“I didn‘t know I could sleep with a woman without having sex with them but you‘ve shown me.” They were lying on his bed and he couldn‘t remember the last time he felt so relaxed. The sheets were twisted around them and the air conditioner poured out cool air. The early dawn light peeped through the curtains. He‘d returned to Lagos a couple of days after Christmas while Gladys had come straight to his place from her flight yesterday evening so they could spend New Year eve together. She‘d been so tired they‘d gone to bed early.
“Happy New Year to you darling, I love you.”
“I love you too.” He accompanied that with a kiss. They‘d talked more openly and honestly than they ever had before and each knew where they stood with each other. It had been almost spiritual for him and now he wanted to share even more of himself with her.
Edward looked into her face. “I‘ve not fully told you about my earlier years, have I?”
“Not really. I do know you were born in an orphanage and moved about a few foster homes till you left the last of them when you were about seventeen.” Gladys replied. Many times the subject came up he glossed over all but the barest bones of it. He‘d told her more about the years after he had arrived in Lagos and how he‘d toiled to make something of his life. She must have concluded after a while that those were the years that made him what he was or that he would share when ready.
Edward sighed. “That is correct, but it misses out some of my most important experiences and how they affected me.”
What happened was one thing, how he‘d felt was another. He wished his childhood and early teenage years could remain in the past. Those were truly difficult years but they were part and parcel of him. A very big part now that he was going serious with Gladys.
“As a young orphan one thing I envied others was that sense of belonging somewhere. Before long, it was clear one needed not just personal merits but also the support of family to succeed in life.”
Gladys looked on without saying a word. A few minutes passed but she remained silent. He could hear the gurgling of the air conditioner and some sounds from the kitchen of his houseboy moving around but they sounded so distant. They could as well have been in the house by themselves.