The honking from the car behind startled her. The green light urged her to drive on. Alero waved one hand at the scowling driver. When she looked sideways, her eyes met the good-looking gaze of the young driver. He drove alongside in a silver Lexus convertible and he winked again.
He mouthed, “Hello beautiful.” With one hand, he touched the tip of his back-facing baseball hat and pulled it off with flourish.
Alero shook her head and smiled.
The olive-skinned bloke in a navy polo shirt perched his sunglasses on his jet-black, curly, high-top cut hair, and had what must be a killer smile on his lips.
“If you find somewhere safe to park, we can talk,” he shouted so she could hear him above the passing road traffic.
She laughed and shook her head. It felt good to be complimented twice in less than fifteen minutes. Alero tried to recall the last time her husband told her she was beautiful. There was no record in her memory. Kyle was always working. As a film director, he was too busy on location, working with the industry’s most beautiful models in Los Angeles.
The handsome driver’s persistent flirting reminded her of how Kyle hunted her night, after night to date him. Of course, she had resisted because he had a reputation for dating models. Although there was no confirmation he slept with any of them. The models kept sealed lips. Kyle liked to have a good time, but he usually drew a line. Or so she thought.
In the early months after they were married, he often referred to Alero as his most challenging date. It must have been the reason he picked her to be his bride.
Another horn blared, and she slanted her head.
“I’m waiting for your reply,” the fetching driver insisted with his brows arched.
Alero giggled. “I’m married.” She was so sure he would drive off. Instead, he laughed in her face.
“I don’t believe you. First, no rings.”
She looked at the indented, lighter part of her fourth finger, where the rings sat a short while ago.
“Secondly, if you weren’t interested in me, I would have known.”
Cocky young man, Alero concluded. “You’re too young for me,” she threw at him. It felt good to play the tease for once. It evoked memories of her modelling days. Men were drawn to her like moths to a flame. She had teased them, dated a few and had a good time, until Kyle had asked her to marry him.
Adrenalin rushed around her body. For the first time in almost six months, her flesh tingled. She toyed with the idea of having a one night stand.
Who would know? Her heart wondered.
Alero’s good sense and beliefs warred with the thought of satisfying her lust.
Just this once, her heart groaned.
She winked at the eager face. He was young, fine-looking and obviously wanted her body.
“If you think I’m too young, find a safe place to park and we can take it from there. I want to have a drink with you.” His dusky eyes raked her golden brown skin. Heat pooled between her thighs.
She shrugged her shoulders. “For now, you’re a distraction. I’m running away from one man, I’m not in a hurry to find another.” The sadness in her tone must have penetrated his lustful demeanour.
He sighed. “Which idiot spoiled you for me?”
Alero smiled and drove off. But not before he threw his business card into her car.
Three
Kyle abandoned the photo shoot mid-way in Los Angeles, instructed his assistant to complete the job and flew on the next available plane to London.
You blew it this time, his conscience mentioned for the fiftieth stint in a row.
“Shut up, you moron!” he muttered through clenched teeth.
The elderly male passenger beside him stared, his eyebrows arched wide.
“Are you at war with your conscience?” the passenger asked in a kind tone.
Kyle pressed his lips together. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to disturb your peace.”
The man shrugged and waved his apology away. “Worry is eating at you. I can tell. Do you want to share?”
Kyle paused for a long moment.
Do I want to confide in a complete stranger? After a while, he turned to the man. “If I don’t talk pretty soon, anyway, I’ll probably go nuts.”
“That’s exactly what I thought,” the man concurred.
“I just got a call from my father. He said my wife has left me.”
He thought the man would jump in asking several questions at once, but he said nothing.
“Aren’t you going to ask why?” Kyle wondered what sort of person wasn’t curious about a bombshell like that.
“What’s the hurry? You’re going to tell me. We have a couple more hours on this flight.”
Kyle shifted in his spacious seat as if it had pins, swallowed and took a sip of the alcoholic beverage.
“I have been a complete idiot, taken better care of work and left her alone with all the comforts a woman could ever hope for.” Admitting he had failed his wife hurt so much. Kyle Thomson had never been linked with failure.
“Is that all?” His fellow passenger’s question implied Kyle had more to say.
Kyle glared at the man.
The older man with silver hair at his temple, stared right back.
Kyle wrenched away his gaze. “Who are you? A priest? You look at me as if you can see right through my soul.” The large balls of cotton wool floating across the sky caught Kyle’s attention. He always took the window seat in first class. The endless stretch of blue sky dotted with white balls usually calmed his nerves, but not on this occasion. The hypnotic sight suggested there was a mighty being somewhere who was in control of the universe.
At the moment, his mind churned over his wife’s persistent complaints.
“I haven’t had sex with her in several months.” As the words left his mouth, he covered his face in guilt. He was a disgrace. Alero was the most beautiful woman he had ever met, and she had given him a hard time before he could get in between her legs.
“Is there any reason you shirked your marital responsibilities?” Though his companion’s question was softly spoken, it felt like a whiplash on his battered conscience.
Kyle winced. “There’s no good enough reason. Honestly, I don’t know why I’m speaking to a complete stranger about my problems.”
The man kept his eyes shut. “I’m listening,” he replied as if Kyle was a problem child. “Life deals you various cards. The decision on what to do with each card is yours to make. So what are you going to do about your situation?”
Kyle rubbed his jaw. “I’m going to find her and bring her back home where she belongs.” There was certainty in his words. Only his heart faltered.
The man laughed.
“What’s funny?” Kyle wondered what was comical about his marriage falling apart.
“How long have you been married?”
“Four years at the start of the year.”
“Did you celebrate your wedding anniversary with your wife?”
Why did this man’s query set his teeth on edge? Kyle shook his head. Alero had called him during the weeks leading up to January thirtieth, to remind him to fly home, to celebrate. He had told her there was no time. Work and other commitments had his name tag. A million dollar project in LA for Walt Disney, and a tennis tournament he could not cast off. How could he jettison his career and his reputation to celebrate his wedding anniversary? Now, the old man’s question stabbed his scruples and he recoiled in his seat.
“There are many things you need to learn. Many things. A woman can remain loyal with her body and soul until she finds a good reason not to.”
How comforting, Kyle almost sneered. “My father said something happened, she drove away, and threatened not to return.”
“Your father takes care of your wife in your absence?”
Kyle groaned. He wanted to disappear from this man’s all-knowing sight. He seemed to cut a powerful punch to Kyle’s guts. Alero despised his parents for reasons he failed to underst
and. She often told him she hated the way they interfered in their marriage.
“I only wanted my family to keep an eye on her, but she resented it.”
The man nodded with his lips pressed together. “Aha! We’re getting somewhere. Young man, when you have lived as long as I have, you learn to keep your family far away from your marriage.”
Kyle turned to face the man, but he stared ahead. “What do you mean?”
“I pray you win your wife back. Don’t think the road to a successful marriage is paved with gold, and the fine things of life.” He paused. “A woman is like a tender bud. She needs your constant attention, complimentary remarks, and many other little things you probably have taken for granted for her to blossom and remain by your side. Hope for the best, my friend.”
Kyle shrank back in his seat. His score card was freaking red! He had failed his wife. It was so simple to see after the frank discussion with a man he barely knew.
“I thought I was doing the right thing by keeping Alero away from my work. I was scared to lose her,” Kyle mumbled. Even to his ears, his words reeked of selfishness. He swallowed and downed the half-full glass of burning liquid.
“Never mind, there’s hope for you,” the stranger encouraged.
For a long period, Kyle curled into a ball and brooded. The man let him drown his sorrow in silence.
As the plane prepared for landing, the man removed the scarf around his neck.
Kyle’s jaw dropped open. “You’re a priest?” No wonder he felt as if the man could see his soul. The priest collar had stayed safely tucked away beneath his muffler.
“Yes sir, and so I am. A retired clergy. Here, take this bible. I have scribbled my name and address on the inside, somewhere. If you ever need to talk, come over to see me. My darling wife, Aileen would be delighted to cook you a meal. We’ve been married, forty-five years.” With that last remark, the clergyman disappeared.
Kyle’s trembling fingers clutched the holy book. He felt too stained to even hold the book. But he didn’t have the heart to thrust it aside. The old man could have been an angel, he sure acted like one.
Four
An hour later, Kyle was on his father’s doorstep.
His dad opened the door. There was a scowl on his face and a young boy by his side.
“Hello dad.”
“Welcome home, son. Geez! You stayed away so long this time. Are you working for the US president?”
He left his father to shut the door, while he walked straight to the second living room, where he knew his parents watched daytime TV.
His mother was on her feet beaming from ear to ear. He hugged her and pecked both cheeks.
“I’ll get you a drink, Kyle. What a joy to have you home.”
His heart thudded in his chest. There was so much he wanted to know.
“Where did my wife say she was going dad?” he asked, facing his father who was settling the young chap in the newly created play area at the far end of the huge living space. “I trusted you to take care of her. What happened?”
“Here,” his mother pushed a glass of scotch into his hands.
“Dear mum, I need a clear head right now. Where’s my wife?”
“She left,” his father answered. For the first time, the indifference he had often detected in his dad’s voice turned to relief.
Kyle ground his teeth. “Please forgive my stupidity. I don’t understand. Gone where? Tell me where she is. I want to go get her.”
Wyatt straightened his bulky self.
“Sit down, Kyle. Allow your father to explain,” Lydia intervened with a small smile.
His mum had never pretended to care much about Alero, but he had assumed it was because she had expected him to marry Leona, the senator’s spoilt daughter. That was six years ago.
“Mum, let me handle this. Dad, where can I find Alero?” In truth, how he managed to keep his tone steady baffled him. Maybe the short counselling with the priest rubbed off on him.
“Your wife said she was going away and never coming back.”
Kyle held his head in both hands to prevent it from splitting in two. “That doesn’t make sense,” he countered. “What on earth did you do this time to make her run away?”
“What do you mean by that? Are you saying I kicked your wife out?” His dad’s severe words didn’t match his expression. Amusement lurked in his eyes.
“You understood me correctly, dad.”
Wyatt Thomson faced his son. “What do you want me to say? Alero’s an adult. She packed and left after describing your marriage as a ‘hopeless four and a half year relationship’. I knew you should never have married her. Now you have good grounds for a divorce.”
If his father had stuck a knife in his chest, it would have been better. “What the hell are you talking about? For all the troubles you have had in your marriage, why haven’t you divorced mum? Why haven’t you?”
“Kyle!” his parents shrieked in unison.
Kyle threw both hands in the air. “Oh, see how that hurts. Why do you think you have a right to pack up my marriage behind my back?”
His dad wagged one finger. “Look here, you have no one to blame but yourself, Kyle. I didn’t ask you to father a child out of wedlock or stay away from your wife for long periods.”
His mother had taken the child away from the room. Thank God.
The truth slapped some sense out of his head. “I fathered a child?”
“Yes, you did. Or so Bethany said. She popped by our gate yesterday morning, and dropped young Kyle with an instruction to hand him over to you.”
Kyle dropped into the arm chair near his right leg. “Is this the joke of the year, dad?”
“Did you know about young Kyle?” His father’s eyes fastened on his.
Kyle shook his head. His mouth refused to form any word. Bethany was one of the models he frolicked with after he got married. He had not planned to sleep with her at all.
“She didn’t tell me she was pregnant. I didn’t know about any son,” he whispered after a while. He sat up, his eyes focused on his dad’s, but he wasn’t sure who he was looking at. “How did my wife find out?” The question popped out after a long while. It was possible Bethany phoned his wife. After all, they worked together in the past.
“I took Kyle to your home and introduced him to your wife.”
Kyle jumped off his chair. “You did what? What the hell did you do that for?”
His mother returned to the room.
He swung on her. “Mum, you allowed dad ruin my marriage? I trusted both of you. Is this how you reward me? You took a child I have never seen from an alleged affair to my wife?” Tears stung his face.
God, please tell me this is all a dream, please.
“It was the best way. If you take a look at the child, he looks like your double. It was better she found out sooner rather than later.” His mum’s words were like salt on his open wound.
Kyle growled, snatched his glass off the table and smashed it against the fireplace.
“Kyle! Take a hold of yourself. She was not the woman you should have married in the first place. I always knew she had more golden beauty than good sense.” The word, golden, sounded sinister enough to sponge out every good judgment he ever had.
“Again, we told you marrying an African woman wasn’t a good idea from the start. You had three white women of good character to pick from, no, you had to settle for a woman who simply refuses to shed her Nigerian and Algerian roots.” His mother’s words kept his wounds fresh, he feared they would never heal.
“Dad! Mum! What you’ve done is vile! You sit together in a warm embrace, in a less than perfect marriage, yet you break up mine. Is there any place you know where they renounce parents?”
His mum’s hands flew to cover her mouth.
“Your son is a beautiful child. When you get to know him, you’ll thank us for taking him in. Don’t come blaming your mum and me. You never stayed home long enough to make your marriage work in the firs
t place,” his dad fired.
“You know damn well I was working. And what I do is important.”
Wyatt spread wide his hands. “You have a weird way of showing your love for a woman you all but abandoned. We only finished the job you began.” If only there was a way he could undo the past.
“Right now, I regret ever letting you anywhere near my wife and my marriage. It is the biggest mistake of my life. And I won’t make the same mistake twice. You may not see me again for a long time. Goodbye dad. Goodbye mum.”
“Kyle!” his mum screamed at his retreating back. “I’m sorry.”
“Kyle!” his dad called.
He drove home in a daze. Too wound up to eat, Kyle brought out the bible given to him by the clergyman. At first, he simply held the book to his chest and wept. The tears were for his misplaced priorities, his unbelievable folly, his devious-minded parents and his wrecked marriage.
Indeed, life dealt him assorted cards and he foolishly shuffled them out of his hands. He had made so many bad decisions in his marriage. Although, Alero had pushed him away now and again with her jealousy and insecurity, it was not a good enough excuse to neglect her the way he had.
Can I blame her?
She was only seeking his attention. Now she had left him, he suddenly understood how badly she had needed him to be here. Every sound echoed in the mansion. How isolating. She had begged him to invite her brothers from Warri to keep her company. Out of pride and selfishness, he had put off the decision.
He opened the bible and read until he lost track of time. If there was a God up there, he needed him now.
Hours later, he prayed with his heart and soul. “If you help me find Alero, and you help us work through our many problems, and you return her home, I’ll serve you all the days of my life.”
Do it for me dear God, please.
His phone rang.
He checked the name flashing past the screen. It was his assistant director.
“What is it, Dickson?”
“Everything okay over there? You dashed off as if your home was on fire.” His friend laughed.
“My home is on fire, Dickson. There’s nothing cheerful about it.”
“Oh Kyle. I’m sorry to hear that. I had no idea. I was only mucking about.”
Forbidden Dance: Will She Forgo Her Marriage for a Lifetime of Happiness? Page 2