Mr & Mrs Ordinary©

‘Tell me how you met,’ Mark stretched his legs and leaned back on his easy chair, his brown eyes on the couple on the sofa opposite him. They were seated at opposite ends of the sofa, the distance between them a chasm rather a few feet. 

 

‘At work,’ David said.

 

‘It was at a dinner party,’ Lola, his wife said. ‘You couldn’t even get that right,’ she added.

 

'Then you tell me how you met,' Mark urged.

 

Lola looked into the distance for a few moments before talking. 'It was at a dinner party. I was in the kitchen looking for bottled water. I had a slight migraine you see. I'd just poured myself a glass when another glass materialised in front of me. I looked up and there he was. The rest as they say is history.'

 

'And what do you remember?' Mark turned to David.

 

'She filled my glass with water and we got talking. Turns out she was scheduled to start a new job in the same company I worked. In the finance department. I worked in compliance.'

 

'And then what?'

 

'That's it. That's how we met.'

 

'What about your first date?'

 

Lola threw her head back and gave a short laugh. 'Now we're really going back. Let's see...it was a Friday night. I remember that because I wondered then, "why a week night?"'

 

'It was a week night because my sister was moving the next day and I promised I was going to help her move-' David interrupted.

 

'The family. Of course...'

 

'I'm not going to get into this now and here of all places,' David said.

 

Lola folded her hands on her lap and looked at Mark.

 

'We're here because he killed our child,' she said.

 

They were seating in their favourite positions, at opposite ends of the sofa. Mark went to his easy chair and took up his favourite position; semi reclining, legs stretched out in front of him, his brown eyes on the two of them. He turned his attention to Lola.

 

'How's your week been?' He asked her.

 

'Not good but we have to keep on eh?' She smiled brightly.

 

'And you?' Mark jerked his head towards David who shrugged.

 

'In all things, give thanks,' he said.

 

'Last week, Lola was telling us about your first date-'

 

'No. Last week, I was reminding you why we were here. David killed our first and only child. That's why we're here.'

 

Mark kept his eyes on David. Lola's statement resounded around the room like a judge's hammer. David physically wilted.

 

'Well, I would like you to complete the story of your first date.'

 

Lola folded her arms and looked at the wall, away from her husband and Mark.

 

'It wasn't his decision to make,' she whispered as if talking to herself. David made a slight movement and Lola flinched, retreating into the sofa.

 

'Don't touch me!' She said standing up. She picked up her bag from the floor and made for the door.

 

'I'm sorry. I can't do this anymore,' she said walking out. Mark knew from experience not to stop her.

 

'She'll be back,' he said to David. 'What do you want to do now?' He asked him.

 

David started pacing up and down the room.

 

'Sometimes, I think back to that night, that moment and I ask myself if I would've done anything differently and I still don't have an answer. The pregnancy was complicated. She had a fibroid that was growing at a faster rate than the baby. It took up all the space that the baby should've had and the doctors couldn't do anything. They couldn't take out the fibroid because they weren't sure of the negative impact it could have on the baby. All they could do was monitor Lola intensively. She was in hospital every two days without fail. Eventually, she had to be admitted. We'd had three miscarriages before this and Lola was absolutely determined that nothing would stand in the way of this pregnancy. She was always in pain. It killed me just watching her. Can I tell you something?' David paused and looked at Mark questioningly.

 

Mark nodded.

 

David stopped pacing and stood by the window looking down at the street below. He could see Lola in her car blowing her nose. He moved away from the window.

 

'I didn't care for the baby nor the other babies we lost. I just wanted my wife to be well and I resented these babies that were putting her through hell. That's why I'm being punished. Because I call myself a Christian and I was happy when we had the 3 miscarriages because all I cared about was my wife's life. I didn't give any thought to the lives of the innocent children we lost.' He gave a cynical laugh.

 

'So, that night in the operating theatre, when the doctors asked me for the last time; my baby or my wife? I didn't hesitate. They should save my wife and take out her womb. The doctors didn't spare me the facts. Another pregnancy would kill her. When Lola woke up, she looked into my eyes and knew what I'd done. She started screaming and had to be heavily sedated. That was 6 months ago. We haven't slept in the same bed since she got back from hospital.' David stopped pacing and sat down on the sofa. The door opened and Lola came in. She sat at her end of the sofa without looking at her husband.

 

'So, what now?' She said.

 

She came alone this time.

 

'He said he had work,' Lola explained her husband's absence.

 

Mark nodded in understanding. David was running away. He thought he would be judged for last week's 'confession.'

 

'You never did complete the story about your first date,' Mark said.

 

Lola moved to the middle of the sofa.

 

'Are we still on that?' She asked.

 

'Yes. I want to hear it,' Mark said.

 

Lola shifted about on the sofa. 'It was a Friday night. I told you that, didn't I? We started the night at the Barbican. They were showing an exhibition of African art. Then we went to a Nigerian restaurant after. If we'd both known what was waiting for us further down the line, perhaps we wouldn't have...' She stopped and clasped her hands on lap, her head down.

 

'You wouldn't have what?' Mark prompted.

 

'I was 32 years old when we got married. He was 35. His family thought I was too old. They wanted him to marry someone younger who would ensure that the family's lineage was in good breeding hands. He’s the oldest and only boy. Boys are important to Africans,' she added almost as an afterthought.

 

'But you're still together.'

 

'Yes. 10 years wedding anniversary today,' Lola paused when tears started running down her cheeks. They took my womb. Did he tell you that? My womb! And he let them." She blew her nose.

 

'Lola, what do you want?'

 

'I want him to pay for what he's done. I want the whole world to know what he's done.'

 

'Not that. I'm going to ask you again Lola, what do you want?'

 

Lola moved back to her side of the sofa.

 

'I came here because I wanted a divorce. Coming here was supposed to be proof that I wanted the marriage to work. This way I could tell people we tried counselling to no avail. Bet you don't think so well of your Christian client now.' She gave the same cynical laugh as her husband's a week earlier.

 

'And now, what do you want?'

 

'Not to hurt anymore. To have my womb back. And to be free.'

 

'What if I told you that all these things you want are already within your reach?'

 

Lola started gathering her things.

 

'We hired a counsellor not a preacher,' she said.

 

'True but you can decide how you want this to end.'

 

She stopped picking up her things.

 

‘I don’t know if I want to try again,’ she said.

 

‘Your first date.’

 

‘I thought we’d flogged that horse to death?’

 

‘You didn’t complete the story.’

 

‘I told you. We went to the Barbican and afterwards to a Nigerian restaurant. He proposed to me that night.’

 

‘You didn’t tell me that.’

 

‘No, I didn’t,’ she said primly.

 

She went quiet.

 

‘What are you thinking?’

 

‘That you should be quiet and stop asking me questions. I can’t think when you’re badgering me!’

 

She started playing with her wedding ring.

 

‘Seems so long ago. 12 years,’ she said.

 

‘Would you rather we closed this session now?’ Mark asked her.

 

‘Yes,’ she said.

 

Mark looked through the window and peered down into the street. Lola and David came out of their separate cars. David motioned to Lola to go through the front door first. Lola nodded. A month ago, they didn’t even acknowledge each other’s presence. 

 

Mark moved away from the window. A few moments later, his office opened and his clients took up positions on the sofa. This time, they sat closer to the middle. Their bodies weren’t touching though.

 

‘David, now how’s your week been?’

 

‘Okay, I think.’

 

‘Lola?’

 

Lola gave a pained smile. ‘Okay. I’ve been thinking about a lot about our first date. I’ve decided. I want to finish the story,’ she said.

 

Mark kept his eye on David who kept his eyes on the floor.

 

‘I fell for him because he made me feel safe and protected. At the end of the night -the night of our first date-when we parted at the tube station, he said, “God bless you.” That was what sealed it for me. None of the guys I'd dated had ever said that to me. And then we got married…’

 

‘David?’ Mark prompted.

 

‘Okay. I lied. I noticed her the moment she walked through the door at the dinner party. The minute she got up from the dinner table to get some more water from kitchen, I followed her because I wanted to talk to her. When she told me she was starting a new job at my company, it seemed like fate. I said God bless you at the end of our first date because I was nervous. I didn't know what else to say.’

 

‘And now?’ Mark asked.

 

‘I don’t want a divorce,’ David answered.

 

‘I didn’t ask you if you wanted a divorce. I asked you if you still wanted to be with Lola.’

 

David dared to look at his wife.

 

‘Yes,’ he said.

 

‘Lola?’ Mark turned to her.

 

‘I heard him,’ she said playing with her wedding ring.

 

'So what now?' Mark asked the two of them.

 

Silence. After a while, David spoke. 'It's not that easy, Mark.'

 

'It's as easy as you want to make it,' Mark said.

 

Lola got up from the sofa and walked to the window. She cut a solitary figure in a room with two men.

 

'It's not just the babies or my womb. It's the other stuff; his family. The snide comments about the family line dying or why he was still with me when it was obvious I was under a curse because of all the miscarriages. But even all that was okay because we had each other. We had God. We had our faith. But the hospital was the final straw in a long line of stuff.'

 

'You keep on talking about stuff,' Mark said.

 

'Because that's the only way I can describe it. Stuff. Him. Me. Us. Marriage. It's all stuff that noone really explains to you when you say, "I do." But when it starts happening, you understand why it's called stuff. Because you can't define it, you can't explain it but you know it's there; stuff. It's not only about my womb. Yes, that was a whole part of it but it's not all of it. It's something more and I'll tell you what it is. The truth is that I don't want to try anymore.'

 

'The easy way,' Mark said.

 

'Yes, the easy way,' she reiterated.

 

'I'm not agreeing to a divorce,' David said.

 

'You see, that's where you're wrong because I've left already. I left 6 months ago. We just happened to live in the same house. That's all.' She came back to the sofa.

 

'Just like you left church,' her husband.

 

'Just like I left church,' she echoed.

 

'You're just going to run like you've always done.'

 

'Sticks and stones David. I'm not listening.'

 

Mark raised his hand and called for a break. David left the room. Lola sat still on the sofa. Her eyes on the carpet.

 

Mark spoke.

 

'I don't think you want a divorce. I think you want to punish David for everything that's happened and a divorce appears to be the best way to do that.'

 

'Whatever. Besides, you're a counsellor not an analyst.'

 

'You wouldn't even let him grieve because you're determined to hold him emotionally hostage. Indefinitely. What say you stopped thinking about yourself and think about David. For the first time in a long time.'

 

Lola stared straight ahead.

 

'You don't know what you're asking me,' she said.

 

'I know what I'm asking you and as for stuff, that is what families are made of. You decide right now; am I going to let stuff destroy my marriage or am I going to conquer it? David is going to walk through that door any minute and it is in your power to do good, to overcome and turn around this thing for good. What is it to be?'

 

The door opened and David came back into the room. He headed straight for the window and looked down at the busy street below for a few moments.

 

'I'll sign the papers if that is what you want,' he said without turning around.

 

Lola stopped playing with her wedding and adjusted it on her finger with determined movements.

 

'No. This is what we will do. We'll try again and we will begin by coming back here next week and the week after that until the stuff is sorted out. That's what we'll do.'

 

David turned around.

 

'And we'll go back to church. Together.'

 

'Together,' Lola echoed her husband firmly.