Jessica packed her bags to go to see her husband in Harare. She arrived at 6:30 p.m. at the flat where her husband stayed.

Jessica knocked but nobody answered. A woman who was coming from the other door saw her.

“Can I help you?” the woman asked, annoyed.

“I am looking for Bright, my husband,” she answered disappointedly.

“Oh, he hasn’t come back yet. You can wait,” she said and slammed the door.

Jessica sat on her bag. She looked at the watch, it was 18:45. She leaned on the wall and fell asleep. She was exhausted from her journey. Bright came home after two hours and found Jessica sleeping. Her belly had grown and was near birth.

“Jessica, Jessica wakes up.” he whispered.

Jessica woke up, her husband opened the door and carried the bag. Jessica went inside and sat by the bed.

“Why are you here?” he asked, enraged.

“My baby, it’s been months, you don’t come home. I’ve missed you.” she answered regretfully.

“You should have thought about that before you slept with my brother,” he answered, annoyed.

He took off his clothes and slept. Jessica knew that Bright would never forgive her. She cried until her tears stopped. She sat for an hour thinking of why she had come. Bright woke up and switched the light on while she sat full of thoughts.

The night was long. Jessica couldn’t even close her eyes, wishing Bright would be the man who was so loving. It was her fault after all. No wonder women follow their husbands to stay with them in the places they worked. When Bright found work, he promised to visit her every two weeks but things changed. She finally fell asleep when her eyes were tired of crying.

The sun came up and at 6:05 a.m. she woke up and prepared water for her husband. She took a Bible and sat on the chair to read. Bright woke up and there was no conservation. She ignored the way Bright treated her, so she read the Bible. She had made breakfast and Bright didn’t even say ‘thank you’. He just ate and left.

No greetings, no kiss on her mouth or cheek, no cuddling, how would their marriage work? She read the Bible for an hour. She read about forgiveness. Bright must just forgive her. She wouldn’t go back to Lovemore, would she?

She cleaned the one-roomed house. She couldn’t eat, thinking about divorce. She dialled Gerald’s number and they had to talk about her marital affairs. Gerald agreed to meet.

*****

Bright sat in his office typing on the laptop. His calculations were not adding up well. He erased all he wrote and started afresh. Everything seemed to go wrong. Jessica’s visit was upsetting his workflow.

He stood up and walked to the restaurant. He sat and ordered a cup of tea and some toast. It wasn’t because he was hungry but he wanted to clear his mind with eating.

Shamiso sat down on the table 100 feet away. She recognised the man from somewhere. Flashes came back in her mind of when she was young. It was either Lovemore or Bright. They looked the same.

Bright stared at Shamiso as if he had met a very beautiful girl. He stood up as Shamiso looked away. He went to where she sat. Shamiso knew being in public was good that he wouldn’t abuse her in front of people.

“May I?” he asked gently.

“What do you want?!” she shouted.

“Just to talk,” he answered.

“I have nothing to say to you. Stay away from me or I will report you,” she hissed and left.

Bright didn’t understand. It was as if she knew him but from where?

***

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