete - Season 1 - Episode 11

Episode 5 years ago

Susan ekerete - Season 1 - Episode 11

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Michael stared at Susan, his brow furrowed in confusion. He seemed to be taking too long to absorb her last statement, so she repeated it in a low voice.“I’m sorry, Michael. I just can’t date a married man…”“I heard you the first time.” he cut in. “What I don’t get is why this matters here?”Susan felt a sense of righteous indignation well up in her. She faced Michael squarely, her chin raised. “What do you mean ‘how does it matter’? Look, just because the society thinks single mothers are of a particular type doesn’t mean they are right. I have personal moralboundaries I have set for myself and I assure you I’m not so desperate for… companinship that I’ll do what I’m not comfortable with.”“Woah, woah! Easy there.” Michael said soothingly. Amusement and exasperation warred within him. “That’s not what I meant at all.”Susan did not miss the small smile on Michael’s face and it infuriated her. “Then just what did you mean?”“I meant this is a different situation because I’m not married, Susan.”She paused and then her eyes crept to his fingers. The fresh groove on his fourth finger beamed at her, evidence of something opposite what he was saying. “I’m not sure I believe you.”Michael sighed and leaned back. The conversation wasn’t going like he had planned. “I know we’ve only known each other for a couple of weeks, but I hoped you would have some trust in me by now. Why would I lie about this?”Susan stood up abruptly, startling Michaeland one of her neighbours who had been apparently watching because she saw curtains shift and rustle.

“My ex-husband used to cheat on me.” she said, eyes dim with bad memories. “He had a bevy of women at his beck and call, all drawn to his charm and good looks. Sometimes I could smell them on him when he returned from one of his trysts. But there was always one tell-tale I could never miss.”She looked down at Michael. “Swear to me that you didn’t have a ring on your finger at least this morning.”Michael looked down at his hand.

He rubbed the indented circle beneath his knuckle absently, silent for a moment, and then sighed. “Oh.”Susan was astonished. She could feel her temper beginning to rise. An ‘oh’ was the best he could offer?“Oh? That’s the best defence you have? After lying to me?” she scoffed. “Men! As my friend always says, ‘na one mama born them’. It’s simple really; just say yes or no. I had one pathological liar in my lifealready, I’m not ready for part two of that horror movie my life used to be.”Michael looked at her sharply, anger visible in his own eyes as he stiffly rose to his feet. “I’m many things, Miss Ekerette, but a liar, I am not. I don’t have to defend myself; if you choose to suspect my motives, so be it. The tone of this conversation is quite unfortunate, and I think I should leave before you say anything worse.”“Yes, maybe you should.” Susan agreed after a beat, folding her arms.Michael turned away before she could see the disappointment in his eyes. “I apologize if I was too forward. I will keep things strictly professional from now on. My regards to Cherish, I will see her in twodays, as usual.”Susan watched him leave, tall and handsome, his long legs moving angrily as he stalked to his car.

She silently watched as he left, his face turned away from her as he drove past where she stood, and she admitted to herself that thesight of him leaving tugged at her heart. She regretted being as harsh as she had, but the trauma of living with Asuquo had made her sensitive to deceit.She rubbed her arms and walked back slowly into her house. It was probably best that she kept her thoughts away fromMichael.** **One week later, Susan broke her own resolution.“How well do you know Mr Michael Davies?” she asked Miss Jennifer Adesina,Cherish’s class teacher. She had come to pick Cherish from school and decided to chat with her daughter’s teacher a little. The conversation had mainly being about the upcoming trip of the children participating in the mathematics competition in Ghana, but during a short pause, she had found herself blurting out the question about Michael.The young lady raised her brows. “Mr Davies? Not a lot. He keeps to himself, really. And trust me; most of us ladies want to know about him. He’s certainly a sight for sore female eyes.” she giggled.

Susan laughed along, feeling a slight twinge of what felt like jealousy. The thought of other women admiring Michaelmade her uneasy. “Is he married?” she asked.Jennifer turned and faced Susan, her well-arched eye brows rising even higher. “I see there’s some interest here as well, if I may say so madam.”Susan waved the lady’s words away. “Oh please, I’m just curious that’s all.”Jennifer smiled knowingly, but she noddedin acceptance. “If you say so. Anyway, his story is a tragic one.

He is married.”Susan’s heart dropped, but the descent was halted by Jennifer’s next words. “Well,technically he is. Until about a year ago when I heard his wife disappeared.

He justcame home one day and she was gone. Poof! Just like that! No letter, no notice, no kidnappers contacted him. For over a yearnow, he has been unaware of his wife’s whereabouts and I heard he has finally resigned himself to the fact that she mightbe dead…”Susan let Jennifer’s voice prattle on as shame filled her. She had been so rude to a man who had suffered the loss of a wife.What if she had interrupted the process of him trying to move on and chased away a man who genuinely wanted to take a second chance at an intimate relationship with another woman after the one he lost so cruelly?