Lady Baby

2

Even after the fifth splash of water against her face, Sharon was still unable to calm the fury pulsing in her veins. Max was an insufferable dolt.

"Jerk," she mumbled as she blinked at her reflection in the mirror.

The circles beneath her eyes were getting darker, and her skin felt tight and dry. All the moisturisers in the world weren't working. Sharon huffed as she packed her mass of curly hair atop her head, twisting the scrunchie two times over to secure its hold.

"Artists can be a bit messy; you are a perfectionist. A union between you and Max may be full of struggles."

Her uncle's words replayed in her head, for what? The tenth time today? Of course, she hadn't listened to him. Stupid. Stupid. Sharon cupped her forehead and sighed.

She had felt Max would change, even naively believed her crazy love would give her strength to cope if he didn't. And the ridiculous notion that he would be willing to make personal adjustments once they were married was such an idiotic assumption. In your dreams, girl.

She wished she had listened to her uncle. He was the only one who saw it all. He said he liked Max but wouldn't recommend him for her. He had been right, so right.

Now the embarrassment Sharon felt wouldn't let her tell her uncle she was having a troubled marriage. If he asked why, what would she say? That Max feels no need to clean up after himself. How about the fact that he spends seventy percent of his time in his blasted studio? Or how she always feels like screaming her head off whenever she meets the house in a mess?

Max hardly remembered to do simple things like paying the bills or scheduling fixes for whatever got broken around the house. Why wouldn't she call him a child?

Pulling the bathroom cabinet open, Sharon mindlessly uncapped a bottle of capsules and took two... three? Three is good. She downed the tablets with a gulp of water. After setting up a bath, she began pacing as she waited for the tub to fill.

There was still a sizable part of her that cared for Max. She was embarrassed to admit the fact but it was true. His carefree nature had attracted her; she saw what she lacked in herself and thought a union with him would be exciting. Sharon groaned at her stupidity. Now? All she saw were their vast differences. Coping was daunting.

She snapped out of her thoughts when her phone rang. Retrieving it from the counter, she glanced at the scene. Sharon smiled before answering.

"Hello, good evening."

She heard her uncle speaking Yoruba in the background; something about a tractor needing repair. Had he called by mistake?

"Hello, uncle Olu. Are you there?"

"Ómò mì. How are you?"

Sharon smiled until her cheeks hurt. "I am fine. Good evening, sir."

"Yes, yes, yes. How is your husband? I had a dream, I saw him holding a beautiful baby girl and she looked just like you."
Her uncle laughed, the sound of it nice and warm. When she smiled, hers was bittersweet. What would he say if she told him she intentionally kept herself from getting pregnant?

"Max is fine. How are you--"

"I am not fine. When will you come to visit? I haven't seen you since your wedding day."

Sharon winced as she walked back to the bathroom to shut the tap.

"I will visit you soon, uncle. Soon."

He huffed. "Don't tell me that. Where is your husband? Give him the phone now."

Sharon stifled a groan. Max was the last person on earth she wanted to see. She longed to sleep and hug her pillow tight, imagining it was Max she hugged... at the neck, choking the life out of him.

"But uncle, I already know what his reply would be. He is working righ--"

"Give him the phone."

"Alright. I'll call you when I get to him."

Sharon stumped her foot as she ended the call.

Drawing in a breath, she tightened her bathrobe sash and headed out of the bedroom. All the while she went downstairs, she struggled within herself; she could tell her uncle Max suddenly stepped out. No. She shook her head. She had never been a good liar. Granted, Max was annoying, but she doubted he would agree to go visit her uncle just to spite her.

When she saw Max wasn't in his den, Sharon mounted the stairs once more and headed for his studio.

***

At the sound of the knock, Max paused, his brush hovering over the canvas. What now?

Choosing to ignore her, Max focused on the blank canvas before him. When she gets tired, she'd leave. But the knock continued. Max clenched his jaw, refusing to give in.

At last, she let herself in.

Max turned from his canvas and faced her squarely. "What," he asked as he tried hard to focus on her face, stubbornly refusing to notice she had only a bathrobe on.

"Uncle Olu wants to speak with you." When she handed him the phone, he noticed her hand shook slightly.

He dropped his brush and pellet before wiping his paint-stained fingers with a rag. Her uncle answered at the third ring. "Good evening, sir." Max greeted cheerfully as he scratched the tip of his nose. He liked her uncle; he was a calm, easy-going man.

"How are you?" Max turned and walked deeper into the studio. When he heard her footsteps follow him, he wondered if it had anything to do with the call. Did something bad happen?

"I am fine." When he glanced at Sharon, she shook her head and mouthed the word 'no'. He lifted an eyebrow then turned away once more.

After they exchanged pleasantries, uncle Olu got to the point.

"You want us to come for a visit?" He repeated Uncle Olu's question as he faced Sharon. She was still shaking her head and mouthing 'no'. He knew what she wanted his reply to be but he chose to feign ignorance. He turned away before answering her uncle.

"Of course we would love to come to visit you. It's at your ranch at Ibadan, right?" Though his back was turned to Sharon, he could feel her hot glare burning holes through the back of his head.

"We'll spend about a week with you." Max smiled as he spoke. "How's that?"

"Thank you so much, my son."

Max's smile grew to a grin at the man's excitement. "It's nothing. I bet we'd be able to get there by the first week of next month"

"What about work?" Uncle Olu asked, worry making his Nigerian accent thicker.

"Don't worry about that. Coincidentally, Sharon has about ten days' vacation not far from now. I am certain she would love to spend that time with you," Max said loud enough for Sharon to hear.

"As for me, I can take my work wherever I go," Max said with a light chuckle. He knew his jovial approach to it all was riling up Sharon but he didn't care. When the old man laughed, Max joined in.

"I will begin to prepare for your arrival. Good night."

After Max ended the call, he faced Sharon with a shit-eating grin. Sure enough, her glower could melt the icecaps. He fought not to laugh and failed.

"What's the matter? Don't tell me you can't afford to spend only seven days with a man who helped raise you," Max said as he handed Sharon her phone.

She snatched the device and stormed out of the studio. But as usual, she didn't forget to slam the door with enough force to topple two canvases.
.............................................................

Stubborn Max. 😂