I got to know her through my wife. I don’t know how she and my wife became friends but along the line my wife told me; “There’s this friend of mine who need help. She has a startup. I think she’ll do very well with it if she gets the right tools and mentoring. Can you help her for me? Just introduce her to the right people, the right method, you know, the things you do for others.” The question I asked was, “I hope she has money to pay?” My wife answered, “She’s a friend. I don’t think she has that much. Just help her. We’ll pay you later.” 

I got her number and called her. Her name is Juliet. She said, “Your wife speaks highly of your skills and I trust her. What I have is new. It’s growing but I need to start right. I need people like you to show me the way. I hope I can afford your services?” I answered, “You can. When you grow you’ll pay me more so let’s get to it.” 

The first time I went to her place, I went with a friend. We had a beautiful discussion and said our goodbyes. The following day, she called. Days later I called. We switched to texting when we could. The conversation became every day and sometimes we talked at night. I had the license to talk to her so it didn’t matter the time, we could talk. Sometimes after talking, she would ask me to give the phone to my wife. They’ll talk forever. 

The conversation shifted a little bit into personal stuff. “How did you meet Alice and how did you know she is the one?” Alice is my wife. I told her our story. How we met and how I nearly lost her and how we later came back together and got married. I asked her, “You…how about you? Is there any Mr. Right somewhere?” She answered, “Hmmm. The men who come into my life are not men enough. They are not the kind you make a husband out of. They want what they want. You give them a slice of the cake and they run with it. I’m tired of them. At thirty-six I can’t continue playing this game with them. I’m now married to this thing that I’m starting. I’m giving it my all. I know it would be a better husband than those men.”

It didn’t stop there. We talked about her business but we talked more about relationship stuff. One day, I was in her place sitting right next to her and going through stuff with her when passion rose up. I thought it was because of the proximity to her so I shifted a little. She asked me, “Why have you changed position?” I rushed closer to her and gave her a kiss. I was praying she would fight it so it ends there. But…but…but she kissed back. She kissed so intensely that I asked myself, “Was she expecting this all along and she didn’t initiate it?” When we pulled off she asked me, “Now what?” I answered, “I don’t know.”

We sat quietly for several minutes. She was pressing her phone. I was pretending to be busy on my laptop. She asked, “Are we going to pretend that we don’t know what just happened? That we don’t want each other?” I answered, “I want you but my situation makes it dicey. I’m married to your friend.” She said, “You don’t have to remind me about that. We kissed right? We’ve already stained our whites. No time for regret. But then again, we haven’t gone too far. We can pull the plugs and pretend it didn’t happen…” She was still talking when I went for the kiss again but this time it went all the way. 

I dressed up with my conscience beating me up. I saw regrets on her face though she was trying to hide it. We were two adults so we handled our shame masterfully and said goodbye to each other. From there it became tuition and love. I will tutor her on what she needed and later make way for love to sweep us off our feet. My wife didn’t know what was happening so she kept asking me how far I’d gone with Juliet. I said, “We’ve gone very far. She’s doing well. She’s not paying me so we are taking things slowly.” She screamed, “I thought I told you right from the beginning that money and gold we have none. Do the work of God and you shall reap the results someday?

“Dear Alice, I’m already reaping the results. It comes in a different form but you still can call it reaping. Literally speaking.”

Our actions don’t remain just actions. There are consequences. We may pretend that we don’t care about the consequences but the consequences will always care about us. That call came early in the morning. I was on my way to work when Juliet called. “Are you alone? Is she there around you?” I answered, “No, she’s not here. I’m on my way to work.” She said, “You made me a mother. You’re going to be a father of my child.” I screamed, “Stop joking Juliet. What are you talking about? She said, “Check your Whatsapp.” I cut the call and checked. She had sent me a video.

She was carrying out the pregnancy test. The video lasted until the strips showed red. Then she said, “Congratulations. We are going to be parents.” Her happiness in the video got me angry. I called her, “Hey, what are you happy about? You know this isn’t going to be a walk in the park right? What makes you happy?” She said slowly, “Yes, it’s difficult but we are adults. Adults are made to handle difficult things. Nobody knew when we were having shuperu. If we play our cards well, nobody will know you’re responsible.”

Her mind was already made up that she was going to have the baby. Nothing I said made sense to her. She said, “No one will know if we don’t want them to know.” I screamed, “What if you give birth and the child resembles me? How are you going to explain that?” She said, “Everybody has their lookalikes but no one is complaining. Stop giving yourself BP. Everything would be alright.” So I said, “Juliet, you planned this right? That had been the plan all along right? I fell into your trap and it makes you happy. You’re happy that you’re going to destroy me, right?” 

She got angry. She spoke her mind and later said, “Ok, I get it. You don’t want the baby. No problem. It’s not yours. It’s mine and I will take care of it as if I alone conceived it. Case close.” She then cut the call on me.” We didn’t talk for over two weeks. One day she sent me a message; “I know you don’t need this information but it’s growing very well. I can hear its heartbeat.” While I worry about the future of my family, she was just fine raising illegality within her. 

We had done five years as a couple—me and Alice. We had two kids. We had peace. We had love. Everything was going smoothly in our marriage. We didn’t lack. We didn’t have a fight that called for external help. No one had ever heard us fight but I carelessly threw all that away because of one selfish desire. I cursed myself. I turned on myself, telling me all sorts of bad things but it didn’t change anything. Nine months later, Juliet had a baby girl. She said, “She doesn’t resemble you. Shame on you.” 

She invited us to the naming ceremony. My wife went but I didn’t. She gave a piece of cake to my wife to be given to me. My wife said, “She was expecting you to be there but since you didn’t go, she asked me to give you a piece of what happened there.” Oh, innocence is bliss. She even laughed about it. I said in my head, “You don’t know the storm coming that’s why you dance in the middle of the whirlwind.

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We’ve been able to keep it a secret for two years but I’ve suffered through these two years. She takes everything from me. When I tell her I don’t have money, she tells me, “So I should call your wife and take the money from her? Do you want that?” Then I would be cowed to send her whatever she needed. I believe she wakes up every morning and asks herself, “What blackmailing tactics should I use to get money from this man?” While I keep giving my wife excuses about money, she gets whatever she asks for. For a whole year, I couldn’t pay fees for my first child. My wife did. 

Juliet called me one morning and said, “Our child would be three years very soon. Get ready. She will need a brother to play with and you’re going to provide that.” I screamed, “You’re mad! You’re out of your mind if you ever thought I would do that again.” She said, “Then your wife would know about it. That’s not a problem at all.” 

I’ve lost what it takes to be a man for a very long time because of this girl and her antics but that day I screamed, “Do you think I care? What haven’t you taken from me? Everything!  Do you think I’ll care if you take my marriage from me? Currently, I don’t even have a marriage because of you. I’m making plans already. This charade will come to an end very soon. Watch me.” 

She shook a little and left me alone for a long while. Now she’s back making demands again. When I tell her I don’t have it, she leaves me alone. Something about her is changed but I don’t trust that girl. She has no shame. She can do everything. I’m preparing the grounds to tell my wife. As I said, I don’t have anything. If I lose her, it would break me but not forever. It would be better than Juliet manipulating me all the time. 

—Aziz

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