In One Push: Two Girls. One Desire. Different Results.

By Zinny Lazinne

Brenda and Esther, hope to fall in love and get married.
When they do, they’re shocked! - it's not the happily ever after they’d anticipated.
Esther is under a self-imposed pressure as a result of her unflinching loyalty to a ruthless spouse, Fred. She started questioning her allegiance to him, when she came face to face with the potential of getting killed by the same man she had sacrificed too much for.
Brenda gets married to Charles who becomes Fred’s mentee- only in the wrong things. Brenda decides its show time!
A match making stunt for Esther goes awfully wrong. Charles takes to gallant displays of chivalry, attempting to win Brenda back. The two ladies find themselves at new points of decision. Will they find the love they seek in good men?
In One Push is an exciting story of love, cruelty, faith and forgiveness that is filled with valuable lessons for life. It is set to take you on a hilarious cruise that will leave you thrilled, bewildered, amused and sometimes, very upset

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lulu.com
• Release date: Sep 6, 2019
• ISBN: 9780359902552

Book preview

In One Push: Two Girls. One Desire. Different Results.

In One Push

Two Girls. One Desire. Different Results.

By

ZINNY LAZINNE

©Copyright 2019

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the Author and/or his/her authorized agent, or as expressly permitted by law, by license or under terms agreed with the appropriate reprographics right organization. Enquiries concerning reproduction outside the scope of the above should be sent to [e-mail]

ZINNY LAZINNE the author of this work, is the pseudonym of the legal person Ezinne C. Okoro.

Original cover picture by Pixaby.

www.zinnyworldwide.com

@zinnyworldwide

Disclaimer.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, locales, and incidents are either the product of the authors imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

Dedicated to my Extra-Ordinary Strategist.

Acknowledgment

To all the people who have inspired me so far,

and who allowed me bounce ideas off them. I am grateful.

To my parents and siblings, for providing the support I needed, especially when it was difficult to go on.

To Gabriel, your untiring help in editing the manuscript several times was very timely.

Without you this book would have been a cataclysmic disaster.

To Charis, you are the reason it all started.

To God, words are not enough

to say, thank you

but I'll say it anyway...

Thank You.

__________

As a young lady who had the almost-perfect life, I did not feel pressured to get married. I was twenty seven and though most people thought that I should have been married a long, long time ago, I didn’t see why I had to bother about it. At that time, marriage, to me, wasn’t something that stemmed from a loving relationship with someone I was in love with; it was another ‘thing’ I had to achieve, especially since my relationship with my boyfriend, Kelvin, who I loved, ended in a heartbreak. I had everything I needed; a good job with Crystal Bank, a nice brand-new car, a cute small house, a cool boyfriend and enough money to help a single girl live really well.

I did not study banking or finance, but I made it into that industry and I was doing pretty well. I even won best customer service staff and other awards in my branch. I usually had to get up by 5:30 a.m. to prepare so I could be at the bank before 7 a.m. That was the norm especially for those of us in branch operations. Even if we didn’t have trainings, we had to have daily early morning sessions. On training days, a staff would have been given prior information on what to study and train the house on - usually the banks products - which were as many as the stars in the sky. Some days the trainings took the form of case studies, where a staff was assigned to read out the case study of an event which supposedly happened in a bank, after which we will discuss learning points and solutions to the identified problems.

Faizan, the head of operations in our branch, had assigned Kelvin to take the case study for the day. What? Now you want to judge me for dating someone in my office? The bank says two staff could not be married and remain in the bank; one had to leave. So, you see, we were not breaking any rules. Kelvin was the funds transfer guy. He was very tall, very slim and very dark. When he dressed in suit, he always looked very sharp and because he had such a pleasant personality, many people, especially the ladies, loved him.

Good Morning, Team. Scenario One. An angry customer walks up to you and says that she was wrongly debited twice. Kelvin had started taking the case study but my mind had travelled far away from the glass and steel walls of the bank.

I remembered the family get-together we just had last Christmas, which was some months back. My dad had decided to host a family reunion so that the kids and grandkids of the entire extended family could get to meet each other. So, there were very many relatives from far and near. Reunions like this is where you catch up with old family gossips and where new ones began. A number of us in the family were already victims of one gossip or the other. About me, it was that I wasn’t yet married. Why anyone thought that my not being married was a problem was a bit of a concern to me. Nobody put me under pressure but since there was such an expectation, I didn’t want to fall short. It was like that expectation to pass your exams because you were in school.

My elderly relatives who were in their late seventies were talking about me.

I went to school also and at twenty one I was already married, Aunty Maggie said.

If I remember correctly, you got your first degree in your husband’s house, Uncle UC said, glancing at Aunty Hannah, who nodded affirmatively as she swallowed her drink.  Someone needs to let her know that very soon she won’t be very marketable.

UC, call her let’s talk to her. Her mother is probably not doing enough, Aunty Hannah told Uncle UC.

Your lips are not glued together, are they? So why can’t you call her? After all she’s your nephew’s daughter. Uncle UC replied sarcastically.

You’re sitting closest to her. All you need to do is to just tap her or call her name, Aunty Hannah insisted.

Uncle UC leaned forward and replied, nope. You get up and call her.

I acted like I heard my gossiping grannies call my name. It was getting interesting and I wanted to engage them some more. So I got up from where I was and went to sit with them.

Did someone call me here? I think I heard my name, I said as I took the empty seat next to Uncle UC.

Ah, no, no, no. Not here. Not this unit, dearie, they said in a chorus. I enjoyed the look on their faces. None of them wanted to be responsible for calling me out.

I’m sure it came from here but if you say you didn’t call me, then I’ll just go back to my seat.

As soon as I started getting up, all three of them stretched out their hands to stop me from leaving.

We didn’t call you but since you’re here, we might as well give you a golden advice, Aunty Maggie said with her high-pitched voice. UC, tell her.

Why do you all always have to call my name? he replied with a concerned look on his face, which I thought made him look funny.

Because eventually, you’ll be the one who’ll want to take the glory for something we achieved together, Aunty Hannah replied.

The glory just comes to me, I don’t try to take it! Uncle UC said with a pout.

Hmm hmm, Aunty Maggie and Hannah exclaimed cynically.

Anyway, darling, Aunty Maggie looked around to make sure no one else was listening to us, as if she was about to tell me a really powerful secret. She faced me again with a mild frown on her forehead, we’re  just concerned you’re not married yet.

And women are like flowers. They wither away too soon. The best men will want the fresher roses, you know, Uncle UC added.

Aunty Hannah poked his arm with her elbow and whispered, not like that.

What? It’s the truth, he whispered back.

We just feel that if you have any problems or if you need any help at all, you can count on us, Aunty Hannah said.

All of them were looking at me intently, waiting for a response I did not have. I was trying desperately to suppress a chuckle that was bubbling up in me so as not to embarrass them but Uncle UC’s funny face was making it almost impossible. We, the kids and grandkids of the family, believed that he developed his funny face and naturally pouted mouth from years of gossip.

Ok. If- I made sure I stressed the ‘if’ - I have any problems I will definitely let you know. Thank you.

I tried really hard to leave with a smile so they won’t think I was upset. And I honestly wasn’t upset - just confused that I had a boyfriend and we had been dating for a little over a year and weren’t anywhere close to talking about marriage. Kelvin wasn’t someone who didn’t know what he wanted. He was clear about the path of life he wanted to pursue. He even took me to church so I was hopeful that our relationship will quickly progress into marriage.

You agree. Don’t you, Brenda?

Faizan’s voice cut through my thoughts and brought me back to the reality of the office. I had clearly not been paying attention to the case study for a long time. Now everyone was looking at me. Those who were friendly with me, like my closest friend, Esther, were hoping that I would say something right. Those who weren’t particularly friendly, like Susan, the wickedly beautiful girl who wanted my boyfriend at any cost, were already smiling derisively hoping the question spelt trouble for me. Faizan’s question was very tricky. Someone needed to explain to me that there was really nothing to agree to. But how could I have known that? I wasn’t sure if ‘yes’ or ‘no’ was the correct answer because I had completely blanked out for a moment. I lost the line of the discussion. I took a chance to say something as Faizan wasn’t letting go.

Err…yes. I … umm…, agree, I said slowly and as I rapidly scanned the faces of my colleagues for clues. Susan was chuckling pleasurably because I was making a fool of myself.

What do you agree with? He asked.

I was stuck. Everyone was laughing at me now even my supposed friends. He then ignored me for a while and started addressing the team.

Keep your mind focused on the business for the day. If you’re in doubt, ask. Err on the side of caution and company policy. Let’s have a nice day. This was Faizan’s classic way of ending our morning sessions and with that everyone dispersed to their job posts.

As I got up to leave, he said, Brenda, focus on what’s most important. I thanked him and went to my desk.

I tried to focus on the job but couldn’t just help not thinking about a lot of things. Why was there no discussion about marriage in my relationship with a man I loved so much? I knew kelvin wasn’t cheating on me even though Susan had done so many things to get him to breakup with me.

One day after work Susan tried to seduce Kelvin. I mean open, confrontational seduction! Kelvin must have had Jesus all over him to resist that. I was there and I know, for sure, that it could have taken only a gravely determined and focused man to not secretly go after Susan after what she did. She was voluptuous and sexually attractive. She was super curvy in front, behind and at her sides. Susan did not have to do anything to get the attention of most men but she wanted Kelvin’s - the one man who did not pay her any extra attention other than what the job required.

I did my best to focus on my job but I had decided that it was time to have this discussion with Kelvin once and for all and to set deadlines on our relationship goals.

I was sitting on a chair in the staff kitchen at lunch. There were about eight other staff there too. Esther came in and tapped me at my back while she was smiling.

Goofer! She called out to me and laughed as she warmed her lunch in the microwave oven.

You’re the queen of goofers, I replied with a smile. She sat opposite me while we ate and chatted.

I feel that I should talk to Kelvin about our relationship, I told her.

What exactly do you want to talk to him about?

Well, about the way forward. I don’t believe in being in a relationship for the sake of it. It’s been over twelve months and I feel strongly that after this long, if we’re not sure that we want to settle down together, what’s the point? Why should it take so long to decide? What do you think, Esther?

I had known Esther since we were little grade two kids. We weren’t best friends then but over the years we grew closer until we found that we had a lot in common. Yet we had our differences. Esther wasn’t the best person for me to convince that a long-term relationship between a man and woman, which did not have any concrete plan for marriage wasn’t very cool, especially when one party wanted to be married. We both wanted to get married. We were both in relationships but nothing seemed to be happening. In fact, Esther had been in relationship with her guy for a very long time with no talks about marriage. I am not against people in long term unmarried relationships, if it’s what they want, but since I want to be married, I don’t see why I shouldn’t pursue that desire. And that’s why I thought it was time to talk to Kelvin.

You need time to get to know people, Brenda, Esther said.

Agreed. But that shouldn’t take forever! If in six to nine months people can’t make up their minds, I think they’re not ready for marriage. I mean, it’s not even a long-distance relationship we’re talking about. Fred is in this city, Kelvin is in this city and we’ve been dating for a minimum of thirteen months in my case and yours has been donkey years. So why are we still single?

Rather than answer my question, Esther responded with hers.

What if you get into the marriage and you find that the person is a different person from who you thought he was? You’ll feel guilty that you did not give the dating period enough time.

Esther, that’s the point! People don’t need donkey years to find out if they want to be married to someone or not; a year is enough to make that decision. If you’re ok with you and Fred like this, and I know you’re not, so don’t pretend now. I am not saying that Kelvin must marry me but at least after a while, I will like to know the direction of our relationship. So, I will discuss with Kelvin and hear what he says.

What if he gets upset and leaves or what if he perceives you as being desperate? Esther lowered her voice as she asked.

I knew those were your fears, Esther. If he gets upset and leaves, well, it’s good riddance to someone who’s not interested anyway; because, if he is interested, at least he’ll say he’s not ready but not to get upset and leave, I said with an attitude. If he thinks I’m desperate because I’m bringing up a topic I consider important, then I think something is really wrong with his thought process.

The patient dog gets the fattest bone, Esther said.

I couldn’t believe that was the analogy Esther was bringing into something that was so serious to both of us.

Only when all other dogs are blind, I told her. … don’t know about you, but I don’t think I should just fold my arms and do nothing. If I have to play ‘wife,’ at least let me have the pleasure of knowing that it’ll soon be a reality. I filled my mouth with a fork load of vegetables.

Good things come to those who wait, Esther said again.

Now she was beginning to annoy me. This wasn’t about being patient or waiting. Esther was scared to death of being dumped by her boyfriend, Fred. That was why she was willing to be his girlfriend forever rather than ‘upset’ him with a question about marriage, yet, he treated her without much respect.

Again, I agree with you, Esther. Good things come to those who ‘wait’ only when those who ‘act’ have taken the better things, I said as I placed my right elbow on the table with my empty fork in my hand. I prefer the latter, I told Esther as I waved the empty fork in the air.

While Esther and I were talking, Kelvin came into the staff kitchen for a snack. He came over to where we were and greeted us then went to fetch his drink and snack from the refrigerator, as Esther winked at me teasingly.

So is that - Esther looked at Kelvin then back at me - a good thing or a better thing?

Get out of here, I told her with a smirk. She started giggling quietly but mischievously then she packed up her plate and left the kitchen.

Did I send Esther away? Kelvin asked as he took the seat Esther had vacated.

I don’t think so, I said with a smile.

The kitchen door suddenly opened and Susan rushed in. She stopped in her tracks when she saw me sharing a happy moment with Kelvin. I rolled my eyes and my smile faded. Susan was determined to break up my relationship with Kelvin. Maybe she thought Kelvin was alone in the kitchen and she wanted to pull a quick seductive move on him again. Even though Kelvin had repeatedly told her that he wasn’t interested in her, she refused to back off and that made me feel concerned.

You know, if I didn’t know better I’d have thought you and Susan were really fooling me.

Don’t be silly, Kelvin chuckled. Ignore her. She’s just looking for attention in the wrong place.

Any normal woman would have backed off at least out of shame, I told Kelvin.

He looked up at me and said with a wry smile, consider her abnormal. Then he returned to his snack.

Of all the routes to the refrigerator, Susan chose the aisle closest to where Kelvin and I sat as the most convenient to get to the refrigerator. We were engrossed in our discussion when she walked past us and purposely hit the table with her hip such that Kelvin’s drink, which had been sitting by the edge of the table, tumbled over and spilled its contents on his ash-colored trouser. She seemed unperturbed, and offered no apologies. She just looked backwards over her shoulders, through her fluttering, long, false lashes at Kelvin, smiled seductively and kept walking.

Susan! Kelvin called out to her in a serious but calm voice, try this game of yours on me again and you’ll not like how I’ll handle it. You and me? It’s not happening! Not under any circumstance. He turned to me and muttered a little sorry dear, I have to change and left the kitchen.

I had that feeling of victory. Not the kind of victory from a fight fought and won by yourself, but that nice feeling of conquest, total vanquish, and complete annihilation. That type which comes from seeing your nemesis, an icon of beauty no doubt being put down right before your very eyes and you announced as the preferred choice. This was someone who has taunted, humiliated and embarrassed you with her natural beauties and by virtue of which she was determined to snatch your beloved boyfriend from you. Ha! I lie not. It felt good. It was my little moment of glory. So you see, with Kelvin’s grand display of chivalry, I believed it was time for us to take the relationship to the next level. And since he wasn’t talking about it, I had to. Susan stood frozen on the same spot as she watched the door Kelvin had just walked out of slam closed behind him. That she was furious is to put it mildly even as she tried to present a calm look. I gave a short-puckered whistle and left the kitchen.

At the close of work that day Kelvin came to pick me from my house for dinner. I had decided I was going to ask Kelvin about the status and the future of our relationship at dinner or shortly afterwards. He had been waiting for me in my sitting room while I was getting dressed in the bedroom. I had already had my bath and worn a fresh but light make-up. I wore the long sleeved, maxi teal dress that I had laid out on the bed before I had my bath. I hurriedly put on a white flat sandal and grabbed my white purse because I was in a hurry to get to Kelvin since I had kept him waiting for a while. I opened the bedroom door, which opened into the sitting room. I had taken just one step and was about to plunge myself fully into the sitting room. I noticed that Kelvin was still on the phone with his elder brother. He was standing with his back towards me and facing a window close to the entrance door into the sitting room, his phone to his right ear. I was about to announce that I was ready when I heard him say,

Yes, I know I can’t marry her. I told you the issue of tribal differences is as important to me as it is to any of you ….

Kelvin was the last of six siblings. He had three brothers and two sisters. He once told me that they had a family tradition where all the kids in their families were expected to marry people from their ethnic group. I just thought that it wasn’t something very serious especially in this twenty-first century. I had hoped that Kelvin and I were going to be on the same side of the debate, if we ever got to the point where ethnicity became an issue that.

I don’t know how she’ll take it but I’ll find a convenient time to explain things to her, he continued.

Was it me or someone else he had to explain things to? I wondered.

It’s not easy but life has to go on, Kelvin kept saying to his brother.

I couldn’t hear what his brother was saying. I could only hear Kelvin’s responses. Kelvin instinctively turned around to make sure I wasn’t listening in on his conversation with his brother. But there I was. Dressed and ready for dinner, my hand still clutching tightly to the door handle. I stood there frozen. I had something important to discuss with him. He had something important to explain to me