Temptation Alley (Part 11)

She asked if Akin could switch seats with her, Akin obliged her and she sat next to me. She leaned in, without any respect for personal space…she was still the very presumptuous girl I knew back then.
I could tell she was up to something, she was sending all the ‘signals’ while I kept flashing my wedding ring. She talked about how she knew she was going to meet me again in this life and had looked forward to that day. She said she couldn’t even count the number of times she had talked about me and called me her elusive boyfriend.

I asked what she was going to do in Abuja and coincidentally, she was representing her dad's company at same conference and would also be staying at our hotel.
In my mind, I had hatched a plan of passing her on to Akin so that she wouldn’t get me in trouble. At a point she held my hand and somehow managed to rest it on her left thigh, I quickly moved it…I couldn’t wait to get off the plane so I could get it over with.

As soon as our plane landed, I introduced Toks to Akin but the snobbish response from her made Akin walk away. She told me she knew what I was trying to do and it wasn’t going to work.

“What’s your excuse now?
Given that I was still in Secondary School the first time I met you but I am no longer a kid.
Ain’t we two consensual adults?” She asked me.

I told her I was married and she said she knew; as I almost stuck the wedding ring in her eyes during the flight. She said it didn’t matter to her because the way she saw it, I was an unfinished project and the deal was already on ground before marriage 'crept' in...therefore, marriage should not affect it.

I told her I couldn’t, even if I wanted to…she scoffed as she turned in front of me and said
“You really don’t want a taste of this?
Seriously?
I dare you to say No”.

I wanted to say No but it was as if the word just disappeared from my list of known words...She was indeed very attractive.
We got in the shuttle that took us to the venue of the conference…I could see the faces of my guys from work and I knew they were dying to ask questions.

When we got to the hotel, Toks whispered in my ear that the offer was on the table and that she wouldn’t even take my contact just to prove to me that it was nothing but a fling and a wild girl fulfilling one of her lustful desires.

She walked away and said she would see me around…as soon as I settled in the room, my guys came over. They were asking questions after questions; they wanted to know who the girl was, where I met her and what I planned to do. I had to tell them the story of my youth service days and how the lady they saw, was a student at that school. How she swore that she would sleep with me, even if that was the last thing she did.

The guys started to encourage me to go for it…Akin gave a detailed sensual description of Toks and how he would damn the consequences if a girl like that wanted him. I reminded Akin of what he said when he met my wife at the airport in Lagos…he responded that this case was different because it was a chapter of my life that I needed to close once and for all.

He made an analogy of how certain people 'owe' themselves things in this life and MUST pay it…he said I owed the girl, otherwise we would not have met again. How fate had orchestrated this and I had to seize the moment.

“I can’t believe that the trainee is now the trainer…what would you have told me to do if I was in your shoes?” Akin asked.

I started to think about it but the thought of what I would lose if caught, scared me...

PART 10                                                                                       PART 12

Picture Credit (c) openbuildings.com

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental   

© 2015 Lanre Olagbaju All Rights Reserved 

Temptation Alley (Part 10)

I was enjoying the new ‘brotherhood/fraternity’…we would talk about girls in the office, dirty talks and all that. We would pick a girl, in the office, that one of the guys had to ‘get’…within a period of time and if the guy failed, he would be the one to foot the bill the next time we hung out.

I was like the kingpin; the guys would come to me for advice if they were having difficulties getting the girls and I would give tips on what to do and what to say to make the girls ‘play ball’. We were the cool guys in the office…when any new girl came into the company; we would swoop in and ‘tag’ her.

I wasn’t chasing the girls but I was like the engine of the operation. Most of these guys were not married so they had the time and the resources. I, on the other hand, knew I couldn’t do it…but I got my ‘pump’ from making these things happen. I was always eager for the ‘progress report’ anytime we set one of our guys on another potential prey.

There’s one of those guys (Akin) that used to be what we called a big slacker, when it came to women…but after I trained him, he was jumping from one girl to another. Akin would stop by my office every morning and thank me for ‘what’ I made him. I remember the day he told me “your wife must be the perfect woman, if you have all these skills and do not put them to use, or maybe you just haven’t met the girl that will test your fidelity”…I laughed and told him I had been there, done that.

One morning, Irene told me we needed to pray because she dreamt that our marriage certificate was torn to shreds. I didn’t get it but she said it had deep spiritual meanings. I knelt with her and we prayed...she even made me fast on that day but the guys at work made a mess of the fasting with all the lewd talks they got me into.

A few months after that…I was sent, from work, to a conference at Abuja…it was a big international conference with people coming in from all over the world. It was held at the conference center of a prestigious hotel and we got to stay at that hotel as well. I was representing my company and two of ‘my guys’ went with me…Akin and the guy that attended the same University with me.

Irene dropped me off at the local wing of the Airport where I met the other guys…that was the first time they were meeting my wife. Irene hugged me and told me to be good…I promised to give her a call as soon as we landed.

As we were going through security checks, Akin said he could see why I had remained faithful to my wife and he would do the same if he had such an elegant and graceful wife. We got on the plane and as we took off, I noticed this lady that was sitting on the other side of the aisle…she kept looking at me in a way that I almost asked if there was a problem.

After the plane got to its cruising altitude, the lady bent over and said “I’m so sorry for staring all along, you look so much like someone I met some years ago…are you Mr. Babs? Did you serve at a Secondary School in Ibadan some years back?”
Then it came to me…it was Toks that girl that was on my case during my Youth Service in Ibadan. Oh my! Was she beautiful…


PART 9                                                                                       PART 11
 

Picture Credit (c) cnbc.com
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental 

Temptation Alley (Part 9)

I saw Dammy at work and to my surprise; she acted as if nothing happened. I told her we needed to talk, so she came into my office. I tried to explain that Friday night was a big mistake and that I was sorry I played along. I told her I would appreciate if she never told anyone. She laughed and told me she just wanted me one last time and she was already over it. Her attitude scared me, it was as if it meant nothing to her…ironically, those were the kinda girls I used to like and prefer. I called them ‘zero liability, all options accessible’.

Dammy said she needed to ask me a question though…I told her to go ahead and she asked “Did you like it?”

I couldn’t answer the question; I just looked on as she walked away. She got to the door, turned around and said “there’s more where that came from…no strings attached”

“Get thee behind me Satan”…I must have chanted that phrase like a million times after she left.
The guilt wore off after a while and I was happy that Irene did not find out.

The day Dammy ended her youth service at my company was the happiest day of my life, especially when I found out she was not going to be ‘retained’. She had made life difficult for me with all the flirting and teasing…she would call me on my office extension and say things I can’t even say here, just to get me to come for her.
There were times I felt like going ahead with it but the fear of what Irene said, restrained me. One thing I noticed was that Dammy never bothered me on my cell phone…but I dreaded being alone with her at work. There was a day I got on the elevator with Dammy; I had to get off 2 floors before ours because of what she was doing/trying to do…the fear of someone else getting on the elevator made me jump out. I remember asking her what was wrong with her, I wanted to know what happened to that sweet little girl I met me in the University…she said she was just enjoying life and making the most of it; after all, you only live once.

I got married to Irene about a year after that; the day I proposed to her, she was quiet for a while and then said she would marry me and be mine forever as long as I stayed faithful to her. She talked about her family and how her dad was a chronic adulterer. How she had sworn never to have that kind of marriage and how she would rather be alone than stay in such a marriage. I promised her that I would do my best to stay and remain faithful to her. On the wedding day, my sister (Irene's friend) said she didn't believe I could make it work...she told me I made the best decision of my life by marrying someone like Irene.
 
Irene was an awesome wife…I saw her in another light after the wedding. She was a great girlfriend but she was even better at being a wife. We hardly fought…she was very considerate and supportive. She was always praying for me, I would wake up in the middle of the night and she would kneel by the bed praying.

Things got better in every area of my life after I married Irene. I got another job at another consulting firm, three levels above the position I had at the first job. It came with an official car and lots of fringe benefits...we moved to a bigger house in Ikoyi. We had our first son about 18 months into the marriage, I couldn’t be happier…life was really beautiful.
 
There's this guy at the new job that had attended the same University with me. He knew me in those days but we were not friends. He started to tell the other guys (at work) of my escapades, how I was a ‘sharp shooter’ and how there was no girl I couldn’t get.
How he envied my lifestyle…and wanted so much to be my friend but I was too cool for him. These encomiums made many of the guys at work wanna hang out with me...they would invite me to come chill with them on Friday nights.
Irene didn’t mind, she said she didn’t want to appear as anti-social but told me not to forget that as a child of God I needed to “do everything with moderation”. I started to hang out with these guys like every other weekend…we would choose a place to go relax after work but I always tried to get home by 11pm...

PART 8                                                                                       PART 10

Picture Credit (c) medicmagic.net
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental  

Temptation Alley (Part 8)

However she followed me...I went in my car and she joined me

“I can’t do this…I’m sorry. My girlfriend won’t forgive me” I said

“Are you planning to tell her?” Dammy asked

“I know you want to…and I will make it worth your while” she continued.

“You once showed me the best way to kiss a woman, let me show you the best way to make love to a man” Dammy added as she moved closer to me.

At that point, I didn’t know what to say anymore…my mind was blank. I wanted to say “No” but just couldn’t utter the word. It was as if she awakened the old me, I could no longer resist…I later remembered the hotel room key that my boss had given me and we went there (I had taken the key so I could sleep before leaving in the morning as I knew I was going to drink at the party).

It was Irene’s call that woke me up…didn’t pick up the first time; I wanted to find Dammy and beg her to stay quiet but didn’t see her. I later figured that she had left as I could not find any trace of her, not even her handbag.

When I finally picked Irene’s call, the guilt that enveloped my conscience was second to none; I’m sure somehow, Irene could sense that something was amiss. She asked if I was alright, I said I was just a little tired from the party. She told me she would be back later that evening and I promised to pick her up at the Motor Park.
After she got off the phone, I knew I was in trouble…Irene is very sensitive and would know I was hiding something.
I couldn’t lie to her and I didn’t know how to pretend as if nothing happened. I used to be very good at this…what happened to my skills? I knew I had sinned but I was more concerned with what Irene’s reaction would be if she found out.

“There is no way she would find out…or could she?

She doesn’t even know Dammy…

Their paths will never cross…

Dammy already said we would keep it on the down low…

I’ll just make sure this never happens again…”

Different thoughts kept running in my mind as I left the hotel for my apartment.

I picked Irene up later in the evening and was doing everything to avoid eye contact with her…she kept asking if I was okay. I told her I wasn’t feeling too good and blamed the party. She had a lot of gist for me but I took my leave not too long after we got to her place. My heart was beating fast and I promised to come see her the following day as I was not feeling too good. 

I had planned to avoid Irene for the rest of the weekend but she came to my place straight from church on Sunday. She didn’t see me in church and I was not picking her calls.  She asked what was going on as she could sense I was avoiding her and I had guilt written all over my face.

“What happened while I was away?” she asked

I couldn’t answer the question.

“Look into my eyes and tell me nothing happened” Irene said again. I couldn’t…I just laid on my bed and stuck to my story of not feeling too good.

Irene then told me that while she was away, she dreamt that I slept with another woman and it became a big issue which made her leave me. At that point I felt I had to man up, I denied it vehemently and even pretended to take offense. I wanted to tell the truth but I knew what would happen so I settled in my mind to keep it buried forever.

Irene apologized but added a warning; she said “I cannot stand cheating…at all, if you ever do it we are through. I will always be faithful to you…now and even when we get married. I will stand and stay with you through anything but unfaithfulness is my limit. Please don’t ever do it. If you do it, I may not know immediately but God will somehow reveal it to me”.

That statement stuck to my head and I even made it my relationship mission statement. I prayed fervently to God to help me cover the one I already did and promised never to do it again. The thought of Irene leaving me made me realize how much I had come to love her. I couldn’t even picture my life without her...

PART 7                                                                                       PART 9

Picture Credit (c) denoxa.com
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental

© 2015 Lanre Olagbaju All Rights Reserved  

Temptation Alley (Part 7)

I already told Dammy about my girlfriend just to kind of mark the territory and with the hope that she would back off. She stopped by at my desk one Wednesday afternoon and asked if we could do lunch together…I was hungry so I went with her. She kept talking about how she never found another man as interesting as me and how I still had a piece of her heart. How seeing me again brought back memories…I reminded her that I had a girlfriend that I really liked. Dammy said she didn’t want me to leave my girlfriend and she wasn’t even planning to date me because she also had a boyfriend…she just wanted to seize the moment and feed her wild side. She said I was her first and her best and would do anything to feel like I used to make her feel, back when we were in the University.

I was confused, I told Dammy that I had to leave…she said it was okay and that she was ready anytime I purged myself of the needless sanctimony. I will not lie to you; Dammy was pretty back when I first met her but at this time she had taken it up a notch…she was smoking hot.
Every guy in my office wanted her, my immediate boss was using permanent employment as a bait to get her but she had a way of saying no without offending them. I noticed she was one of the main topics anytime the guys were together…they wanted to know how I knew her and I just said her brother and I were roommates back in school.

I did my best to avoid Dammy…I didn’t know what else to do. She knew I was in a relationship and didn’t care. She was offering me something that other guys were begging and willing to give an arm and a leg for…but I just couldn’t, I couldn’t bear to do that to Irene.

My company had this annual Christmas party, it usually fell on the Friday before Christmas but I had never bothered to attend before that year. For the first time ever, it sounded interesting because they were hosting it at a high brow hotel on the Island and I also wanted Irene to come with me. It was an all-night affair and they even got rooms for people that were Managers and higher. My boss couldn’t make it because he had a family engagement out of town, so he gave me his hotel room…I was really looking forward to going with my girl and flaunting her before my colleagues.

Two days before the party, Irene got a call and had to travel home…she said she was sorry for missing the party because she knew I had been looking forward to it. I dropped her off at the ‘Motor Park’ because she wasn’t comfortable driving the Lagos-Ibadan expressway. I had offered to drive her down but she insisted that she would rather take public transportation…as a consensus, I said she had to take a car and not a bus, she agreed.
Irene could sense that I didn’t want her to go…at a point, the driver started honking because I wouldn’t let go of her right hand. She hugged me, and gave me a peck…I remember her parting words “Be good”.

I missed my girl so much and I almost didn’t attend the Christmas Party…I had told some guys at work that I might not be coming but they were able to convince me otherwise; besides, Irene had also encouraged me, when I called her that morning, to go and have fun

I got to the party and everything was going great…I was having fun and had taken some liquor. I was showing my skills on the dance floor and having a good time when someone tapped me on the shoulder. It was Dammy; I didn’t know she was coming to the party.
“Hello stranger” she said as she joined me on the dance floor... before I could say I didn’t want to dance, she already wrapped her arms around me.

We danced on as she started to ask me different questions…kinda like the ones I asked her, the night her brother traveled, back in the University. She was being utterly provocative and deliberately overly flirtatious. The things she was doing to me while pretending to dance with me could only be possible because the lights were dimmed on the dance floor. I couldn’t stand it…I had been celibate since I met Irene. I knew there was no way I could escape this if I stayed any longer.
I told her I had to step outside for some fresh air…she let me

PART 6                                                                                       PART 8

Picture Credit (c) townetworks.com
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental

© 2015 Lanre Olagbaju All Rights Reserved