Christopher
Bonn, Germany

I decided to remain in the bathroom when the voice got a lot more familiar. It was closer to hearing shot even. My mind was reeling. As I leaned by the walls of the bathroom, I opened the door very slightly just before it would start to make that creaky sound.

The little effort I made on the doorknob granted me peeping access for just one eye so I made the best use of it. I saw Irene at the entrance of the living room with a man that was relatively taller than she was. The dim natural light from the outside made me see the identity of the man Irene was looking at and the familiarity of his voice made perfect sense only after seeing his face and recognizing it. It didn't do only that. It provided answers to my numerous "why's" from times past.

It was my former employee, Damian.

He had been working with Irene. I already suspected that when she showed up at the police station to bail me instead of him which made me fire him in the first place but now it was confirmed. He's here and I know his presence here is going to open my eyes to so many interesting things.  Quickly, I unlocked my phone and turned on the voice recorder with hopes that it would record their voices no matter how faint.

I couldn't see Irene's face properly because I didn't open the door widely enough but I knew she was tensed. She didn't want him here. Especially since I was at her house.

"What? I should come tomorrow? But it's been a while." he tried to keep his tone low but the sexual frustration in his voice begged to differ. I had to lean harder on the wall and making use of my one eye and placing my phone in between the open space of the doors to stay in check.

Irene was trying to push him out of the door. She was nervous.

"Yes. Come tomorrow. I know you won't believe this but...Christopher is here right now. Yes. I was finally able to get him to come around."

At that point, I knew I didn't have to worry about a call or a text from Yemisi and I didn't have to bother about getting a gynecologist to come over because I was about to learn the biggest news of my life. Although reluctantly and with utter disbelief, Damian decided to cooperate till Irene was able to get him out of the house, and immediately, she shut the door to the living room.

When I was sure they were out of the living room, I walked out of the bathroom and looked through the curtain. I saw Irene leaning against the iron barriers of the balcony with Damian standing close. I was happy that I could still hear the voices so I trusted my phone's voice recorder to do the same.

"How were you able to?"  Damian resumed his questioning. I held my breath dearly, hoping they wouldn't see me through the curtains.

"He simply gave up on pushing me away and has believed that the baby belongs to him... Don't ruin my last opportunity to make Christopher mine. Leave."

I covered my mouth with my free hand, trying so hard not to gasp. God had a bigger plan because that was only the reasonable explanation for why my vindication had come like this without having to stress any further.

And it was only in that moment I remembered that nothing had happened that night at the alehouse. Crazy how I couldn't remember anything until now. That night, my head felt extremely heavy-weighted and I didn't realize I was in the bedroom of an alehouse till my eyes opened slightly, somewhere in the middle of Irene trying to make love with me.

I wasn't sure of what I saw but the lower part of my body hurt so much... Like someone was squeezing it or holding it captive. Especially my penis. When I woke up the following morning to find myself stark naked but without any fluid or wetness in sight, I was confused. Did Irene have sex with me? I never knew the answer till now and I strongly believe she was trying hard to get me erect then and it was clear her efforts had been futile.

I grinned internally.

It took a lot of effort to snap out of my chain of thoughts because even if it was over in my head, it wasn't over on my voice recorder. I had to keep listening.

"What about me? The night we shared. Did it mean nothing to you? You didn't feel anything from what we used to have before you got crazy over that..."

"You knew what it was all along. Don't play that card right now when I've almost got what I want. Besides you're raising your voice. You will leave right now, Damian."

"Irene—"

"While I'm saying it nicely, " she added with the last bit of patience left in her. Her trepidation was rising by the minute. She was at the brink of losing it but knew she just couldn't.

Either way, whatever decision she arrived at would be invalid but she chose not to scream. The burning rage and the linger of a dangerous promise in her eyes were enough to make Damian leave. He knew he had to leave.

As he was in hesitation to leave, I tried to listen to the voice recording at a low volume and was very happy that it had captured their voices. Quickly, I sent the recording to my wife with a text saying, we won.

My biggest problem was getting out of her house now that I know what I need to know and unfortunately, the night was drawing near. The right time to have sex. Something she wanted. If I leave now, it would be obvious that I overheard her argument with Damian. What to do... What to do...

In the middle of my thoughts, I heard her footsteps, and quickly, I hopped on the sofa and positioned myself to sit as comfortably as I could just before I heard her open the door.

I turned towards her with a smile on my face. Most likely a sinister smile. She did her best to return the smile but beads of sweat had already formed on her pale forehead making her smile look rather forced.

"I'm sorry I took a while in the bathroom," I apologized as naturally as I could making it sound like that was where I had been all along. As I was supposed to make her believe. "Shall we have a drink to relax and perhaps lighten the mood for the night?"

"Um... Yes yes. Let's do that."

It was more of a battle for her to keep her cool than it was for me. I was way ahead of her when I stood up from the couch and rubbed her shoulder for a second in a way to say, 'you are finished, sweetheart.'

"Don't worry I'll do it. I'll find my way to the kitchen, " I said.

Once I was able to locate the kitchen and grab a bottle of rosé from the wine shelf which didn't take me up to ten minutes in total, I filled two glasses with an adequate amount of the bottle's content and spiked the glass meant for Irene with GHB (gamma hydroxybutyrate) - an effective sleeping pill in form of a powdery substance.

Then I thought of calling Yemisi. I knew she must have gone through a lot at the fish pond and would be too tired but if I told her that I needed her to bail me out from Irene, she would find her way.

But the thought of returning the same deed was prevalent on my mind too. I wished to stay around and make Irene feel like we had sex so she would wake up in confusion like I did but that might have a bad after effect. Someone might see me and miscommunicate what they saw to my wife.

But if they see my wife coming to pick me up, wouldn't they think it was a conspiracy of some sort?

Call your wife right now! You don't have all day to think.

So I did. Thankfully, she picked her call and agreed to come over at the specified time.

When I walked back to the living room, she was still seated, picking her fingers anxiously but tried to be of good cheer once she saw me. I settled on the sofa and sat next to her, placing the glass cups on the table. I took my time to give her the glass of wine that was meant for her.

She was just about to take a sip when she paused. My heart began to pound immediately. Oh no. She shouldn't be so clever right now...

"I'm not sure if I'm in the mood tonight, Christopher. I've been feeling nauseous and I'm sure it's due to this pregnancy so maybe some other time."

"Oh, " I laughed a little. "That's alright but I'll advise you sip the drink at least. I learned that it's okay for pregnant women to drink alcohol occasionally. It might be just what you need to feel relaxed."

"Okay then, " she concurred easily and took a sip of the drink. She took another. And another. I had been trying so hard for many minutes to suppress my grins but now was the time for me to try my hardest as I watched her down the entire glass in delight.

Thirty minutes later, Irene was asleep and fully clothed. I didn't want to touch her in any way so once she wakes up, she'll know that she has been caught. Touching her or removing any piece of her clothing might just ruin my entire plan.

Yemisi came at the right time because I heard the slight honking of her assistant's car. She already told me to be on the lookout for that. Immediately, I picked my phone up from the couch, ready to leave the living room when I felt a hand circle around my wrists as if to prevent me from moving.

I looked to my side slowly, my iris completely dilated and my heart pounding.

Irene wasn't deeply asleep yet...