By S.I.M
As he pulled up in front of the house, the “maiguard” came out of his shed to see who it was. “Is Anita in?” He asked. “Ran ka dede Oga”, came the reply, “she no dey, she never come back from work”. He looked at the timepiece on the dashboard. It was 7.30pm. “Okay, tell her I was here. I will come back later”. “All right, Oga”. As he drove off, he wondered about this relationship with Anita. He had never met anyone like her, never felt this way about anyone. He had caught the bug. But there was only one problem; Anita’s job and her ambition. She was so obsessed with building a career for herself at the bank; she didn’t seem to be thinking of anything else. “I’m going to be a bank M.D. someday, you know”, she was always saying. And she was on her way there. She worked very hard. It was as though there was this driving force that blinded her, and deadened her mind to everything else but her career.
“But it’s not right, can’t she see that there’s something missing”, Chike said, talking to himself. They had talked about marriage sometime not long ago.
He drove to Tunde’s house, which was just a street away from hers. As soon as his friend saw him, he knew. “Ol’ boy, you have to do something about this your relationship with this babe o! You have to talk to her very seriously. It’s either you or her career. How will you just be wasting your time like this!!!”? Tunde went on and on, till Chike said, “alright, alright! That’s enough. I’ve heard. I’ll sort everything out this evening. See you later”.
It was now 8.15pm. Within ten minutes he was at her place. “Ah, oga, welcome. Auntie just dey come, she dey inside’’. The security man seemed happy that he came back. “Chike hi”, she said, beaming with that dimpled smile that melted his heart. “Yusuf said you’d been earlier. I had two meetings. Can you imagine, the M.D. just asked me if I would be able to head a branch and I said, …” “Anita, we have to talk”, Chike cuts in. “Sit down”. His voice was like steel and she knew he was serious, as he began. “Anita, you know we’ve been together for two and a half years. I remember how we met on your birthday. You were so full of life. We’ve been almost every-where together. We had big dreams. You remember when I said we were going to have six children; you said just three would do. We always encouraged each other, supported each other. But today, I can’t understand this obsession with your career. That’s all you talk about these days. What of your plans? What of our future? Would you mortgage all these for your career? You see, I will never stop you from building your so-called career. But I’ve reached a decision point in my life, and need to decide on our life together; what do you want? A career or me? I will leave you with this question. You know where to find me when you decide. If I don’t see you, I’ll know you’ve chosen your career over me, over our future together”. He left without saying another word.
Anita was too dumb-founded to stop him. That night and several nights after were the most tortuous of her life. She loved Chike, but she wanted a career. She hovered between anger (how dare he make her choose) and confusion (even with a career, she hoped to be a wife and mother someday). She had a beautiful car, a nicely furnished flat, could take a holiday anytime she wanted. One of those nights, she looked round her flat. Yes, she had everything and could have anything. But….of what value is a life without anyone to share it with….! She drove to Chike’s house two days later…
Three months after, they were married. A year later, she gave birth to twins (a boy and a girl.) She kept her job. But it was no longer a do-or-die issue. Her choice was very clear.
Post script: The resolution of the posed dilemma in the above was the way the couple resolved the issue. Do you agree with the resolution? Should the man have given his wife an ultimatum? Should the woman after due consideration decide to make her career secondary? Is it important to put family and love before career? Given that the article shows that the man had the upper hand, is this the way it should be? Be the first to comment or share your own experience with our readers.
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