I used to be an introvert, a very bad one at that. I enjoyed my own company and I had zero social life. It was so bad that I refused to be on any social media platform. But you see my bestie Elaine? Oh she’s an absolute delight. She is fun and bubbly.. the life of every party. She has so many friends that sometimes I wonder how she managed to keep up. Her philosophy is that “you only live once”, so it’s best you live life to the fullest.
Elaine belonged to this group on Telegram where women from all walks of life…from different parts of Africa connected. She spoke highly about the group so it didn’t take a lot of convincing for me to join in and believe me if I tell you that I was glad I did. I have no regrets whatsoever. These were total strangers who had a common goal. We cried together. Laughed together. And we tried to build up each other. We were all about supporting and empowering women.
After I joined the group, I began to open up a little. I started doing things that I would usually not do. I became more outspoken and more friendly. I became so active on the platform that I was drafted into the welfare committee.
This is where my story really begins. In 2017, in commemoration of the International Women’s Day, we all decided to have a week long getaway in Accra, Ghana. I was in the welfare/hospitality team and it was part of our duty to collate names and assign rooms to everyone. While doing this, my attention was drawn to a particular name. Since we were going to share rooms in pairs at the resort in Accra, I decided to book the same room for myself and this person.
When I met Fatou Harrison, I fell in love with her instantly. Maybe because she was a lot like Elaine. She was a very exciting person to be around. And since we shared the same surnames, we called ourselves sisters.
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Besides having similar surnames, Fatou and I seemed to have some things in common. We were both bankers, we were married to international business men from Nigeria and we had the same number of kids. Her kids were Lara and Wole while mine were Lara and Wale. This was so surreal.
Fatou would always take off her wedding ring whenever she wants to take her bath. She sees it as an inconvenience. It was on one of those days, on day 4 of our vacation that I noticed that we had similar wedding rings. At this point, I stopped seeing things that were happening as mere coincidences. I became suspicious. My mind was racing as I tried to put the pieces of the puzzle together.
While I was pondering on what to do, the bathroom door opened and a confused looking Fatou emerged from inside. She had a worried look on her face. She sat on the bed as she told me that.. she had a question to ask and she had a feeling that we both nursed the same fears but were scared to find out if it was real or not. I definitely had an idea what she was talking about. She added that we have talked about everything, family, work etc but have deliberately tried to avoid asking each other questions about our husbands. It was obvious that we were both afraid of a the same thing.
With my heart racing.. I told her that my husband’s name is Deji Harisson.. she swallowed hard and asked if she could see a picture. I reached for my phone and showed her pictures of my husband and Fatou’s eyes enlarged with fear. Her hands were shaking. She took her own phone too and showed me pictures of her husband. What I feared in the last few days had just been confirmed. Fatou and I were married to the same man.
Fatou lives in The Gambia while I live in Cameroun so with the excuse of traveling far and wide, it must have been easy for Deji to live a double life. It baffles me how he was able to successfully run two homes always these years?.
He is a good husband and an exceptionally good father. How could he be so deceptive? We’ve been married for fifteen years and it has never crossed my mind that Deji would cheat on me. I have never nursed that thought because he has never given me any reason to question or doubt his faithfulness.
Fatou and I have been talking for hours trying to figure out what to do. Deji is smart a man, he knew I was coming to Accra for a women’s getaway and he had tried to stop me from attending. He had also tried to do the same to Fatou. He probably figured out that the chances of Fatou and I meeting in Ghana was high.
Men like Deji need to be taught a lesson by women like Fatou and I. We are hatching a plan and it’s not going to be good one. My heart is broken and I feel scorned.. and you know hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.. make that two women. This is the beginning of the end.
