The Climb

The next morning, I found myself alone in bed wondering where my gorgeous Greek god had disappeared to. As I got ready for work, I found a note from him in the bathroom informing me that he had left for work early because an emergency had surfaced. I continued with my morning routine, except this time I had a special spring in my step. There is nothing more beautiful than the feeling of having a new person in your life who cares about you and is there just for you. I believe this new feeling he gives me — it isn’t love — is key to my healing from the hurt I’ve been experiencing in my last relationship. I got to the office, attended one meeting after the next and got to work on my new client’s books throughout the day. Before I knew it, it was 7pm and I needed to get home to make dinner. I had invited my parents to stay over for the night so that they could board their flight to Bali the next day on time. Before I could finish packing, my mother called.

“Ona, we’ve been knocking on your door for over ten minutes now! Where are you? Are you safe? Are you up to something with Morena in the house?”

“No Ma, I’m at the office. I lost track of time and worked beyond my usual hours. I’ll be home in 15 minutes but in the meantime, you can grab the key under the brown pot plant by the fountain. You already know the code. Help yourselves to some drinks, I’ll get started on dinner as soon as I get there.”

I drove home as fast as I could, and of course my mother had a mouthful to say about being home late. She went on and on about how a wife should never get home after her husband, and that a good woman knows when to stop working. She also commented on my house’s interior decoration. She didn’t like anything except the wallpaper in the reception. Fortunately, this is my house and because I like everything I have in my house, it’ll stay just as it is. As I prepared the beef stew and mash potatoes, my father asked me about work. I told him about the weight of my workload and that I'm gunning to make partner soon. He has always been more concerned about my professional performance than my personal well-being. My father is one of those fathers who wanted to see their children’s report cards to make sure their grades were kept up. He didn’t care about how I was bullied at school for being a clever or overweight child. He didn’t give a damn about the countless times I came home crying because the boys would bully me for being fat and not as beautiful as most of my friends.

That was my life throughout primary and high school, and my father missed it all because he was so focussed on wanting to show everyone how smart his future CA was. I remember him waving my matric statement around as he paraded the street, shouting to the neighbourhood that his daughter got five distinctions and was going to become one of the country’s best CAs yet. That made me sick to my stomach, which was why I barely came home to visit the family while I was at varsity. On my graduation day, he did it again. Once I had made enough money to get my own place, I moved out and barely went home to visit. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t resent him for being proud of me, it just would have been nice if a girl got a hug just for being his daughter sometimes.

My mother then asked if Morena would be joining us for dinner, and I explained what happened to her. That’s when she said something appalling.

“You have always been a quitter, you know. You gave up on losing weight as a child, you gave up on a career as a model in varsity and now you’ve given up on your marriage. Why are you doing this to yourself? Can’t you see that you’re destroying your own life? Can’t you see the hurt you're bringing to yourself? In marriage, we persevere. In marriage, we compromise. In marriage—”

“Mom, I have had just about enough of your misguided advice, and I think it’ll be best if you heard my side of the story clearly before telling me what I should have done. You don’t know what it’s like to lose a child you’re excited about. You don’t know what it’s like to catch your husband fucking his PA in the shower—”

“Ona, that’s just about enough! Don’t use that language with your mother!”, my father interjected.

“Father, I love you. More than any other man in the world. I love you so much, but you’ve never acknowledged that. You’ve been so quick to criticise when my grades weren’t good enough that you forgot to be a father to me. Don’t start now. Like I was saying, Mom, you don’t know what it’s like to catch your husband fucking his PA in the shower you built and designed together. You have no idea what I’ve been through with Morena. He left me, not the other way around. I was not about to prolong my pain just so I can hold onto the “Mrs Mogale” title. Im smarter than that and love myself a little too much to expose myself to more avoidable pain. So, I apologise for disappointing you, again. I just had to have a moment of selfishness to secure my happiness.”, I responded.

My mother calmly put down her glass of wine, walked off to the guest bathroom and wailed for a few minutes. My father cleared his throat, gave me an intense look and went after her. I stood by the stove, still raging internally. I thought to go apologise to both of them, but instead I continued cooking. Once done, I dished up for everyone and had my food alone inn my room. Soon thereafter, I fell asleep. The next morning, after getting ready for work, I found my parents eating breakfast at the table. To avoid confrontation, I coldly greeted them, grabbed an apple from the fruit bowl on the kitchen island. Before I could get away, my father called me to the table to have breakfast with them. I stopped dead in my tracks, thought about the request and turned to walk back towards the table. I dished up my food and Mom began the conversation.

“Onalerona, I have never been told the things you’ve told me before. I didn’t even know that things were that bad between Morena and you. I was under the assumption that your silence was because you were still enjoying time with your husband. well, ex-husband. Little did I know that you were suffering in silence, and that’s not healthy. As soon as you fell pregnant, I should have gotten a call. As soon as you had lost the baby, I should have gotten a call. As soon as you found Morena cheating, you should have called. You really didn’t have to go through everything alone—”

“That’s the thing Mom, I wasn’t alone. Morena’s mother was with me all along. She didn’t wait for a call before she found out about the pregnancy, miscarriage and infidelity. She was just there, whether we needed her or not. I appreciate her so much for what she’s done for me because she made me feel like I had a good mother, for once in my life. You’ve pushed me to be a show pony. You lived out your dead dreams through me and convinced me that they were my own when they weren’t. I resented you for that for a long time, but I chose to forgive you because I know. now that it's what's best for me. Now that I'm back on my feet, I would appreciate it if you two could stop patronising me and make a choice: be my parents to me or stay out of my life. I must leave for work now, have a safe flight. I love you both.”

With that, I kissed them both on the cheek and left the house.

I got to the office and was summoned to the boardroom by my boss. I wondered what everything was about, but he didn’t have the usual stank look on his face this time, so I didn’t think it was anything bad. Once I got to the boardroom, I saw the board of directors and some of the major company shareholders seated around the massive marble table in the centre of the board room. The room has glass walls that tint on command using a remote control, and the seats around the boardroom table feel like beanbags stuffed with angel dust. They’re a dream to sit on, trust me. I greeted everyone in the room and sat at the end of the table. Mr Kruger, the CEO, stood up and addressed everyone in the room.

“Good morning, everyone. As you all know, we have been doing some employee evaluations and observations over the past year and a half. Onalerona, we have reviewed your performance, and we find you to be an excellent candidate for the partner position. What’s even more astounding is that even in your absence, we couldn’t cope without you. That says a lot about your work ethic. I’m proud to humbly request that you take up the partner position and join the management team. You deserve it, Ona.”

Everyone in the room stood up to applaud me for my promotion. For what felt like a very long moment, I sat in disbelief before I got up to shake my new peers’ hands. I couldn’t believe that it was happening so soon and to me. I accepted the position, and moved offices from the sixteenth to the twentieth floor (where the people at the top work). I got a corner office that had a small coffee table on one side with gorgeous sofas, as well as an aquarium behind my desk. It was gorgeous, and I figured that I could live in that office for the rest of my life. After a long day of work, on my way home, Zeus gave me a call from his office.

“Hey bae, I’ve been trying to get hold of you all day. Busy day? How are you?”

“I’m all right thanks… Yeah, I kind of got a promotion today, I’ve finally made partner. I want to call my father to give him the news but we had a falling out last night, so that might not be the best idea right now and —“

“Babe, thats brilliant! I am really proud of you. I am coming over to take you out. We are definitely celebrating this victory. You are brilliant! Congratulations my love! Let me get out of here, I am on my way.”

And with that, I found myself with plans for the evening. Honestly, I would have preferred staying in and hanging out with him but I had to put on my big girl pants and go with it. I took a shower and got dressed as soon as I got home. Zeus came to pick me up and drove us to a fancy restaurant downtown… I was amazed by the romantic decor in the restaurant: the bouquets of red roses at every table, the semi-dim lighting as well as the faint music in the background. It was a really beautiful setting, and I was thankful that I got t share this moment with Zeus. I wouldn’t have asked for better company.

We had our dinner and, while waiting for dessert, we slow-danced on the dance floor. Being in his arms made me feel so secure. I haven’t felt this way in a long while, but it felt good. After dessert, we left for home. When we got in, I found red rose petals scattered all over the floor and candles that lit up the whole house. Zeus had apparently had it set up for us while we were out. I turned around to kiss him, then made my way to the bedroom. He ran us a bath, we sat in there and began discussing the future.

“How would you feel about getting married again?”, Zeus asked.

“To you?”, I responded.

“Obviously. Would you say that, knowing what you do about me, you’d consider marrying me?”

“Sure, I would consider it. It’s a major step to take right now though…”

“I’m ready to take that step though, Ona. I honestly don’t see myself with any other woman. More than anything, I love you…”