Is she cheating on me?
1194 Words
Fred was already standing downstairs, staring at Linda, who seem to be in a pensive mood. He had been standing there for minutes without Linda taking any notice of him.
" Was it Martina, you were talking to?" he asked, with an unreadable expression on his face.
Linda jumped up and held her chest. " Fred, how long have you been standing there? You scared me".
Fred walked over to her and sat down beside her, totally ignoring her question.
" You have not answered my question, Linda".
Linda looked down, and tried not to meet his gaze.
" Yes, I was", she said slowly.
" I see. What did she tell you? Is she okay?" Fred asked.
" She really did not say much. She is fine though", Linda said, fidgeting with her phone in her hand.
There was silence for a while. An awkward silence filled the room. Then Fred suddenly asked,
" Is Martina cheating on me?"
Linda was shocked. She looked at Fred and tried to say something but nothing came out. Fred turned to her, he had a serious look on his face which made Linda look away again.
" Fred, I..."
" Just tell me what I need to know, Linda. Because I know you know something. Is she cheating on me or not?"
" Yes".
" Who is the man who has decided to break my home?"
" Its- It's Stanley", Linda stuttered.
" Stanley? Martina's ex-boyfriend? Wait! I thought he was in the United States. When did he come back?" Fred narrowed his eyes.
" He came back some weeks ago. I did not know they were meeting each other. She told me he was at her supermarket and she sent him away. I have no idea how all these started", Linda swallowed.
" Why did you hide this from me? Why did you keep me in the dark all this while?" Fred said, rage boiling inside of him.
" Fred, I could not tell you because it was not in my place to tell you. And, I could not tell you based on mere suspicions. I am sorry, Fred", Linda explained.
" I am not angry with you, Linda. I just want to understand this whole situation. I can't believe she left me for the very man who almost ruined her life. Why did she do this to me?" Fred said, anger filled in his voice.
" Fred, I know it's hard..."
" No, Linda. I don't think you understand the pain I feel. My son will be home in the next 5 hours and I don't know what I will tell him when he asks of his mother. It hurts me so much that Martina will do this. Was it because I was not man enough for her?" Fred lamented.
" No Fred, don't say that. You are a good man and I know you did your best for your family. This, isn't your fault, so don't blame yourself", Linda consoled him.
Fred's expression softened. He gave Linda a small smile.
" Thank you so much for being here, Linda. I don't know what I would have done if you had not come".
" I care about you a lot, Fred. Don't forget that", Linda said.
Later in the afternoon, Junior came back from school and went straight to his room to do his homework. After he was done, he had his bath and rushed downstairs to sit with his father, so that they can watch television together. Linda wanted to wait till Junior got home, so she made supper before the boy got home.
She served the food after she was done and asked father and son to join her at the table. After they had finished eating, Junior placed his plate in the sink and ran upstairs to read his books. His father did not like him running around especially because of his asthma but the boy never listened.
Fred and Linda were left alone in the kitchen. Martina was washing the plates and Fred was cleaning the dinning table. Fred helped her clean the plates after he was done with the table, in silence. Linda did not like it when there was silence between them, but she understood.
They were done in no time and Linda had to leave for her home. Fred walked her to her car. Linda opened the door to the back seat and placed her bag on the seat. She closed the door and walked over to Fred.
" Are you going to be alright?" she asked, worry laced in her voice.
Fred nodded. " Thank you so much for coming. It meant a lot".
Linda smiled and hugged Fred who in turn hugged her back. After the broke the hug, Linda opened the door and sat in her car.
" I will call you, when I get home", she smiled.
Fred nodded and smiled. The grammar opened the gates for Linda and she drove off as Fred waved good bye to her.
When Linda got home, she met her mother in the hall, drinking wine and reading her favorite magazine. She threw herself on the chair beside her mother and breathed out loudly.
" You seem like you had a long day. Work must have been stressful as always", her mother said.
" I was not at work, today, Ma. I was at Fred's house", Linda said.
" Really? But why? Did he not go to work today?" her mother wondered.
" Something happened, mother", Linda said.
" Martina left her home. She decided to leave her husband and child just to be with Stanley. You should have seen Fred, mother. He was so devastated. I have never seen him like that before".
" Stanley is back from America? When? And how did he meet Martina?" Her mother asked.
" He is here in Ghana, Ma. He come back some weeks ago. He came to Martina's supermarket to shop and that's how they met. Martina told me she was angry when she discovered who he was and did not want to listen to him at all. I don't know what happened after that, mother. She suddenly changed. She stopped bothering about her family then decided to do this at the end".
" Wow, that's so disappointing. I wonder how Fred and the boy are feeling right now", her mother said.
" Fred is so sad about the situation. He does not know how to even break the news to Junior. Knowing Junior, this will break him", Linda said.
" Poor thing. This is so sad. And how does this make you feel?" her mother asked.
" I feel disappointed and hurt mother. I never expected Martina to do this to her husband and son. She got such a wonderful family and she decided to throw it all away. Just to be with that ingrate. That's so unfair, mother", Linda said.
" I would have been surprised if you had not felt that way, especially since you are in love with him", her mother said passively, while reading her magazine.
Linda stared at her mother in shock.
- Writer
