Nadia Browne took a few steps upto where Bob Lee was standing and held hands with him, proving a strong bond between him and her.
Blushing, they both shared a simple kiss and relaxed, turning her faces on Bob Lee's mom.
This took Ishtar by storm like; "why must they do such a thing in my presence? Are they mocking me or something?" Irritated, at the back of her mind she questioned.
Ishtar stood speechlessly but hurting. She wrung her hands piteously together, looking like a soul in torment as she watched her husband and his side chick putting on a fumbling show in front of her, without feeling bothered.
"Mom, this is Nadia Browne, my fiance," With a blissful smile, Bob Lee introducing a lady, his first cut which was said to be the deepest, the woman he had always loved from the first night they rubbed bodies in a hotel suit, to his mother.
To him, it was of great honor.
However, "are you insane?" his mother saw it as a very big embarrassment, rude act and undermining.
She wasn't please. But Bob Lee didn't mind even after noticing how irritated her mother got after him introducing the love of his life.
So calm and free,"I've already made plans in one week time from now _ to put a ring on her finger," he communicated clearly to his mom and wife to stand aware.
This began to torment Ishtar more and more.
Unsettledly, in an open-mouthed gaze, "you lied to me you Damn bitch," in her head she growled and tears started coming out of her eyes.
Mother, looking at her son perplexedly. She switched eyes to Nadia Browne and said to her, "this is not to disrespect you young lady but, I can see you're a very beautiful catch and any man can loose themselves just to grab a bite of you. But then, I believe you know that my son was a happily married man before you caught his eyes."
"With all due respect mother," Nadia Browne replied, "I and your son had sex before he got married. And one thing am conc sure of, after that night, we became a twin flame. Your son here loves me deeply, and I too love him from moon and back."
"That's a big lie!" Ishtar barked angrily.
"Hard to bare, but it's the truth my dear," on a serious not Nadia Browne stressed the point looking in her eyes, "he is my man before you stole him from me."
Ishtar gave an indifferent laughter, "me! Stealing a man?!" She couldn't believe Nadia's accusation.
"Yes," Nadia stressed it to hurt her and make her feel like a clown.
"I didn't steal him! He asked me to marry him and..." Ishtar tried to angrily urgue Nadia out.
"And what?" But Nadia never allowed Ishtar to conclude the sentence, "and you accepted a man you knew so well doesn't love you?"
"Gosh!" Ishtar exclaimed irritatedly according to the hurting words Nadia was bombarding her, which stung like a bee.
Mother couldn't tolerate seeing her daughter-in-law being insulted.
"You mate my son first, like any other cheap whore you put your pants down, bla bla, but nevertheless, Ishtar is the lady he is married to."
"Are you proving to be desparate? Battling a wife on her man? Besides, he is a father with children."
"One died," Ishtar had to remind her mother-in-law briefly on that amid the battle of words.
"Okay one of the twins didn't survive, but my son is now a father who needs to concentrate on family. And you wouldn't want to distract a family man from performing family duties," Bob Lee's moher spoke bold enough to his son's mistress.
Nadia felt embarrassed and she couldn't catch her breath nicely as she had been all along.
Bob Lee noticed his beloved mistress loosing the battle, "Mom stop!" And he yelled.
"Am I wrong?" His mother asked.
Painfully, "truth is I love Nadia Browne and am going to marry her, hate it or love it," he said and his determination was so high.
But his mother couldn't buy his determination to remarry.
"Same way you're holding hands, better you turn around with your mistress and find your way out, back to wherever you were coming from," she was overwhelmed.
Bob Lee smiled indifferently, "I knew it was not going to be a slip over," he said, "I mean, my so called wife (Ishtar) has always been your adorable daughter more than I'm your son."
"What?!" Mother got yet another shock.
The mood and attitude her son responded carried unexpected weight of envy and jealous.
From way back in times when Ishtar was 13 years old, Bob Lee lost his peace of mind when Ishtar, a house maid's daughter began to share some of the privileges he thought he was supposed to enjoy them alone as the only child of his parents.
Jealousy started when his mother took Ishtar to attend the same school with him.
"You think I wasn't watching how you gave her that front seat in the car to sit next to you? That was my seat! My seat before she came into our life to steal you away from me," Bob Lee's madly spoke to his mother.
"You're kidding me right?" Mother took it for a joke, but the attitude was loud and serious.
"Call it kidding, call it whatever you want. You
cherished how smart she was every time she brought home good grades.... and I became the simp of the moment with poor grades!" In a bitter tone of voice, Bob Lee complained.
Mother was confused. "You're my son and my intentions towards you were pure. I only wanted to see you improving your grades! What was bad in that? Besides, Ishtar here was as young as you were by then _ both of you deserved an equal treatment."
"Until today, she has your full support and attention, you're always proud of anything she does," Bob Lee complained further more without minding what his mother had to say, "Not at all different from way back when you gave her gifts and I never received any!"
Bob Lee put his mother in a situation where she started to defend herself.
"You know our agreement, only the child with good grades was to be gifted and she beat you on that. Every term she came back with good grades. Meaning she deserved those gifts."
"But still me and your father bought you a puppy when we promised."
With guilt conscious, feeling that maybe she wasn't enough in her son's life, mother tried to calm him down.
"Come-on Bob, you need to understand that Ishtar was as young as you were, an innocent child who needed parental love and care, and that's all me and your late father gave her."
Instead, Bob Lee reacted more bitter at his mother.
"She stole my place in your heart. I hate how I felt, and I hate father who saw my love being stolen by a stranger girl and chose not to do anything about it," with angry emotions, Bob Lee opened up, yelling more.
At the back of mother's mind, "if it's pain, yell it out son. You kept it for long," she said to herself.
"And as for you Ishtar," he turned his eyes on her, "I never loved you. I hate every single bit of you from when we were children. And if not for Nadia Browne to reject my love that day I passed out in the office, I had no intention of making you my wife. I asked you to marry me just to heal from the pain of disappointment I was going through."
Bob Lee spilled all the milk.
In other words, he opened the darkest parts of his soul for his mother specifically, to see how damaged he was.
His heart was jealous, envious, resentful with all the pains from childhood.
It was near to twilight, one hour for the day light to completely eat away the darkness of a long night. Ishtar was already awake with a backpack on her back and her new born baby in hand.
Ready to leave, she clutched a black leather suitcase.
Her eyes travelled across the bedroom, and memories of laughter and orgasm voices of herself in one of the best days she made love to her husband Bob Lee, echoed through her head amidst looking at their bed.
Sadness was written allover her face though.
Her husband was taken, in another woman's hands now.