Secret Affair

Locked

Tim had told his darling wife that he wanted her to be home by three p.m. sharp. This was already impossible for Sophia, who was still at the hamlet for the fundraising program. She had been running his multiple errands from the time she left home. People saw her and assumed she was the spoiled wife of a rich man who had her whole life set ahead of her. When, in truth, she is subjugated and only allowed to appear exotic and rich to the public eye. She had never refuted this claim or given the people any reason to doubt that she was indeed happy. She wore expensive dresses, used pricey jewelries, and matched them all with expensive accessories. Tim made sure she understood the need to brag about his wealth to the other women, and if she didn't, she had built a fantastic public image that no one would believe otherwise. Many do not know that she lives on edge every day, most of the things she used for public appearance were borrowed items and would be yanked off of her once she got back home. She had never lived a day for herself, but she is positive. If there ever was an award for the world's most optimistic person alive, such an award would no doubt go to her for continuously believing that things would get better. Hardly a day would pass when she wasn't required to do something. If she wasn't attending a charity event, she is at a fundraiser. She is either attending a brunch with wives of dignitaries or visiting sick people at the hospital. There was always something to be attended to. Sometimes, she attends these events with her husband, but most of the time, she attends alone. Her presence was all that was needed, even if it was not necessary. Sophia never understood why she had to be present at every event. Most of the time, she ended up being the only one at some of these events, as no one had the time to show up at such meaningless events. Tim made sure she attended everything, told her her presence would make him look good and score more points and, as such, she didn't need to pay attention to what anyone said.

Sophia has repeatedly questioned why she had to be at some functions when the wives of dignitaries wouldn't be there. Tim would say she didn't need to act like them, they were staying away because they were jealous of his success. He told her that her presence would guarantee his second term in office because everyone would notice how involved him and his wife were. To make sure she went, Tim also arranged for a driver to drop her at the venue and leave her there. As an adult, she should be able to find her way back.

Today wasn't any different either. The fundraising event was going to be held in a small village, and it was slated to begin at twelve. Sophia had already calculated how she would go there and be back in record time. But when she got there, she realized the time had been changed due to some unforeseen circumstances. The event had been rescheduled for two thirty. Tim's driver had already dropped Sophia off at a quarter to twelve and had gone back as instructed. When she asked why the change in time wasn't properly communicated, the person in charge told her they had sent apologies to every invited guest and were surprised she came at the initial stipulate time. Sophia just laughed nervously and tried to get in touch with Tim, but his number was high the whole time. With nothing to do, she began to roam around the village. She dreamed of the day she could own a small cottage with a flower garden in front of such a small community as this. She closed her eyes to envision herself tending to her rose garden as her dog jumped around and chased after butterflies. Since she got married, Veronica has always warned her about doing anything stupid that might disgrace and bring shame upon her. She is a public figure and anything she does would make the news. Sofia wouldn't do that. Her father had told her to live and be happy. That was his dying wish for her and that was what she intended to do, even if she was not happy now, she believed, better days were coming. After walking around in the village aimlessly for close to two hours, she became so hungry and was about to go into a diner when she decided to check for her wallet first. It wasn't there. She could have sworn she had it when she left home. With no money to buy food, she walked past the diner as the owner waved at her and greeted her politely. She would have to endure the hunger until she got back home. It wouldn't make a difference, she had gone a whole day without food before. It was not that hard, Sophia thought, checking her wristwatch to ensure she wasn't late. The time was two fifteen p.m. now, a few more minutes before the event would begin. Nothing prepared her for the shock she got when she got back to the venue and was told the event was canceled altogether. The organizer said they had immediately sent a message to her husband and thought she had already gone back home when she didn't return. Just then, her mobile phone vibrated to indicate the arrival of a new message. She took it to read the message which was from Tim and her eyes widened in shock.

'I want you here by three sharp, be late and face the consequences.' the message read. Sophia grew pale, she knew there was no way she would get back to town and up their apartment by that time. She thanked the organizer, and left. There was no telling the kind of trouble awaiting her at home. She didn't show that she was agitated. Over the years, she had mastered the act of masking her true feelings so that no one suspected how intimidated she felt.

An old man going to town offered her a ride, and although she acted like everything was fine, she begged the man to step on it, especially as it looked like it might start raining any moment. But things never went the way she wanted. The truck broke down halfway to town, and she felt guilty for leaving the man behind even though he repeatedly told her it was okay. Then began the impossible task of flagging down vehicles. No one wanted to stop for fear of getting mugged. How can a well-dressed woman suddenly need a ride in the middle of nowhere? It could be a well-coordinated robbery. By the time she finally got a ride, the time was way past four p.m. The truck driver was nice enough to drop her at the entrance to ALZ hotels, and she rushed in, checking her wristwatch as she went. The elevator to the eightieth floor took forever and by the time she was standing outside her door, the clock chimed five thirty, she hurriedly keyed in its code, but it was wrong. She thought she had made a mistake and tried again, but it was still wrong. Then she began to try different set of numbers, numbers they had used before, but nothing worked. Even though she knew the truth, she couldn't believe and kept taking out her frustration by keying in all kinds of numbers as they popped into her head. The truth remained, Tim had locked her out again. There was a possibility that he wasn't inside the apartment, and he possibly would not return tonight.