Chapter One of Tabitha (An Original Story)

Hello Steemitians,

As promised in my last post, I begin to share posts from my first book titled "Tabitha"'

Tabitha is a great novel about an American woman, born with a silver spoon in her mouth, raised by a very religious couple. She grows up with many siblings, some of whom are adopted. She marries her childhood sweetheart, Sam who becomes a pastor. They have two children, Lizzy and Josh.

Then her expectations of a happy life are dashed when her husband becomes a total stranger, has an affair with his secretary, Suzzy Marshall. As a result of all the loneliness, pain and rejection she suffers, she makes a decision that lands her in a fatal situation and nearly costs her her life. Will she ever find her heart again?

I truly hope you find it enjoyable.

Chapter One

The situation in Tabby and Sam’s marriage had only just become unbearable for both of them. To be truthful, Tabby had had it with Sam and felt she had given more than she thought she had; still her heart seemed light years away from her husband’s. Ever since Sam’s calling to pastor a church, they had initially enthused about the prospects of where God was possibly taking them. However, just a couple of years down the line and Tabby had gone from being a supportive Christian wife to becoming somewhat of a monster, she scarce could recognize herself. To make matters worse, Sam had changed himself. He had replaced his passion for his wife and family and had become all-consumed with lavishing his time and energy on shepherding the church, where his heart really was.

So where did it all go wrong? Was it when Sam’s secretary Pa Jude, a 68 year old retired soldier resigned due to his seemingly endless battle with prostate cancer, and his replacement was employed, the ‘‘miss-Goldie- lucks’’ Suzzy Marshall, that things got really sour; or was it when Tabby’s mother-in- law kept insisting her son Sam should have married some other woman years back that was the breaking point? Whatever the cause of this distance, Tabby had tried all she could possibly do within her human [woman] strength, she had suffered a lot of shame as people had begun to notice the sadness in her countenance; and all the years of patching-things-up and feeling unloved were finally giving way to cowardice.

Tabby had given up the opportunity to establish her career in order to raise the kids; since Sam was away a lot, she took it upon herself to be there for Lizzy and Josh. She finally had made up her mind to run. Run for the hills, run for her life, run with whatever was left of it. After all the years of self-sacrifice, [two during their courtship and ten years of marriage], not even the fact that they had two lovely and bright kids, Josh and Lizzy, was sufficient to bridge the gap between them. Sam was totally oblivious to the way Tabby felt. Yes, she had tried to open up to him severally, and yes, she had cried out her heart, expressing her longing for love, his love; still Sam just couldn’t understand. He felt his duty to her was to provide for her needs, and that he did well.

He appeared to be more sensitive to Suzzy’s needs. Whenever Suzzy called at late hours, crying over the phone about her loneliness, how she needed to be with a man but didn’t want to commit the sin of fornication; Sam would counsel her and tell her stories to make her laugh and cheer her soul up. Then they would pray together. And when they said their goodnights, Tabby could swear her husband sounded rather flirty. His voice would be as deep as the Indian Ocean and Suzzy’s more feminine than ever. And because they had a telephone in their bedroom, Tabby would pretend to be asleep; she was getting real good at it. No longer would her eyelids quiver; she could use her will power to still her eyes until Sam was off the phone, sound asleep and even snoring, which sometimes took up to three hours.

Tabby was 36 when all this was happening, and her 42 year old childhood sweetheart, Sam, whom she had loved like forever, was becoming a total stranger to her with each passing day. Of all the possible reasons for their distance, Tabby couldn’t point a finger as to what the chief source of their problem could be. They say a problem shared is half-solved. How was Tabby to share her problem with anyone when she couldn’t put a finger on it? Still Tabby felt totally helpless. She wanted her marriage to work. But Sam wasn’t helping matters, if only he could meet her halfway, or any way for starters.

Things were taking a downward spiral. It seemed the more Sam got busy, having odd-hour meetings that lasted long into the night, the more Tabby’s heart grew weaker from the burden of unwholesome thinking. She would imagine him in Suzzy’s purple satin clad bed, both of them wolfing down the forbidden fruit. Just as Tabby’s heart pounded violently against the walls of her chest, her phantom love-scene- of-a- nightmare would be interrupted by Lizzy or Josh.

One time, it was a Wednesday evening, and as usual Sam wasn’t going to be around for supper, though he had promised to make it for their evening prayers they usually had as a family after their evening meal. Tabby had cleared the dining table and was doing the dishes. She let the water run over her hands, so she could see her wedding ring shimmer, reflecting the dim light from the chandelier. Josh was helping with clearing away the juice and placing the bottles back in the fridge, while Lizzy, bless her young heart, picked up fragments of her peas that escaped onto the floor, handing them over to her mum one after the other.

‘Thank you my angel.’ Tabby smiled through teary eyes.

And immediately the kids ran off to the lounge, watching their favourite cartoon, Peppa pig. Tabby returned to her phantom scene. This time, it was Suzzy staring at the diamond-studded ring Sam had bought her as she stood in front of her bathroom mirror. Sam stood close behind her, showering her with kisses on the back of her neck and down her back. Suzzy was clinquant in Tabby’s mind, as Tabby’s reflection was lugubrious as she stared at her reflection from a silverware piece. Just then it suddenly dawned on Tabby. She had never met Suzzy; as such she couldn’t place a formed face to this woman. Sam always asked her to call instead of coming unannounced to his office. Was she attractive? Did she look good? Was she tall? Was she in any way a threat to Tabby, or was this a chance to spite Sam over such poor taste? The stream of tears seemed to dry up from its source, as Tabby ransacked her thoughts. She needed to meet with Suzzy and size-her- up, albeit in a subtle manner, with Sam present, definitely!

She could easily have walked into his office, and then gotten a chance to meet her. But instead she waited for a couple of weeks when Josh would be playing baseball for beginners for the church Sunday school team the following Saturday. Great! His team would win, or whatever the case, Sam would have to make it for a family meal, and boom! The ‘grand -meeting’ will occur. First, she’d have to find a way to let Sam know, and then he would be the one to do the honours of inviting his secretary for the meal.

Surprisingly, Sam arrived in time for supper the following evening; he had a bouquet of flowers, Daffodils, behind his back for Tabby with a hand-written note tucked inside. It read: ‘for my one and only.’ Tabby’s heart swelled with warmth. She tried to cast aside the feeling but to no avail. Maybe things weren’t that bad after all, she thought. Maybe she had exaggerated their situation. Of course she could stick around for another ten years or so, she thought. But Sam
wasn’t through with his surprises. Sam had yet another one. He had her wait in the lounge right after evening prayers, tucked the kids in bed, and revamped their beddings. Instead of the usual slighted faded cotton sheets, Tabby met purple satin sheets like the ones from her phantom thoughts only a thousand times better, covered with red rose petals. The night was going to be promising. She quickly did away with her moodiness and decided to dote on the moment, as things like these rarely occurred.

Tabby woke up the following morning thinking it was all a dream. But the sheets wouldn’t lie, would they? The satin sheets rubbed her skin ever so softly, and the petals were all over the floor. Sam was gone. He had a meeting with the Parochial Church Council, the PCC for short. There was a note from him.

‘Honey, relax a while in bed, I’ve given the kids their breakfast and taken them to school. Please pick them up at 2:00pm. You are an amazing woman, and I will love you forever.’

Tabby kissed the note softy, it smelled of Sam’s aftershave; very strong and manly. She was still in love with him, there was no doubt. Her heart was sold out to her man, her husband, and she was proud of the way she felt. It had been a while since they expressed their love for each other that way. And yes, it was worth the wait!

While having a hot shower, Tabby washed her hair, redid her nails, wore on foundation and dressed in a purple shirt on navy blue jeggings with golden sandals to match her golden jewellery. She looked in the mirror as if to say to herself, ‘I win Suzzy, you lose.’ Suzzy! She had forgotten to let Sam know about the invite. And while she contemplated whether to or not, she tried to tidy up the bed when she saw what was unmistakeably blond hair; a long thin strand of it.

Tabby was a 6-foot something tall brunet with an hour-glass figure that was still very well formed even after two rotund kids; though she sometimes dyed her hair black to go with her pupils. Lizzy was only 3. Her hair was dark brown. Josh was more of a red head, it was still a mystery were on planet earth he got his hair colour from. Only Sam was blond, but even then his hair was curly and wasn’t that long. Just by looking at it, the hair strand was nothing less than a metre long. The calculations just didn’t add up. There had been foul-play somewhere.

An overwhelming wave of disillusionment, coupled with a quest for answers settled over Tabby like a thick, wet and heavy blanket. Her countenance went from the confident Mrs Tabitha Bradford to ordinary Tabby, the miserable preacher’s wife.

...... To be continued!

Hope you enjoyed this chapter. Chapter two will follow shortly. Kindly upvote, follow @tsparkles, comments, and resteem this post.

Steeming sparkles!