Six years, eleven month and three weeks (Part 2)

Friday nights start the weekend and for a person who works as the nation's coordinator for an international telecommunication company it is much appreciated. This Friday wasn't the usual one with friends over at the house or sending my twin boys to the cinema. There was a very important event going to take place. My wife left the house at about 7pm for her choir practise. I gave her the impression that I was going to stay home that night.

I put my young ones to sleep and drove straight to the airport to pick Denise up. She had already arrived but I pleaded with her to wait for me. It wasn't easy convincing her to stay but it was worth it. I knew my wife closed from her practise at about 9pm but stayed to chat for about an hour more. I had approximately 2 hours. I was going to make it work. You see my wife doesn't really nag or complain but I believe the reason why she doesn't do that is because I don't give her cause to. I don'tthink I'm the best husband in the world though. No one is.

I drove Denise as fast as possible to the Valisinia Hotel. She was looking very attractive as always. When we got to the hotel, the receptionist asked if we had made reservations. I said we hadn't. He then explained that it would be almost impossible to get a room for us. I asked Denise if she wanted another hotel. 'Derrick I'm really tired. I can't be roaming around looking for a hotel. Besides you don't have all the time in the world.' She replied and I smiled. 'Look here, how about I give you a little something to make the impossible possible.' I said and handed over to the receptionist a 50 cedi note. He smiled almost immediately and quickly made a call. Before you know it we had a room. 'Someone just checked out but you must add your name to the reservations book.' He added. I took the book and wrote Mr. and Mrs. Damoah. Just then I saw my wife at the car park. My heart missed a beat. She was walking in our direction. It was clear from her facial expression that she had seen us. I drew Denise's attention and whispered to her as I slipped the hotel key into my pocket discreetly. 'My wife is here, just play along.' She nodded immediately.

'Derrick, what are you doing here?' Adjoa asked when she got to us. I turned to look at her and acted all surprised. She quickly accused me as I expected. I took my time to remember the story I planned in my head in case any such thing happened. You see, I like to plan for the worst. This story was for anyone I met at the hotel. Someone would ask, why did you select the hotel you had your honeymoon in? What other excuse would I have given to get her to believe me? Besides it seems too mean or stupid for a person to do. Exactly, when a person is half convinced, they are half deceived. Besides ignorance, the easiest way to get someone to believe something is to get them in an unsure state. Then you can capitalize on their insecurity.

After my Jamaican story I looked at Denise to see whether she was ok with it. She looked a bit irritated but concealed it neatly. My wife on the other hand was almost in tears. I don't like seeing her like this at all. I gave her a hug and put a smile on her face. She looked down at the reservations book and saw our names. She smiled even wider and suggested that we all go home and even invited Denise to spend the night at our house. She smiled and agreed. I could tell she was struggling with the Jamaican accent but this was nothing for her. As we all walked to the car,Denise started a conversation with Adjoa about the boys. They got along so well. Besides that, all I could think about was the money I spent on the hotel room along with the huge tip I made. You don't always win.

The hotel key was still in my pocket.Denise was staying for only two nights. Just for the record we are not related in any way. She lives in Nigeria. I met her on one of my trips there. That was about 4 years ago when she was doing her internship at my company's branch in Nigeria. We got together and spent a number of nights together. Ever since then she became my mistress, if you want to put it that way. Every time I travel irrespective of where I go I take a flight to Nigeria before I come back to Ghana. My wife had no idea what was going on and I intended to keep it that way. It had been a while since I travelled so I invited her to spend the weekend in Ghana.

She sat in my car as we drove home while my wife drove alone. 'What do you want us to do? The hotel keys are still with me.' I asked as we were going. She didn't say a thing, she just looked out the window. I could tell she wasn't very happy about the situation either. I thought fast on my own. 'Spend the night here with us to clear all suspicion then tomorrow morning we will go to the hotel. We'll tell Adjoa we are preparing the room for the honeymoon.' I said finally. This got her to turn away from the window. 'You know this game can destroy your marriage right?' She asked. Even though I was glad she was now speaking, I didn't like what she was saying. 'Where did that come from? You have never complained before. Is it too much for you now?' I asked offended. 'Derrick, I'm not complaining. I am cool with this. Trust me, I don't mind. I just don't want to be blamed for anything, besides it's safer in Nigeria. Adjoa might...' She nagged but before she could land I but in. 'Adjoa is not going to know anything. We are just having fun. Relax and enjoy it.' She smiled and nodded.

That night I couldn't help thinking about the first time I met Denise. Besides her extremely good looks she resembled an ex girlfriend of mine. One my wife has seen several photos of but to her was a cousin. This 'cousin', Naana dated me for 2 years when I was young. She was the oldest child in her family and the strongest. Our break-up was my hardest. There was nothing I wouldn't do for her. Everybody said she was too good for me because she was more popular,richer and finer than me. It gradually got into her head and she left me. She travelled to the UK and we lost contact. When I saw Denise I admired her so much because just like Naana, she was very confident, outspoken and beautiful. She had some 'I don't care' attitude that excited me. Don't get me wrong, my wife is very interesting, caring, loving and ideal. That's why she is my wife and the one I have children with. I do love her just that she lacks the'attitude' Denise has.