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A decade ago when Stephanie's husband died,
it became difficult for her to love again. She had loved Pete, her late husband,
so much that everyone else had paled into nothingness in comparison to him.
The cruel hands of
death snatched him away a year after her wedding. So Stephanie had continued
staying on her own, avoiding dates and intimate relationship like plague, even
after 10 years after heart rob breathed his last. She even had to relocate to
Lagos from Port Harcourt because the garden city had too many traces of Pete. "I
left Port Harcourt for good because the city itself reminded me of
Pete.
"Our apartment at
Diobu had traces of him. Even our bedroom smelt him. Likewise the pillows and
the bed sheets had the aroma of his aftershave. So, I came to Lagos to see if I
could start life afresh, and keep the roving eyes of Ogbulafor, my late
husband's younger brother. Off me for once," she said sullenly.
When she came to
Lagos, this smoky eyed, light complexioned 32- year-old lady whose creamy skin
(now free of the freckles which had plagued her from childhood through her early
adult years) glowed with out the need of make-up, got herself a job with one of
the private airlines as an air hostess. She had a confidant in Celia, a young
lady and a friend who was employed in the same cooperation and at the same time
with her.
"I opened up to Celia
and told her how I had loved Pete dearly and how he had died in an auto crash. I
also mentioned how I had found it difficult to have a date and see if I could
re- marry and have children because I couldn't give Pete a child before he
died."
Two years after this
confession, it dawned on Celia that it was high time Stephanie picked the pieces
of her life and move on. She wished her friend could date and then re-marry. But
she didn't know how to go about this. So, as early as 4'30 a. m., one day, when
the two ladies were in their dressing room changing their uniforms for the 7a.m.
flight from Lagos to Abuja, Celia chose to advise her friend. She picked her
words carefully, avoiding every word that would get on her (Stephanie's)
nerves.
As the duo were
standing in front of the huge wall mirror applying their make up, Celia opened
up: "Stephanie dear, do you know that mother nature is so kind to you?, she
commenced. "What's that suppose to mean?, "Stephanie, who was hurriedly applying
mascara on her long eye lashed asked. Her smoky eyes were her best feature. "You
are beautiful, my dear, yes, you are," She nodded her head. "And I wouldn't want
this glowing beauty of yours to waste away because of your past. What I'm trying
to say is that you shouldn't allow your past to haunt you forever. Start a
relationship with someone and forge ahead".
At that, Stephanie
snapped: "What do you mean, Celia?" She sounded as shocked as if Pete were
sitting alive in the next chair within the dressing room. "I'm not suggesting
anything illicit. I mean get involved with a man of your taste, a person who
would take you seriously and may be" Before Celia could finish her statement,
Stephanie yelled: "Get involved with who,? I'm still in love with you my late
husband," she said in a pitched voice and unconsciously touched her gold wedding
band on her finger, which she had refused to let go, "It's been more than 10
years since Pete, and not you, died," Celia said gently, avoiding to annoy her.
"And it's abnormal to still be in love with him he is gone. Darling, I just
want to see you happy again. It's been far too long."
"I know it was good
between you," Celia comforted. "Stephanie, dear, I wouldn't be much of a friend
if I don't try to help you get your life together. Just pray over this advice. I
believe so much in the power of prayer, alright?" Stephanie nodded dumbly as
they walked towards the talmac into the plane. But Celia's advice brought a ray
of light into Stephanie's dark life. She pondered over the advice and decided to
loosen up a bit.
A week after Celia's
advice, Captain Raphael, one of the pilots who fly back one eleven aircraft in
the same corporation and who had been bottling up his emotions towards
Stephanie, decided to voice out. Their first contact took place at Calabar
airport where they had a nightstop. Raphael extended his band to Stephanie for a
shake and his large, Squared and muscular hand swallowed hers. And she felt a
spark exploding within her.
His gaze was intense.
Taking her slender fingers, he held them for a moment as he captured her eyes.
"What's wrong with me?," she battled within her mind. "After Pete's death,
everyone had simply ceased to exist by comparison, but surprisingly, this pilot,
who is almost a total stranger, had suddenly set my hormones on fire with every
look, every subtle sound of his voice," she closed her eyes and drew in a deep
breath as Raphael still held her hand.
"What a fascinating
man," she thought dreamily, as the battle continued in her heart. "But he is no
more than a pilot in the same corporation with me. He couldn't and shouldn't be
more than that. Yet he had such an effect on me that I can't define," she
wondered.
"I said it was a good
flight," Raphael repeated, wondering whey Stephanie couldn't hear him at first.
"What were you thinking of? I guess you mind wondered away as I was talking.
"Stephanie knew he was right and smiled. "Really, Celia had told me a lot about
you, "the tall and muscular pilot proceeded. "We have a lot in common. I was
told your husband died 10 years ago. That was the same year my wife divorsed me
for a friend of mine. It's a long story. Will you, please, come over to my hotel
room later in the night and let's have a good talk before we fly back to Lagos
the next day?"
When Stephanie tapped
at the door of his hotel suite, she was scared stiff. "Come on in and don't be
scared." She laughed nervously. " I was just wondering if any of the air
hostesses saw me sneaking in." "Ashamed of yourself?" "Of course, not!" "Then
don't worry about it." I wish my life was as uncomplicated as yours seems to
be," Stephanie said wryly. "You don't ever seem to worry." "Sure, I do, but not
about whether it's right for two adults to behave as if they are in love when
they really are," Ralph's husky voice echoed.
Raphael led her into
his dark room, apart from the light that emanated from the television. She felt
his arms encircled her as he pressed her close to him. Ralph too felt her arms
slide up his chest and circle his neck.
With his shaky
fingers as a result of his eagerness, he removed her jacket and unfastened the
zipper of her dress. At the same time, he felt her hands upon his chest,
searching for the buttons of his shirt. Her breath was hot against his neck and
when she ran her tongue over his throat, he moaned with pleasure. "You taste
salty," she whispered. "Do I"? He ran the tip of his tongue along her temples
and over her eyelids and down the bridge of her nose. "Yes," he murmured. " You
too taste like sea salt".
Her laughter was
sultry, as he unhooked her lacy bra. She too opened his shirt and nipped gently
at his chest and ran her tongue over his small nipples. Raphael groaned as his
hands sought and found the fullness of her boobs. The budded tips were taut and
hard against his palms. He cupped them to feel their weight as his lips captured
hers.
When he could bear
the sweet torture no longer, he growled and whispered into Stephanie's ears:
"Let's go to the bed". When he ran his fingers over her slender waist to her
hips, he discovered that she that he yanked off his shirt and stepped out of his
shoes.
The lovebirds clung
together on bed and Stephanie, who had long years of sexual abstinence, since
Pete died led the pace. She made love to him hungrily. Ralph closed his eyes,
fighting for control. He didn't want to "come" before her. With a lithe move, he
rolled her over so that she lay beneath him. He moved deeper into her moistness
with a compelling rhythm. He felt Stephanie tight and dry. And then moist again.
So, with a deep groan, Ralph felt his release send him spiraling into near
oblivion. He held her tightly, thankful that he had been able to hold back long
enough. Their mutual release had been worth it.
Ralph pulled her head
onto the pillow of his shoulders and said: "Honey, you are kind of weird, but
nice. "Ralph and Stephanie dated for a year and decided getting married. But
there is a road block somewhere: A strong road block that has been hindering
this couple from getting married. And that road block is Stephanie's in-laws.
"My late husband's brother has refused to release me. Even when Ralph came to
pay him back the dowry their late brother paid, they refused to accept,
insisting that it was against the culture of Ngwa people in Abia State". He said
I can only re-marry over his dead body. "It's my right to inherit you. Whether
you like it or not, you are my wife because it is tradition, "Ogbulafor, her
late husband's immediate younger brother fumed.
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