This post is a
product of my own imagination. The names, characters, places and incidents are
used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons,
living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
The three years and ten months that Temwani and Chisala had been
married were a dream come true. It had been sheer bliss every day of their
nascent nuptial life. The Lord had blessed them way beyond their expectations.
They were both doing very well in their respective careers. They were staying
in their own beautiful house in Foxdale, courtesy of a loan that Temwani got
from his employers. Their energetic and lovely baby boy, Chisomo, was seven
months shy of his second birthday. His mischievous adventures added much fun to
an already fun-filled home.
Temwani was now in his third month as an MBA student. Most of
the time he felt stretched to his limits as he juggled family, work, studies
and church activities. He prayed daily for strength and wisdom to give due
attention to every demanding sphere of his life. More importantly, he wanted to
free up more time to be with Chisala and Chisomo, the love of his life. He
tried to eke out a little time here and there to be with his family, but he was
at best, only becoming more and more of a part-time husband and father.
One
morning, he woke up before dawn, his quickened heartbeat pulsed in his ears and
he sounded out of breath. His eyes snapped open, and he took a glance at the
time luminously displayed on the digital clock of the DSTV Decoder – it was
04:48. He turned and looked beside him. Chisala was
curled up close to him on his left side, her left hand resting on his chest. She
slept soundly and he didn't want to disturb her. His heart had finally slowed
down to its normal rate but he knew sleep was gone from him now. He was awake
and the day had begun. He had lately been worrying a lot about his soon
approaching first exam in the two modules he was taking for his MBA, and that
had been giving him night sweats.
Quietly,
he stepped out of the bed, and unobtrusively tiptoed to the bathroom to run his
water for a bath. They had often taken baths together since they got married,
and it felt strange to step into the bathtub alone. A few minutes later, done
with his bath, he walked back into the bedroom, trying to be as less noisy as
he possibly could to avoid waking up his wife. Well, he soon discovered there
was no need for that. She was already up, and seated upright on the bed staring
at him with a surprise look on her face.
“Good
morning honey,” she greeted him. “Hi sweetie,” he responded.
“You are up so
early today, what’s up? She quizzed him. “I am kind of behind on my readings
for the exam, and I want to squeeze three weeks worth of work into a week, and
every minute matters. So I am thinking of going to the office early for the
next one and half months and put in at least two hours of reading before work
starts at 08:00 hours.”
“And
by the way, do you have enough fuel in your car? We may have to use separate
cars for the next several weeks because of my early morning reading schedule,”
He told her, rather flatly.
“But
why didn’t you inform me about this change much earlier….you could have mentioned
it last night,” she protested. He mumbled an almost inaudible sorry, and
silently dressed up for work, as she looked at him in stunned silence. Since
they got married, they had never gone for work in separate cars unless one of
them was working out of town, and those moments were rare. They didn’t talk
nearly as much anymore as they used to.
He
went into the kitchen and made himself some toast bread for his breakfast. It
was twenty minutes before 06:00 hours. He briskly walked back into the bedroom,
and kissed his wife goodbye. “See you later sweetie. Enjoy your day.” “Have you
had breakfast,” she asked. “I am fine. I have made toast bread, and will have
coffee at the office,” he replied. And off he drove to the office.
And thus such became the predictable routine in their home. Days
and weeks came and went, and Temwani was becoming increasingly busy with his
MBA. To make matters worse, the lectures he attended in the evening were held
on the same nights as the two midweek church meetings. He missed both, and his
wife attended alone. Sometimes, the lecturers would be unavailable on the
weekday nights, and the alternative day for making up on the lost time was
unfortunately set for Sundays. And that meant our dear brother would rarely be
seen at church for both services.
One evening, he was busy at home in his study way after
midnight, preparing for his first exam in the two modules he was taking. He
didn’t even notice his wife walk into the study. She had been standing there
for like three minutes, and he seemed oblivious of her presence, his head
buried in the Marketing textbook he was reading. She cleared her throat in
order to attract his attention, and this startled him back to reality. He
looked at her, the kind of look that was intended to send a message to her that
he was pressed for time.
“Honey, you have been in the study for the last four hours. You
have not even had your dinner. When are you coming to bed?” She asked, with a
voice that scarcely concealed her emotional pain. “Sweetie, I am preparing for
the exam. Remember we are in this together. We agreed I do this MBA. I need
your encouragement, not your disturbance.” He blurted, barely lifting his eyes
off the page of his textbook. That was a real kick in the teeth.
Gentle and respectful as ever, his wife said goodnight to him,
softly closed the door to the study, and sullenly walked back to the bedroom.
She lay in bed staring at the sealing.
“MBA,” she whispered to herself. “Master of Business
Administration, or Marriage Breakers Academy?” She sobbed herself into sleep,
alone and lonely.
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