Long Shadows 

Marriage counselling was going great. 
The couple had been seeing each other for almost two years 
They didn't let the church know about it for the first year, as they were both unsure 
Then they had the talk and decided it was what they wanted to do. He took her home to meet his family
 She took him home to meet her family 
Her family insisted they do a marriage class in their church, where she was born, and he obliged 
The class took twelve Saturdays
 He never missed a class 
When they were done with the marriage class, they decided to share the good news with me. 
I took them to lunch, and we had an extensive discussion 
It was all green light from both of them. I could discern nothing spiritually out of place as we prayed 
 She was a lawyer, the head of a legal department, and he was a doctor, a consultant oncologist. 
As I saw them off after lunch, I prayed for them that the Lord would strengthen the cord of their relationship and make them one at heart even before the marriage. 
The groom-to-be said he had a gift for me, and he walked briskly to his car to get it.
 I was left standing with the bride to be, and I silently asked her the most important question I would ask individuals in a relationship "Were you open with each other? 
Did you tell him everything you believe he needed to know?" She said, "I told him he should imagine all the bad things a lady could do; he should then triple it in his mind and believe I did those things when I was in my twenties." 
I asked about him, and she said, "He is a church boy and really didn't explore that much. I know he loves me and does not joke with me." The groom to be arrived with the gift, we walked the bride to be to her car together. 
She hugged her man, waved at us, and drove out of the restaurant's premises. 
I walked the groom-to-be to his car.
 Just as we were getting to the car, another car parked beside us
 A man came down 
The groom-to-be recognized this person and screamed his name, "Stevie" (his real name). They knew each other somehow and started catching up I excused them and drove home.
 That promising relationship died that afternoon, in that parking lot. I had no idea, and neither did the bride-to-be.
 The groom-to-be suddenly changed.
 He stopped picking up calls or calling, he stopped communicating, and he stopped being present in the relationship. 
It was on and off for a month.
 He gave excuse after excuse "Stress, work, I slept off, I had a headache, nothing is wrong, I just need to be alone, I am battling some stuff, pray for me, I don't mean to hurt you, blah blah blah."
 A whole month went by. The bride-to-be was beside herself. What happened? Why had her Romeo turned to Brutus? She reached out to me in tears.
 I tried my best to placate her 
Later that day, I put a call through to him
 He picked up my call. I asked him what was wrong. He said, "Brother Gbenga, I don't know how to tell everybody this, but I am not interested in marrying this lady again." 
I asked him why. He said, "Stevie, that guy I met at the car park one day used to be my roommate in UNILAG. When we were in school, he was very outgoing, a party boy, always clubbing and grooving. 
He saw the lady with me that day when we had lunch with you. I told him I was getting married. 
He said, "I hope it is not to that lady, the one who just drove off." I said it is.
 He laughed and told me I cannot marry her. I asked him why. He said she was his orgy organizer while we were in school.
 He said he sets up parties where ladies and gentlemen would wear masks and go completely naked in a huge mansion, and everybody is allowed to sleep with everybody else all day. Sometimes fifty ladies and fifty guys, sometimes a hundred ladies and a hundred guys, and sometimes a hundred ladies to seventy guys or fifty ladies to thirty guys. He said she was his contact. She ships in the babes from all over and leads by example.
 He said the orgies were a once-a-month thing for four years, and she was his plug." I cannot explain how everything changed after that conversation, sir.
 I just couldn't see her the same way. No sir, I cannot end up with someone like that. Not after all I have sacrificed so that when it is time for me to be married, I wouldn't have to stammer and apologise to anyone about my actions in the past. I didn't plan to change, but I did. I don't love her anymore, and I won't marry her." I could have said a lot, but I chose to keep quiet.
 Marriage is such a delicate institution; you must not convince anyone to go into it against the person's will. I cannot, however, pretend I didn't know about that aspect of the sister's life. I encouraged the brother to talk to the sister for the sake of closure, and he did.
 Their conversation was short "Were you involved in orgies at a mansion in Ikeja GRA some years ago?" The sister said, "Yes." He said, "I am not judging you, but I cannot marry you." That was the end.
 PS: He got married a year later. He got married to an interior decorator. She has gone incommunicado for a long time. I sent her emails once in a while to encourage her. The past can sometimes cast long shadows. 
-GSW-