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Kate: Heyyyyy!!! It's be a while since we last saw each other. How have you been dearie?
Helen: I have been so so good best friend. God has been good me and my family. Wow! How time flies is really amazing. Who would have believed it's been 10 years already.
Kate: Yeah!! It's just like yesterday we graduate from the University so it's kind of surprising that it's already ten years.
Come have a seat here let's catch up. I've really missed you.
Helen: awnnn!! I've missed you more baby girl.
There they sat at the hotel reception and called the attention of the waiter. When the waiter got to their table, Kate specifically requested for a bottle of beer while Helen who has always been the tea type since when they were much younger ordered for a cup of hot tea. The waiter brought their orders almost as soon as they ordered for it, and while kate swallowed a large gulps of her beer, Helen took a rapid sips of almost as if she was afraid that leaving it standing for a second would cool it before rescue. 'you and your hot tea,' Kate teased her kindly because tea has always been her favourite drink long before they even met each other at high school. 'Well, you know what my life is. How would I cope without tea, ehh? 'You Helen cope?' Kate thought she hadn't ever heard of anything so rediculous before. 'You know you would cope in any situation tea or no tea.' and they both laughed.'I will ignore that.' maybe in the eyes of a loyal friend I look "prosperous",' she added a little bitterly. Kate opened her mouth to say something but Helen stopped her and just went on to remind her that, 'The days when being fat was a sign of prosperity and contentment are long over. 'You and I know that these days, the only fat people bin the World are poor uneducated women in the so-called Third World and unhappy sex-starved women in the more affluent society who are supposed to eat for consolation.'
By the Helen had finished her speech, Kate was laughing so much that her eyes were swimming in unshed tears.
But Kate, why did you say that at least I've kept my marriage? What's wrong with yours?
The question was unexpected but should not have been. Kate paused for the minutest moment, then she said rather quickly, 'Halen, I've Left Ben.'
It was like the booming of a cannon into the evening
'Kate, what do you mean?
Absolutely unsure of how to handle the moment, Helen seized on the banal: 'How can you leave him? After all, he has been leaving with you in your bungalow.'
'Helen' don't be funny. You know that leaving a man does not always mean that it's the woman who has to get out of the house.'
'I don't know anything. So how did you leave Ben?'
Kate was surprised by how much had happened in the month or so since that Monday when, following their latest argument, Ben had jumped on her forcing himself on her. She decided to feel asulted and from then on, her mind had seized on the 'asult' , and held it. Part of it's fascination for her was its legal usefulness. She was cleaver enough to know if only subconsciously at that stage, that it could come in handy should she ever decide to apply for a proper devorce. Meanwhile, from the evening of that same day, Ben had done all he could to her to see that, infact, he had ' jumped and forced himself on her ' because he loved her and that it had been part of his decision to give the relationship a second chance.Kate did not only refused to be convinced had in infact got angrier and angrier the harder he tried to explain. In any case, she has not thought it necessary in the days that follow to change the decision to leave him. Of course,she was aware although the incident was not the only cause of her disaffection, it had at least helped her to make up her mind.
' Kate I'm sorry,' Helen cut into Kate's thought.
' why? Helen, that marriage was not working...'
' Helen I'm Soo sorry... So so sorry.'
They were quiet for a while, then they started to ask about one another's children. Kate wanted to know where Helen's children were in school and what they were doing. And Helen wanted to know know about Khloe. According to both mothers, all the children were fine and Khloe was at Ben's mother's.
'permanently?'
' oh no, only until the end of August. Then she will come back to me for the re-opening of school.
' How old is she?'
' six. She is in primary One this year.
' wow! Time flies.
'it does.'
The sadness that had descended on them both was not proving easy to get rid of. They even went back to what they should should have tried to find out from one another when they first met at the hotel: what they were doing there at the hotel at the same time. I guess God wanted them to reunite, catch up and update each other on their lives.
Kate told Helen about the friend she was supposed to be meeting form abroad, and Helen told Kate about the new job her husband got at the hotel they are in. Kate was super excited to hear the great news from Helen.
Helen went on the tell Kate about the trip she was planning to her mother's.
' Homesick?' Kate asked trying hard to keep teasing her.
' Yes' Helen answered too enthusiastically and fell into Kate's trap.
'Oh Helen, shame on you. At your age!'
' Now you stop it. I miss my mother. you know I haven't seen her for a long time.'
'I don't know.'
' And I miss the feeling of being special with someone.'
' You are very special with Tommy.'
' Kate, you were very special with Ben.'
Kate did not know how to answer answer that. In the silence that followed, each women was thinking that clearly the best husband always seems to be the one another woman is living with!
The sadness returned heavier than before.At this point, Helen had to leave for home to take care of her children that she left in the care of the elderest for a while. They exchanged contacts, gave each other a big hug and promised to keep in touch with each other as frequent as possible.
Kate stayed there for almost the whole day. Ben called her still trying to work on their relationship but her decisions were final. She wasn't going back to him she was determined to rather remain unmarried then to back to her husband.
Thank you for reading my story.
See you next time.
