When The Night Came

They were both in Canada when the Night came.
She was a Canadian by birth and a Nigerian by blood, a model by profession.
He was a handsome young man, based in Port Harcourt for many years.
He studied electrical engineering, got employed on a six-month-a-year contract with one of the oil companies.
He met her at one of the end-of-the-year galas organized by the oil company.
A friend invited her, a female friend.
She had come to Nigeria for the Christmas holidays at the invitation of a friend who studied in Canada and told her great things about Nigeria.
Their meeting was neither divine nor natural.
She believed it was love that drew them together.
She had thought her friend would keep her company throughout the event.
She was a shy and private person who wouldn't have honoured the invitation if she had the understanding that being the Human Resources Manager in charge of the event, her friend would be too busy to say more than a quick hello to her.
After an hour of walking about the cocktail floor smiling fakely to fawners and oglers, she decided she was done with the party and had to leave.
The party was held on an island, she needed to make arrangements with one of the ushers for a vehicle that would take her back to her hotel.
There was only one vehicle available at that hour and it already had a passenger to take to town.
Does she mind sharing? The usher asked her
She said No.
When she got in the car, he was already seated beside the driver at the front of the vehicle.
The drive was for about forty minutes.
She enjoyed it to the full.
He engaged her wholeheartedly, acted as a tour guide and a friend, explained the mindset of the locals and the issues with the economy as he saw it as an insider.
He engaged her so keenly that the drive was too short in her opinion.
Fortunately, they were lodged in the same hotel.
He asked if he could buy her dinner since she didn't wait to eat at the event.
She told him she needed to change.
He said he would have to change too.
Then he said "I will change and wait for you for one hour at the reception,
if I don't see you by then, I will take it that you have slept off and then I will dash off to dinner all by myself. Deal?"
She nodded.
When she got to her room, she sat and thought about it.
Should she dine with him or pass?
She decided to dine.
She changed hurriedly with a determination to be the one waiting for him at the hotel reception.
Since he gave her an hour ultimatum, she could as well flip the script.
She got there a few seconds before him.
When he saw her, she could see the smugness on his face.
He was used to having his way with ladies and he took her compliance to his ultimatum as a win.
He didn't gloat or mention it but she could see it written all over him.
She knew it meant something deeper but she couldn't quite place it.
He took her to dinner and he was the definition of charm throughout.
As a model, she had worked with all sorts of men in the course of her career.
The short-tempered, the condescending, the abusive, the enabling, the user, the manipulative, the condoning, the arms-length keeper, the sweet-tongued, the philander, the cheat and the secret admirer who lacked the courage to push their desires.
The modelling world is like sinking sand for many ladies, the men are the rock underneath the sand.
The agents, directors, photographers, drivers, crew.
The ladies are the product on display.
And there is no better judge of the male character than a single beautiful lady thrust into the midst of many men constantly like a model.
She had dated men and acted as an escort to many men in the course of her career.
She believed she understood men and could tell one apart from the other simply by sharing a meal with and holding a conversation with them.
The dinner they had was exquisite, he was the perfect picture of gentleness and kindness.
He paid attention to her needs and was sometimes nervous (he masked it) but it was there as he anxiously waited for her approval on some of his choices as they selected their meals from the menu.
He was tall, dark, handsome and boisterous.
She never knew she could be attracted to such a socially inclined person but as that evening progressed, she found herself drawn to him in a strange way.
After the dinner, they took a long walk by the pool of the hotel.
It was one of the best nights of her life.
They were together till about 5 AM.
Sleep and weariness stayed far away from the light of their love.
She knew she felt something special for him when it was time for them to part ways and she glued herself to him as if he would disappear into thin air.
She said, "If you don't mind I would like to see your room".
Even he was taken aback but he obliged her.
She couldn't explain what came over her but she slept in his bed.
They didn't have sex.
When they got to the room, he said he had to shower and head out to work.
She laid on his bed and said "I am your wife for today, peck me on the cheeks and run along, you will meet hot food on the table when you return".
And that was how their relationship started.
She stayed with him throughout her holiday.
He went off to work daily, returned to meet and take her out.
They spent time talking and making plans.
The holiday was supposed to be for two weeks but she extended it for three months.
She applied for his Canadian visitor visa and stayed on the neck of the consulate and her lawyer until he got it.
They both travelled to Canada at the end of his six-month contract for the year.
When they got to Canada, she took him home
to her mother's house and introduced him as her husband-to-be.
They got married four months later.
They had a glorious honeymoon in the Maldives.
He told her everything he could about himself and she did the same.
The love was genuine.
She tested it on every index.
He truly loved her above all else.
When they returned home from their honeymoon, her mother called her attention to their spirituality.
As a couple, they were both free thinkers and fun seekers.
God was more of an abstract idea underneath the canvas of their painting.
He was there somewhere but in an inactive capacity.
Her mother gave her the phone number of the Brother in Jeans and T-shirt.
She said "Call him, he is not religious and I testify that he is full of the Holy Spirit".
She told her husband about it, they both laughed at the ridiculousness of it all.
What do they need God for?
But he wanted to please her by respecting her mother's wish.
He placed a call to the brother and the three of them prayed together.
Right there, they both got filled with the Holy Spirit with the evidence of Speaking in tongues.
Her mother was happy.
They were full of joy.
A month went by and he began to prepare to return to Nigeria for the six months of work according to his contract.
She didn't want him to go but he had to.
His visitor visa stipulated that he must leave after six months.
He had a contract obligation to fulfill.
She also had to work and get back in sync with her world after the disruptions of love and marriage.
Three hours before he was to leave for the airport, he began to pray by himself in the room.
She was in the kitchen, making the meal he would eat before departure while her mother also came to their apartment to keep her company after he left so that she wouldn't feel too lonely.
Suddenly he came into the sitting room and said "I have been unfaithful to you and it is very heavy on my conscience. As I was packing my bags to leave for Nigeria, the Holy Spirit kept nudging me to tell the truth and get it off my conscience.
The apartment I would arrive at in Nigeria was being prepared by my former girlfriend, I have sent her the money to furnish and make it livable.
I have also activated some other ladies on three different apps who will be coming over to keep me company when that babe goes to work or home to attend to other things.
I cannot explain why I am saying this but I just feel like if I don't confess I might explode, I am sorry but that is the truth".
It broke her heart that she was wrong about everything.
Wrong about his character, the love that they shared and their marriage.
She swooned in shock.
Her mother caught her and drew her close.
Her mother said, "He had not done anything yet".
Since you guys got married he has not been unfaithful.
Travelling back home wanted to bring out old habits but he came to you to confess it himself.
Please don't make any decisions yet, sleep over it".
But she could not be placated.
She was a beauty, a head-turner, an eye-catcher, an international model.
How can any man be with her and still think of being with another woman?
He didn't just think it, he sent the other woman, a local girl from Nigeria some money to rent and furnish an apartment.
He also made arrangements for other ladies to come to the same apartment to have sex with him.
What had she not given?
Her time? Her heart? Her body? Her money? Her jobs?
Was it right to be rewarded with such disrespect?
Her mother reached out to the Brother in Jeans and T-shirt.
She said "I saw this and I knew the devil was going to pull a stunt like this.
When I met her father here in Canada, it was all good until he told me I had to go to Nigeria with him to meet his people otherwise they would not accept that he had gotten married and they would marry another wife for him in Nigeria.
I got so angry because he said it as if he had no say in the matter and I threw him out of our matrimonial home.
It was the one regret I have till tomorrow.
As soon as my daughter brought Chuks home, I could see her father in him and I knew this would most likely happen unless the Lord kept them.
This was why I asked that you pray with them and fill them with the Holy Spirit.
Please help me talk to my daughter, she should hold off making any decision for now.
Her daughter however refused to pick up phone calls in her distress.
They resorted to prayer.
Two days later, as her husband was preparing to travel to Nigeria (He had to reschedule his flight), she also packed her bags and decided she would be travelling with him.
Her mother called the Brother in Jeans and T-shirt.
Her mother said the couple would be landing in Abuja and they would need counselling.
A week later, they met with the Brother in Jeans and T-shirt in Port Harcourt.
She was still hurting but her husband had given her time and space to consider her options.
She explained that the betrayal came from his decision to send money, book appointments and so on.
Her husband apologised for it and insisted he confessed to her before he could execute his moves.
The Brother in Jeans and T-shirt explained to them how the Holy Spirit works and how we should not use the information given to us by the Holy Spirit negatively.
It was a tough session and they both got it.
Somehow God preserved their marriage and the pattern her mother noticed was not allowed to happen to the daughter.

Praise God.

-GSW-