The Runaway Bride

Episode 18

Earlier that money, Tokunbo received a
message from his mother-in-law asking him to

“ please, be patient with her, I know God will make all things right ”. As if they were together, he got a call from his mother

“Tokunbo, how are things, has she spoken with you?”

“Not really ma, but I know she will”

“It is not easy to live like that, but I want to implore you to be patient with her, be good to her, that would make you have a little control.

Don’t be rude or unkind to her, whatever is eating her would be killed with a little compassion from you. She must have had a difficult life with that wicked man called her father. So don’t be quick in ruling her out of your life.” She said so much and all he could
just hold on to is to be patient and kind with her; which he planned to do.

“Chinwe, I need to get to the store, I want to pick up some things from there, is there anything you will like me to get for you”

Tokunbo announced at the bedroom door, holding his breath for the NO he knew she would say.

“No, thanks”

“Okay, but I noticed you have not been eating much, give me a list of something we could have in the kitchen, you need to eat”

“You can buy anything; I will be fine with anything you buy”

“See, I don’t really want to argue with you and I want to make you comfortable as much as I can, you barely eat since you came to this
house on Saturday, if you know there is
nothing we can do till your friend comes on Saturday, let’s be well and alive till she comes.”

Chinwe looked up from her phone on the bed she sat and stared at the man standing at the door, he seems to be making sense.

“I will meet you outside, let me change my clothes”

Tokunbo was taken aback by her decision, he did not expect her to respond that way; all he
wanted was to get a list of the things she
would love to buy.

Minutes later, they drove out of the house, with her sitting beside him, fiddling her phone again.

He can’t complain, at least she
is willing to be seen with him.

When they got down in front of the super
mart, they walked in together, the store was almost empty of customers, since it was a Tuesday morning and most people would be at work.

They went the opposite sides of the store and when they met at the counter, she had very few things in her basket, sanitary pads, toothbrush, roll on, mouth wash, a set of combs, and soaps. Really?

Tokunbo pushed his shopping basket to the cashier and pulled Chinwe back to the food and grocery section.

“We need food, help me, please” he said in an almost frustrated whisper.

She looked at him and pulled a bigger
shopping basket and walked to the shelves, picking all sorts of canned food, with Tokunbo following closely. When the basket was almost full and was pulling it with a noticeable effort, Tokunbo took it from her as she continued to pick, inspect, replace or drop
some items.

When they got to the frozen food section, he
watched as she picked a pack of washed
snails.

“You can take for yourself, but I don’t eat snails” he said.

“Really?”

“I don’t eat it”

“Okay” she said as she picked one pack and took some shrimps and chicken instead, when they finally got back to the counter, the cashier asked politely
“Can I go ahead now?”

“No no, wait” Chinwe said as she disappeared between the shelves again, making Tokunbo smile at how beautiful she looks.

She returned with a loaf of bread and a pack of grape fruits

When the cashier finished adding all they
bought, he paid with his card and a boy
appeared beside him to carry everything they bought, leaving the bread behind, he quickly took it from Chinwe so she doesn’t have to carry a thing.

Chinwe looked at his back as he walked
ahead of her to the park. He is quite a gentle man, she always knew that, just that the circumstances would not allow her to commend him.

The drive back to the house was quiet and Chinwe did not like the silence, she reached for the radio at the same time Tokunbo did and they both withdrew their hands immediately.

“Go ahead” Tokunbo said as he focused on the drive Chinwe turned on the radio and tuned to a station playing some good music, she sang along some of them and Tokunbo could not
but look at her sometimes.

When they got to the house, Tokunbo handed her the keys and asked her to open the door for him, which she did without arguing.

He moved all the bags at once and went straight to the kitchen. She joined him in the kitchen and they started unpacking, storing away and clearing the table together. The moment
looked almost perfect, only if they could talk.

The last bag contained Chinwe’s toiletries, he handed it over to her as he went to the guest room to drop his.

Chinwe went to the room to drop off her
things; an idea popped into her head as she was in her room.

She went back to the kitchen and started
cooking

---

Tokunbo opened his laptop and started
replying some mails that needed his urgent attention, when he finished with the mails, he quickly searched online for some t some news to read.

However, that was short lived, he
abandoned the search for news and quickly typed in Google search bar “ how to make my wife happy”, so many blogs, articles and features were brought as results and he glanced through them and picked one that
looked interesting.

He read the article and would have readily
clapped for the writer because he nailed it, or may be the writer is a woman, he did not bother to check.

He decided to make use of 2 of the numerous points stated 1. Compliment her

2. Pay attention to her
   With those 2 ideas, he went out of him room to get a bottle of water and almost stopped in his tracks at the sweet aroma coming from the kitchen. He quickly went into the kitchen and saw Chinwe frying, tossing, turning and
   wiping her hands at the counter, beads of
   sweat settled on her forehead. He went into the spacious kitchen and opened the back door to allow in some cool air.

“Smells nice, well done”

“Thanks” she looked up from what she was turning a little bit surprised.

“Can I Help?”

“No thanks, I’m almost through”
Tokunbo walked to the sink and started
washing the dirty bowls, utensils and pans she used; she stopped what she was doing to look closely at him, like seriously.

“Well, if washing would make me eat from whatever it is that you are cooking, then wash I will” Tokunbo said and continued washing,
Chinwe just had to return to the fried rice she was turning on the cooker.

With the plates washed, wiped and arranged, utensils hung and the counter wiped clean, Chinwe took out 2 plates and dished some rice
for the 2 of them.

Tokunbo watched as she placed a plate of hot steaming rice, chicken and some plantain in front of him and was more surprised when she sat on another chair at the table.

They ate in silence and in between each mouthful of the delicious meal, Tokunbo kept contemplating striking a conversation with her but each time, he thought better of it.

When he finished his food, he looked at his wife’s plate and saw she could not finish hers.

“That was a very lovely meal, thanks.”

“You are welcome, there’s more in the
kitchen” she said when she found him looking at her plate.

“No, I’m fine, thanks”
He stood up from the table and took his plate to the sink washed and dried it. He returned to the table to sit with her. Not hiding that he wants to make them work; just not clear on how to start a conversation with her, so when
she stopped eating , he stood up and went to his room.

Chinwe watched him walk to the guest
bedroom as she struggled to finish the rice in front of her. She seemed to have eaten to her full, she stood up also to wash her plate.

She stood against the counter and went over the day’s event in her head, they went to the store together, ate together and she knew she enjoyed it and would love more of it.

She wished the turn of event had been
different. For the past 4 days, he has been
very patient with her, and kept denying he did not rape anyone.

For the first time since she ran away, she
prayed Clara would be wrong and they could move on with their lives, she deserved to be happy and so does he.