Maybe, You Will See Me Now

035

"Ebe, have you talked to Ijeawele?"

Ebenezer flipped to the next page of his look without sparing his wife a glance. "No."

She sighed and laid on her back.

"I know what you're doing?"

Ebenezer remained silent; his gaze still fixated on the book.

"Every time you're upset or troubled, you start acting cold and distant." Gift sat up. "It's not going to solve the matter. Talk to Ijeawele if what Kingsley said is messing with your head. Let her defend herself."

With the book in his hands, he brought it down on his lap. "Gift, I'm fine."

"Well, you're not. I don't want to endure this attitude from you any longer. I hate it. It's starting to disturb me. Please, at least think about speaking to her to resolve your doubts." Gift leaned in and kissed her husband on the cheek. "Good night." Once again, she laid on her side and this time, her back to him.

Ebenezer stared at his wife. A sense of guilt crawled up within him. For a second, he shut his eyes in regret. Whenever he felt upset, he always believed it was better to speak less for fear that he might say something to someone and regret it later. Gift had once shared how she didn't like that behaviour. But it was too late for him to rid himself of it. The last thing he wanted was for this to lead to a fight with his wife.

#

While Andrew drove, he looked once at the passenger's seat next to him where Ijeawele sat. Her eyes were shut and he realised she had dozed off. One hand holding onto the steering wheel, he ran the other over his face. The night didn't turn out as he'd hoped. Going to the movies straight from work seemed like a sloppy idea. They should've just had dinner at least then he wouldn't feel so upset with himself that she'd fallen asleep on an empty stomach.

It was a little too late by the time he saw the pothole. The bump caused Ijeawele to hit her head against the glass window. She scrunched her face in pain, waking up at the same time.

"I'm sorry." Andrew threw a glance at her before reaching for her.

"Uh... It's fine." Ijeawele replied, retracting her hand from her head. She turned to him and watched him blink a few times. He kept a straight face and she could sense something was off with him.

"What's wrong?"

Andrew hesitated to answer.

"You're obviously tired and we could have done this tomorrow. I just..." Andrew was unable to finish his words. It was like he gave up because he couldn't describe the feeling. He kept looking straight ahead.

Ijeawele kept observing him. Rather than annoyed alongside him. She felt amused.

"I don't think I've ever seen you annoyed."

Andrew glanced at her. A smile was on her face. It lightened him and he couldn't stop himself from chuckling. She laughed light-heartedly too.

"I used to go home straight from the office. Sometimes, I went to bed without eating. Believe it or not. This is a very nice change."

He looked at her and she smiled a bit wider. "Thank you for coming into my life."

Andrew smiled and reached for her hand. He softly planted a kiss on the back of it.

"You're right. There are going to be many trials and errors. But we'll get it right someday."

Her smile grew wider, exposing her upper teeth.

#

The next morning, Ijeawele hurried to the door from her bedroom on account of the knocks she was getting. When she opened it, she was surprised to meet her older brother in front of her.