Inside Out, page 16
“Ekong has always been too imperious for his own good. For that matter, he wouldn’t risk his princely duties, which, I think, he takes too seriously. When Nkoyo agreed to marry him, I became worried. They are too much alike in character to have any kind of love for themselves.”
“Which is why I am worried,” Affy pushes her point. “Wofai is the absolute opposite of Nkoyo. Our daughter is sure of herself and would never give Ekong the power to solve any issues for her, but Wofai, she would make Ekong feel more manly—”
“Your imagination is taking flight, my dear,” Asuquo chuckles.
“Why does he suddenly want to spend the weekend with us if not to be with her?”
“You have been worried about that from the onset,” her husband points out.
“Because it is too sudden and weird since his fiancée isn’t around. He must have already met Wofai.”
“When?” Asuquo asks with a preposterous expression.
“I don’t know,” she answers weakly because, honestly, it made no sense to her either, “But I know what’s going on doesn’t augur well. We don’t even know if Nkoyo has changed that much.”
“Nothing is going on,” Asuquo assures, caressing her arm lovingly.
“The staff are talking, my love. Ekong says he’d be here for just the weekend, but this is the middle of the week. He spends all his time with Wofai. Sara tells me it’s really romantic. She is in love, so she can recognize the vibe. He took her out to dinner today, and they aren’t yet back….”
“I see what you mean, and it is cause for a bit of worry. But they definitely aren’t at dinner, darling. It isn’t yet four,” he jokes, trying to get his wife to smile.
Affy groans and stands up from her husband’s thigh, “You aren’t taking this seriously,” she complains. “Ekong goes for his usual business, then he comes back earlier than usual to take Wofai out. He has never done that with Nkoyo,” she points out.
“So, Ekong decides he likes our friend’s daughter, what’s the big deal? It’s not as though we particularly liked him as a suitable husband for Nkoyo, seeing as they don’t have any of the sparks we have. We only respected her choice. If she had insisted she wanted to fall in love, we would have respected that too and been happy. Their marriage or lack thereof would not change our close relationship with the Ibibio kingdom.”
“It’s not about the diplomatic ties, Asuquo. It’s about our daughter. If truly he falls for Wofai and breaks up with Nkoyo, what do you think will happen? You do recall her attitude when we refused to take her to the royal meet. Do you recall how Uyai was after you married me? It would be worse if her betrothed rejects her,” Affy concludes and paces the length of their room.
Asuquo sighs, “I see your point—”
The sound of a car horn interrupts him. Affy strolls to the window facing the entrance to look down. A strange car rolls in. She frowns but is immediately shocked to see her daughter step out of the vehicle.
“Oh God,” Affy moans.
“What, who’s that?” he asks, getting up to join her.
“Our daughter is back,” she announces without enthusiasm.
Although he is king, Asuquo is ashamed to feel his heart quicken in dread.
“Shouldn’t they have called us to expect her?” he gripes as he follows his wife down the stairs to meet Nkoyo. “Is it even two months yet?”
He is also ashamed to admit to himself that he was glad at his daughter’s absence.
“It’s more than a month, but they should have called us, though. Now the situation has gotten complicated as per Wofai and Ekong.”
“Shit,” the king mutters. It is a very un-royal exclamation, but it is the only way he could have expressed his dismay at that moment.
Affy totally agrees with her husband’s sentiments. Shit, it is, she thinks as she frowns at the empty receiving room. She expects Nkoyo to sashay in there as usual, with a long tail of a shimmering gown trailing behind her. Affy expects the receiving room to be suffused with the expensive fragrance her daughter preferred.
She exchanges a shocked glance with Asuquo when their daughter pushes through the swinging door dressed in denim trousers, a t-shirt and sneakers.
Their daughter would never have been caught dead in that outfit.
“Darling,” Affy gasps. Uncertainty blooms in her mind at the expression she should wear on her face, keeping in mind that they tricked their daughter into her forced vacation.
Nkoyo sees her parents, and the sadness in her heart clears a bit. She feels like running to them, but she doesn’t think it would be a flattering sight for someone of her bulk to run like a kid. She moves fast, though and is happy to be engulfed in her parents’ arms. Their unconditional love threatens tears from her eyes.
“I missed you, mummy,” she tightens her arms about her mother and then turns and fully hugs her father, “You too, daddy.”
Asuquo chokes, not knowing how to react. It had been aeons since their daughter had called them such loving names. He had missed his little girl, the one he had expected but had not seen as an adult. His arms go round her, his eyes widening at his wife over their daughter’s shoulder. Affy shakes her head in bewilderment, as shocked as her husband.
“I missed you too, pumpkin,” he replies, calling her the pet name he’d used when she’d been little.
After the hug, they stand around uncertainly. Nkoyo tries to bury the unbearable pain of Onen’s rejection and wonders if she should tell her parents that she doesn’t want to marry Ekong anymore. She mentally rejects the idea, as her emotions are still too raw. She wants to be able to tell them without any waterworks.
Affy and Asuquo stand there, feeling guilty about tricking their daughter. They wonder whether to inform her of her fiancé’s presence and the complication of Wofai. Affy made the decision, clearing her throat.
“We are sorry, darling, for tricking you….”
Nkoyo manages to push down the need to cry, not for the trickery but for what she’d lost, and grins at her parents. “No need for that, mum, really,” her gaze includes her dad. “I enjoyed it at some point, towards the end,” pain fists her heart as she recalls the end.
Affy sees the shadow on her daughter’s face and wonders what it is about.
Nkoyo sighs heavily, “There’s so much to tell, but I’m tired and would love to rest before dinner.”
“Of course, darling,” Asuquo answers, touching his daughter’s cheek lovingly, “Go rest, you need it.”
She nods at her parents and hurries to the stairs to hide her tears. After she departs, it takes a few minutes for Affy to recall Wofai is staying in Nkoyo’s room.
***
Nkoyo noticed nothing out of place in her room, probably because she had been in a hurry to give in to her urge to bawl. She ignores her luggage kept uncertainly, unpacks in the centre of the room, and falls on her bed, instantly letting go of the tears she’d been holding from the whole drive home.
How would she ever overcome this pain? How would she ever forget Onen? She is sure she’ll die a spinster. The idea triggers more tears because she has never been this crazy for a man before.
***
Ekong keeps pushing off his departure date from the Efik palace. He realizes something new about himself, a weakness. He is a man not affected by the emotions of the heart. His engagement to Nkoyo was the confirmation, and he appreciated not making the statistic of men sappy in love.
However, after spending days with Wofai, he realizes how empty his life has been without the sappy emotion called love. He can’t imagine his life without her in it. He is aware of the inappropriateness of his actions—being engaged yet being in love with another. Occasionally, he feels a twinge of guilt, but he just can’t stop.
For example, he always insisted on having a chauffeur, refusing to drive himself, one of his idiosyncrasies supported by Nkoyo. They seemed a perfect pair, each taking full advantage of their entitlement as prince and princess and acting in the most unacceptable manner.
However, Ekong’s eyes open to his embarrassing lifestyle simply by being in Wofai’s presence. The woman wears simplicity and doesn’t make it seem ordinary.
When he watches her performing a task he and Nkoyo regard as menial and unfit for royals, he is amazed at how dignified she looks doing it. To Ekong, it makes her appear more regal than Nkoyo in all her expensive fineries.
He loves Wofai’s simple dressing. Ekong cannot recall the last time he went out in jeans and a t-shirt. Nevertheless, he is glad he followed her suggestion. Truth be told, he feels a hundred pounds lighter for it.
When he offers to take her out, Wofai agrees on the condition that he leave his regal accessories at home. It sounds preposterous to him.
But no status-identifier will prevent him from spending time with Wofai outside the Efik palace. He wants her solely to himself and so agrees.
However, he is shocked and happy to become one of the crowd. Nobody recognizes him as a royal. He can laugh aloud without getting critical stares for not being dignified in public.
Ekong’s heart aches when he thinks of leaving her to return home. His father calls too frequently to ignore any longer. He has to return home, and he’s tempted to take Wofai with him. He wants to take her with him. Ekong turns right to look at her beautiful profile sitting beside him in the passenger seat of his car. Her simplicity makes him ashamed of all those times he’d lived impetuously.
She humbles him and makes him want to be authentic. In their long conversations, the rare times they keep their lips apart, she debunks his theories of ruling monarchs.
One might assume Ekong agrees with Wofai because he is so in love with her. He can’t sleep without dreaming of her. However, Wofai actually makes a lot of sense, making him realise some of his previous aspirations were juvenile.
“Should I be worried?” Wofai asks with humour in her voice.
The tone of her voice melts his heart, and he swallows hard so he can speak. “About what?”
“You keep glancing at me like I’m some phantom that might disappear soon,” Wofai jokes, grinning.
Ekong reaches out and grabs her hand. He laces his fingers with hers and lifts it to his lips without looking away from the road. “Marry me, Wofai. I can’t live without you.”
Her breath hitches, and she tries not to gasp.
Ekong first proposed, on the night they discovered their feelings for each other. Her reactions remain the same every time he offers marriage. Her pulse quickens, her heart racing, a deluge of breathlessness and the melting feeling in her stomach.
Despite the mushy reactions, her replies don’t change.
“You’re still engaged. Besides, I don’t want to rush into anything. I want us to be sure,” she says, sounding sure, even though his continuous proposals are wearing on her decision not to rush.
Wofai still harbours a few doubts, though. She can’t believe this romance is happening to her. Ekong is so handsome he astounds her. He robs her of breath. That he wants her desperately enough to break off his engagement and marry her is a novelty she is finding extremely difficult to accept.
“I am sure,” he assures passionately, his eyes expressing the truth of his words.
“I don’t know, Ekong, I see pitfalls. There’s the king and queen to consider, especially the queen. What would she think of me?” Wofai cannot stop worrying about that. The queen has been too good to her and to repay the dear woman with taking her daughter’s fiancé feels abominable.
Would the monarch believe that it hadn’t happened for untoward reasons or from malicious intent?
“I will explain that it’s not your fault,” Ekong says determinedly.
“That’s hardly convincing,” she mutters unhappily. “There’s also Nkoyo, and I’ve heard of how she is….”
“She might be a bit difficult, but I’ll get through to her,” he assures.
“Then your parents who want to maintain close ties for both kingdoms,” Wofai points out, hurting herself in the process. She cannot see how they’ll ever be together.
To Ekong, his parents are the least of his problems. Instead, his worry is about Nkoyo’s parents. However, he doesn’t tell Wofai. He doesn’t want her to worry too much.
“Let’s not spoil the perfect day with worry,” he says in a lighter tone and kisses her hand again.
With her heart churning with the obstacles in front of them, Wofai nods, readily agreeing to his suggestion. She can forget them for a few hours and complete an already fantastic day with happy thoughts and beautiful memories.
“Yes, let’s not. I need a goodnight kiss, though, to erase the unpleasantness,” she teases.
Ekong’s eyes smoulder at her, “I would give you more if you’d let me,” he promises, his eyes sweeping down her body in a sensual survey.
Wofai’s breath quickens, and she has to look away to control herself, “Stop it. I’ve told you how I feel when you look at me like that.”
He grins in apparent male satisfaction and lets go of her hand to manoeuvre the car into the palace. He lets her out and steers her towards the palace’s back entrance. They avoid using the front to escape the monarchs and get quicker to their rooms. They are both conscious of the intense need to engage in some X-rated kissing, hence the urgency.
***
Nkoyo doesn’t know how long she’s been crying. She is grateful that her mother hasn’t checked on her because she doesn’t know how to explain her bawling or stop long enough to explain anything.
She believes in a day or two, she will be able to contain her intense sadness. But for now, she wants to behave like a typical heroine in a tragedy. She wants to mourn her loss and be weak instead of her usual strong character of taking things in spades.
A heavy thump at the door is the only warning she gets before the door slams open and lets in a couple entirely entwined with each other.
Nkoyo frowns, having trouble recognizing their identities. Although, the problem with identification could be her eyes swollen from all the heavy crying. Still, the passion these two exude reminds her of Onen and how it was between them.
She is still astounded because he could let her go. How could he after the passion they shared last night? She frowns, temporarily forgetting the passionate couple until they moan loudly.
Laying amongst her numerous pillows, her gaze returns to them.
The lady is lifted by the man, and her legs wrap around his waist.
Nkoyo wishes she is slim enough to try that stunt with Onen. Then she feels hot tears blooming when she realizes it will never happen.
Nkoyo’s thoughts keep changing erratically. Same as it has been all day since she woke up to an empty bed and no send-off moment with Onen.
Her old self would have been imperiously furious at the disrespect by this couple in her quarters. No one would have dared this flagrant display of disregard for her room a month ago. Nevertheless, she is glad to realize that she doesn’t care.
Instead of outrage, Nkoyo is curious about the couple. Perhaps, they are her parents’ guests and getting their attention becomes pertinent.
After a while of watching them, struggling with envy, feeling sorry for herself, and wondering if she is now a voyeur, she decides to get their attention by clearing her throat.
As expected, they jerk, jumping apart. The man makes sure the woman isn’t hurt from their mad scramble. The way he steadies her, his hand not leaving hers, shows how much he cares for her, like Onen when he rescued Nkoyo from the bush.
The couple shocked expressions are comical.
Nkoyo would laugh if she could muster the urge. Instead, tears leak from the side of her eyes. She wipes them with her fingers, and then she recognizes the man.
“Ekong,” Nkoyo says as her swollen eyes bulge.
“Nkoyo, oh God, when did you return?” he asks, trying valiantly to recover from his desire-fogged session.
“You’re wearing denim,” she comments, noticing how free and handsome he looks and trying to ignore the obvious bulge straining his fly.
Confusion appears on his face for a moment, his arm still around his woman, but he glances down at his clothes.
“Yes,” he stammers uncertainly, not understanding her reaction.
“Wow, you look good,” she admires and smiles. “I’m wearing jeans too,” she comments unnecessarily, pointing at hers and then suddenly bursting into tears.
This time, Nkoyo’s crying is for all the time she wasted with the wrong man and the terrible things they’d both done.
“Are you okay?” Ekong asks with blatant concern, having never seen Nkoyo this way. He feels awkward.
She was always strong, never one for hysterics. He has no idea what to do with her. Was it his appearance with Wofai that caused her tears?
Wofai feels like a horrid person at the sight of Nkoyo’s tears. Guilt chews at her, and she feels uncomfortable in the room.
“Talk to her,” she whispers in Ekong’s ear and slips out.
Ekong clears his throat as he nears Nkoyo’s crumpled form on the bed. He sits by her and tentatively touches her shoulder.
“I’m sorry for my inappropriate behaviour, Nkoyo. You should never have seen that,” he says honestly, cringing at what she must have seen. Indeed, it isn’t how he wants her to find out.
“Please, stop crying. I’m sorry,” he pleads. Nkoyo’s crying is the strangest phenomenon to him for the year. It may take a while to get over the experience.
She heaves and tries to control her emotions, “It’s not…you,” she hiccups.
Ekong frowns at what she is trying to say. What it implies gives him hope.
“You aren’t angry?” he sounds surprised.
“No,” she replies, shaking her head to confirm her answer. “I’m just ha…happy for you.”
She keeps her face down on the bed. Honestly, she is relieved she will not be the horrible person announcing their broken engagement.
“Happy for me?” Ekong doesn’t believe his ears. Nkoyo being happy for anyone seems preposterous. However, she nods in reply.
