1 Chapter 1: Funke

She lay sullen thinking of how the past few days with Toni had been dull and slightly without the spark they first started their relationship with. She knew, though, that she had to cut Toni some slack.

He had a lot of things going on around him. It was best she didn't confront him. He recently just found out he had a teenage step brother, the product of a one night stand his dad had while on a trip.

She still had to tell him what she thought about their relationship at the moment and everything else going on in her life.

She always told him everything because she had always trusted him, he never gave her a reason not to.

He was her first and only love. Her first everything, first kiss, first boyfriend, first crush, and most importantly, the first person she'd ever made love to.

Her mum had always emphasized the importance of sex after marriage, so while most of her friends disvirgined after their high school graduation, she kept herself well until... you know.

They were meeting for dinner in the evening, and one thing Toni hated more than anything was tardiness.

He didn't actually care if anyone else was late, just as long as she wasn't, and she didn't have an excuse because he was never late. She was very excited about this particular dinner because they had this first dinner of the year tradition where they shared their joint New Year's resolution.

It was one of the things she liked about Toni he liked doing things with her, where most men would have lost interest a long time ago and stopped trying hard, Toni never stopped until recently and she had, not even the slightest clue why. She was hoping to address it during this year's first dinner.

She checked the time. 6:30pm

She had to finish up with her makeup. She took her phone to text Toni

Almost done with my makeup will be ready in 20 mins. Then, she tossed the device aside.

Tonight, she was going to enjoy herself with her boyfriend and not think about any of the shit she was going through.

Unlike most of her friends, family drama wasn't something she was familiar with. She had a modest childhood and an even more modest family. Her dad was a well-known, retired lawyer,and her mother was a Yoruba housewife. Her parents are still very much in love, but something is definitely wrong with their relationship.

Christmas turned out to be a total disappointment from what she was used to. Usually, every holiday like that when she was at home her parents gave her all the attention and wanted all the gist and juice and they would all have a great time visiting relatives and having relatives visit but last Christmas was like someone died. Maybe no one died, but her parent's relationship surely did, but why now after twenty-six years of being married to each other. It wasn't making any sense to her.

She shouldn't be thinking about these things but she couldn't help it. Her mind was all kind of worked up, and she couldn't stop.

"It just doesn't make any sense!" She knew she was shouting, but it didn't matter. Then she felt it, the agents of sadness. Tears.

Quickly, she took a tissue from her bag and dried her tears. She couldn't afford to be late and have Toni angry at her. It was the last thing she wanted.