Philip rounded off his evening surgery and prepared to head home. He was quite happy as it had been a fulfilling day for him. He had succeeded in posting all his letters to Ame; he had even paid for it to be delivered by the Courier Express, so he was assured that this time, his letters would get to her and quickly too. He smiled proudly to himself at the great achievement, and even nodded heartily at one of the janitors who was hustling away, probably to meet up with an appointment.He had painstakingly taken his time to explain all that had happened to him, right from when he had left his beloved Ame, till when he had landed in Australia. Then, he had apologized for all the pains he must undoubtedly have caused her to pass through. He had ended his letter by expressing his unchanging love for his Ame, whom he claimed to 'always love'. He had also written his office and apartment phone numbers as a post script for her so that she could get in touch with him as soon as she received his

"Ibadan sucks, man! Why did your old man ever go and tuck you in such an obsolete place, eh?" Dare complained bitterly to Dapo. They were at their usual joint somewhere on the mainland, far from the prying eyes of nosy reporters but Dapo had announced as soon as they got together that he could not stay for long that night. Dare could not understand why a fully grown man like Dapo would still choose to dance to every tune played by his overbearing father.That was the problem with all these over indulged children of the super rich; they were too protected, like crabs full of shells, having lived a sheltered life right from their inception. These ones never knew what it meant to be poor, and had probably never gone without food for a day. Most of them could never stand on their own without being propped up by their ever dotting parents, who would stop at nothing to give their over pampered children whatever they whined for; always giving them soft landings, cleaning up their mess for the

Ame sat tiredly on the closed toilet seat in the bathroom. She closed her eyes in pain. Dapo had sounded so honest, so convincing that she had almost believed him, but the faint whiff of a woman's perfume had convinced her that Dapo's leopard could never be expected to change its spots. She had initially thought that Dapo was truly interested in her as a person but as their marriage had progressed, she had come to realize that he had only married her for his own selfish reasons, which she was yet to discover. She knew that it was out of a guilty conscience that her husband had sought out a truce with her as she had categorically made it plain to him while they were still in their home in Ibadan, that he had her permission to seek his sexual pleasures outside the confines of their marriage since she was not ready to grace his bed either then, or in the not-too-distant future and he had fully accepted it, at least judging from his unaccounted-for absences. But she

"Welcome, my king!" Yemisola's sweet, sing-song voice rang out from the kitchen. Dapo smiled endearingly as he strolled towards the kitchen. Yemisola; this sweet, unassuming woman made his world complete. Though they had carried on their affair surreptitiously, Dapo was beginning to get bolder, especially where his relationship with Yemisola was concerned. He had moved her out from her apartment and relocated her to his love nest, and he had had his lawyer change the papers from his name to hers, transferring the ownership of the house to her as a proof of his serious commitment to her this time around so that her mind would truly be at rest where his relationship with her was concerned. He had been ecstatic when Yemisola announced to him that she was carrying his baby. She had told him when he came back from his England visit with his wife and new daughter. Their lovemaking that night had been passionately emotional as Yemisola had confessed that she had always

Yemisola was shocked at Dapo's behaviour. Never before had she ever seen her arrogant lover weep his heart out in that manner. Also, his actions in recent times showed that of a truth, Dapo Adejare had turned over a new leaf. He really was a besotted lover in recent times, spoiling her everyday with countless gifts, just to let her know that she was always in his thoughts. He rarely hung out with Dare, and the few times that Dare had come visiting, Dapo had so hammered him with the idea of settling down for his own good, so much so, that Dare had stopped coming to the house altogether. They only met now in Dapo's office, and if Yemisola was not welcome to any event, Dapo would not grace such event. It was no secret among their close knit friends that she was Dapo's wife in the true sense of the word; she was the one he delighted in, the one he came to for his needs to be met. She was the one who aroused his passion, the mother of his love child. She bowed her he