Eunice Ansah-Agyeman writes…

THE AFFAIR

EPISODE 15

Thursday finally came.

Henrik woke up that morning with mixed feelings.

He wondered if he was doing the right thing by agreeing to meet with Melisa.

That day would be the first meeting and he realized he wasn’t so enthused about it. A part of him wanted to take a chance and confess to Kiara-Joy. He was sure that would spell doom. He wasn’t ready for that kind of complication in his marriage just yet. As fast as possible he had to be sure Melisa was indeed pregnant and that the child was truly his.

Henrik took a long bath with his wife and informed her he would be late that day. He hated it when he had to lie to Kiara-Joy. She didn’t deserve that but his hands are tied on this one. He left with Chelsca after breakfast and loads of kisses from Kiara-Joy. He dropped his daughter off at school and headed for work.

Sadly, he replayed events of the past weeks in his mind… the call from Melisa, his meeting with her and the bombshell she dropped on him that day. The agreement came to his mind and for the umpteenth time he wondered if he was doing the right thing.

He wondered what his wife would say if he were late every Thursday. He thought they would have to pick a different day each week instead of the Thursdays he proposed. Henrik had to discuss that with Melisa first. That shouldn’t be too much to ask for as far as he was keeping the once a week agreement.

He got to the office a few minutes late and buried himself in his work.

He reviewed all the summaries on his desk and responded to all the urgent emails.

At lunch time he surprised Kiara-Joy by showing up at the shop and taking her out for lunch at a plush Hotel nearby. They ended up making love in one of the suites Henrik had arranged for their romantic lunch. They both drifted off to sleep shortly afterwards.

Kiara-Joy woke him up with a kiss. Her alarm for picking up Chelsca had sounded.

“Time to get up, Honey. I need to pick our daughter from school. “

“Really. I wish we could stay here forever. Loving you is like a good wine, it only gets better with time.”

“I love you too. Thanks for the nice surprise. I did enjoy it a whole bunch.”

Henrik dropped Kiara-Joy at the shop and headed for Melisa’s office.

He and Melisa had agreed that he would pick her up from her office.

He took the longest route to his destination. A uniformed security guard opened the huge gates for him and asked that he signed the visitors book. He told the guard he was there to pick someone. He was waiting in the car so there was no need for him to sign anything.

Henrik looked at his watch and saw that he was thirty minutes early. He rolled down his front windows and pulled out his phone. He checked on his parents, Kiara-Joy and Chelsca. Henrik sent Melisa a little note through one of the Security Guards that he had arrived and turned to his favourite puzzle game on his phone for company.

Melisa joined him when it was time. He planted a kiss on her cheeks and handed her a sugar free gum. He told her it was good for morning sickness and they both laughed.

Henrik drove out and headed for the place he had picked for her. He had taken great pains to make that selection. He wanted to make sure they spent as little time as possible together alone. Henrik finally pulled up at a luxurious Hotel located in the outskirts of town. It had one of the best restaurants in town and a spa.

He knew Melisa would like the Spa, and true to form Melisa fell in love with the place at first sight and congratulated Henrik for his choice. He handed her a slip that she would use to get into the Spa where she was booked for a massage, manicure, pedicure, facial cleansing and make up.

Melisa was dumbfounded. She had not expected Henrik to know so much about women stuff. She was so touched by his thoughtful gesture that tears formed in her eyes.

Henrik took her to the Spa and told her he would be waiting at the pool side when she finished.

Melisa joined Henrik an hour and half later looking refreshed and beautiful. Henrik suggested they grabbed a bite and head home.

Henrik dropped Melisa at home. She thanked him for the wonderful time and praised him for his choice of place for their date. She was very appreciative for his understanding and going the extra mile to ensure that she had a good time.

Henrik suggested the change in their meeting days and Melisa accepted to alternate the days.

The weekly meetings continued and Henrik was glad their meeting for the month had gone well.

He however, hated the fact that he was lying to Kiara-Joy to make that time with Melisa.

***

Melissa was uncontrollable.

Her pain, anguish and distress could not be described. She had slipped in the bathtub the previous morning when she was taking a shower. She didn’t take the slip serious until she started discharging water with traces of blood in it later in the day. Melisa had rushed to the hospital to find answers to her questions. A few hours later she had started bleeding in addition to severe lower abdominal pain.

The Doctor had confirmed the inevitable: her amniotic sac had ruptured. She had lost virtually all the fluid around the baby and there was nothing they could do. Her miscarriage process was far advanced. It was only a matter of time and the baby would be lost. Since she was only four months along, there was no chance the baby would survive.

She miscarried a couple of hours later and was rushed to the theatre to remove leftovers that were causing profuse bleeding. Her pain was immeasurable but the Doctor insisted that was the only option. He emphasized that if care was not taken, she could bleed to death.

Melissa had grudgingly consented. She however, told the Doctor not to contact Abel or Henrik about the miscarriage. She wanted to be the one to tell then when she was ready.

Melissa’s tears flowed in torrents. She wondered why God would allow such a calamity to befall her. Granted, she’d not been very religious but the innocent child had the right to be born, she mused bitterly. She felt that she had been deprived of possibly the only opportunity she could have a baby to cradle.

She thought about how supportive Henrik had been over the few weeks he had seen her after the agreement. He had kept his word and been there for her. He had even gone an extra mile to make their time together fun. Henrik had taught her to play some really cool games on his phone. They had gone to the movies.

They had gone shopping and he had even taken her to the stadium to watch a football match. He had made her listen to his favourite songs. He had listened to her favourite songs. Amazingly, he had even surprised her every week with little gifts. It wasn’t anything fancy but the thought behind the gifts flattered her. She was beginning to enjoy his company and now this had to happen?

She was sure Henrik wouldn’t want to see her again if he learnt of the miscarriage. But she had grown fonder of him and was not ready to let go of him yet.

Melisa reasoned that it wasn’t necessary for him to know just yet. She decided to go on as if nothing had happened. She also decided to seduce him as soon as possible and hope she conceived again. For some reason, she was very positive she would get pregnant again if she could get him to sleep with her.

Melisa notified Henrik that she was travelling on official grounds for two weeks. She needed time off to mourn her loss and strategize.

Henrik was grateful for the time off. He surprised his wife a couple more times and took her to exciting places.

On one of such escapades, Kiara-Joy had questioned why for some time now he was late from work every once in a week.

Henrik was taken aback. Obviously, Kiara-Joy was doubting his reasons for staying late. He had pretended not to have heard her. Kiara-Joy repeated the question when he drew her closer to kiss her. He had still held her close and told her it was work-related and didn’t want to bore her with his work.

Kiara-Joy insisted she wanted to hear it. She implored him to share his burdens with her no matter its source. She explained that she wanted to share in every aspect of his life. Finally, she remarked that she had noticed that every time he had come home late, he had been depressed.

Henrik decided to tell her the disguised truth and see how she would react to it.

“Well, where do I start… there’s this case that had been handed down to me and honestly I have no clue what to do. There is this guy, a married man with two kids, who had a one night stand with this lady, also married but separated from her husband.

The lady doesn’t have any kids and she’s been trying to conceive for God knows how long. It happened that the one-night stand resulted in a pregnancy. The guy is scared the husband could take him on and mess him up big time. He suggested abortion but the lady would not agree. The lady had come up with some harmless requests for her to keep quiet and have the baby.

He is to cater for her and the baby financially. He is also requested to be present at all antenatal checkups and take the lady out twice a week. The guy is not sure what to do. He knows for a fact that if he told his wife that would be the end of their marriage.

He claims he loves her that much. I am now caught in the middle with the burden of finding an amicable solution to that mess. I meet with them once a week, the lady picks the time and day.”

Kiara-Joy was quiet for a long time.

“That’s quite a mess. I don’t even know what to say.”

“Say something please. You always have answers to these things.”

“Honestly I’m dumbfounded. I can only put myself in his wife’s shoes. I could imagine how hurt and defeated she would feel to hear about this mess. It is really sad, and I don’t understand men sometimes, is it not the same thing? Why do men cheat? Is it that they never loved the women they married?” she asked confused.

“I don’t think so. You should see how this is affecting the guy. He’d rather die than hurt his wife with news like that.” Henrik tried to explain.

“Hmm. I just hope and pray that never happen to us. I don’t think I can survive that. If I were the wife, I would rather not know. What I don’t know wouldn’t hurt me, right?”

Henrik and Kiara-Joy were quiet for a long time afterwards. He was very positive she would never get over something like that. He was sure she would leave him for that.