Caught up

Val was head over heels in love with me, but the feeling wasn’t mutual. See ehn! I don suffer for this life, and I didn’t want any broke-ass man as the love of my life. The only thing Val had going for him at the time was his looks. Damn, the guy was finer than ten fine men.

Val had big dreams, though. He had a book where he journaled his dreams, thoughts, ideas and whatnot. But as much as I applauded his ambition, my principle was that “there’s no romance without finance”.

Val was devastated when I broke up with him and it’s funny how that changed the course of his life. He wanted to be as far away from me as possible, so he applied for a Visa and the next I heard about him was that he was living in America. I couldn’t be bothered because I was living my best life with my rich husband.

A few years into our marriage, I began to question my husband’s source of income because of his phone conversations. I was sad to discover that my husband lied about his real estate and oil and gas businesses, he was actually a 419 kingpin. I was shattered and heartbroken. Yes, I wanted the good life but not by ill-gotten wealth.

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As it is common with some of these scammers, business was no longer as lucrative as it used to be and things were tough for Elvis. We had to sell some of our cars, then we sold our mansion and bought a smaller house. I was no longer thinking of maintaining our rich lifestyle, how to make a living and survive was big on my list. I could no longer sit back and fold my arms so I dusted my resumé and started job hunting. I have a degree in human resources which I’ve never used, ,age was no longer on my side and the only job I could get was as a Manager in a spa. I was also selling wigs and jewelry by the side. I was good in this buying and selling thing and I regret that I didn’t have enough sense to start a business when the going was good.

December was our busiest time of the year at the spa because of “the abroad people” that came home for the holiday. One day I was going through the books to check for people that booked for VIP sessions when I stumbled on the name Val Alumona and my heart fell in my stomach. I was shaking. I couldn’t wait to find out if this was a mere coincidence or it was truly my Val.

The practice at the spa was that the manager would specially attend to the vip clients before their session commenced. 4pm seemed like a lifetime away and I thought my heart would burst in my chest. My palms were sweaty, I could taste the bile in my mouth, I was panting and I was afraid.

Finally, it was 4 o’clock and the receptionist called my intercom to announce the presence of Mr Val Alumona. I walked into the vip lounge and I was hit by the richness of his perfume before I even saw him. Sitting there in all his ‘Valness’ was my ex. He was even more handsome than I could remember. He was flipping through a magazine and didn’t notice that anyone was at the door and on impulse, he raised his head and saw me. The magazine dropped from his hands and I could see the shock on his face. He whispered my name…’Ibiene’ then he picked up his keys and walked away.

To be continued.