Written by Mofoluwake Omololu.
He came out of the bathroom to meet a smiling Lara waiting for him.
“How are you honey? And where did you disappear to this time?”, She was saying as she floated towards him and planted a kiss on him. She held unto his hand and made him follow her back to the bed, sit and then she sat on his leg. “So what happened in Rio that ought to stay in Rio”, she asked as she laughed and drew circles on his back were her hand was.
Kola was confused and didn’t know which of her questions to answer first. He figured that if he waited too long she would sense that he wasn’t in tune with her so he needed to respond quickly. He laughed and said, “It was something I read on my phone that I flipped, you know, What Happens in Vegas Stays in Vegas.”
She looked shocked for a bit and said, “Did you kill somebody? Is that where you went? Is that what you’ve been doing? Or are you cheating on me?”, she sat upright as she spoke and made to stand up when she was done but Kola held her put.
“What the Hell are you talking about woman?!!!” His confusion was even more evident and amusing for Lara as she burst out laughing.
“Ah, ah, my husband, calm down. I’m just making a joke. Ha! Abi did you kill somebody ni? Breath Kola, look at your face. It was a joke o”.
She went into the living room and came back with a box of Toblerone she’d obvioudly devored alongside her meal. She asked if he had anything to eat and ordered a meal to their room when he shook his head.
He was game through the rest of the day as they talked about everything and nothing, she’d tried to bring up the night before but he pushed it away as soon as he realised that she remembered there had been an act of love making but thought that it had been with him rather than Shola.
She was excited about it and that made him angry so he asked that they didn’t talk about it, citing “what happens in Rio stays in Rio”.
That night as Lara slept, Kola’s supposedly repented mind wondered if that one time would be enough to work the magic he was conjouring. The common saying was that the third time was the charm, so the chances of Lara taking in was quite slim, it had only been one time. He didn’t want to think of the time and effort he’d have wasted if she didn’t take in, and Lara would have commited adultery, on his account, for nothing.
He knew he couldn’t risk it a second time so he choose to hope that it worked out according to plan. He didn’t even want to have to see Shola ever again, he was angry at him, it was a confusing feeling since he had made him do what had been done.
By the time day broke, Kola had repented again and decided that the best way out of his predicament was to return home immediately, even though they still had about two weeks to go before they were done with their vacation.
Lara wasn’t the least bit thrilled by his announcement, she was having the best time and wasn’t ready to go back to their real life. He begged and begged for the next three days and by the fifth they were on their way back to Nigeria.
Shola and Janice had stopped by briefly with gifts to send them off, Lara noticed a vein popping in her husbands forehead while they had visited which she asked him about later. He said he was just not very comfortable with Shola and alluded it to the fact that they, Lara and Shola, used to like each other. She assured him that it was nothing to worry over and they laughed about it.
Uncle Dede was thrilled to see them, even though they hadn’t used up the time he had given them. Although they spoke with him daily while they were away he enjoyed catching up with them, they’d had an amazing time and had the looks to show for it.
Things were good, they had a week before they had to resume to their jobs and even after, they lived in the euphoria of the vacation they had. Kola was even able to push his thoughts very far from surface level.
Until he started sensing the changes in Lara.