Becoming Claire Fredrickson -- Episode 2

Bode and I arrived Lagos in the wee hours of the morning and even then, the city looked like it hadn't been to sleep. It was 5am and there was already traffic into the city, hawkers were selling their wares as though it was 5pm in the evening. I had never seen anything like it. It was like I was in a different time zone or something. Of course I wasn't going to show my surprise, I mean only bush people were shocked by a town being abuzz at that time of day. And I was no bush woman, I was the new city wife of a millionaire...Merchant? C.E.O? Lawyer? Doctor? It was then it hit me that I had no idea what Bode did for a living...anyways, whatever he did, he was rich and I was now his wife so we were both rich.

Through the ride to Lagos I fantasized about what his house would be like, did we have servants? Would they immediately take orders from me? Or would they disrespect me because I was from the village. I even imagined one of them being rude to me and Bode almost biting his head off and then coming over to apologize to me for the servant's insolence. 'Its hard to find good help these days' he would say. And from then on all of the servants would worship me. I smiled all the way to Lagos, I was too excited to even nap.
Nothing prepared me for what I found in Bode's house. The life I found there I did not even know existed. Looking back now I would pay good money to see the look on my face when I entered Bode's house, I was stupefied, i cant help but laugh about it now. You wont believe that Bode did actually live in a Mansion but with 5 other girls, yes 5, and they were beautiful, sophisticated women. They wore the sexiest outfits I had ever seen, they owned cars and they each had a room in the house. The best part is, they were all Bode's LOVERS!! Yes lovers, they were all sleeping with and being kept by my husband(that's what I thought he was at the time).
Before I left Akure I had vowed to never embarrass my husband. Village girls tend to do that. I had promised myself I would be sophisticated and mask my shock at any seemingly unfamiliar thing. But THIS? This could not have been envisaged by any rational mind. I was perplexed. At first I was in denial, maybe he was just generous to a fault. Maybe he harbored these women because they had nowhere else to go. Maybe.... I had run out of maybes.
Bode (bless his soul) made no attempt to hide his lifestyle from me. He said he was a connoisseur of fine things. He was rich and he could afford to 'collect'. He said he was sorry he didn't tell me this when we met but he didn't think I would understand( he couldn't be more right). He said he believed in the institution of marriage(huh?),  he believed in absolute fidelity to a spouse and because he could not offer me those things he had no designs on marrying me. He said he would understand if I wanted to leave but he promised that he had a lot to offer.
I was paralyzed. I couldn't think straight so I just went with the motions. Bode didn't touch me during the first two weeks of my stay. He just spent a lot on me. One of the mates, Sheila(I called them mates because I didn't know what to call them) was my care taker. She was the most mature of the girls and it showed, Sheila knew everything. Sheila took care of my wardrobe, my make up, my hair. Sheila taught me everything. She taught me to think, smile and wink. She said those three things would get me very far, and they did. I told you Sheila knew everything.
Anyways, after two weeks I decided this was the life. I convinced myself that I could get used to this life and the girls weren't so bad. Sheila was like the sister I never had and my dream was to get to Lagos anyways so now that I was here, why go back? I decided to make the most of it. Besides, Bode seemed like the kind of man that could make me famous. The end justifies the means doesn't it?
Bode and I slept together in the anniversary of our first month together. He was both surprised and disappointed to see that I was a virgin(just when I thought he was done surprising me). I had never heard of any man being disappointed about getting a virgin. And Bode did not hide his disappointment. He asked what I had been doing in the village all this time. He said he couldn't imagine that with all my sex appeal i was still a virgin(I felt like a fraud). He said he couldn't imagine being the one to teach me everything. He said his women served for his pleasure not the other way round. I had never been more humiliated in my life, i cried till my tears soaked the pillow and I passed out from exhaustion.
By morning Bode was gone. I wondered if he had shared my 'shame' with the rest of the household. I couldn't come out of the room. By mid day Sheila came to find me. She asked if it had been a rough night, I didn't know what she meant so I just started to cry again. She cuddled me and I told her what happened. She laughed and said Bode was just being an ass, she said i should dry my tears and come to lunch. She would take me shopping. I was happy no one else heard about it. It was still a bit awkward downstairs but Sheila convinced me that I was seeing things, she said nobody knew. I found out later that everybody knew but Sheila had threatened the devil's fury if they let on that they knew. She really did have a kind heart, the poor soul.
As you could imagine I was a shell for the next few weeks. Following Sheila around like a lost puppy and dodging Bode. I couldn't face the humiliation. One day I got tired of behaving like a wimp. I lay awake in my bed and stared at the mirror above the bed(half wondering why it was there) and decided this wasn't the life I had planned to live. I was a dominator, I built my reputation on being one and I was not going to be bullied by Bode or anyone else for that matter.
I walked across the hall to Sheila's room and met her sitting in front of her dressing mirror. She had her back to the door but she could see me through the mirror. When she looked up i said "Sheila, can you turn me into a goddess? I want men to worship me and women to revere me and I'm willing to do whatever it takes". She looked at me and said "Good, its about time too".
Even though I didn't realize it. That was the moment Claire Fredrickson was conceived.